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[[Endonym|Self-designation]] also varies: In [[Central and Eastern Europe]], ''Roma'' is common. The Romani of England call themselves (in [[Angloromany language|Angloromani]]) ''[[Romanichal]]'', those of [[Scandinavia]] (in [[Scandoromani language|Scandoromani]]) ''[[Norwegian and Swedish Travellers|Romanisæl]]''.
[[Endonym|Self-designation]] also varies: In [[Central and Eastern Europe]], ''Roma'' is common. The Romani of England call themselves (in [[Angloromany language|Angloromani]]) ''[[Romanichal]]'', those of [[Scandinavia]] (in [[Scandoromani language|Scandoromani]]) ''[[Norwegian and Swedish Travellers|Romanisæl]]''.
In [[German-speaking Europe]], the self-designation is ''[[Sinti]]'', in France ''[[Manouche|Manush]]'', while the groups of [[Caló (Spanish Romani)|Spain]], [[Kale (Welsh Romanies)|Wales]] and [[Finnish Kale|Finland]] use ''Kalo/Kale'' (from ''kalo'' meaning "black").
In [[German-speaking Europe]], the self-designation is ''[[Sinti]]'', in France ''[[Manouche|Manush]]'', while the groups of [[Caló (Spanish Romani)|Spain]], [[Kale (Welsh Romanies)|Wales]] and [[Finnish Kale|Finland]] use ''Kalo/Kale'' (from ''kalo'' meaning "black"). In Estonia all people with Romani/Gypsy ethnic origin are called "Mustlane", where word "must" having double meaning "black" or "dirty", so "Mustlane" can be loosely translated as "black" or "dirty" person.
There are numerous subgroups and clans with their own self-designations, such as the [[Kalderash]], [[Machvaya]], [[Boyash]], [[Lovari (Roma)|Lovari]], [[Modyar]], [[Xoraxai]], [[Lăutari]], etc.
There are numerous subgroups and clans with their own self-designations, such as the [[Kalderash]], [[Machvaya]], [[Boyash]], [[Lovari (Roma)|Lovari]], [[Modyar]], [[Xoraxai]], [[Lăutari]], etc.


Revision as of 13:34, 1 September 2010

Distribution of the Romani people in Europe based on self-designation.

The Romani people are also known by a variety of other names, in English as Roma, Gypsies, or Travellers, historically also as "tinkers" from their common occupation as tinsmiths. In Central and Eastern Europe as Tsigani (and variants), in France as gitans besides the dated bohémiens and manouches.

Self-designation also varies: In Central and Eastern Europe, Roma is common. The Romani of England call themselves (in Angloromani) Romanichal, those of Scandinavia (in Scandoromani) Romanisæl. In German-speaking Europe, the self-designation is Sinti, in France Manush, while the groups of Spain, Wales and Finland use Kalo/Kale (from kalo meaning "black"). In Estonia all people with Romani/Gypsy ethnic origin are called "Mustlane", where word "must" having double meaning "black" or "dirty", so "Mustlane" can be loosely translated as "black" or "dirty" person. There are numerous subgroups and clans with their own self-designations, such as the Kalderash, Machvaya, Boyash, Lovari, Modyar, Xoraxai, Lăutari, etc.

Rom, Romani

Romani usage

In the Romani language, rom is a masculine noun, meaning "man, husband", with the plural romá. Romani is the feminine adjective, while romano is the masculine adjective. Some Romanies use Romá as an ethnic name, while others (such as the Sinti, or the Romanichal) do not use this term as a self-ascription for the entire ethnic group.[1]

English usage

In the English language (according to OED), Rom is a noun (with the plural Romá or Roms) and an adjective, while Romani (Romany) is also a noun (with the plural Romanies or Romanis) and an adjective. Both Rom and Romani have been in use in English since the 19th century as an alternative for Gypsy. Romani was initially spelled Rommany, then Romany, while today the Romani spelling is the most popular spelling.

Sometimes, rom and romani are spelled with a double r, i.e., rrom and rromani, particularly in Romania in order to distinguish from the Romanian endonym (români). This is well established in Romani itself, since it represents a phoneme (/ʀ/ also written as ř and rh) which in some Romani dialects has remained different from the one written with a single r.[2]

Although Romá is used as a designation for the branch of the Romani people with historic concentrations in Eastern Europe and the Balkans, it is increasingly encountered during recent decades[3][4] as a generic term for the Romani people as a whole.[5]

Because all Romanies use the word Romani as an adjective, the term began to be used as a noun for the entire ethnic group.[6]

Today, the term Romani is used by most organizations—including the United Nations, the Council of Europe, and the US Library of Congress.[2] However, some organizations use the term Romá to refer to Romani people around the world.[1][7]

Etymology

The demonyms of the Romani people, Lom and Dom share the same origin,[8][9] reflecting Sanskrit ḍoma "a man of low caste, living by singing and music"[10][11]

The ultimate origin of the Sanskrit term ḍoma (perhaps from Munda or Dravidian) is uncertain.[12] Its stem, ḍom, is connected with drumming, linked with the Sanskrit verbal root ḍam- 'to sound (as a drum)', perhaps a loan from Dravidian, e.g. Kannada ḍamāra 'a pair of kettle-drums', and Telugu ṭamaṭama 'a drum, tomtom'.[13]

Gypsy

The English term Gypsy (or Gipsy) originates from the Greek word Αιγύπτιοι (Aigyptioi, whence Modern Greek γύφτοι gifti), in the erroneous belief that the Romanies originated in Egypt, and were exiled as punishment for allegedly harboring the infant Jesus.[14] This exonym is sometimes written with a capital letter, to show that it designates an ethnic group.[15] The Spanish term gitano and the French term gitan have the same origin.[16]

During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries the name was written in various ways: Egipcian, Egypcian, 'gypcian. The word gypsy comes from the spellings which had lost the initial capital E, and this is one reason why it is often spelled with the initial g in lowercase.[17] As time elapsed, the notion of 'the Gypsy' altered to include other associated stereotypes such as nomadism and exoticism.[18] John Matthews in The World Atlas of Divination refer to gypsies as "Wise Women."[19] Colloquially, gypsy may refer to any person perceived as fitting the Gypsy stereotypes .[20]

As described in Victor Hugo's novel The Hunchback of Notre Dame, the medieval French referred to the Romanies as egyptiens. The term has come to bear pejorative connotations (as is the term "gyp" meaning "to cheat", a reference to the suspicion the Romanies engendered). However, use of the word "Gypsy" in English is so pervasive that many Romani organizations use it in their own organizational names.

In North America, the word "Gypsy" is commonly used as a reference to lifestyle or fashion, and not to the Romani ethnicity.

The term Gypsy (also 'gypsy' and less frequently 'gipsy'), is a common word sometimes used to indicate Romani people, Tinkers or Travellers. It may or may not be considered to carry pejorative connotations by those so described.[21][22][23]

Use in English law

Gypsy has several developing and overlapping meanings under English Law. Under the Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960, 'gipsies' are defined as "persons of nomadic habit of life, whatever their race or origin, but does not include members of an organised group of travelling showmen, or persons engaged in travelling circuses, travelling together as such."[24] This definition includes such groups as New Age Travellers, as well as Irish Travellers and Romany.[25][26]

Gypsies of Romany origins have been a recognised ethnic group for the purposes of Race Relations Act 1976 since Commission for Racial Equality v Dutton 1989 and Irish Travellers in England and Wales since O'Leary v Allied Domecq 2000 (having already gained recognition in Northern Ireland in 1997).[25][26][27]

Tsigani, cigány

In much of continental Europe, Romanies are known by names cognate to the Greek τσιγγάνοι tsigani , including Hungarian: cigány [ˈtsiɡaːɲ]), Romanian: Ţigani, German: Zigeuner, Italian: Zingari, French: Tsigane, Turkish: Çingene, Çigan, Latvian: Čigāni, Norwegian: Sigøynere, Polish: Cyganie, Portuguese: Cigano, Russian: Цыганы, Ukrainian: Цигани, Czech: Cikáni, Lithuanian: Čigonai etc.

The name originates with Byzantine Greek ατσίγγανοι (atsinganoi, Latin adsincani) or αθίγγανοι (athinganoi, literally "untouchables"), a term applied to the sect of the Melchisedechians.[28][29][30]

The Adsincani appear in an 11th-century text preserved in Mt Athos, The Life of Saint George the Athonite (written in the Georgian language), as "a Samaritan people, descendants of Simon the Magician, named Adsincani, who were renowned sorcerers and villains". In the text, emperor Constantine Monomachos employs the Adsincani to exterminate wild animals, who were destroying the game in the imperial park of Philopation.[31]

Bohémiens

Because many Romanies living in France had come via Bohemia, they were also referred to as Bohémiens.[32] This would later be adapted to describe the impoverished artistic lifestyle of Bohemianism.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Hancock, Ian F (2002). We Are the Romani People, Pg XIX. ISBN 9781902806198. Retrieved 2008-07-31.
  2. ^ a b Hancock, Ian F (2002). We Are the Romani People, Pg XXI. ISBN 9781902806198. Retrieved 2008-07-31.
  3. ^ p. 52 in Elena Marushiakova and Vesselin Popov's "Historical and ethnographic background; Gypsies, Roma, Sinti" in Will Guy [ed.] Between Past and Future: The Roma of Central and Eastern Europe [with a Foreword by Dr. Ian Hancock], 2001, UK: University of Hertfordshire Press
  4. ^ p. 13 in Illona Klimova-Alexander's The Romani Voice in World Politics: The United Nations and Non-State Actors (2005, Burlington, VT.: Ashgate
  5. ^ Rothéa, Xavier. "Les Roms, une nation sans territoire?" (in French). Retrieved 2008-07-31.
  6. ^ Hancock, Ian F (2002). We Are the Romani People, Pg XX. ISBN 9781902806198. Retrieved 2008-07-31.
  7. ^ Nicolae, Valeriu; Slavik, Hannah (2007-07-01). Roma diplomacy, Pg 16. ISBN 9781932716337. Retrieved 2008-07-31.
  8. ^ The Institute for Middle East Understanding
  9. ^ http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=Romany Online Etymology Dictionary - Douglas Harper
  10. ^ McArthur, T. (ed.) The Oxford Companion to the English Language (1992) Oxford University Press ISBN 0-19-214183-X
  11. ^ Monier-Williams, Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)
  12. ^ Abhijit Ghosh, Non-Aryan linguistic elements in the Atharvaveda: a study of some words of Austric origin, Sanskrit Pustak Bhandar, 2000, p. 10, 76.
  13. ^ T. Burrow and M.B. Emeneau, A Dravidian Etymological Dictionary 2nd ed. (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1984), p. 257, entry #2949.
  14. ^ Fraser 1992.
  15. ^ Hancock, Ian (1995). A Handbook of Vlax Romani. Slavica Publishers. p. 17.
  16. ^ "gitan" (in French). Dictionnaire de l'Académie française. Retrieved 2007-08-26. Emprunté de l'espagnol gitano, gitana, altération de Egiptano, proprement « Égyptien », car on attribuait aux bohémiens une origine égyptienne.
  17. ^ Hancock, Ian F. (2002). We are the Romani people. Univ of Hertfordshire Press. p. xxi. ISBN 9781902806198.
  18. ^ Hancock, Ian The ‘Gypsy’ stereotype and the sexualisation of Romani women
  19. ^ Matthews, John (6 October 1994). "9". The world atlas of divination: the systems, where they originate, how they work. Headline Book Publishing. p. 81. ISBN 0747279284.
  20. ^ Hancock, Ian. "PERSPECTIVES The Struggle for the Control of Identity". Roma Participation Program. pp. 1–8. Retrieved 2009-05-11.
  21. ^ Weyrauch, Walter Otto (2001). Gypsy law: Romani legal traditions and culture. University of California Press. p. 25. ISBN 9780520221864.
  22. ^ Bhopal, Kalwant; Myers, Martin (2008). Insiders, Outsiders and Others: Gypsies and Identity. Univ of Hertfordshire Press. p. 8. ISBN 9781902806716. Retrieved 2010-05-20.
  23. ^ Klímová-Alexander, Ilona (2005). The Romani voice in world politics: the United Nations and non-state actors. Non-state actors in international law. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.,. p. 31. ISBN 9780754641735. Retrieved 2010-05-20.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link)
  24. ^ Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960 (c.62) The UK Statute Law Database
  25. ^ a b Ravi Low-Beer Challenging Gypsy planning policies occasional discussion paper number 1, Traveller Law Research Unit, Cardiff Law School, P O Box 427, Cardiff CF1 1XD, Retrieved 2008-10-09
  26. ^ a b Thomas Acton. Human Rights as a Perspective on Entitlements: The Debate over ‘Gypsy Fairs’ in England, Essex Human Rights Review Vol. 1 No. 1. July 2004, pp. 18-28, ISSN 1756-1957. See footnote 5 page 19 (page 2 of the PDF document)
  27. ^ Staff, Travelling People in the UK: Answers to Frequently Asked Questions, Traveller Law Research Unit, Cardiff University, (From March 1995 to December 2002). Retrieved 2008-10-09
  28. ^ White, Karin (1999). "Metal-workers, agriculturists, acrobats, military-people and fortune-tellers: Roma (Gypsies) in and around the Byzantine empire". Golden Horn. 7 (2). Retrieved 2007-08-26.
  29. ^ Bates, Karina. "A Brief History of the Rom". Retrieved 2010-01-09.
  30. ^ Not Available, Not Available (1994). "Book Reviews" (PDF). Population Studies. 48 (2): 365–372. doi:10.1080/0032472031000147856. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  31. ^ P. Peeters, 'Histoire monastiques géorgiennes', Analecta Bollandiana, 36-37, 1917-19.
  32. ^ Achim, Viorel (2004). The Roma in Romanian History. Budapest: Central European University Press. p. 11. ISBN 9789639241848. OCLC 54529869.

External links

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