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The Romani people are known by a variety of names, mostly as Gypsies, Roma, Tsinganoi, Bohémiens, and various linguistic variations of these names. There are also numerous subgroups and clans with their own self-designations, such as the Sinti, Kalderash, Boyash, Manouche, Lovari, Lăutari, Machvaya, Romanichal, Romanisael, Kale, Kaale, Xoraxai and Romungro.
Roma is the primary term used in political contexts to refer to the Romani people as a whole.[1][2] Because all Roma use the word Romani as an adjective, Romani began to be used as an alternative noun for the entire ethnic group.[3] It is used by some organizations such as the United Nations and the US Library of Congress.[4] However, the World Roma Congress, the Council of Europe and other organizations use the term Roma to refer to Romani people around the world, and recommend that Romani be restricted to the language and culture: Romani language, Romani culture.[5][6][7][8]
In the English language (according to the Oxford English Dictionary), Rom is a noun (with the plural Roma or Roms) and an adjective, while Romani is also a noun (with the plural Romanies) and an adjective. Both Rom and Romani have been in use in English since the 19th century as an alternative for Gypsy. Romani is also spelled Romany, or Rommany.[9]
Sometimes, rom and romani are spelled with a double r, i.e., rrom and rromani, particularly in Romania in order to distinguish from the Romanian endonym (români), to which it has no relation. This is well established in Romani itself, since it represents a phoneme (/ʀ/ also written as ř and rh) which in some Romani dialects has remained different from the one written with a single r.[4]
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The demonyms of the Romani people, Lom and Dom share the same etymological origin,[10][11] reflecting Sanskrit ḍoma "a man of low caste, living by singing and music."[12][13]
The ultimate origin of the Sanskrit term ḍoma (perhaps from Munda or Dravidian) is uncertain.[14] Its stem, ḍom, is connected with drumming, linked with the Sanskrit verbal root ḍam- 'to sound (as a drum)', perhaps a loan from Dravidian, e.g. Kannada ḍamāra 'a pair of kettle-drums', and Telugu ṭamaṭama 'a drum, tomtom'.[15]
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The English term gypsy or gipsy[16] is commonly used to indicate Romani people,[17] and use of the word gipsy in modern-day English is pervasive (and is a legal term under English law—see below), and some Romani organizations use it in their own organizational names, particularly in the United Kingdom. In the UK, the word Gypsy forms part of the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller designation, to represent Romani people from groups who have resided in the UK since the 16th century, as opposed to Roma, who are understood to be linked to more recent migrations.[18][19]
The word, while sometimes positively embraced by Romani persons, is also sometimes rejected by other Romani persons as offensive due to it being tainted by its use as a racial slur and a pejorative connotation implying illegality and irregularity,[20] and some modern dictionaries either recommend avoiding use of the word gypsy entirely or give it a negative or warning label.[21]
A British House of Commons Committee parliamentary inquiry, as described in their report "Tackling inequalities faced by Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities" (published 2019),[22] stated about their findings in the United Kingdom that: "We asked many members of the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities how they preferred to describe themselves. While some find the term "Gypsy" to be offensive, many stakeholders and witnesses were proud to associate themselves with this term and so we have decided that it is right and proper to use it, where appropriate, throughout the report."
The Oxford English Dictionary states a 'gipsy' is a
member of a wandering race (by themselves called Romany), of Indian origin, which first appeared in England about the beginning of the 16th c.
The first usage of the word in English found by the OED was 1514, with several more usages in the same century, and both Edmund Spenser and William Shakespeare used this word.[23]
This exonym is sometimes written with a capital letter, to show that it designates an ethnic group.[24] The Spanish term gitano, the French term gitan and the Basque term ijito have the same origin.[25]
During the 16th and 17th centuries, the name was written in various ways: Egipcian, Egypcian, 'gypcian. The word gipsy/gypsy comes from the spellings which had lost the initial capital E, and that is one reason that it is often spelled with the initial g in lowercase.[26] As time elapsed, the notion of "the gipsy/gypsy" altered to include other associated stereotypes such as nomadism and exoticism.[27] John Matthews in The World Atlas of Divination refer to gypsies as "Wise Women".[28] Colloquially, gipsy/gypsy is used refer to any person perceived by the speaker as fitting the gypsy stereotypes.[29]
Use in English law
The term gipsy has had several overlapping meanings under English Law. In the Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960, gipsies (not capitalised) were defined as "persons[30]of nomadic habit of life, whatever their race or origin, but does not include members of an organised group of travelling showmen, or persons engaged in travelling circuses, travelling together as such".[31] This particular definition included non-Romani groups as Irish Travellers.[32][30] However, it is commonly understood that the term is an exonym for the Romani people.[33] It originates from Egyptian (a historical name for Romani people in Britain).[34]
Romani "gipsies" have been a recognised ethnic group for the purposes of Race Relations Act 1976 since Commission for Racial Equality v Dutton 1989, as have Irish Travellers in England and Wales since O'Leary v Allied Domecq 2000 (having already gained recognition in Northern Ireland in 1997).[32][35]
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Gypsy/Gipsy
In several countries, Romani people were thought to come from Egypt.
Tsinganoi
In much of continental Europe, they are known by names related to the Greek term τσιγγάνοι (tsinganoi):
- Slavic
- Belarusian: цыгане
- Bulgarian:
- цигани, tsigani (Roma people)
- циганин, tsiganin (male Roma)
- циганка, tsiganka (female Roma)
- циганче, tsiganche (Roma child)
- Czech: cikáni (synonym: Romové)
- Macedonian: цигани, tsigani (synonym: ѓупци)
- Polish: Cyganie (synonym: Romowie)
- Russian: цыгане, tsygane
- Serbo-Croatian: цигани, cigani
- Slovak: cigáni
- Slovene: cigani
- Ukrainian: цигани, tsyhani
- Germanic
- Romance
- Other Indo-European
- Albanian: Cigan
- Armenian: գնչու, gnčʿu
- Balkan Romani: Čingaren
- Caló (Spanish Romani): čingarár
- Esperanto: Cigano
- Hindi: चिंगारी Chingaari
- Latvian: čigāni
- Lithuanian: Čigonai
- Persian: کولی, Koli
- Turkish: Çingene (dialect: Çingan or Cingan)
- Urdu: چنگھ, Changar
- Uralic
- Hungarian: cigány; use of "roma" is also widespread and supported. Some, but not all, Roma consider cigány to be offensive. The word cigány can also be used to mean Roma culture in a neutral manner, rather than Romani people (cigányzene), this meaning is embraced by most Hungarian Roma.
The name originates with Byzantine Greek ἀτσίγγανοι (atsinganoi, Latin adsincani) or ἀθίγγανοι (athinganoi, literally "untouchables"), a term applied to the sect of the Melchisedechians.[40][41][42] The Adsincani appear in an 11th-century text preserved in Mt Athos, The Life of Saint George the Athonite (written in the Georgian language), as "a Samaritan people, descendants of Simon the Magician, named Adsincani, who were renowned sorcerers and villains". In the text, emperor Constantine Monomachos employs the Adsincani to exterminate wild animals, who were destroying the game in the imperial park of Philopation.[43]
An alternative etymological approach traces the Greek tsiganos/atsiganos to the Sanskrit atingan(in) and tyāgan(in), with the meaning ‘nomad, migrant, searcher, traveller’.[44]
Bohémiens
Because many Roma living in France had come via Bohemia, they were referred to as Bohémiens.[45] This term would later be adapted by the French to refer to a particular artistic and impoverished lifestyle of an individual, known as Bohemianism.
Roma
- Czech: Romové (synonym)
- Polish: Romowie (synonym)
- Basque: erromintxela or txingartu (for Basque-speaking Romanies)
- Chinese: 罗姆人 Luōmǔrén
- Coptic language: ⲣⲱⲙⲁ Roma
- Japanese: ロマ Roma
Other
- Albanian: Arixhi (handler of bears)
- Arabic: غجر ghájar
- Azerbaijani: Qaraçı
- Estonian: mustlased
- Finnish: mustalaiset
- Georgian: ბოშები bošebi
- Hebrew: צוענים tsoʿănim (from the city Soan in Egypt)
- Kurdish قەرەچی, qaraçı (from Turkish); دۆم, dom
- Mingrelian: ჩაჩანეფი çaçanephi
- Spanish: calé[48]
In the English-speaking world, Romani people are commonly known as Gypsies, Romani Gypsies, Romany Gypsies, Roma Gypsies, Roma and Romanies. The Roma of England are known as Romanichal or Romá in Angloromani. The Roma of Scandinavia are commonly known as Romer or Tater, or Romanisael in Scandoromani. In German-speaking Europe, the self-designation is Sinti, in France Manush, while the groups of Spain, Wales, and Finland use Kalo/Kale (from kalo meaning "black" in Romani language). Following the first World Roma Congress in London where usage of the Romani terms Rom (singular) and Roma (plural) were endorsed for Romani people worldwide, these terms have become increasingly widespread, particularly in Central and Eastern Europe.[8][49]
While many Roma feel compelled to hide their identity in fear of persecution,[50] some people of Romani heritage do not consider themselves to be Roma.[51]
In Bulgaria, a number of people of Romani heritage identify as Turks or Bulgarians and some identify as Romanians.[52]
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