What does the language of the Balkan Roma sound like to you?
Posted by Eli_Ashi@reddit | AskBalkans | View on Reddit | 33 comments
Posted by Eli_Ashi@reddit | AskBalkans | View on Reddit | 33 comments
Competitive-Read1543@reddit
Like a hibrid of hindi and Turkish
Eli_Ashi@reddit (OP)
Not bad to say Turkish, in Romani, there are quite a few Persian words which give this impression of Turkish
31_hierophanto@reddit
Most Indo-Aryan languages have Persian words though, partially because of Islamic empires.
Icy-Improvement-8380@reddit
What you talking about...so many roma groups speak turkish as first language, and claim to be turks like us.
We never have spoken romani since centurys. Only turkish.
And of course many turkish lownwoards in balkan romani dialects comes from the ottoman turks.
Eli_Ashi@reddit (OP)
But bro wtf, this is not the case for everyone: not everyone experienced a strong assimilation of the Ottomans I am a Gurbet Roma from Kosovo I speak Roma fluently
Icy-Improvement-8380@reddit
I know also some Muslim roma from Shutka in North Macedonia, who live in Germany and they speak Arli romani.
I only want to say, some words in some Balkan dialects are of turkish origin...
Look, TURKISH AND ARMENIAN LOANWORDS IN BULGARIAN ROMANI
https://unipub.uni-graz.at/download/pdf/3805508.pdf
or
The Impact of Turkish on RomaniThe Impact of Turkish on Romani
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/374155260_The_Impact_of_Turkish_on_Romani
Eli_Ashi@reddit (OP)
Yes, and it is the Roma of Bulgaria who have it the most, because the country which was most under Ottoman domination in the Balkans was Bulgaria and the Roma were close to the Turks as well
I have few Turkish words. The majority of Roma have Greek/Slavic words rather than Turkish
Eli_Ashi@reddit (OP)
The Ottomans ruined our culture in part, but they are far from having ruined our language: everyone in the Balkans, everyone has Turkish words, I have a little
Icy-Improvement-8380@reddit
Mo Phral...something i cant understand, why some muslim roma in the balkans speak romani but other not? I know some romani from montenegro they only speak serbian language and also deny to be roma. Then i know some romani from north macedonia, some speak arli some only turkish. and then they from bulgaria here in germany...ohhh if you call them roma they beat you...they claim to be turks. Then from romania (dobruja) also turkish speaking roma who claim to be turks.
In turky its a little bit different, while they also speak turkish with own accent, some speak romanca, but this is a para romani viariant, everyone arround them know they are romanlar...only some families have changend to be hidden their romani heritage. Like our branch.. But not all... some of my relatives live in a roma quarter in Istanbul.
Eli_Ashi@reddit (OP)
Because some Muslim Roma took too much of the Ottoman side, they only spoke Turkish for several generations and lost the Romani language. Afterwards, there is also a side of avoiding discrimination on the fact of being Roma and therefore losing the language, the case of the Ashkalis, a completely invented ethnic group while they are basically Roma
Eli_Ashi@reddit (OP)
Turkish words in Romani depend on the clan and country. This is not the case for all, Greek is much more present than Turkish for all Roma while Turkish depends
31_hierophanto@reddit
Oh, you can clearly hear how Indo-Aryan this language is just by singing. Someone could easily mistake this for a Bollywood song.
svemirskihod@reddit
Sounds like singing. It’s almost melodic. Is this some kind of tonal language? /s
Eli_Ashi@reddit (OP)
Romani is a bit friendly with Punjabi, so yes, some of it is tonal, but not all of it Romani is tonal
svemirskihod@reddit
My comment was my attempt at a joke. I hear Punjabi spoken often where I live. Canada has a large Sikh community. The only time I’ve heard spoken Romani is in movies.
Eli_Ashi@reddit (OP)
It's rarer to hear it in a Film than in Canada
svemirskihod@reddit
Some Sikhs in Canada still wear their traditional clothes and turbans, especially the older people who were born in India. A couple of times in my life, I thought I saw a Roma family in their traditional clothes but I can’t be sure. They definitely weren’t Sikhs.
vaskovaflata@reddit
На цигански бате
NightZT@reddit
I guess austrian Roma speak the same Romani language as Balkan Roma? Then it sounds like some weird Hindi variant with an austrian Dialect I guess, very hard to describe. Also some croatian and hungarian influences. Most Roma I know don't really know the language and speak just normal dialect, only the older generation still speaks romani or people living in towns that have a Roma majority.
Eli_Ashi@reddit (OP)
It depends, in Austria, there are really several types of Romani. Some are Sinti, Roma-Vlax, Roma-Balkan
NightZT@reddit
Interesting! Do speaker of different romani variants understand each other? The people I know are Burgenlandroma which settled in the most eastern part of austria in the 14th century, burgenland-romani is also an official regional language of our federal state burgenland, same with croatian and hungarian.
Eli_Ashi@reddit (OP)
Burgenland Roma are Romani-vlax. Yes, they can understand each other if their dialogue does not touch on the different influences of the country where they come from. The plan to standardize Romani was rejected: too many dialects and too many people will disagree
Icy-Improvement-8380@reddit
Burgenland romani mostly spoken in Austra. This is not a Balkan romani dialect.
Eli_Ashi@reddit (OP)
since 1960 there have been Balkan Roma in Austria, I even have family there
Icy-Improvement-8380@reddit
you are funny...i know what you mean...but i meant, normally in austria there is the old burgenland roma dialect, and this is not a Balkan variant...Haçeres man?
Eli_Ashi@reddit (OP)
Bah, the Balkan Roma who left Yugoslavia in 1960 for Austria are not counted? va hacharav tut
Icy-Improvement-8380@reddit
The questioner from Austria asked if Burgenland roma dialect is same as Balkan, and my answer to him/her was...No its not because Burgenland roma dialect is not a Balkan variant.
Icy-Improvement-8380@reddit
nein, es gibt soviele verschiedene romani dialekte, manche so unterschiedlich daß sie sich nicht verstehen
Und viel muslimische roma sprechen nur türkisch und sagen sie sind türken
schau:
https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Self-Identification-of-Bulgarian-Muslim-Roma-Youth-in-Berlin_fig5_348586333
Auch in der türkei sprechen die nur tüprkisch.
GSA_Gladiator@reddit
It sounds like turkish with a mix of bulgarian, but I think it might not be turkish.
Icy-Improvement-8380@reddit
They are different romani dialects...this is Arli dialect
Eli_Ashi@reddit (OP)
The most heard of the Balkans
Icy-Improvement-8380@reddit
yes
Icy-Improvement-8380@reddit
And this is the sound of romanlar (roma) from turkey, ONLY TURKISH , we havent romani language
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQprjyUVkdA