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Romany language remix

Posted: 23 May 2021 00:15
by Marduk
Ive been researching the Romany language for a new custom language. I have a few good ideas and some research material. I picked up a copy of “Gypsy Jib” and a few other resources. Has anyone else made a Romany language remix? If so what resources did you use?

Re: Gypsy language remix

Posted: 23 May 2021 01:34
by Salmoneus
In before anyone else says it more unkindly: be aware that 'Gypsy' is a controversial term. In America it's widely considered a racial slur (although in the UK it's a common self-designation). In any case, the languages are generally not called 'Gypsy' even by people who identify that way themselves, but are known by their own names, or as 'Romani' (or a spelling variant of that). This also reduces confusion, as other groups - the Dom, the Lom, and so forth - who may sometimes be called 'Gypsies'.

There's at least seven, and possibly several dozen romani languages proper. There's also half a dozen or a dozen 'Para-Romani' languages - mixed languages that mostly consist of Romani vocabulary with the grammar of the surrounding languages (so, in England, Anglo-Romani).


I'm not sure what you mean by 'remix'. But I've never seen anyone create a language either derived from or inspired by Romani, no - in fact in general the Indian language sphere seems to be underrepresented in conlanging!

Re: Gypsy language remix

Posted: 23 May 2021 02:03
by Marduk
Thanks for setting me straight.Certainly not intended like that.

The dictionary ive been using is called “Gypsy Jib: A Romany Dictionary” its written from a traditional stance so thats how I took it.
I had no idea it was seen in that light. Pardon me.

But the language is beautiful. Thats why Im using it. From what I understand its more like a slang? Or mixture of language.And it even varies from family to family. Either way I have some great results so far. And the book has been great.

Again, excuse my ignorance if I offended.

Re: Gypsy language remix

Posted: 23 May 2021 02:09
by Marduk
Here is the book for reference. I picked it up some time ago. I did not pay $900. That price is insane.

https://www.amazon.com/Gypsy-Jib-Dictio ... 01B98ZYGG/

Re: Romany language remix

Posted: 23 May 2021 04:31
by Marduk
I fixed the thread to be more appropriate.
Thanks again.

Re: Gypsy language remix

Posted: 11 Dec 2021 20:03
by collect_gluesticks
Marduk wrote: 23 May 2021 02:03 Thanks for setting me straight.Certainly not intended like that.

The dictionary ive been using is called “Gypsy Jib: A Romany Dictionary” its written from a traditional stance so thats how I took it.
I had no idea it was seen in that light. Pardon me.

But the language is beautiful. Thats why Im using it. From what I understand its more like a slang? Or mixture of language.And it even varies from family to family. Either way I have some great results so far. And the book has been great.

Again, excuse my ignorance if I offended.
An old friend of mine spoke Romani. What he spoke was definitely a language. It wasn't English with other words mixed in. But I've read there are mixed language varieties as well. As he explained to me, there is not one Romani language, but several, and some are mutually unintelligible. For instance, he could easily converse with family members and other Romani speakers from our area, but he struggled to parse the variety of Romani used by the band Go-Go Bordello.

Re: Gypsy language remix

Posted: 12 Dec 2021 16:04
by Salmoneus
In case Marduk wanders by again at some point, or anyone else with this idea...
Marduk wrote: 23 May 2021 02:03 Thanks for setting me straight.Certainly not intended like that.

The dictionary ive been using is called “Gypsy Jib: A Romany Dictionary” its written from a traditional stance so thats how I took it.
I had no idea it was seen in that light. Pardon me.
To be clear, I wasn't offended (I'm not Romani), and I don't necessarily think the word 'Gypsy' should be avoided; as I say, it seems to be the default self-designation in the UK (for Romanichal, though I assume not for eastern european Roma?) - Gypsy political organisations often either have the word in their title or in their self-description - and it's a word with a long history of use both by the people themselves and by outside observers (it's also the legal word used on the Census). I mentioned it only because the word seems to have become deprecated in the USA, and some people there seem to get very agitated by it, so anyone using the word should bear in mind that some people feel that way about it.
But the language is beautiful. Thats why Im using it. From what I understand its more like a slang? Or mixture of language.And it even varies from family to family. Either way I have some great results so far. And the book has been great.
The Romani languages are a family of mutually-unintelligible languages - between half a dozen and a couple of dozen, depending how you count. However, in many areas Romani have gradually shifted toward using the local language instead, creating various forms of "Para-Romani": mixed languages with grammar taken mostly from the local language, but vocabulary taken from a Romani language. This can be a continuum between using the local language with a few romani loanwords, through to having entire sentences of entirely Romani vocabulary but local syntax and morphology.

Marduk's book presumably describes a form of Angloromani, the Para-Romani of England (and to a lesser extent other english-speaking countries).

Re: Romany language remix

Posted: 15 Dec 2021 22:50
by qwed117
FWIW, I also talked to some Rom people who also said they're less than pleased with the word "Zigan", which has been growing in popularity in some educated circles, especially as part of the word "antiziganism". I think the best bet is to stick with "Rom" (European Romani), "Lom" (Armenian Romani) or "Dom" (Middle Eastern Romani) as is necessary.