ОЧЕРК О ЦЫГАНСКОМ ЯЗЫКЕ БАЛКАН

Introduction

Romani is a comprehensive language with its grammatical structure. In Balkan countries such as Bulgaria, Macedonia, Greece, Serbia, Romania, there are mainly groups which dialects were influenced by Romanian language and at the same time there are groups which never came in contacts with Romanian. In this paper I will try to show how the grammatical categories are developed and preserved in some dialects spoken in some of the Balkan countries. These are dialects spoken by Gurbeti, Dzhambazi, Kalajdzhi, Burgudzhi, and similar groups and subgroups and they live in countries such as Bulgaria, Macedonia, Greece, Kosovo, Serbia and Romania. 

Number of authors during last decades published on different dialects related to the mentioned ones, showing the grammatical structure of Romani and its close relationship with Indo-Ariyan languages. (Borezky, 1993; Duric, 2005; Hancock, 1995; Igla, 1996; Kyuchukov, 2003; Matras, 2002; Sarau, 1992). Here I am going to focus more on some phenomenon from the Romani spoken in Balkan countries by professional groups mentioned above. Their religion does not play a role. They can be Muslims or Christians. The grammatical characteristics are the same.

From lexical point of view, part of Romani still preserves items from Indian languages and mainly from Hindi and the other part is made up by borrowing words, using the “patterns” offered by the old Romani suffixes and prefixes. The observations on different dialects prove that the Romani lexicon comes from the derivation of suffixes and prefixes and by their combinations.

Derivation of suffixes and prefixes

A. Suffixes

With the use of some suffixes, one may create: nouns, adjectives, adverbs, verbs, numerals.

Nouns

The suffixes ‐no (for masculine noun) and ‐ni (for feminine nouns)            

1. from verbs:

from the verb arakh‐av ”to find, guard, take care“+ suffix ‐no >arakhno “care taker, bodyguard, finder“

from the verb astar‐av ”to catch“ + suffix ‐no > astarno; with feminine suffixe ‐ni > astarni “trap, something that catches“

from the verb sikav‐av  “to point to” + suffix ‐no > sikavno; with feminine suffix -ni > sikavni  “guide, teacher“.

b) from nouns:

The ‐ni suffix is used to get feminine nouns. For instance:

from the masculine noun  grast “horse“ + ‐ni >grastni  “mare“

from the masculine noun manuš “man“ + ‐ni > manušni “woman“

from the masculine noun rom “Rom“ + ‐ni >romni “Roma woman“

from the masculine noun thagar “king“ + ‐ni > thagarni “queen“ etc

The suffix ‐ipe(n)  forms the abstract nouns. With the help of the  suffix ‐ipe(n) from nouns, adjectives and verbs:

a) from nouns:

from the masculine noun amal "friend" + suffix ‐ipe(n) > amalipe(n) "friendship";

from the masculine noun phral "brother" +suffix ‐ipe(n) > phralipe(n) "brotherhood"

            b) from adjectives:

from the adjective dil/o(‐i,‐e,‐e) "crazy, mad, stupid"+suffix ‐ipe(n) >dilipe(n) "madness, stupidity"

from the adjective šukar "beautiful"+suffix ‐ipe(n) > šukaripe(n) "beauty"

            c) from verbs:

from the verb kam‐av "to want, to wish, to love" + suf. ‐ipen > kamipen "wish, love".

The Suffix ‐lin.

            a) from nouns:

from the noun ambrol "pear"+ suffix ‐lin > feminin noun ambrolin  "pear tree"

from noun  phabaj "apple" +suffix ‐lin > feminin  noun phabajlin "apple tree"

The nouns can also be formed from some adjectives.

Adjectives

Adjectives can be formed by adding to the word the following suffixes:

The Suffix ‐utn/o (‐i,‐e,‐e). The adjectives formed by means of this suffix come from:

a) nouns:

from the noun kašt "wood" + suffux ‐utn/o(‐i,‐e,‐e) > adjective kaštun/o(‐i,‐e,‐e) "wooden, made out of wood"

from the noun kher "house" + suffix ‐utn/o(‐i,‐e,‐e) > adjective  kherutn/o(‐i,‐e,‐e) "domestic, pertaining to the household"

1. adjectives:

from adjective čač/o(‐i,‐e,‐e) "right, just, true" + suffix ‐utn/o(‐i,‐e,‐e) > adjective čačutn/o (‐i,‐e,‐e) "truthful, just"

            c) adverbs:

            from the adverb akana "now" + suffix ‐utn/o (‐i,‐e,‐e) > adjective akanutn/o(‐i,‐e,‐e) "contemporary, from now"

from the adverb opre "up"+ suffix ‐utn/o(,‐i,‐e,‐e) > adjektive oprutn/o (‐i,‐e,‐e) "superior"

            d) prepositions:

from the preposition anglal "before, in front of" + suffix‐utn/o (‐i,‐e,‐e) > adjective anglutn/o(‐i,‐e,‐e) "anterior, preceeding"

from the preposition palal "after, behind" + suffix ‐utn/o(‐i,‐e,‐e) > adjective palutn/o(‐i,‐e,‐e) "posterior, following"etc           

The Suffix ‐(v)al/o (‐i,‐e,‐e). Adjectives of this type are formed:

1. from nouns:

from the  masculine noun čhor "beard" + suffix ‐(v)al/o(‐i,‐e,‐e) > adjective čhorval/o (‐i,‐e,‐e) "person who has a beard"

from the masculine noun rat "blood" + suffix ‐(v)al/o(‐i,‐e,‐e) > adjective ratval/o(‐i,‐e,‐e) "bloody"

The Suffix ‐ikan/o (‐i,‐e,‐e). Adjectives can be formed from:

            a) nouns:

from the masculine noun murš "man" + suffix ‐ikan/o(‐i,‐e,‐e) > adjective muršikan/o (‐i,‐e,‐e) "manly"

from the feminin noun žuvli "woman" + suffix ‐ikan/o(‐i,‐e,‐e) > adjective žuvlikan/o(‐i,‐e,‐e) "womanly"

from the masculine noun phral "brother" + suffix ‐ikan/o(‐i,‐e,‐e) > adjective phralikan/o(‐i,‐e,‐e) "brotherly"

            b) adjectives:

from adjective dilo "crazy, mad, stupid" + suffix‐ikan/o (‐i,‐e,‐e) > adjective dilikan/o(‐i,‐e,‐e) "crazy, foolish"

The Suffixes  ‐esk/o (‐i, ‐e, ‐e) / ‐eng/o (‐i, ‐e, ‐e) / ‐ak/o (‐i, ‐e, ‐e) / ‐ang/o (‐i, ‐e, ‐e) are forms for the Genitive of the nouns.

from the masculine noun dad "father" +suffix ‐esk/o (‐i, ‐e, ‐e) > adjective dadesk/o(‐i,‐e,‐e) " the father’s" (Gen.)

from masculine noun dada "father’s"+ suffix eng/o (‐i, ‐e, ‐e) > adjective  dadeng/o (‐i,‐e,‐e) "the father’s" (Gen);

from the feminin noun daj "mother"+suffix ‐ak/o (‐i, ‐e, ‐e) > adjective dajak/o(‐i,‐e,‐e) "the mother`s" (Gen);

The Participial Suffixes ‐d/o (‐i, ‐e, ‐e)

from the verb lačhar‐av "to fix, to repair" > lačhard/o (‐i, ‐e,‐e) "fixed, repaired"

Adverbs          

The Suffix ‐es.

from the adjective roman/o (‐i,‐e,‐e) "rom" + suffix ‐es > romanes "in a roma way"

from the adjective čač/o(‐i,‐e,‐e) "right, just" + suffix ‐es > čačes "truthfully"

The Suffix ‐al.  

from the masculine noun maškar "middle" + suffix ‐al  >  adj. maškaral "from the middle"

from the adverb avri "outside" + suf. ‐al > adverbs avrjal "from the outside"

Verbs              

The Suffix ‐ar‐/ ‐jar‐  is one of the most productive Rromani suffixes and added to nouns, adjectives, numerals, adverbs,verbs, it can form verbs.

            a) from nouns:

from the feminin noun mel "dirt" +suffix ‐jar‐ >  verb meljar‐el " to get something dirty"

from the feminin noun loš "joy"+suffix ‐ar‐ > verb lošar‐el "to make somebody happy"

            b) from adjectives:

from the adjective bar/o(‐i,‐e,‐e) "big"+suffix ‐jar‐ > verb barjar‐el "to grow, to cultivate, to develop"

from the adjective dil/o(‐i,‐e,‐e) "crazy, stupid" + suffix ‐jar‐ > verb diljar‐el "to drive somebody crazy"

from the adjective šukar "beautiful"+ suffix ‐jar‐ > verb sukarjar‐el "to beautify, to make beautiful"

            c) from adverbs:

from the adverbs dur "far" + suffix -jar‐> verb durjar‐el "to run from, to put some distance between"

            d) from  verbs:

            from the verb sikljol "to study"+ suffix ‐jar‐ >  verb  sikljar‐el " to teach"

B. Prefixes

The Prefix  bi‐ can form:

            a) nouns:

prefix bi‐ + feminin noun baxt "good luck, chance" > feminin noun bibaxt "bad luck"

1. adjectives :

prefix bi‐ +adjective londo "salty" > adjective  bilondo "with no salt"

1. verbs:

prefix bi‐ + verb starel "to catch, to grab, to remember" > verb bistarel "to drop, to forget"

prefix bi‐  + verb kinel "to buy"> verb bikinel "to not sell, to not buy"

The grammatical cases and Romani verbs

An important part of Romani language are the cases. Many authors have written about the case system of Romani. (Borezky, 1993; Matras, 2002). The case system in Romani can be presented in two ways: with postpositions (kher-es-tar > house-from) or with prepositions (andar o kher > from the house). There are differences in the case endings for masculine and feminine nouns, plural and singular, as well as for animate and inanimate nouns. However, very little is known and there is no research and publications about the verbs in relation to the Romani case system. Here I will present examples about some verbs from Romani language and how they go along with different cases in Romani:

1)  džal (to go)

ACC               

1) O rom džal kaštenge

the man go-3sg wood-for                                                                                            

‘The man goes for wood'

2) O rom džal po drom

the man go(walk)-3sg on road

‘The man walks on the road’

3) O rom džal po grast

the man go-3sg after horse

‘The man follows the horse’

DAT               

O  gad džal leske šukar

the shirt go-3sg him nice

‘The shirt suits him well’

INSTR           

Me džav tusa ando foro

I go-1sg  you-with in-the town

‘I am coming with you to the town’

LOK  

1) I romni džal ando kher

the woman go-3sg into house

‘The woman goes into the house’

 2) Me džav  paš tute

I go-1sg  to you

‘I am coming to you’

2)  avel (to come)

ACC              

O manuš avel po drom

the man come-3sg on-the  road

‘The man comes on the road’

DAT               

O  habe  avela leske ṧukar

the food come-3sg him-to nice

‘He likes the food’

ABL               

1) O  čhavo  avel  andar o kher

the boy come-3sg from the house

‘The boy comes from the house’

2) O čhavo avel kherestar

the boy come-3sg house-from

‘The boy comes from the house’

INSTR           

Avav tusa

come-1sg you-with

‘I am coming with you’

LOK              

Me avav paš tute

I come-1sg to you

‘I am coming to you’

3) tradel/bičalel (to send)

ACC              

I romni bičalel  e čhaves ko kurko

the woman send-3sg the child to market

‘The woman sends the child to the market’

DAT               

Trade mange jek lil

send-PT-3pl me-to one book

‘They sent me a book’

ABL               

Bičalde les andar o gav

send-PT-3pl    him      from    the       village

‘They sent him from the village’

INSTR Tradas lensa love

send-PT-3sg them-with money

‘He sent money with them’

LOC              

Bičalde mande e čhave

send-PT-3pl me-to the child(boy)

‘They sent me the child(boy)’

4) avel palpale (to come back)

ACC              

Me avav  palpale po drom

I come back from    road

‘I come back from my trip’

ABL               

Me avav palpale tumendar

I come back you-pl-from

‘I come back from your place’

INSTR           

Me avav palpale lasa

I come back her-with

‘I come back with her’

LOC              

Me  avav palpale paš tute

I come back toyou

‘I come back to you’

5) inkljol (to get out/to get on)

ACC              

Inkljol pe les jekh kiri

go out on him one ant

‘An ant crawling on him’

DAT               

Inkljon leske jakha

go out his eyes

‘May he becomes blind’

ABL               

1) Inkljav andar  o kher

go out-1 sg from the house

‘I leave the house’

2) Inkljav  kherestar

go-out -1sg house-from

I leave home/the house’

INSTR           

O  čhavo inklyola lasa ko bijav

 the boy go-out 3sg her-with to wedding

 ‘the boy goes to the wedding with her’

LOC              

O  rom inkljol opre khereste

the  man go out-3sg  on house-the

‘The man climbs on the houses wall’

6) gyndel/del pes gogi (to think)

LOC              

Me dav man gogi pe leste

I think about him

‘I think about him’

7) mangel (to ask)

ACC              

Mangav  e  čhaja

love-1sg the girl

‘I love the girl’

8) dikhel (to see)

ACC              

1) Dikhav  o  kher

see-1sg the  house

‘I see the house’

 2) Dikhav   e  dades

see-1sg         the       father

‘I see the father’

ABL                

1) Dikhav  e kerestar  dži  ki  len

 see-1sg the house-from till the river

 ‘I can see from the house till the river’                       

2) Dikhav  andar  o  kher  dži  ki  len

 see-1sg  from  the  house  till the river

‘I can see from the house till the river’

INSTR           

Dikhav tusa o filmo

 see/Watch1-sg you-with         the       film

 ‘I watch the film with you’

LOC              

Dikhav opre leste šukar gad

see-1 sg on him nice shirt

‘He has a nice shirt on’

9) vakerel (to say/ to talk)

DAT          

Me vakerav  tuke kaj ame džas ando foro

I tell-1sg you that we go-1pl  to-the city

‘I tell you that we go to the city’

ABL               

Vakerdem   andar o il

speak-PT1sg about the book

‘I spoke about the book’

INSTR           

Vakerdem lensa

speak-PT1sg   them-with

‘I spoke with them’

LOC              

Vakerdem ko radio

speak-PT1sg   in the radio

‘I did spoke on radio’

10) prandel pes (to get married)

INSTR           

Me prandilem lasa

I marry-PT1sg her-with

‘I got married with her’

12) prandavav (make s.o. to get married)

ACC              

Me prandavav les jeke čhajasa

I marry-1sg him one girl-with

‘I married him to a girl’

INSTR           

Me prandavav lesa mire čhaja

I marry-1sg him-with my daughter

‘I made him to marry my daughter’

12) bijanel(to give a birth)

DAT               

I thagarni bijandili e thagareske jeke  

the queen gave birth the king-DAT one-to   

sumnakune rakles

golden  boy

‘The queen gave a birth to a golden boy for for the king’

ACC              

I daj bijandili jekhe čhaves

the mother gave birth one-to boy

‘The mother gave birth to a boy’

LOC              

I  khamni bijandili ando lengo kher

the pregnant woman gave birth intheir house

‘The pregnant woman gave a birth in their house’

13) merel (to die )

DAT         

Ov merel lake

he die-3sg her-for

‘He dies for her’

LOC              

Tu meres  po drom

you die-2sg on-the  road

‘You die on the road’

INSTR           

Von mule lensa ando foro

they die-3plPT them-with in-the city

‘They died together with them in the city’

ABL               

1)  Voj muli xoljatar

she died anger-from

‘She died of anger’

2)  Voj  muli andar i xoli

she died from the anger

‘She died of anger’

LOC              

Voj muli and-o gav

she die-3sgPT in-the village

‘She died in the village’

The examples above show clearly that there are certain verbs which go or do not with certain cases. The same verb used in different cases can have different meanings and the same phenomenon is observed in Hindi as well (Mohanan, 1994).

Conclusions

As it is shown in the paper, Romani still preserves structures typical for Hindi and other Indo-Arian languages. All this structures are typical for dialects which have been in contact with Romanian throughout the centuries. The verbs used by some cases are also similar to Hindi, or dialects of Hindi, which show that the deep structure of Romani comes from Indian languages, or dialects of Hindi.