Writing and pronunciation. Under the wolf sun What language group do the gypsies belong to?

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?!?!?!

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 (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 different 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.

I came across it by accident.

Gypsy language (Romano Rakirebe).

Greetings

Hello - bakhtales
Hello - dubrIdin
Welcome! - Mishto yavYan!
Happy stay! (to many people) - te yavEn bakhtalE!
Happy stay! (to a man) - te YavEs bangtalO!

Good afternoon (everyone) - DevEs lachO (sarEnge)

Standard phrases

Thank you - Nais
Be healthy - yavEn saste
Good night - lachi ryat
How are you doing? - Are you doing cheese?
How are you? - Cheese that jeeves?
Everything goes well! - Sa avela mishto!
What is your name? - Is there cheese here?
My name is... - man kharen...
You have a beautiful name - tute gozho laf
Sorry - sorry
What you said? - So tu pyendyan?
Can you hear me? - Tu man shunesa?
Understood)? - PolyYan?
How do you feel? - Do you feel the cheese?
What should I do? - So mange te kira?
What do you want? - So tu kames?
I love you - me here KamAm/KamAv
I hate you - me here nakamam/nakamav
I give you my word - dava tukE mirO laf
It hurts... - man o dukhal...
I'm asking you - uh, there's a mangAv
You know? - tu JeanEs?

Let's go home - yavEn kharE
I'll come - meh AvAv
I won’t tell you anything - nothing me tUter na phenAva
Wait! (Stop!) - tyrdev!
That's right - day sy
It's true - ada chachipE
Who's there? (when they knock) - cool?
Don't go! - na uja!
Come here - yav darik
Get out of here - jAdad kher / yav durIk
I beg you - uh here is mangAva
I see - me dikhAv
I thought - meh duminYom
I don’t know how to say this - na jinOm, ada phen cheese
Look! - So!
Don't be angry - at the holyasov
Don't smoke - for thousands; are you going to smoke? - avesa tyrdes?
It's my fault? - meh bango?
I remember everything - me sa rapierAva
They bought it for me - mange kimle
What are you going to eat? - So tu lese tehAs?
Shall I sit here? - Me datE pobushala?
Do you know where to go? - Tu jinEs, karIk te jyas?
Where are you going? - Kai tu sanAs?
We're leaving - amE karadasa
I'm fine - me shukar
I went (we went) - me geOm (ame gaEom)
Done - gata
My God! - peace O DevEl!

Closed - locker
Open - duckErdo

Pronouns

I - meh
From me - mander
To me - mange/mange
With me - Manza
Without me - bi world
I have - man o/mande
To me - ke me
My (mine, mine) - mirO (mirI, mirE)

We are amE
Nam - amEnge
Our (our, ours) - amorO (amorI, amorE)
To us - ke yame

You are the one
you - here
You have tute
To you - tuke
Yours (yours, yours, yours) - te/terO (ti/terI, terE, tyro/terO)
To you - ki tu
Without you - bi tero

You are tumE
Your (yours, yours) - tumarO (tumari, tumarE)

He is yev
Him - leske
His (in the genitive case) - les
His (as an adjective) - lesko

She - her/yune
Her - la

They are Ana
Im - lange
Ikh (in the genitive case) - len

Himself - kokurO
Yours - pEngo
For yourself - peskE
Yourself - pes

This is hell
This one is like O

Everything is sa (sarO)
Everything - SavorE
Everyone - saEn
Everyone - sarEnge
Absolutely - sarEsa

Who - con
Nobody - nikOn
With whom - kasa

So - KaYake
Together - khetane
Because - dulEski
What - with

Questions

What? - So?
Where? - Kai?
Where? - KarIk?
How? - cheese?
For what? - palsO?
Why? - nipples? (but more often - the same as in Russian)
When? - sneakers?
Who? - con?
How many? - but?
Which? - SavO?

Answers

Yes Yes; no - nat
No - no
Good - shukAr/mishto
Bad - naAshuka
Nothing - nothing
Nobody - nikOn
Everything is ready - sa gata
A lot - but
A little - nabutka
I give you my word - dava tukE mirO love

Description

Beautiful - gozho
Ugly - bank
You are my (my) darling - that world Oh (peace) darling
Dear - drAgo
Favorite - kamlO (kamlY)
Good (pretty) - lachO (lachinko)
Dura (fool) - holes (holes)
Small - little
Big - barO
Poor - charOro
Rich - Barvalo
Gypsy - rum/romal
Not a gypsy - gadjo
"The Devil with Horns" - Beng roEnsa
New - nEvo
Cunning/cunning (cunning) - uzhYanglo (uzhYangle)
Smart - godyavir
Happy (happy, happy) - bakhtalO (bakhtalY, bakhtalE)
Udalets (male) - mursh
Gypsy - novel
Golden (golden, golden, golden) - sanakUno (sanakUno, sanakUno, sanakUne)
There are no more like them in the world - nane ada vavir pre light

State Description

I feel bad (I feel good) - mange nAshuka (mange shukAr)
I'm tired - me khraniO
I slept - meh popAsio
I'm sick - uh, I'm sick
I'm over it! - MandEr that's enough!
New - nEvo
Happy (happy) - bakhtalO (bakhtalY)
I want to sleep - kamElpe tesovEs

People (monushA)

People - Lumya
Good people - lache monushA
Girl/girl - chayuri; "daughter" - tea
Girls/girls - chaYale
Woman - roomy
Boy/guy - chavoro; “son” - chavoraAle
Boys/guys - chavAle
Man - Rum
Fortune teller - Drabarovkina
Witch - Shuvani
Little boy - pretty cool
Friend (girlfriend, friends) - vortAko (vortAka, vortAchya)
He (she) is ... years old - leskE (lakE) ... bersh
Two brothers - blow pshala

Relatives

Mom - yes
With mom - yes
Dad - dado/dad
Son - hYavo
Daughter - tea
Sister - phrEn
With sister - pkhreniA so
Brother - pshal
With my brother - pe pshalEse
Brother - pshalEske
Grandpa - dad
Grandmother - Mami
With grandmother - baba with
Daughter-in-law - bori
Husband - Roma
Wife - roomies
Uncle - how
With uncle - like seh
Aunt - bibi
With aunt - bibYa with

Time

Year - bersh
The month is Shen
Day - deves/des
Night - ryat; at night - ryate
Morning - Dediminians
Evening - dekusare
In the morning - dodesara
Today - dadyves
Tomorrow - Tasya
The day after tomorrow - halibut
Now - the same as in Russian

Place

House - kher (possible - kher)
There - duTe
Here - date
Road - other; on the road - pe droma
Here - Darik
There - fool
From here - dates
Forward - PalE
Back - angel

Body parts

Eye (a) - yakh (A)
Nose - nakh
Lips - vysht
Teeth - dAnda
Face - muy
Hand - vast
Head - shero/shuru
Hair - ballA
Belly - pEr
Leg - punrro
On your feet - about Hera

Products

Cooking - TekarelEs Haben
A woman cooks - rromni keravEla
What do you eat? - so tu has?
Eat - tehAs
Drink - play
Boiled - kerado
Apple - phabai
Pear - ambrol
Watermelon - Lubenytsa
Melon - Harbuzo
Apricot - lamb
Potatoes - kolompiri
Cabbage - check
Rice - razo
Meat - mas
Sugar - PrakhU
Water - panI
Milk - thud
Coffee - kava
Vodka - bravInta

Creatures and Animals

God is devEl
Damn - bang
Dog - jukEl
Horse - Gray
Bird - bluebird

Clothing, jewelry

Pants - haluYo
Shawl - dykhlo
Skirt - just like in Russian
Gold - sumnakai
Golden ring - sanakuno angrusty
Silver - Rs.

Miscellaneous

Conversation - rakirebe
Truth - chacho/chachipe
Lies - hoxIpe
Rain - BrishInd
Wind - balval
Heart/soul - Ilo
Moon - shyonuto
Star - black; stars - chirgIn(ya); asterisk - chirgenori
Sun - khAm
Money - love
No money - no money
Fire - yag
Water - panI
Blood - rat
Table - scamInd
Bed - chibE
Door - blowA
Song - GILY
Love - camam
Knife - churi
Light is like
Leaflet/passport - lilOro
Wedding - bJav
Stone - bar
Road/path - drome
Tree - chestnut

"Winged"

May God punish you! - Te skarIn man devEl!
A dog will not bite a dog - jukel jucles na challah
Lying stone - pAshlo bar
Sings like a bird - bagala cheese chirEkly
Your eyes are like stars - terE yakhA cheese chirginYa

Various phrases and actions

Come/come to me - yav ke me
He knows everything - yov sarO jinEl
It's raining - brishind jyala
Where should I go? / Do you know where to go? - KarIk Tejav? / JinEs, karIk tejYas?
Who is coming? - con avela?
We go together - amE jYasa khetAne
Don't be afraid - na dArpe
Give me your hand - de vast
I heard that - meh hella shundem
I'm asking you - uh, there's a mangAv
I'm not asking you for anything - nothing me tuter on mangawa
I'll tell you - meh here pengAva
I won’t tell you anything - nothing me tUter na phenAva
Do you hear? - shunesa?
Let's go (home) - yavEn (kharE)
What should I do? / What do we do? - so mange te kira? / From the cuirass?
I thought - meh duminYom
It burns, but does not heat - khachen, ne na tatkirEla
Kisses - chamudEv
I remember the song - rapierAva me gilY
I am looking for - birth; found - lakhtYom
You got angry - tu holysYan
Do you see this too? - Tu chi dykhEs ada?
Okay, I'll come - Mishto, me java
You're lying, I know - tu hokhavEsa, me ginOm
I don't know anything - Me NichI on gin
Me lived in... - amE jindYam de...
We visited... - amE samAs de...
We're going dancing - amE gayom at the disco
We're leaving - amE karadasa
I want to come to you - kamam/kamav ki tu
Come on! - mishto akana bre!
Have you left (came)? - tu so, ugeYa (yavdYa)?
I would like to know - kamElpe zhyanAv

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 Vlach dialect, borrowed from the language of the Romanian gypsies, is considered the most widespread. 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. Also worth noting are 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.