Romani people


The Romani, also spelled Romany or Rromani, colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group who traditionally lived a nomadic, itinerant lifestyle. Linguistic and genetic evidence suggests that the Romani originated in the Indian subcontinent; in particular, the region of present-day Rajasthan. Their subsequent westward migration, possibly in waves, is now believed by historians to have occurred around 1000 CE. Their original name is from the Sanskrit word डोम and means a member of a Dalit caste of travelling musicians and dancers. The Romani population moved west into the Persian Ghaznavid Empire and later into the Byzantine Empire. The Roma arrived in Europe around the 13th to 14th century. Although they are dispersed, their most concentrated populations are located in Europe, especially central, eastern, and southern Europe, as well as western Asia.
In the English language, the Romani are widely known by the exonym Gypsies, which is considered a pejorative by some Romani due to its connotations of illegality and irregularity as well as its historical use as a racial slur. In the United Kingdom, the term Gypsies is preferred by some of the Kale and Romanichal, and is used to refer to them in official documentation. The attendees of the first World Romani Congress in 1971 unanimously voted to reject the use of all exonyms for the Romani, including Gypsy.
Since the 19th century, some Romani have also migrated to the Americas. There are an estimated one million Roma in the United States and 800,000 in Brazil, most of whose ancestors emigrated in the 19th century from eastern Europe. Brazil also includes a notable Romani community descended from deportees from the Portuguese Empire during the Portuguese Inquisition. In migrations since the late 19th century, Romani have also moved to other countries in South America and Canada. Though often confused with Irish Travellers and the Yenish people in western Europe, the Romani are culturally different.
The Romani language is an Indo-Aryan language with strong Persian, Armenian, Greek and South Slavic influence. It is divided into several dialects, which together are estimated to have more than two million speakers. Because the language has traditionally been oral, many Romani are native speakers of the dominant language in their country of residence, or else of mixed languages combining the dominant language with a dialect of Romani in varieties sometimes called para-Romani.

Names

Romani-language endonyms

The English word Rom derives from Romani rom, meaning 'man, husband'. A common alternative is Romani or Romany as the singular in place of Rom, and Romanis or Romanies as the plural in place of Roma. The etymology of the word is unclear. The Oxford English Dictionary says it likely derives from Sanskrit ḍomba, meaning 'lower-caste person working as a wandering musician', itself deriving from a Dravidian word, such as domba, ḍomba. In English, the form Roma is often reinterpreted as singular and a new plural, Romas, is formed. Alternatively, Romani may serve as the feminine adjective, and Romano as the masculine adjective. Some Romanies use Rom or Roma as an ethnic name, while others do not use this term as a self-description for the entire ethnic group.
Sometimes, Rom and Romani are spelled with a double r, i.e., Rrom and Rromani. In this case Rr is used to represent the phoneme Uvular trill|, which in some Romani dialects has remained different from the one written with a single r. The double r spelling is common in certain institutions, or used in certain countries, e.g., Romania, to distinguish from the endonym/homonym for Romanians.
In Norway, Romani is used exclusively for an older Northern Romani-speaking population while Rom/Romanes is used to describe Vlax Romani-speaking groups that migrated since the 19th century.

English-language endonyms

In the English language, Rom is both a noun and an adjective. Similarly, Romani is both a noun and an adjective. Both Rom and Romani have been in use in English since the 19th century as an alternative for Gypsy.
The terms Roma and Romanis are increasingly encountered as generic terms for the Romani people.
Because not all Roma use the word Romani as an adjective, the term also became a noun for the entire ethnic group. Today, the term Romani is used by some organizations, including the United Nations and the US Library of Congress. However, the Council of Europe and other organizations consider that Roma is the correct term referring to all related groups, regardless of their country of origin, and recommend that Romani be restricted to the language and culture: Romani language, Romani culture. The British government uses the term "Roma" as a sub-group of "White" in its ethnic classification system.
The standard assumption is that the demonyms of the Roma, Lom and Dom, share the same origin.

Other designations

In English, the exonym Gypsy is the most commonly used word for the group. It originates from the Middle English gypcian, short for Egipcien. The Castilian term Gitano and French Gitan have similar etymologies. They are ultimately derived from the Greek , meaning 'Egyptian', via Latin. This designation owes its existence to the belief, common in the Middle Ages, that the Roma, or some related group, were itinerant Egyptians.
These exonyms are sometimes written with capital letter, to show that they designate an ethnic group. While some Roma use the term, some Roma consider it derogatory because of negative and stereotypical associations. The Council of Europe consider that "Gypsy" or equivalent terms, as well as administrative terms such as "Gens du Voyage", are not in line with European recommendations. In Britain, many Roma proudly identify as "Gypsies", and, as part of the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller grouping, this is the name used to describe all para-Romani groups in official contexts. In North America, the word Gypsy is most commonly used as a reference to Romani ethnicity, though lifestyle and fashion are at times also referenced by using this word.
Another designation of the Roma is Cingane, likely deriving from the Persian word چنگانه, derived from the Turkic word çıgañ, meaning poor person. It is also possible that the origin of this word is Athinganoi, the name of a Christian sect with whom the Roma could have become associated in the past.

Population and subgroups

Romani populations

There is no official or reliable count of the Romani populations worldwide. Many Roma refuse to register their ethnic identity in official censuses for a variety of reasons, such as fear of discrimination.
Despite these challenges to getting an accurate picture of the Romani dispersal, there were an estimated 10 million in Europe, although some Romani organizations have given earlier estimates as high as 14 million. Significant Romani populations are found in the Balkans and throughout Europe. In the European Union, there are an estimated 6 million Roma.
Outside Europe there may be several million more Roma, particularly in the Americas, following migrations from Europe beginning in the late 19th century.

Romani subgroups

Romani people may belong to distinct subgroups based in part on territorial, cultural and dialectal differences, and self-designation.
Romani subgroups may have more than one ethnonym. They may use more than one endonym and be commonly known by an exonym or erroneously by the endonym of another subgroup. The only name approaching an all-encompassing self-description is Rom. Even when subgroups do not use the name, they all acknowledge a common origin and a dichotomy between themselves and Gadjo. For instance, while the main group of Roma in German-speaking countries refer to themselves as Sinti, their name for their original language is Romanes.
Subgroups have been described as, in part, a result of the castes and subcastes in India, which the founding population of Rom almost certainly experienced in their south Asian urheimat.
File:Gypsies camping - probably Swansea.jpg|thumb|Gypsies camping. Kalé Roma near Swansea in Wales, 1953
Many subgroups use names derived from the Romani word kalo or calo, meaning "black" or "absorbing all light". This closely resembles words for "black" or "dark" in Indo-Aryan languages. Likewise, the name of the Dom or Domba people of north India—with whom the Roma have genetic, cultural and linguistic links—has come to imply "dark-skinned" in some Indian languages. Hence, names such as kale and calé may have originated as an exonym or a euphemism for Roma.
While not subgroups, Romani people often use the religionym and confessionyms Xoraxane to refer to Muslim Roma and Dasikane to refer to Christian Roma.
File:Romi z medvedom v Šmarci leta 1934.jpg|thumb|Ursari Roma in Šmarca, Slovenia, 1934
Other endonyms for Roma include, for example:
  • Arlije in the Balkans and Turkey to describe sedentary Muslim Roma.
  • Bashaldé – Hungarian-Slovak Roma diaspora in the US from the late 19th century.
  • Bergitka Roma, Poland, mainly Goral lands.
  • Çerge also Čergarja, Nomadic Lifestyle Muslim Roma in the Balkans and Turkey.
  • Calé, the endonym used by both the Spanish Roma and Portuguese Roma. Caló is the language spoken by the Calé.
  • Gurbeti Muslim Roma in Northern Cyprus, Turkey and Balkans.
  • Kaale or Kàlo in Finland and Sweden.
  • Kā̊lē – the primary endonym used by the Romani subgroup in Wales, although Kalé is the most prominent orthography in academia.
  • Lalleri, from Austria, Germany, and the western Czech Republic.
  • Lovari, chiefly in Central Europe, speaking a dialect of Romani influenced by Hungarian; known in Serbia as Machvaya, Machavaya, Machwaya or Macwaia.
  • Polska Roma, largest Romani subgroup in Poland.
  • Rom in Italy.
  • Roma in Romania, commonly known by ethnic Romanians as țigani, have a number of subgroups defined by occupation:
  • * Argintari "silversmiths."
  • * Aurari "goldsmiths."
  • * Boyash, also known as Băieși, Lingurari, Ludar, Ludari, or Rudari, who coalesced in the Apuseni Mountains of Transylvania. Băieși is a Romanian word for "miners." Lingurari means "spoon makers", and Ludar, Ludari, and Rudari may mean "woodworkers" or "miners".
  • * Churari
  • * Colari "carpet dealers"
  • * Florari "flower-sellers."
  • * Kalderash, from Romanian căldărar, literally "bucket-maker", meaning "kettle-maker", "tinsmith", "tinker"; also in Poland, Moldova and Ukraine.
  • * Lăutari "musicians".
  • * Ungaritza.
  • * Ursari ""dancing bears" trainers".
  • * Zlătari "goldsmiths working with extracting and processing gold" "
  • Romové, Czech Republic.
  • Rómovia, Slovakia.
  • Romanichal, in the United Kingdom,
File:Great Dorset Steam Fair 2007 - 1331363507.jpg|thumb|A Romanichal vardo pictured at the Great Dorset Steam Fair in 2007, England
  • Romanisæl, in Norway and Sweden.
  • Romanlar, Turkish-speaking Muslim Roma in Turkey, also called Çingene or Şopar, with all subgroups, who are named after their professions, like:
  • * Ayıcı
  • * Cambaz
  • * Çiçekçi
  • * Demirci
  • * Kalaycı
  • * Kuyumcu
  • * Müzisyen
  • * Sepetçi
  • * Subaşı
  • * Sünnetçi
  • * Şarkıcı etc., but the majority of Turkish Roma work as day laborers too.
  • Roms or Manouche in France.
  • Romungro or Carpathian Roma from eastern Hungary and neighbouring parts of the Carpathians.
  • Sepečides, meaning "basket-maker"; Muslim Roma in West Thrace, Greece.
  • Sinti or Zinti, predominantly in Germany, and northern Italy.
  • Zargari, Muslim Roma in Iran, who once came from Rumelia/Southern Bulgaria from the Maritsa Valley in Ottoman times and settled in Persia.