Baltic Romani should not be confused with Baltic languages.
| Baltic Romani | |
| States: | Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Belarus, Russia, Estonia, Finland, Ukraine |
| Speakers: | , including in Poland and 10,000 in Finland |
| Date: | 2001–2013 |
| Ref: | e25 |
| Familycolor: | Indo-European |
| Fam2: | Indo-Iranian |
| Fam3: | Indo-Aryan |
| Fam4: | Central Zone |
| Fam5: | Romani |
| Fam6: | Northern Romani |
| Lc1: | rml |
| Ld1: | Baltic Romani |
| Glotto: | balt1257 |
| Glottoname: | Baltic Romani |
Baltic Romani is a group of dialects of the Romani language spoken in the Baltic states and adjoining regions of Finland, Poland, Russia, and Ukraine. Half of Baltic Romani speakers live in Poland. Romani began as an Indo-European language, which morphed into an Indo-Iranian language, and then into an Indo-Aryan language. After that the Romani language broke down into Balkan Romani and Central Romani. Baltic Romani came from the Central Romani dialect which branches off into other dialects. There are a total of around 31,500 users in all countries.[1]
Baltic Romani is classified as a member of the Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Indo-Aryan Central Zone, Romani, and Central Romani language families.[2]
The first speakers of this language settled in Southeast Europe during the 10th and 13th centuries in large swaths. From the 14th century onward, the language spread to Central and Western Europe as well. Comparisons between other languages later revealed it most likely originated from the Indian subcontinent.[3]
This language is spoken in the following countries:[4]
This language is not an official language in any particular country, though it has other statuses in those which it is spoken.
There are three simple stop positions in the Romani language. These come from the Indo-Aryan and are maintained in every dialect of this language. The positions are as follows; labial /p/, dental /t/, and velar /k/. Along with these stop positions, there are also palatal positions which are unique to the Romani language.[8] Specific voicing alterations have changed grammatical endings and different dialects have different ways of interpreting vowels. Some have morphed into newer versions of the Romani language and others have implemented other elements like screams.[9]
In the Romani language, nouns and verbs are inflected to illustrate how a word acts in a sentence, similar to in other fusional languages like Sanskrit and Latin.[10] [11] As in other Indo-Aryan languages, as well as in Romance and Slavic languages, Romani also has grammatical gender, as there are both masculine and feminine words. In addition, there are definite articles along with "different articles for masculine and feminine nouns, for subject and non-subject and for singular and plural articles".[12]
Baltic Romani has a unique rule in that their numerals follow when they are written. Their numerals govern their nominals but not to the degree that Slavic languages do.[13] Baltic genitives mark partial objects and sometimes subjects and also play a prominent role in the syntax of numeral constructions. Baltic languages are similar as both Latvian and Latvian Romani share the same opposition of preverbs and verb particles.[14]
There is a large Indo-Aryan presence in this language that appears mainly in reference to body parts and functions.[15] Along with bodily parts and functions, the Indo-Aryan presence also resides in words that reference time, nature, landscape, numerals, animals, and plants.[16] There is a pre-European lexicon that is mixed in this language that mainly refers to spiritual and religious ideas, tools, and artefacts.[16] Dwellings and places are not represented the best in the inherited lexicon of this language.[17]