Under the wolf sun. Gypsy dictionary - malyutka_e — LiveJournal Which group does the Gypsy language belong to?

Gypsies are one of the most amazing people you can meet in the world. Many would envy their inner liberation and lifelong optimism. The gypsies never had their own state, and yet they carried their traditions and culture through the centuries. In terms of the degree of their presence on the planet, they can compete with another people, until recently scattered around the world - the Jews. It is no coincidence that Jews and Gypsies were at the very top of the list of those representatives of the human race that were subject to complete destruction, according to Hitler's racial laws. But if many books have been written and many films have been made about the genocide of Jews - the Holocaust, dozens of museums in different countries are dedicated to this topic, then few people know about Kali Trash - the genocide of the Gypsies. Simply because there was no one to stand up for the gypsies.

Figure 1. Gypsy girl. Eastern Europe
Source unknown

Both Jews and Gypsies are united by a belief in their own special destiny, which, in fact, helped them survive - after all, both Jews and Gypsies lived for centuries as minorities among other peoples, with languages, customs, and religions alien to them, but at the same time At the same time they were able to maintain their identity. Like the Jews, the gypsies found themselves scattered across different countries in Europe, the Middle East, the Caucasus, and North Africa. Both peoples “kept to their roots”, practically without mixing with the local population. Both Jews and Gypsies have divisions into “us” and “outsiders” (Rom-Gazhe among the Gypsies, Jews-Goyim among the Jews). It is noteworthy that neither one nor the other constituted the majority of the population anywhere - and therefore found themselves without statehood by the beginning of the 20th century.

Before the creation of the State of Israel, Jews from different regions of Eurasia used different languages. Thus, the Jews of Central and Eastern Europe spoke almost exclusively Yiddish, a Germanic language very similar to German, but using the Hebrew alphabet. Persian Jews and Central Asian Jews spoke Judeo-Persian and other Judeo-Iranian languages. Jews of the Middle East and North Africa spoke in various Jewish-Arab dialectsktah. Sephardim, descendants of Jews expelled from Spain and Portugal in the 15th-16th centuries, spoke a Sephardic language (Ladino), close to Spanish.The Roma, who do not have their own statehood, also speak several dialects that differ significantly from each other. Each locality uses its own dialect, with a large amount of borrowed vocabulary. Thus, in Russia, Ukraine, and Romania, dialects with a great influence of Romanian and Russian are used. The Roma people of Western Europe speak dialects with borrowings from German and French. On the periphery of the Gypsy settlement area (modern Finland, Spain, Portugal, Scotland, Wales, Armenia, etc.) they use local languages ​​interspersed with Gypsy vocabulary.

It is noteworthy that not only gypsies incorporate vocabulary into their language, but also “aboriginal” peoples borrow some words. For example, widespread Russian jargons are of gypsy origin: love (money), steal (steal), haval (eat, eat), labat (play a musical instrument). The English words lollipop (lollipop), pal (buddy), chav (chavnik), tiny (small, tiny) are similar. Changes also occurred in the cultural environment: in Russia, especially in the twentieth century, gypsy ensembles became widespread, enjoying enormous popularity among all levels of society. In southern Spain, the gypsies created the musical style of flamenco.

So where did the gypsies come from, why did they end up scattered all over the world, and why are they so disliked wherever they have the misfortune of living? The dark skin color and dark hair color clearly indicate that the ancestors of the gypsies came to Europe from the south. The territory of the North Indian state of Rajasthan is still home to several tribes that are considered related to the current gypsies. The largest of them are the banjars; in addition to the Banjars, the possible ancestors of the Gypsies also include the Chamars, Lohars, Doms and Qajars.

Figure 2. Banjar teenager in festive costume. Rajasthan (Northwest India).
Photo by the author.

Historians have not yet been able to establish for certain when exactly the gypsies set off on their great journey, but it is assumed that this happened in the interval between VI and X centuries AD. The route of movement is more accurately known. Having left North-West India, the nomadic tribes first lived for a long time in the territory of modern Iran and Turkey, from there they began to move north - to the territory of modern Bulgaria, Serbia and Greece. Later, from about XV century, the gypsies, through the territory of modern Romania, began to settle first in the countries of Central Europe (modern Germany, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia), then moved to Scandinavia, the British Isles, and Spain. Around the same time ( XV - XVI century) another branch of the gypsies, having passed from the territory of modern Iran and Turkey through Egypt, settled throughout the countries of North Africa and also reached modern Spain and Portugal. At the end XVII centuries, the gypsies found themselves in the outlying territories of the Russian Empire (modern Baltic states, Crimea, Moldova).

Why did the gypsies leave their homes and go on a long journey? Scientists do not yet know the exact answer, but they suggest that, most likely, several nomadic Indian tribes at some point began to go beyond the traditional settlement area. Currently in India, about five percent of the population constantly migrates - as a rule, these are itinerant artisans whose route is more or less constant. The basis of the nomadic lifestyle of the gypsies and their Indian ancestors was not a “romantic desire to change places,” as some readers may imagine based on the stories of M. Gorky and the films of E. Loteanu, but an economic factor: camp artisans needed markets for their products, artists needed a new audience for their performances, fortune tellers needed a change in clientele. In each specific case, the nomadic area was relatively small - approximately 300-500 square kilometers. This may explain the fact that it took the nomads several centuries to reach Western Europe.

As the nomadic tribes moved further and further from their historical homeland, they became more and more consolidated. In India, many tribes form a separate caste - the total number of castes in this country exceeds 3000, transitions between castes are difficult or completely prohibited. Most likely, the ancestors of modern gypsies who left the territory of Hindustan belonged to different castes (their main occupations were blacksmithing and pottery, basket weaving, making and tinning cauldrons, street performances, fortune telling, etc.). While they were in the territory of present-day Iran and Afghanistan, they did not stand out too much from the indigenous inhabitants - they were almost the same dark-haired and dark-skinned. In addition, there were many nomadic cattle breeders around, so the gypsy lifestyle did not seem special to others.

As the gypsies moved further and further from their historical homeland, their differences in clothing and traditions became increasingly noticeable in comparison with the local population. Apparently, then the various Indian caste tribes began to gradually grow together, forming a new community, which we call “gypsies.”

Other changes were also taking place. One of the largest and most powerful states in X - XIV centuries, on the territory of Europe and Asia Minor there was Byzantium, which at that time occupied the territory of modern Turkey, Greece and Bulgaria. Several hundred years of residence on the territory of Christian Byzantium led to the fact that the gypsies adopted Christianity, apparently this happened around XII - XIV centuries. Byzantine written sources of that time do not in any way distinguish Gypsies from other social and ethnic groups. This indirectly indicates that at that time the Roma were not perceived as a marginal or criminal group.

The Byzantine Empire was one of the longest living empires in history. It existed for more than a thousand years, but by the middle XV century completely faded away and fell under pressure from the Ottoman Turks. As Byzantium faded, the gypsies set off again - they began to settle throughout the lands of the surrounding countries. It was then that the process of marginalization of the Roma began.

Europe XV centuries, it lost to many Eastern countries in technology and living standards. The era of great sea voyages, which opened up new lands and rich opportunities for Europeans, was just beginning. The industrial and bourgeois revolutions, which put Europe at a height unattainable for other countries, were still far away. Europeans at that time lived meagerly, there was not enough food for everyone, and they did not need other people’s mouths at all. The negative attitude towards the gypsies as “extra mouths to feed” was aggravated by the fact that during the collapse of Byzantium, the most mobile, most adventurous groups of gypsies, among whom there were many beggars, petty thieves, and fortune tellers, moved to Europe, as is usually the case during social cataclysms. Honest workers, who at one time received numerous letters of privilege in Byzantium, were apparently in no hurry to move to new lands, hoping to adapt to the new order of the Ottoman Turks. By the time craftsmen, animal trainers, artists and horse traders (representatives of typical gypsy professions) arrived in Central and Western Europe, they fell under the already established negative stereotype of perception and were unable to change it.

An additional factor in the marginalization of the Roma were the guild and territorial restrictions of medieval Europe. The right to engage in crafts was then passed on by inheritance - so the son of a shoemaker became a shoemaker, and the son of a blacksmith became a blacksmith. It was impossible to change profession; In addition, most residents of medieval cities had never been outside the city walls in their entire lives and were wary of all strangers. Gypsy artisans arriving in Central Europe were faced with a hostile and negative attitude from the local population and the fact that, due to guild restrictions, they could not engage in the crafts with which they had long earned a living (primarily working with metal).

Since XVI century, economic relations in Europe began to change. Manufactories arose, which led to the massive ruin of artisans. In England, the need for grassland for the textile industry led to a policy of enclosure, in which peasants were driven off their common lands and the freed-up land was used for sheep grazing. Since unemployment benefits and other mechanisms to support socially vulnerable segments of the population did not exist at that time, the number of vagrants, petty robbers and beggars grew. Cruel laws were passed against them throughout Europe, often imposing the death penalty for begging. Nomadic, semi-nomadic, as well as gypsies who tried to settle, but became bankrupt, became victims of these laws.

Fleeing from persecution by the authorities, the gypsies became more secretive - they moved at night, lived in caves, forests and other secluded places. This contributed to the emergence and widespread dissemination of myths about gypsies as cannibals, Satanists, vampires and werewolves. At the same time, rumors appeared about gypsies kidnapping children (allegedly for food consumption and satanic rituals).

The spiral of mutual mistrust and rejection continued to unwind. Due to the limited or complete absence of legal opportunities for earning money, the gypsies, forced to somehow find food for themselves, increasingly began to engage in theft, robbery and other not entirely legal activities.

Figure 5. Nikolai Bessonov. "Prediction of fate."

In a hostile external environment, the Roma (especially the Roma from Western European countries) began to culturally “close themselves in,” literally and strictly following ancient traditions. In search of a better life, the gypsies gradually began to settle in the countries of Northern and Eastern Europe, moving to the countries of the New World, but almost nowhere did they switch to a sedentary lifestyle and almost nowhere were they able to integrate into local society - everywhere they remained strangers.

In XX century, many countries have made attempts to destroy the traditionalism of the Roma, tie them to a permanent place of residence, and give them the opportunity to earn money through official employment. In the USSR, this policy was relatively successful - about ninety percent of all Roma settled.

The collapse of the Soviet bloc countries led to the destruction of the way of life of the Roma in Eastern Europe and the former USSR. Until the mid-1990s, Roma in the USSR and other Eastern European countries were actively engaged in small-scale underground production, speculation and other similar illegal businesses. The disappearance of shortages and the development of a market economy in the countries of the Soviet bloc deprived the Roma of the niche due to which they prospered in the second half XX century. The low level of education and the lack of a long-term view on the development of their own business led to the fact that the majority of the Roma were squeezed out of the sphere of small trade, thanks to which the Roma flourished in the 1980-1990s.

Impoverished Roma returned to begging, and also became increasingly involved in drug sales, fraud and petty theft. The disappearance of the Iron Curtain in the USSR and the opening of borders in Europe contributed to an increase in Roma migration. For example, Romanian gypsies in the 2010s. began to actively move to the countries of Western and Northern Europe, where they are also mainly engaged in begging and other socially condemned ways of earning money.

So, the gypsies, leaving India about a thousand years ago, gradually dispersed as artisans throughout the Middle East and Asia Minor. As the Byzantine Empire faded, that is, approximately from the beginning XV century, the gypsies gradually began to settle in the countries of Central, Eastern, Northern and Western Europe, and starting from XVIII centuries began to move to the countries of the New World. Faced with the guild restrictions of feudal Europe, the gypsies gradually sank to the social bottom, everywhere eking out dubious, not entirely legal ways of earning money.

In XX century, many countries began to pursue policies to force the ancient nomadic people to a sedentary lifestyle. The younger generation of Roma began to attend schools, secondary specialized and higher educational institutions; Engineers, doctors, and scientists appeared among representatives of a people who had been illiterate for centuries.

What will happen next? It seems that the Roma will either be marginalized again, sinking to the social bottom, or will gradually integrate into the society around them, raising their educational and cultural level, mastering modern professions and adopting skills and customs from more successful peoples. The path of gradual assimilation is also possible - for example, already now the gypsy groups of the British Isles, Transcarpathia and Central Asia have completely or almost completely lost their native language. In those countries where they can gain access to education, Roma will gradually integrate more and more into the world around them on decent terms. In these regions, while maintaining their originality, they will be able to create a new level of culture, rethink traditions - just as the South Koreans or Finns rethought their traditions, having gone from a primitive economy to economic prosperity in a few decades XX century. Where this works out, friction between the gypsies and the indigenous population will decrease, and the original, vibrant customs of the ancient nomadic people will attract the interest not of law enforcement officials, but of tourists, historians and the general public.

In addition to Jews and gypsies, that list also included those born with congenital neurological and somatic diseases, homosexuals, the mentally retarded, people with mental illnesses and many other categories of people - from Hitler’s point of view, all of them were inferior, and because of this, they were initially subject to all sorts of restrictions, then - isolation and destruction.

Most modern states, especially European ones, were formed in the 17th - 19th centuries on the basis of the national identity of the peoples inhabiting the corresponding territory. In the bulk of modern states, representatives of the titular people make up the overwhelming majority of the population.

Most modern gypsies consider themselves Christians, although the gypsy version of Christianity differs from all other faiths and movements. At the same time, the Roma living in the territory of the Ottoman Empire and other Muslim states actively converted to Islam.

It is noteworthy that the attitude towards Jews and Gypsies among European peoples was very similar. Despite the fact that many Jews were able to find a way to socially integrate into the life of European society, at the everyday level they were presented with the same complaints as the gypsies: kidnapping of babies, satanic rituals, etc. Just like the gypsies, the Jews responded by withdrawing even more within their community (they did not communicate with non-Jews, did business only with fellow believers, did not marry non-Jews, etc.), which caused even greater rejection. At the everyday level, anti-Semitism, as well as anti-Gypsy sentiments, were widespread - without them, the terrible German racial laws would not have been enforced.

Both carrot and stick methods were used. Thus, laws were passed providing for the criminal prosecution of gypsy vagabonds (they were equated with parasites). At the same time, local authorities really made efforts to integrate and assimilate the Roma - they were employed, they were provided with housing, and their level of education was improved. The world's first gypsy theater "Romen" was created in the USSR, which still exists today.

I was visiting and saw with my own eyes the “world’s first” gypsy alphabet from Ukraine. I thought that the first place on the list of my favorite books all my life would be Butenko’s raw food bible, but no! “Godvaro dromoro”, that is, the gypsy alphabet from a neighboring state, immediately supplanted it and took the vacated place of honor.

First, the good stuff. Firstly, having the opportunity to learn to read first in a native, well-known language is good. Secondly, such alphabets also serve the role of expanding vocabulary in relation to the state language, and “Godvaro Dromoro” more or less sets such a task and in some cases even fulfills it.

It would be much better if it fulfilled it completely. I do not undertake to predict the reaction of the gypsy children when they find out that it turns out:

KHAMITKO is "hot" and "yellow"
CHARITKO - green
BALIBNAKIRO - blue
BUZNURO - goat
BALYCHKHO - pig
BALA - braids
ZOR - health
PIRANGO - naked
ROARCHUNO - bear
UPR - uphill
CHERGENYA - star

And I haven’t copied the texts for myself to read yet, if that’s the case.

The textbook, by the way, claims that CHARITKO VESH is a green forest, although a simple gypsy would never think of anything other than “bamboo thickets” (if he even knows that bamboo is grass). And YIVITKO BERGA, it turns out, is not a snow/ice slide, from which children ride in the winter on cardboard, briefcases and butts, but even an “iceberg”. It’s amazing that the Russians, since they had little to do with icebergs, borrowed this word. But the gypsies, it turns out, have no need to borrow, they have their own ancient, age-old word, indicating constant contact with icebergs.

There are very, very many awesome phrases and they are delicious. What gypsy can contemplate the phrase “BALIBNAKIRO BALIBAN” without falling into a stupor?! I could not. But especially many such combinations are used to invent names for vegetables. “Hairy apple” is, so you know, a kiwi. BARO NARANCHO - grapefruit (this is how the awesome construction of the expression “big grapefruit” appears). RAYKANO DUDUM - ready? Zucchini!!! The person in the singular is MANUSH. In the plural - ROMA. Amazing transformation of the root, I brush.

For some reason, the “door” took on the appearance of an Irish surname: O “DARA.” Just like that several times. And even without O, too, just DARA.

No less striking is the compilers’ confidence that the words TUMENGE and TUMENSA are certainly separated in the middle by a space: SASTYPEN TU MENGE, MEK YAVEL DEVEL TU MENSA.

But that's not all!

All letters, as expected, are represented through gypsy words. That's kind of the idea, right? Do you want to know what kind of gypsy word illustrates the letter “Y”?

But the most fun was the selection of fairy tales. Just imagine - the alphabet is ALL made in the Servitsky dialect. All. Except, for some reason, one fairy tale. Which is given in the Slovarian (if I’m not mistaken) dialect. For Russians, this is as if you were reading a book in Russian, and suddenly the text appeared in Czech. I can imagine the children's eyes trying to comprehend this. (And I even seem to know why this is so. The fairy tales were probably stupidly pulled from the brochures that organizations publish on April 8th. You know: a flag, an anthem, praise for the organization, one fairy tale in Gypsy. And along with the Servica brochures, I also came across a Lovarian one. Well and who cares, there’s a gypsy here and a gypsy there, right?)

Moreover!!!

Do you know what this fairy tale tells first-graders about?

About how GOD ALLOWED PEOPLE TO DECEPTION AND ROBBE for the help of the gypsy blacksmith to Christ.

Excellent moral education and excellent socialization of the younger gypsy generation in the interests of the state, I boast. Just great.

Comrades! Expensive! Is there a way to save the poor gypsy children of Ukraine from the gypsy alphabet given to them by the government?!?!?!

Gypsies have been living in Russia for several centuries. They can be found throughout the country - from the borders in the west to the Far East. Not a single horse market in the 19th century could do without their active participation. Their special dance and musical art brought them well-deserved fame. What language do these people speak? Is there a single gypsy language? After all, gypsies are different. There are Ukrainian servas, Romanian Vlachs, German Sinti, Crimean and Moldavian gypsies. What does gypsy linguistics say about this? Let's try to figure out what language the gypsies speak. What words were borrowed from it into our vocabulary?

Language formation process

Very often some people are called gypsies. What is this connected with? Most likely, they cannot sit in one place, they constantly change their place of residence or like to beg for something. A very interesting people are the gypsies. Europeans believed that they originally came from Egypt, which is why in many languages ​​the word “gypsy” is a derivative of “Egypt.”

In fact, a thousand years ago, several tribes from the north and west of India migrated to other countries. So they became gypsies. Some tribes ended up in Persia, others wandered near the lands of Turkey, some reached Syria, Egypt and North Africa. Being immigrants from India, these people retained the Indian language for communication.

Later, the gypsies migrated to the Balkans, Russia, and Hungary. Then they appeared in European countries: Germany, England, France, Spain, Sweden and Finland.

Centuries of wanderings led to the fact that the gypsy language borrowed words from other languages. After all, the gypsies had occupations that allowed them to roam. Some were engaged in wood carving, others made dishes, others danced, sang, wrote poetry, and told fortunes. They all loved horses and traded them. In Spain, the gypsies danced flamenco beautifully.

So, the Gypsy language belongs to the Indo-Aryan group of Indo-European languages. This language is also used by residents of Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh. It is this dialect that is considered the only Balkan language of Indian origin. The Gypsy dialect has two close relatives - the Domari language (used by the inhabitants of Jerusalem) and Lomavren (formerly used by the Armenians).

Since the gypsies traveled all over the world, the development of their dialect occurred in the form of separate dialects. In each country where gypsies lived, some of their own dialect features were formed.

Although the Gypsies separate themselves from other peoples, a single “Gypsy society” has not yet been formed. This leads to the extinction of Romani dialects.

Countries where gypsies live

How common is the Gypsy dialect today? The largest number of representatives of this people lives in Romania - about half a million people. The next country in terms of their number is Bulgaria - 370 thousand. About 300 thousand Roma live in Turkey. Over 250,000 people live in Hungary. The next country is France, where about 215,000 Roma live. The following list will show you the number of users of the Romani dialect in other countries:

• in Russia - 129,000;
• Serbia - 108,000;
• Slovakia - 106,000;
• Albania - 90,000;
• Germany - 85,000;
• Republic of Macedonia - 54,000;
• Ukraine - 47,000;
• Italy - 42,000;
• Bosnia and Herzegovina - 40,000.

In all other European countries their number is less than 20,000. There are only 1,000 representatives in the UK, Spain and Estonia.

A little grammar of the gypsy dialect

Gypsy dialect is characterized by a definite article of gender and number distinctions. The presence of seven cases is distinguished: nominative, accusative, dative, depositive, possessive, instrumental, vocative. All nouns have abstract concepts of the masculine gender. Pronouns have only six cases, without a vocative. There is no verb infinitive. Adjectives are declined when they refer to a noun.

Dialects

Sometimes speakers of different dialects of the Romani language do not understand each other well. Only conversations on everyday topics are generally understandable. The modern Gypsy language has three mega-groups:

1. Romani.
2. Lomavren.
3. Domari.

Each major dialect zone is further divided into smaller groups that include phonetic and grammatical innovations. Borrowing depends on the environment. The existence of the following largest dialect zones is noted:

• Northern. This includes Scandinavian, Finnish, Baltic gypsies, Sinti, and Russian Roma.
• Central. Austrian, Czech, Hungarian, Slovak dialects.
• Vlashskaya. Dialects: Lovari, Vlach, Kelderari.
• Balkan. Serbian, Bulgarian, Crimean gypsies.
• Servitskaya. Received strong influence from northeastern dialects.

In Russia, the most widespread is the Vlach dialect, borrowed from the language of the Romanian gypsies. From it came the local Northern Russian dialect. It is similar to the Polish, Czech, Slovak, Lithuanian dialect. It is important to note that on the basis of the Kelderari dialect, a project was drawn up for the supra-dialectal Koine - a common Gypsy language.

Moldovan and Romanian gypsies

In 2002, it was first celebrated in Moldova. The first mention of Moldavian gypsies was in 1428. Representatives of this people in Moldova, as in Romania, obey their baron. For many years, Moldovan Roma have been subjected to oppression. After all, in the nineteenth century it was still possible to buy an entire family of gypsies and use them as slaves.

The Baron of the Gypsies of Moldova today is Arthur Cerare. Here these people are mainly engaged in handicrafts. The houses of the gypsies can be recognized from afar, as well as their clothes. They decorate them colorfully and put entire paintings on the walls. Most often, the owners have enough skills for landscapes and flowers. There are also rich representatives of this people. Their houses look like mansions, churches or temples.

Features of Russian Gypsy dialects

The ancestors of Russian gypsies came to the country from Poland. They were engaged in horse trading, fortune telling, music and were Orthodox Christians. Now they can be found throughout the Russian Federation. People especially like their songs and dances. With the advent of the October Revolution, the Gypsy merchant class was completely destroyed, and the horse markets were closed. The Nazis were also subjected to this.

The dialect of Russian Roma is filled with tracings from Polish, German, and Russian. Suffixes and prefixes were borrowed. The most important feature of the Russian dialect is the use of the ending -ы. It is used in feminine nouns and adjectives and is similar to the ending -i. Examples: romny (gypsy), parny (white), loly (red). But with the ending -i: khurmi (porridge), churi (knife).

Here are examples of words that have common gypsy roots: dad (father), dai (mother), gray (horse), vast (hand), yakh (eye), yag (fire), pany (water). We will also give examples of words with borrowings from the Russian language: reka (river), rodo (clan), vesna (spring), bida (trouble), tsveto (color). The words taken from the Polish language are: sando (court), indaraka (skirt), skempo (stingy). The following borrowings were taken from the Germans: fälda (field), fanchtra (window), shtuba (apartment).

Gypsy words in Russian

Borrowings not only penetrate into the gypsy dialect, but also leave it. They especially fill the street, criminal, restaurant and musical vocabulary. Everyone knows that the word “lave” means money, because many gypsies often ask for it for fortune telling. “Steal” also comes from the gypsy dialect and means “to steal.” Often, instead of “to eat and eat,” the slang “to eat” is used. "Labat" is sometimes used to play a musical instrument. And very often young people use the word “dude,” which means “their guy.”

The most common gypsy phrases

If you want to study the most popular phrases of the nomadic people, you can turn to the Gypsy dictionary. The phrase “Gypsy language” itself is written in it as “Romano rakirebe”. Here are the most commonly used greeting phrases:

• bakhtales - hello;
• dubridin - hello;
• misto yavyan - welcome;
• deves lacho - good afternoon.

In addition to greetings, you may be interested in other standard phrases:

• yaven saste - be healthy;
• nais - thank you;
• lachi ryat - good night;
• cheese here kharen - what is your name;
• sorry - excuse me;
• me here kamam - I love you;
• me here mangawa - I ask you;
• me shukar - I'm fine;
• Miro Devel - My God!

In literature and art

Gypsy dialect is more often used as a colloquial dialect. Nevertheless, some books are written in this dialect. The following writers used it to write works: Lexa Manush, Papusha, Mateo Maximov. It is also worth noting Georgy Tsvetkov, Valdemar Kalinin, Janusz Panchenko, Dzhura Makhotin, Ilona Makhotina. There are a number of other writers who used the gypsy dialect in their works.

Mostly small prose forms and poetry were written on it. Poetry has always been a traditional entertainment for these people. But you can’t write a prose work without some preparation.

There is a theater "Pralipe", where performances are performed in the Gypsy dialect. Nikolai Shishkin's first operetta also stages productions in the Roma language.

Two directors making films in this language have become widely known. This is Tony Gatlif. The Roma language was used in the films “Strange Stranger”, “Lucky”, “Exiles”, “Time of the Gypsies”.

Gypsies in the USA

In Canada and the USA you can also meet Roma, but there are very few of them here. They are represented by all three branches of European gypsies: Kale, Sinti, Roma. How did the representatives get to America? They came there in different years. These were mainly Roma artists from the countries of the former USSR, as well as from the Czech Republic and Romania.

For American gypsies there is no single way of life and a single culture; they have dissolved among the most diverse segments of the population. Some became marginalized, others became big businessmen. In North America, virtuoso guitarist Vadim Kolpakov, professor Ronald Lee, writer Emil Demeter, and musician Evgeniy Gudz became famous.

Most Americans have a vague idea about this people. Gypsy culture seems distant and exotic to them. It is estimated that there are about a million Roma in the United States. Some of them have to suffer from stereotypes in the field of employment.

The threat of extinction of gypsy dialects

Some European gypsies are still nomadic, but most are accustomed to a sedentary lifestyle. The dialect of this people was strongly influenced by Slavic and other languages. Therefore, there is a high probability of losing it. There are approximately 3-4 million native Roma speakers throughout Europe. The main obstacle to its spread is considered to be the low literacy level of the Roma. Although Kosovo, Macedonia, Croatia, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Germany, Finland, and Hungary recognize it as a language of national minorities.

The big disadvantage of the gypsy dialect is its neglect. Grammar and vocabulary are in a fairly primitive state. It is even easier for these people to preserve their identity at the level of everyday life, but at the level of speech it is very bad. There are very few Gypsy prefixes and particles, so the language is littered with Russian elements. However, today in some countries groups are working to standardize the Romani language. Romania even has a unified system for teaching the Romani language. In Serbia, some channels and radio programs are broadcast on it.

In Russia, Roma use the Cyrillic alphabet.

A a, B b, V c, G g, Ґ ґ, D d, E e, Yo e, F g, Z h, I i, J j, K k, L l, M m, N n, O o , P p, R r, S s, T t, U y, F f, X x, C c, Ch h, Sh w, s, b, E e, Yu y, I am

As we can see, the Gypsy alphabet is distinguished by one letter from the Russian alphabet, which served as the basis: ґ . It denotes a sound between G And X, as in the word Giril(peas).

Aspiration after a consonant is indicated by the letter X: pharo(heavy), Thud(milk), kher(house).

Letters A a, Her, Her, Oh oh, U y, s, Uh uh, Yu Yu, I I are vowels. They are easy to remember: each of them is easy to sing, stretch, hum.

Letters B b, In in, G g, Ґ ґ , D d, F, Z z, K k, L l, Mm, N n, P p, R r, With with, T t, F f, X x, Ts ts, H h, Sh sh are consonant.

Letter Thy, also known as " yot", is a semivowel.

When writing, many Roma have difficulty rendering iotated vowels at the beginning of a word or after a vowel and consonants at the end of a word.

For example, some write Yone, other Yone, third yone. The correct, literary use would be " yot" + A, O, at, and the letters I, e,Yu. If iotation is very noticeable in your dialect, you can write it through " yot", but then it should not be followed by already iotated vowels (I, ё, yu). The exception is the combinations " yot"+e, And, characteristic of some dialects: gaye(non-gypsies), Yeiben(life), yekkh(one), yiv(snow).

In the middle of the word " yot" not used: Leya(did) singing(drank), gya(walked) etc.

The vowel at the end of a word is usually devoiced, i.e. chib(tongue) sounds like [chip], Thud(milk) like [thut]. However, which real letter needs to be written can be determined by deriving a diminutive form from the word: chibori(tongue), thudoro(milk).

Rule: Do you want to know what comes at the end of a word? Say it kindly!

Several strengthening exercises.

1. Try to remember and write a few words starting with an iot vowel. So you will see whether you understand what a “iotated vowel” is, and you will get used to the fact that it is called that.

2. Write some aspirated words after P, To, T.

3. Insert the correct letter at the end of the word (instead of the ellipsis):

Bibah... (grief)
rain... (rain)
bya... (wedding)
you... (hand)
ha... (shirt)
glo... (voice)
yes... (father)
jo... (oats)
dra... (tea)
I... (fire)
porridge... (wood)
la... (word, name)
ma... (meat)
ra... (night)
ru... (wolf)
tha... (thread)

Don't be surprised if some words are unfamiliar: I specially selected words from different adverbs.

4. Exercise to get used to the order of letters in the Gypsy alphabet.
Place the words in alphabetical order.

Pany (water), bala (hair), yakh (eye), odi (soul), thuv (smoke), zholtiro (yolk), danda (teeth), lilo (book), angrusty (ring), vesh (forest), roy (spoon), mursh (man), gera (legs), nakh (nose), ublady (loop), felda (field), ilo (heart), zor (strength), yiv (snow), holado (soldier), years (mind), kana (ears), shtar (four), herds (hat), tsypa (skin), chib (tongue)

An exercise to check (if you suddenly want) can be sent to me at [email protected] . You can ask me for the correct answers, especially if some words are unfamiliar :)

4. Gypsy alphabet ( Romano alphabetAnd That)

The alphabet for the literary Gypsy language, created on the basis of the Northern Russian dialect, officially adopted on May 10, 1927, has 32 characters.

The differences from the Russian alphabet are very minor. Only one additional character is entered. This is the 5th letter - “Ґ with a nose.” It serves to designate a special sound [g] like the Ukrainian long, that is, fricative G, as in the word boo[xg] alter. For example: garA - a long time ago (with a long time) G), But garadO – hidden (with short, ordinary G). In addition, the letters Ш and Ъ were not initially included in the alphabet. Accordingly, instead of more it was suggested to write Yeshe , and instead fromI h(leave me alone) - from'I h. It must be said that these artificial restrictions were partly the embodiment of the theoretical principles of the creators of the alphabet, and partly were caused by the spelling fashion of the current moment (the rejection of the letter Ъ in post-revolutionary Russia). Subsequently, they did not take hold, and Russian gypsies, when recording their speech, in practice did not abandon the letters Ш and Ъ. In this book, these letters are also used when writing Russian words borrowed into the Gypsy language.

5. Gypsy pronunciation ( Romano vyrakiribuh n)

Vowel sounds

Stressed vowels are pronounced almost the same as the corresponding sounds in Russian words. For example: bakht(f.) – luck, share, happiness, con- Who, blow– two / two, Dykh- Look, ker– do, or after soft ones: yag(f.) – fire, yev- He, chuv- put it down pi- drink, belv e l(f.) - evening.

However, there are pronunciation options that are quite acceptable from the point of view of the Gypsy language, but are not characteristic of Russian. Along with nan uh – no (not available) pronunciation occurs sporadically nan s . That is, [e] and [s] under stress do not differ in the same way as in Russian. It can be said that [e] in the Gypsy language, even under stress, often turns out to be a narrower vowel in individual pronunciation than Russian [e], cat uh R And cat s R- piece.

Unstressed vowels are usually pronounced almost the same as the corresponding stressed sounds. This is a striking difference between Gypsy pronunciation and Russian. If there is some change in the unstressed vowel [o] or [e], then the shift does not occur in the same direction as in Russian literary (Moscow) pronunciation. For example, pronounced Galev A va And Galiuv A va– I’m guessing. Widely known gypsy word fishing uh (money) Russians pronounce as [lАв uh]. Different gypsies pronounce this word differently: from pure [lOv uh] to narrowed [lUv uh], but “akanya” is never found *[lAv uh]. The same can be said about the sound [o] after soft consonants. For example, the word yeon uh (they) sounds different: from [jOn uh] to [yun uh], but the Russian “yakanya” is never found *[yAn uh] or “hiccup” *[(th)In uh].

As a precautionary measure to avoid “akanya,” it can be recommended to practice artificially increasing the rounding of the lips when pronouncing the vowel [o] in an unstressed position, gradually moving from [o] to [u]. For example:

Table

The unstressed vowel [e] can also be narrowed. For example, kher A (pl.) – “house A" or kher uh – “d O ma" is pronounced in the range from pure [khEr A] / [khEr uh] to narrowed [khYr A] / [khYr uh]. However, this type of unstressed vowel change is the same in Russian and Romani languages.

Particular attention should be paid to the pronunciation of unstressed I[a] after soft consonants. For example: chev A le!(address) - “Guys! (gypsies!)" is pronounced with [hA-], not *[hIv A le], like, for example, Russian hour A mi[hH A mi].

Can be recommended as an artificial measure to control and prevent shifts in pronunciation [cha] - [chi] to do on cha- weak stress, as, for example, in combination cha s to h A With, where the weak stress is on the first cha-, and the main and stronger stress is on the second cha-. That is, to put it simply, it is recommended to pronounce chev A le as if it were written cha_v A le. You just have to say it without a pause, in unison.

Consonants

Consonant sounds [p], [b], [f], [v], [m], [t], [d], [s], [z], [r], [l], [n], [k], [g], [x], [y], [zh], [sh], [ts] are pronounced in the Northern Russian dialect of the Gypsy language in the same way as the corresponding Russian sounds, denoted by the same signs of the Russian alphabet . Before b and letters And, e, e, Yu, I consonants [p'], [b'], [f'], [v'], [m'], [t'], [d'], [s'], [z'], [p'] , [l'], [n'], [k'], [g'], [x'] are pronounced softly. For example: [l] – [l’]: Gil s (f.) – song, Gil I (plural) – songs, [k] – [k’]: ker- do it kin- buy it. The sounds [th] and [ch'] in this dialect are always pronounced softly, the sounds [zh], [sh], [ts] are always pronounced firmly.

dad(m.) – father [dat], yag(f.) – fire [yak].

You should pay attention to the specific consonant sounds of the Gypsy language, which do not have special signs for their designation, but are indicated by combinations of letters. However, it is important to keep in mind that these are distinct and integral sounds.

The so-called affricates (complex sounds) [ts] and [ch’] have voiced pairs [dz] and [d’zh’], also pronounced together. For example: ts s pa(f.) – skin, chick A ri(m.) – skinner, but: zevel s (f.) – scrambled eggs, b A nza(f.) – shop, store. However, there are also cases of loss of [dz] and its confusion with the usual [z]: zet And zet(m.) – vegetable oil, zen And zen(f.) – saddle. Also: chev O (m.) – guy (gypsy), son, chen(m.) – month, but: j I va- I'm going, jev(f.) – oats.

In Russian, the fused sounds [dz] and [d’zh’] also occur, but are perceived as variants of [ts] and [ch’]. Compare, for example, literary pronunciation ts And h in combinations con e [dz]_ G O Yes, P e [d'zh']_ Crap s .

The aspirated consonants [kh], [ph], [th], also pronounced together, constitute a specific feature of the Gypsy language, uniting it with other modern Indian languages. The sounds [kh], [ph], [th] should be distinguished from simple [k], [p], [t], they are included in the roots of different words. For example: kher(m.) – house, but: ker- do; phar O – heavy, but: steam at V– change; thuw(m.) – smoke, but: that- You.

In a number of other dialects of the Romani language there is another aspirated [chh]. For example, in the Belarusian dialect, also of the Baltic group, they differ in the initial sounds chang(f.) – ‘knee’ and chuck O (m.) – ‘guy (gypsy)’, while the northern Russian dialect of the gypsy language did not preserve this distinction: chang(f.) – ‘knee’ and chev O (m.) – ‘guy (gypsy)’. [ch] and [chkh] also differ in a number of other dialect groups, for example, in Vlash. Wed. Kalderari: chang(f.) – ‘knee’, but shav(m.) – ‘guy (gypsy)’. The list of roots with historical [hh] in our dialect is small, for example: ah e l– leaves; bunch e l– asks; chen(m.) – month; black(m.) – thief; chib(f.) – tongue; chick(f.) – sneeze (but not chick(f.) – dirt); rank uh l– cuts, writes; chiv uh l– it’s pouring; chuv uh l– puts; chuch e – empty (but not chuch And (f.) – female breast); churd uh l– throws; Chyungard uh l- spits; chur And (f.) – knife (but not chur(f.) – women’s braid); chev O - gypsy guy tea– gypsy girl; damn uh l- be sick; at-chakir uh l- covers; chal O – well-fed; chalav uh l– touches; chum(f.) – cheek, from which – chamud uh l– kisses; char(f. obsolete) – ash, ash (but not char(f.) – grass).

Voiced consonants, if they occur at the end of words, are pronounced as voiceless: dad(m.) – father [dat], yag(f.) – fire [yak], although - V behaves differently: some say RU[f] - wolf, others - RU[w]. However, in general, what is called “sandhi”, that is, processes at the junctions of words, has been poorly studied. In groups of consonants at the junctions of words, voicing occurs ( but_m O ly– many times, but: boo[d]_ bersh A – many years) and stunning ( chib_world And - my language, but: chi[P] _tyr And - your tongue). P.S. Patkanov noted a hundred years ago that Moscow gypsies had a pronunciation like: is s [h] m A nde...– I had... This voicing before the vowels and sonorants of the next word was obviously taken from the Western region of the Russian Empire. This is rare today.

Complete “adhesion” at the junctions of words is also typical for consonants ( boot drome A – boo[d]rum A - Multi-Lane, thut tat O – thu[T]at O – milk is warm), and for vowels ( on av uh la – n[A] V uh la- will not be).

The aspirated [kh], if it occurs at the end of words, is pronounced as a simple [k]: yakh(f.) – eye [yak], Dykh- look [duc]. The other two aspirates occur only before vowels, so their possible behavior at the end of words is unknown. In Gypsy there are traces of a pattern characteristic of Indian languages: a word cannot have two aspirates. Thus, the combination *ekkh-e+than-e gives ekhetan uh And khetan uh - together; verb *phuchh A va – I’m asking, having two aspirates, actually sounds like in Russian-Gypsy bunch I va(lost aspiration hh), in Belarusian and Ukrainian dialects with pooh-, in Vlach with modified hh: Pushcha-, in the Slovak dialect of Romani – phuch-, Although hh preserved there. There are different solutions caused by the ban on two aspirates in one word.

In the position before consonants, aspiration, if not completely lost, is expressed weakly and peculiarly, for example: dykkh e m And dykht e m– I saw (I), it seems to sound something like [dyk-hem] and [dyk-khtom].

Consonant velar fricative ґ , denoted by a special sign, sounds like a Ukrainian or South Russian fricative (long) [g]: Gir And l(m.) – peas, gan s ng(f.) – well. Among Moscow gypsies this sound is often replaced by the usual one. G, that is, they sing cherg uh n, but not damn uh n- a star, they say gar A , but not gar A - for a long time. The same goes for common pronunciation ive- snow, silt O - heart, although a hundred years ago P.S. Patkanov and later researchers noted the pronunciation: yiv, yil O . This is apparently due to the influence of Russian speech, where pronunciation blah[ґ]O, A[ґ]A, her[yyy O] superseded by the new one: blah[G] O, A[G] A, her[th O].

Accent

The stress in the Northern Russian dialect of the Gypsy language is not as sharp as in the Russian language; it does not lead to such a noticeable lengthening of stressed vowels and weakening of neighboring unstressed vowels. The choice of stress place both in native gypsy words and in borrowed words of various types depends on the grammatical composition of the given form of the word. Therefore, we consider the rules for placing stress below in parallel with the study of grammar. They are quite simple and follow strict logic.

Spelling vowels after sibilants and ts

Following the principle of “we write as we hear” was manifested in the fact that after always firm w, and, ts, dz are not written I, e, e, Yu, And, and then always soft h, j are written only I, e, e, Yu, And. This allows us to distinguish between hard and soft pronunciation in our dialect, for example: shing(m.) – horn, Zhyko Kirl O - up to your neck, ts s pa(f.) - skin. However: rank– cut (also: write), chev A le(appeal) – guys (gypsies), chen(m.) – month, jiv- live, jev(f.) – oats, jya- go.