Baltic Romani

Last updated
Baltic Romani
Native to Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Belarus, Russia, Estonia, Finland, Ukraine
Native speakers
46,000, including 14,000 in Poland and 10,000 in Finland (2001–2013) [1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3 Either:
rml  – Baltic Romani
rmf  –  Finnish Kalo
Glottolog balt1257   Baltic Romani
kalo1256   Finnish Kalo
ELP Baltic Romani

Baltic Romani is group of dialects of the Romani language spoken in the Baltic states and adjoining regions of Poland and Russia. Half of the speakers live in Poland. It also called Balt Romani, Balt Slavic Romani, Baltic Slavic Romani, and Roma. Romani began as an Indo-European language, which morphed into an Indo-Iranian language, and then into an Indo-Aryan language. After that the Romani language broke down into Balkan Romani and Central Romani. Baltic Romani came from the Central Romani dialect which branches off into other dialects. There are a total of around 31,500 users in all countries. [2]

Contents

Classification

Baltic Romani is classified as a member of the Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Indo-Aryan Central Zone, Romani, and Central Romani language families.

History

The first speakers of this language settled in southeast Europe during the 10th and 13th centuries in large swaths. From the 14th century onward, the language spread to central and western Europe as well. The immigrants that spoke this language typically had a darker complexion and many of these speakers were referred to as Gypsies. Comparisons between other languages later revealed it most likely originated from the Indian subcontinent. [3]

Geographic distribution

This language is spoken in the following countries; [4]

Official status

This language is not an official language in any particular country but has other statuses in those which it is spoken. [4]

Dialects and varieties

Dialects are as follows;

('CL' stands for the main contact language):

Phonology

There are three simple stop positions in the Romani language. These come from the Indo-Aryan and are maintained in every dialect of this language. The positions are as follows; labial /p/, dental /t/, and velar /k/. Along with these stop positions, there are also palatal positions which are unique to the Romani language. [8] Specific voicing alterations have changed grammatical endings and different dialects have different ways of interpreting vowels. Some have morphed into newer versions of the Romani language and others have implemented other elements like screams. [9]

Grammar

In the Romani language, the noun changes the endings of sentences to show meaning. It is used to illustrate how that specific word acts in sentence and is similar to Latin. [10] Romani verbs are similar to those in the Italian, Spanish, and Latin languages. Depending on who is committing the action, the verb ending changes. There are many different verb endings in Romani which change the meaning of words. There are also different verb endings according to past and present tense in the language. [11] The language also has grammatical genders as there are both masculine and feminine words. There are definite articles in this language along with, "different articles for masculine and feminine nouns, for subject and non-subject and for singular and plural articles". [12]

Morphology

The language began as an Indo-European language morphed into an Indo-Iranian language. From there it morphed into an Indo-Aryan language which eventually led to Romani. After that the Romani language broke down into Balkan Romani and Central Romani. Baltic Romani came from the Central Romani dialect which branches off to the many other dialects listed above.

Syntax

Baltic languages, such as Baltic Romani, have unique rules that their numerals follow when they are written. Their numerals govern their nominals but not to the degree that Slavic languages do. [13] Baltic genitives mark partial objects and sometimes subjects and also play a prominent role in the syntax of numeral constructions. Baltic languages are very similar as both Latvian and Latvian Romani share the same opposition of preverbs and verb particles. [14]

Vocabulary

There is a large Indo-Aryan presence in this language that appears mainly in reference to body parts and functions. [15] Along with bodily parts and functions, the Indo-Aryan presence also resides in words that reference time, nature, landscape, numerals, animals, and plants. [16] There is a pre-European lexicon that is mixed in this language that mainly refers to spiritual and religious ideas, tools, and artefacts. [16] Dwellings and Places are not represented the best in the inherited lexicon of this language. [17]

Examples

Using the word "sap" which means snake in Baltic Romani and is also a noun, the sentence it is used in will change as the noun does.

"Sap" (snake, subject of sentence) A snake is on the branch. [10]

"Sapes" (snake, object of a sentence) I saw a snake. [10]

"Sapeske" for a snake. [10]

Related Research Articles

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The Baltic languages are a branch of the Indo-European language family spoken natively or as a second language by a population of about 6.5–7.0 million people mainly in areas extending east and southeast of the Baltic Sea in Europe. Together with the Slavic languages, they form the Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Latvian language</span> Baltic language of Latvia

The Latvian language, also known as Lettish, is an Eastern Baltic language belonging to the Baltic branch of the Indo-European language family, spoken in the Baltic region. It is the language of Latvians and the official language of Latvia as well as one of the official languages of the European Union. There are about 1.2 million native Latvian speakers in Latvia and 100,000 abroad. Altogether, 2 million, or 80% of the population of Latvia, spoke Latvian in the 2000s, before the total number of inhabitants of Latvia slipped to less than 1.9 million in 2022. Of those, around 1.16 million or 62% of Latvia's population used it as their primary language at home, though excluding the Latgale region it is spoken as a native language in villages and towns by over 90% of the population.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lithuanian language</span> Baltic language spoken in Lithuania

Lithuanian is an Eastern Baltic language belonging to the Baltic branch of the Indo-European language family. It is the official language of Lithuania and one of the official languages of the European Union. There are approximately 2.8 million native Lithuanian speakers in Lithuania and about 1,000,000 speakers elsewhere. Around half a million inhabitants of Lithuania of non-Lithuanian background speak Lithuanian daily as a second language.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indo-Aryan languages</span> Branch of the Indo-Iranian languages in the Indo-European language family

The Indo-Aryan languages are a branch of the Indo-Iranian languages in the Indo-European language family. As of the early 21st century, they have more than 800 million speakers, primarily concentrated in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal and Maldives. Moreover, apart from the Indian subcontinent, large immigrant and expatriate Indo-Aryan–speaking communities live in Northwestern Europe, Western Asia, North America, the Caribbean, Southeast Africa, Polynesia and Australia, along with several million speakers of Romani languages primarily concentrated in Southeastern Europe. There are over 200 known Indo-Aryan languages.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sinti</span> Indo-Aryan ethnic group

The Sinti are a subgroup of Romani people. They are found mostly in Germany, France and Italy and Central Europe, numbering some 200,000 people. They were traditionally itinerant, but today only a small percentage of Sinti remain unsettled. In earlier times, they frequently lived on the outskirts of communities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Balto-Slavic languages</span> Branch of the Indo-European language family

The Balto-Slavic languages form a branch of the Indo-European family of languages, traditionally comprising the Baltic and Slavic languages. Baltic and Slavic languages share several linguistic traits not found in any other Indo-European branch, which points to a period of common development and origin.

A mixed language is a language that arises among a bilingual group combining aspects of two or more languages but not clearly deriving primarily from any single language. It differs from a creole or pidgin language in that, whereas creoles/pidgins arise where speakers of many languages acquire a common language, a mixed language typically arises in a population that is fluent in both of the source languages.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Proto-Baltic language</span>

Proto-Baltic is the unattested, reconstructed ancestral proto-language of all Baltic languages. It is not attested in writing, but has been partly reconstructed through the comparative method by gathering the collected data on attested Baltic and other Indo-European languages. It represents the common Baltic speech that approximately was spoken between the 3rd millennium BC and ca. 5th century BC, after which it began dividing into Western and Eastern Baltic languages. Proto-Baltic is thought to have been a fusional language and is associated with the Corded Ware and Trzciniec cultures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vlax Romani language</span> Romani dialect group of southeastern Europe

Vlax Romani is a dialect group of the Romani language. Vlax Romani varieties are spoken mainly in Southeastern Europe by the Romani people. Vlax Romani can also be referred to as an independent language or as one dialect of the Romani language. Vlax Romani is the second most widely spoken dialect subgroup of the Romani language worldwide, after Balkan Romani.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Domari language</span> Indo-Aryan language

Domari is an endangered Indo-Aryan language, spoken by Dom people scattered across the Middle East and North Africa. The language is reported to be spoken as far north as Azerbaijan and as far south as central Sudan, in Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Palestine, Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Sudan, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Syria and Lebanon. Based on the systematicity of sound changes, it is known with a fair degree of certainty that the names Domari and Romani derive from the Indo-Aryan word ḍom. Although they are both Central Indo-Aryan languages, Domari and Romani do not derive from the same immediate ancestor. The Arabs referred to them as Nawar as they were a nomadic people that originally immigrated to the Middle East from the Indian subcontinent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Inflection</span> Process of word formation

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carpathian Romani</span> Group of dialects of the Romani language

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References

  1. ↑ Baltic Romani at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022) Closed Access logo transparent.svg
    Finnish Kalo at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022) Closed Access logo transparent.svg
  2. ↑ "Romani, Baltic". Joshua Project. Retrieved September 13, 2023.
  3. ↑ Bakker, Peter; Kiuchukov, Khristo (2000). What is the Romani Language?. Univ of Hertfordshire Press. p. 49.
  4. 1 2 "Romani, Baltic". Ethnologue. Retrieved 2017-05-05.
  5. ↑ Калинин В. И. (2019). Ученые записки ВГУ имени П.М. Машерова : cборник научных трудов. Витебск. p. 152.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  6. ↑ Biblii︠a︡ : Pė Baltíko Romaní chib (Romanės). Valʹdemar Kalinin. Biel. 2014. ISBN   978-2-940059-20-1. OCLC   1062281925.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: others (link)
  7. ↑ Biblii︠a︡ : Pė Baltíko Romaní chib (Romanės). Valʹdemar Kalinin. Biel. 2014. ISBN   978-2-940059-20-1. OCLC   1062281925.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: others (link)
  8. ↑ Matras, Yaron (2002-06-06). Romani: A Linguistic Introduction. Cambridge University Press. p. 49. ISBN   9781139433242.
  9. ↑ Matras, Yaron (2002-06-06). Romani: A Linguistic Introduction. Cambridge University Press. p. 56. ISBN   9781139433242.
  10. 1 2 3 4 Bakker, Peter; Kiuchukov, Khristo (2000). What is the Romani Language?. Univ of Hertfordshire Press. p. 33.
  11. ↑ Bakker, Peter; Kiuchukov, Khristo (2000). What is the Romani Language?. Univ of Hertfordshire Press. pp. 33, 34.
  12. ↑ Bakker, Peter; Kiuchukov, Khristo (2000). What is the Romani Language?. Univ of Hertfordshire Press. p. 35.
  13. ↑ Dahl, Östen; Koptjevskaja-Tamm, Maria (2001-12-31). Circum-Baltic Languages: Volume 2: Grammar and Typology. John Benjamins Publishing. pp. 342, 343. ISBN   9789027297273.
  14. ↑ Dahl, Östen; Koptjevskaja-Tamm, Maria (2001-12-31). Circum-Baltic Languages: Volume 2: Grammar and Typology. John Benjamins Publishing. p. 437. ISBN   9789027297273.
  15. ↑ Matras, Yaron (2002-06-06). Romani: A Linguistic Introduction. Cambridge University Press. p. 27. ISBN   9781139433242.
  16. 1 2 Matras, Yaron (2002-06-06). Romani: A Linguistic Introduction. Cambridge University Press. p. 28. ISBN   9781139433242.
  17. ↑ Matras, Yaron (2002-06-06). Romani: A Linguistic Introduction. Cambridge University Press. pp. 28., 29. ISBN   9781139433242.

Bibliography

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