Romani people

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to navigationJump to search
Not to be confused with Romanians, an unrelated ethnic group and nation, nor
with modern or ancient Romans, also unrelated.
For other uses, see Romani (disambiguation).
"Gypsy" redirects here. For other uses, see Gypsy (disambiguation).

Romani people

Romani flag created in 1933 and accepted at the 1971 World Romani

Congress

Total population

2–20 million[1][2][3][4]

 United States 1,000,000 estimated with Romani

ancestry[note 1][5][6]

 Brazil 800,000 (0.38–0.4%)[7]

 Spain 750,000–1,100,000 (1.87%)[8][9][10][11][12]

 Romania 619,007[note 2]–1,850,000 (8.32%)[13][14][15]

 Turkey 500,000–2,750,000 (3.78%)[9][16][17][18]

 France 350,000–500,000[19][20]

 Bulgaria 325,343[note 3]–750,000 (10.33%)[21][22]

 Hungary 309,632[note 4]–870,000 (8.8%)[23][24]

 Argentina 300,000[note 5][25][26]

 Czech Republic 250,000[27][28]

 United Kingdom 225,000 (0.36%)[29][9][30]

 Russia 205,007[note 6]–825,000 (0.58%)[9]

 Serbia 147,604[note 7]–600,000 (8.23%)[31][32][9]

 Italy 120,000–180,000 (0.3%)[33][9]

 Greece 111,000–300,000 (2.7%)[34][35]

 Germany 105,000 (0.13%)[9][36]

 Slovakia 105,738[note 8]–490,000 (9.02%)[37][38][39]

 Iran 100,000–110,000[40]

 North Macedonia 53,879[note 9]–197,000 (9.56%)[9][41]

 Sweden 50,000–100,000[9][42]

 Ukraine 47,587[note 10]–260,000 (0.57%)[9][43]

  Portugal 40,000–52,000 (0.49%)[9][44]

 Austria 40,000–50,000 (0.57%)

 Kosovo[a] 36,000[note 11] (2%)[9][45]

 Netherlands 32,000–40,000 (0.24%)[9]

 Ireland 22,435–37,500 (0.84%)[9]

 Poland 17,049[note 6]–32,500 (0.09%)[9][46]

 Croatia 16,975[note 6]–35,000 (0.79%)[9][47]

 Mexico 15,850[48]

 Chile 15,000-20,000[49]

 Moldova 12,778[note 6]–107,100 (3.01%)[9][50]

 Finland 10,000-12,000 est. (0.17%)[51]

 Bosnia and 8,864[note 6]–58,000 (1.54%)[9][52]

Herzegovina

 Colombia 2,649-8,000[25][53]

 Albania 8,301[note 12]–300,000 (4.59%)[9][44][54]

 Belarus 7,316[note 6]–47,500 (0.5%)[55]

 Latvia 7,193[note 6]–12,500 (0.56%)[9]

 Canada 5,255–80,000[56][57]

 Montenegro 5,251[note 6]–20,000 (3.7%)[58]

  Czech Republic 5,199[note 13]–40,370[note 14] (Romani

speakers)–250,000 (1.93%)[59][60]

 Australia 5,000–25,000[61]

Languages

Romani language, Para-Romani varieties, languages of native regions

Religion

Predominantly Christianity[62]

Islam[62]

Shaktism tradition of Hinduism[62]

Romani mythology

Judaism[63]

Buddhism (minority)[64][65]

Related ethnic groups

Dom, Lom, Domba; other Indo-Aryans

Part of a series on

Romani people

 Archaeology
 Culture
 Music
 Names
 Language
 History
  Dance
 Religion
 People
 Cuisine
 Dress

show

Diaspora

 WikiProject

 v
 t
 e

The Romani people (/ˈroʊməni, ˈrɒ-/), also known as the Roma, are an Indo-

Aryan people group, traditionally nomadic itinerants living mostly in Europe, as well as
diaspora populations in the Americas.
The Romani people are widely known in English by the exonym Gypsies (or Gipsies),
[66]
 which is considered by many Romani people to be pejorative due to its connotations
of illegality and irregularity as well as its historical use as a racial slur.[67][68][69] In many
other languages, regarding cognates of the word, such
as Spanish: gitano, Italian: zingaro and Portuguese: cigano, this perception is either
very small or non-existent.[70][71] At the first World Romani Congress in 1971, it was
unanimously voted to reject all exonyms for the Romani people, including Gypsy for its
aforementioned negative and stereotypical connotations. [68]
Linguistic and genetic evidence suggest that the Roma as a people originated from the
northern Indian subcontinent.[72][73][74] They are dispersed, but their most concentrated
populations are located in Europe, especially Central, Eastern and Southern
Europe (including Southern France), as well as Western Asia (mainly Turkey). The
Romani people arrived in West Asia and Europe around 1007. [75]
Since the 19th century, some Romani people have also migrated to the Americas.
There are an estimated one million Roma in the United States;[6] and 800,000 in Brazil,
most of whose ancestors emigrated in the 19th century from Eastern Europe. Brazil also
includes a notable Romani community descended from people deported by
the Portuguese Empire during the Portuguese Inquisition.[76] In migrations since the late
19th century, Romani people have also moved to other countries in South America and
to Canada.[77][page  needed]
The Romani language is divided into several dialects which together have an estimated
number of speakers of more than two million.[78] The total number of Romani people is at
least twice as high (several times as high according to high estimates). Many Romani
people are native speakers of the dominant language in their country of residence or
of mixed languages combining the dominant language with a dialect of Romani;
those varieties are sometimes called Para-Romani.[79]
 Contents

 1Names
o 1.1Exonyms
o 1.2Endonyms
o 1.3Romani usage
o 1.4English usage
o 1.5Other designations
 2Population and subgroups
o 2.1Romani population
o 2.2Romani subgroups
o 2.3Diaspora
 3Origin
o 3.1Shahnameh legend
o 3.2Linguistic evidence
o 3.3Genetic evidence
o 3.4Possible migration route
 4History
o 4.1Arrival in Europe
o 4.2Early modern history
o 4.3Modern history
 4.3.1World War II
 4.3.2Post-1945
 5Society and traditional culture
o 5.1Belonging and exclusion
o 5.2Religion
 5.2.1Beliefs
 5.2.2Deities and saints
 5.2.3Ceremonies and practices
 5.2.4Balkans
 5.2.5Other regions
o 5.3Music
 6Cuisine
 7Contemporary art and culture
 8Language
 9Persecutions
o 9.1Historical persecution
o 9.2Forced assimilation
o 9.3Porajmos (Holocaust)
 10Contemporary issues
o 10.1Forced repatriation
 11Organizations and projects
 12Artistic representations
 13See also
 14Notes
 15References
 16Sources
 17Further reading
 18External links

Names[edit]
This section may be too long to read and navigate comfortably. Please
consider splitting content into sub-articles, condensing it, or adding subheadings.
Please discuss this issue on the article's talk page. (May 2021)
Main article: Names of the Romani people
Exonyms[edit]
Perceived as derogatory, many of these exonyms are falling out of standard usage and
being replaced by a version of the name Roma.

 English: tzigane (for Hungarian Roma)

 Manx: shingaarey
 Spanish: zíngaro, cíngaro or gitanos
 Armenian: Բոշա, romanized: boša; գնչու, gnčʿu, meaning stammering, stuttering;
lisping, speaking with imperfect articulation. Came into regular use in the nineteenth
century, when the first research about Armenian Roma appeared. However, it never
entered broad usage in Armenia
 French: gitans, French: manouches, French: tsiganes
 Old High German: zigeuner
 German: Zigeuner or Sinti[80]
 Dutch: zigeuner
 Danish: sigøjner
 Swedish: zigenare, tattare
 Norwegian: sigøynere
 Icelandic: Sígaunar
 Old Church Slavonic: ациганинъ atsyganin
 Italian: zingaro, zigano, gitano
 Romanian: țigan
 Hungarian: cigány
 Serbo-Croatian: cigan, ciganin
 Albanian: cigan
 Polish: cygan
 Slovene: cigan
 Portuguese: cigano, zíngaro
 Turkish: çigan, more recently çingene
 Azerbaijani: çıqan
 Czech: cikán or cigán
 Slovak: cigán or cigáň
 Venetian: singano
 Russian: цыгане, romanized: tsygane
 Belarusian: цыганы, romanized: cyhany
 Ukrainian: цигани, romanized: tsyhany
 Macedonian: цигани, romanized: tsigani
 Bulgarian: цигани, romanized: tsigani
 Lithuanian: čigonai
 Latvian: čigāni
 Georgian: ბოშები
 French: bohème, bohémien, from the Kingdom of Bohemia, where they were
incorrectly believed to have come from,[81][82] carrying writs of protection from
King Sigismund of Bohemia.[83]
 French: gitan/tsigane, English gypsy, gipsy /ˈdʒɪpsiː/, Irish: giofóg, Spanis
h/Catalan/Italian gitano, Basque: ijito, Turkish: çingene, all
from Greek: Αἰγύπτιος, romanized: Aigýptios "Egyptian" (corrupted
form: Γύφτος, Gýftos),
and Hungarian: fáraónépe from Greek: φαραώ, romanized: pharaó "pharaoh" –
referring to their allegedly Egyptian provenance. [83] Usage of "gypsy" and similarly
derived words differs between groups as some Romani groups use this word as a
self-identifier, especially in the United Kingdom, [84][85][86] while others, especially in the
United States, consider this word a racial slur.[67]
 Albanian: Jevg (referring to Roma who speak Albanian), evgjit (From the plural
form of jevg: jevgjit), gabel (referring to nomadic groups, they predominantly speak
Romani), Magjup (commonly used in Korça, Roma of Egyptian origin)
 Arabic: ‫غ َجر‬,  ّ ‫ ُز‬ Zott.
َ romanized: ḡajar /ɣad͡ʒar/, (dialectal) ‫ َن َور‬ Nawar and ‫ط‬
 Finnish: mustalainen and Estonian: mustlane (from must(a) "black")
 Persian: ‫كولی‬, romanized: Koli
 Hebrew: ‫צוענים‬, romanized: Tzoanim. Derives either from the biblical Egyptian city
of Zoan, or from the linguistic root ‫צ־ע־נ‬, meaning "wander".
 Azerbaijani: qaraçı (derives from the Azeri word qara – "black" and the suffix -
çı denoting the stem-word's function/occupation)
 Kurdish: ‫قەرەج‬, romanized: Qaraj
 Egyptian Arabic: ‫غجر‬, romanized: ghager
Endonyms[edit]
Rom means man or husband in the Romani language. It has the variants dom and lom,
which may be related to the Sanskrit words dam-pati (lord of the house,
husband), dama (to
subdue), lom (hair), lomaka (hairy), loman, roman (hairy), romaça (man with beard and
long hair).[87] Another possible origin is from Sanskrit डोम doma (member of a low
caste of travelling musicians and dancers).
Romani usage[edit]
In the Romani language, Rom is a masculine noun, meaning 'man of the Roma ethnic
group' or 'man, husband', with the plural Roma. The feminine of Rom in the Romani
language is Romni. However, in most cases, in other languages Rom is now used for
people of both genders.[88]
Romani is the feminine adjective, while Romano is the masculine adjective. Some
Romanies use Rom or Roma 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. [89]
Sometimes, rom and romani are spelled with a double r, i.e., rrom and rromani. In this
case rr is used to represent the phoneme /ʀ/ (also written as ř and rh), which in some
Romani dialects has remained different from the one written with a single r.
The rr spelling is common in certain institutions (such as the INALCO Institute in Paris),
or used in certain countries, e.g., Romania, to distinguish from
the endonym/homonym for Romanians (sg. român, pl. români).[90]
English usage[edit]

A Romani wagon pictured in 2009 in Grandborough Fields in Warwickshire (Grandborough Fields Road is a

popular spot for travelling people)

In the English language (according to the Oxford English Dictionary), Rom is a noun

(with the plural Roma or Roms) and an adjective, while Romani (Romany) is also a
noun (with the plural Romani, the Romani, 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.[91] Romani was sometimes spelled Rommany, but more
often Romany, while today Romani is the most popular spelling. Occasionally, the
double r spelling (e.g., Rroma, Rromani) mentioned above is also encountered in
English texts.
The term Roma is increasingly encountered,[92][93] as a generic term for the Romani
people.[94][95][96]
Because all Romani people use the word Romani as an adjective, the term became a
noun for the entire ethnic group. [97] Today, the term Romani is used by some
organizations, including the United Nations and the US Library of Congress.[90] However,
the Council of Europe and other organizations consider that Roma is the correct term
referring to all related groups, regardless of their country of origin, and recommend
that Romani be restricted to the language and culture: Romani language, Romani
culture.[88]
The standard assumption is that the demonyms of the Romani
people, Lom and Dom share the same origin.[98][99]
Other designations[edit]
Main article: Names of the Romani people
The English term Gypsy (or Gipsy) originates from the Middle English gypcian, short
for Egipcien. The Spanish term Gitano and French Gitan have similar etymologies. They
are ultimately derived from the Greek Αιγύπτιοι (Aigyptioi), meaning Egyptian, via Latin.
This designation owes its existence to the belief, common in the Middle Ages, that the
Romani, or some related group (such as the Middle Eastern Dom people), were
itinerant Egyptians.[100][101] This belief appears to derive from verses in the biblical Book of
Ezekiel (29: 6 and 12–13) referring to the Egyptians being scattered among the nations
by an angry God. According to one narrative, they were exiled from Egypt as
punishment for allegedly harbouring the infant Jesus.[102] In his book The Zincali: an
account of the Gypsies of Spain, George Borrow notes that when they first appeared in
Germany, it was under the character of Egyptians doing penance for their having
refused hospitality to Mary and her son. As described in Victor Hugo's novel The
Hunchback of Notre Dame, the medieval French referred to the Romanies
as Egyptiens.
This exonym is sometimes written with capital letter, to show that it designates an ethnic
group.[103] However, the word is considered derogatory because of its negative and
stereotypical associations.[95][104][105][106] The Council of Europe consider that "Gypsy" or
equivalent terms, as well as administrative terms such as "Gens du Voyage" are not in
line with European recommendations.[88] In North America, the word Gypsy is most
commonly used as a reference to Romani ethnicity, though lifestyle and fashion are at
times also referenced by using this word.[107]
Another common designation of the Romani people is Cingane (alt. Tsinganoi, Zigar,
Zigeuner), which likely derives from Athinganoi, the name of a Christian sect with whom
the Romani (or some related group) became associated in the Middle Ages. [101][108][109][110]