"Roman" - The language of the Romani people of Burgenland
Oral traditions in Burgenland, inscribed 2011
Roman, the language of the Burgenland Roma, is prevalent primarily in the Austrian province of Burgenland and represents an important component of the cultural and linguistic heritage of the Roma people. Roman is a variety of Romani that is spoken exclusively within the territory of Austria. Roman can look back on a 500-year-old tradition and is spoken predominantly within the family environment, but also among friends and other members of the ethnic group.
The Burgenland Roma were long isolated and marginalised by mainstream society. The destruction of the Roma’s social structure and their stigmatisation and discrimination led to a kind of self-imposed forced assimilation and a rejection of their own language. Not until the end of the 1980s did the Roman language again gradually become an important factor of their identity. Unlike today’s generation of parents (aged 40 and up), the acquisition of Roman among young people presently occurs largely outside the family home in language courses.
The use of Roman was long restricted to certain domains, which was also reflected in the vocabulary. In the 20th century, a crucial shift occurred with regard to its areas of use. On one hand, there was a decrease in the use of Roman in day-to-day communication, while on the other, this period saw the creation of a written form. Today, a creative way of dealing with the language can be observed with regard to neologisms. The linguistic entry into new domains, such as the Internet, has made it necessary to adopt loanwords in order to express new things and ideas.
The greatest risk to the continued existence of Roman is the decline in the use of the language by the Burgenland Roma themselves. A significant negative factor influencing the use of Roman is the low esteem in which it is held by mainstream society. For this reason, many Burgenland Roma have switched to speaking primarily German, as well as the two minority languages Croatian and Hungarian.
Contact
Downloads
- Application form (in German only) 233 KB (doc)
- Expertise Fennesz-Juhasz (in German only) 177 KB (pdf)
- Expertise Halwachs (in German only) 158 KB (pdf)
Links
Gallery
© Roma-Service
Kalitsch - O tschoro Rom taj o beng
Marov, marov
O baro kamipe
O dilino Hansi
O Poschtaschi alo Romano Rath
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