Romani

This book deals with the Romani language. It does not teach the readers to speak the language. Rather, it deals with its origin, its current use and status, its beginning literature and films, and the way it is learned by children and much more. It shows that Romani is a language in its own right, with its own, unique grammatical system, dialects, and particular norms of language use. Pressure from the outside world has diminished the use of the language in some areas, but generally it is a thriving language, spoken by millions of people.

Romany culture is perhaps the most Indo-European of all. The ancestors of the Gypsies left India around 1000 years ago and mixed with every culture on the way to produce a variety of Romany dialects and well-known cultural achievements from Hungarian Gypsy music to the English Gypsy caravan. Such images somehow co-exist, however, with continuous persecution.

Romani is a language of Indo-Aryan origin which is spoken in Europe by the people known as 'Gypsies' (who usually refer to themselves as Rom). There are upwards of 3.5 million speakers, and their language has attracted increasing interest both from scholars and from policy-makers in governments and other organizations during the past ten years. This 2002 book is the first comprehensive overview in English of Romani. It provides a historical linguistic introduction to the structures of Romani and its dialects, as well as surveying the phonology, morphology, syntactic typology and patterns of grammatical borrowing in the language. This book provides an essential reference for anyone interested in this fascinating language.

The collapse of communism and the process of state building that ensued in the 1990s have highlighted the existence of significant minorities in many European states, particularly in Central Europe. In this context, the growing plight of Europe's biggest minority, the Roma (Gypsies), has been particularly salient. Traditionally dispersed, possessing few resources and devoid of a common "kin state" to protect their interests, the Roma have often suffered from widespread exclusion and institutionalized discrimination. Politically underrepresented and lacking popular support amongst the wider populations of their host countries, the Roma have consequently become one of Europe's greatest "losers" in the transition towards democracy. Against this background, the author examines the recent attempts of the Roma in Central Europe and their supporters to form a political movement and to influence domestic and international politics. On the basis of first-hand observation and interviews with activists and politicians in the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia, he analyzes connections between the evolving state policies towards the Roma and the recent history of Romani mobilization. In order to reach a better understanding of the movement's dynamics at work, the author explores a number of theories commonly applied to the study of social movements and collective action.

Available Open Access under CC-BY-NC-ND. Drawing on Roma community voices and expert research, this book provides a powerful tool to challenge conventional discourses and analyses on Romani identity, poverty and exclusion. Through the transformative vehicle of a ‘Social Europe’, this edited collection presents new concepts and strategies for framing social justice for Romani communities across Europe. The vast majority of Roma experience high levels of exclusion from the labour market and from social networks in society. This book maps out how the implementation of a new ‘Social Europe’ can offer innovative solutions to these intransigent dilemmas. This insightful and accessible text is vital reading for the policymaker, practitioner, academic and activist.

Romani has many dialects and no standard written form. This course of language lessons is based on the Romani language as spoken by the Kalderash Roma in Europe, the United States, Canada, and Latin America. The course is designed for lay people, and any grammatical and linguistic terms are explained in plain English.

The author, himself a Romani, speaks directly to the gadze (non-Gypsy) reader about his people, their history since leaving India one thousand years ago and their rejection and exclusion from society in the countries where they settled, their health, food, culture and society.

Compiled by a native Romani speaker, this reference covers and differentiates European and North American Kalderash terms and Romani grammar. Prefaced by a grammatical primer, containing more than 12,000 lexical items, and filled with countless real-world examples of idiomatic usage, the text is an indispensable resource for anyone looking to learn or work with Kalderash Romani.