Balkan Roma, Balkaniko Romanes, or Balkan Gypsy is a specific non- Vlax dialect of the

Romani language Romani ( ; also Romanes , Romany, Roma; ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan macrolanguage of the Romani people. The largest of these are Vlax Romani language, Vlax Romani (about 500,000 speakers), Balkan Romani (600,000), and Sinte Roma ...

, spoken by groups within the Balkans, which include countries such as

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to the north a ...

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...

North Macedonia North Macedonia, officially the Republic of North Macedonia, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe. It shares land borders with Greece to the south, Albania to the west, Bulgaria to the east, Kosovo to the northwest and Serbia to the n ...

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

etc. The Balkan Romani language is typically an oral language.

History

Most of the people who speak Balkan Romani are Roma themselves. Another meaning of the prefix ''rom'' is someone belonging to the Roma ethnicity. The Roma are ultimately of Indian origin. Speakers of the Balkan Romani language have constantly migrated throughout the years into all parts of Europe. Since these speakers have migrated to different parts of Europe, new dialects have formed. Although the Roma originated in India, they are now widespread throughout all of Europe.

Dialects

Balkan dialects, also known as Balkan I, are spoken in Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Iran, North Macedonia, Moldova, Romania, Serbia, Turkey and Ukraine. This group includes inter alia Arli Romani (Greece, North Macedonia), Sepečides Romani (Greece, Turkey), Ursari Romani (Moldavia, Romania) and Crimean Romani (Ukraine). Zis dialects, also called Balkan II, are a distinct subdivision within the Balkan group. Bugurdži, Drindari and Kalajdži Romani are spoken in North Macedonia, Kosovo, Serbia and in northern and central Bulgaria. Elšík uses this classification and dialect examples (geographical information from Matras):

Geographical distribution

Phonology

Balkan Romani retains the aspirated consonants /pʰ, tʰ, tʃʰ, kʰ/ of other Indic languages. These are distinctive in the majority of Romani varieties.

Orthography

Balkan Romani does not have a written standard. There has been an attempt at standardization, at a 1992 conference in North Macedonia, based on the Arli dialect and using the Latin script. /x/ and /h/ are distinctive in some dialects, but not in the Arli dialect and so are not distinguished in writing. the two rhotics are also not distinguished. Schwa is rare in Arli; where it does occur, it is substituted with the vowel of Džambaz or some other dialect, e.g. ''vërdon'' → ''vurdon'' 'wagon'. Aspiration in a root is always written, e.g. ''jakh'' 'eye'. Final devoicing is not written, e.g. ''dad'' 'father'. Palatalization is not written, e.g. ''buti'' 'work' (not ''buči'' etc.), ''kerdo'' 'done' (not ''ćerdo'' etc.), ''pani'' 'water' (not ''pai'' etc.). The proposed alphabet is as follows:Victor Friedman (1995) 'Romani standardization and status in the Republic of Macedonia', in Matras ed. ''Romani in Contact'' :a b c č čh d dž e f g h i j k kh l m n o p ph r s š t th u v ž

Vocabulary

Turkish lexical influence is a defining and extremely important part of the Romani dialect in the Balkans. Most of the words however, originate from Persian. Loans from Persian, Armenian, and Byzantine Greek make up the pre-European lexicon. Ultimately, it is hard to trace the definite origin of all the words because the words of Balkan Romani originate from many sources and the sources of those languages create a complex puzzle.

Grammar

Turkish grammar plays a large role in Balkan Romani. The use of Turkish conjugations is widely embedded within Balkan Romani and oftentimes, it is difficult to tell the difference between the grammar of the two languages depending on geography. Balkan Romani has compartmentalized grammar originating from Turkish verbal paradigms along with some Greek influence. Much of the morphology of the language has Greek and Turkish origins, which is why the language is viewed by many professionals as a "mixed" language and thus it is hard to see where one language ends and the other begins. All Romani dialects use Greek derived nominal endings, masculine nouns and loan nouns.

Morphology

The morphology of the Balkan Romani language is again heavily influenced by both the Turkish and Greek languages. Many people view this language as a sort of melting pot because there are so many different influences on it. Turkish and Greek might be the most influential languages on Balkan Romani but other languages, such as Armenian, have also influenced it. Part of the substrate of Balkan Romani appears to be derived from medieval northern Indian languages.

References

External links

"Romani language in Macedonia in the Third Millennium: Progress and Problems"
, Victor Friedman.
"The Romani Language in the Republic of Macedonia: Status, Usage and Sociolinguistic Perspectives
Victor Friedman.
The Future of a LanguageGood News ROMANI, BALKAN: Ursari People/Language Movie TrailerRomani language - Lesson 1. Basic Conversation (part 1)Romani language - Lesson 1. Basic Conversation (part 2)
{{Languages of Turkey Romani in Europe Dialects of Romani Languages of Turkey Languages of the Balkans Languages of Iran