Romany Language
Romany, or Romani, is
an Indo-Aryan language spoken by about 5-6 million Roma people throughtout
Europe and the USA. The largest concetration of Roma people live in Romania. In
English these people are often called Gypsies. The language is closely related
to the languages of northern India, particularly Punjabi, and the Roma are
thought to have originally come from that region. Some people consider Romany
to be a group of dialects while others think there are several, closely-related
Romany languages.
The Muslim invasions of
the northern part of the Indian subcontinent around 1000 AD resulted in massive
movements of populations, probably including the ancestors of the Roma, who are
thought to have moved into Anatolia. In 1300, after the Mongolian invasion of
Europe, the Roma moved west into Europe and took up a mainly nomadic lifestyle.
Romany alphabet (Romani
šib)
This is the official
standard alphabet for Romany. It was standardized in 1990 at the Fourth World
Romani Congress in Serock, Poland. This alphabet is used by all the Romany
languages/dialects except Carpathian Romany and Finnish Romany.
Lovari Roma
The Lovari are subgroup
of the Roma people who speak a dialect of Romani influenced by Hungarian. They
live in many parts of Europe, including Hungary, Romania, Poland, France,
Germany, Italy and Greece.
Lovari Romani alphabet
and pronunciation
Sample text in Romani
Sa e manušikane strukture
bijandžona tromane thaj jekhutne ko digniteti thaj capipa. Von si baxtarde em
barvale gndaja thaj godžaja thaj trubun jekh avereja te kherjakeren ko vodži
pralipaja.