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 |
Lc2: | rmf |
Ld2: | Finnish Kalo |
Glotto: | balt1257 |
Glottoname: | Baltic Romani |
Glotto2: | kalo1256 |
Glottoname2: | Finnish Kalo |
Glottorefname2: | Kalo Finnish Romani |
Baltic Romani is group of dialects of the Romani language spoken in the Baltic states and adjoining regions of Poland and Russia. Half of the speakers live in Poland. It also called Balt Romani, Balt Slavic Romani, Baltic Slavic Romani, and Roma. 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.
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. The immigrants that spoke this language typically had a darker complexion and many of these speakers were referred to as Gypsies. Comparisons between other languages later revealed it most likely originated from the Indian subcontinent.[2]
This language is spoken in the following countries;[3]
This language is not an official language in any particular country but has other statuses in those which it is spoken.
Dialects are as follows;
('CL' stands for the main contact language):
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.[7] 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.[8]
In the Romani language, the noun changes the endings of sentences to show meaning. It is used to illustrate how that specific word acts in sentence and is similar to Latin.[9] Romani verbs are similar to those in the Italian, Spanish, and Latin languages. Depending on who is committing the action, the verb ending changes. There are many different verb endings in Romani which change the meaning of words. There are also different verb endings according to past and present tense in the language.[10] The language also has grammatical genders as there are both masculine and feminine words. There are definite articles in this language along with, "different articles for masculine and feminine nouns, for subject and non-subject and for singular and plural articles".[11]
There is a large Indo-Aryan presence in this language that appears mainly in reference to body parts and functions.[14] Along with bodily parts and functions, the Indo-Aryan presence also resides in words that reference time, nature, landscape, numerals, animals, and plants.[15] There is a pre-European lexicon that is mixed in this language that mainly refers to spiritual and religious ideas, tools, and artefacts.[15] Dwellings and Places are not represented the best in the inherited lexicon of this language.[16]
Using the word "sap" which means snake in Baltic Romani and is also a noun, the sentence it is used in will change as the noun does.
"Sap" (snake, subject of sentence) A snake is on the branch.
"Sapes" (snake, object of a sentence) I saw a snake.
"Sapeske" for a snake.