I was visiting, I saw with my own eyes the "first in the world" gypsy alphabet from Ukraine. I thought that the first place in the list of my favorite books all my life would be the bible of a raw food diet from Butenko, but no! "Godvaro dromoro", that is, the gypsy alphabet from a neighboring state, immediately pressed her and took the vacant place of honor.

First about the good. Firstly, having the opportunity to learn to read first in their native, well-known language is good. Secondly, such alphabets also serve as an extension vocabulary relatively state language, and "Godvaro dromoro" more or less sets such a task and even fulfills it somewhere.

It would be much better if it fulfilled it completely. I do not undertake to predict the reaction of gypsy children when they find out that it turns out:

KHAMITKO means "hot" and "yellow"
CHARITKO - green
BALIBNAKIRO - blue
BUZNURO - goat
BALYCHHO - pig
BALA - braids
ZOR - health
PIRANGO - naked
ROCKING - bear
UPRE - uphill
CHERGENIA - star

And I haven’t copied texts for myself yet, if that.

The textbook, by the way, claims that CHARITKO VASH is a green forest, although a simple gypsy will not think of anything other than "bamboo thickets" (if he even knows that bamboo is grass). And JIVITKO BERGA, it turns out, is not a snow / ice slide, from which children ride on cartons, briefcases and asses in winter, but even an "iceberg" at all. It's amazing - the Russians, since they had little to do with icebergs, borrowed this word. And the gypsies, it turns out, do not need to borrow, they have their own ancient, mundane word, indicating constant contact with icebergs.

Drop dead phrases very, very much and delicious. What gypsy can contemplate the phrase "BALIBNAKIRO BALIBEN" without falling into a stupor?! I could not. But a lot of such combinations are used to invent the names of vegetables. "Hairy apple" is, so you know, kiwi. BARO NARANCHO - grapefruit (this is how the drop dead construction of the expression "big grapefruit" is seen). RAYKANO DUDUM - ready? Zucchini!!! Man in the singular - MANUSH. In the plural - ROMA. Striking root transformation, I brush.

For some reason, the "door" took on the appearance of an Irish surname: O "DARA. Just a few times like that. And even without O, too, just DARA.

No less striking is the confidence of the compilers that the words TUMENGE and TUMENS are certainly separated in the middle by a space: SATYPEN TU MENGE, MEK YAVEL DEVEL TU MENSA.

But that's not all!

All letters, as expected, are represented through gypsy words. As if that's the idea, right? Do you want to know what kind of gypsy word illustrates the letter "U"?

But the most fun was the selection of fairy tales. Just imagine - the alphabet is made ALL in the Servitz dialect. All. Except, for some reason, one fairy tale. Which is given in the Lovarsky (if I'm not mistaken) dialect. It is, for Russians, as if you were reading a book in Russian, and suddenly the text in Czech began to appear. I can imagine the eyes of children trying to make sense of it. (And I even seem to know why this is so. Fairy tales were probably stupidly pulled from the brochures that organizations issue on April 8. You know: the flag, the anthem, the praise of the organization, one fairy tale in Gypsy. And along with the Servitz brochures, I also came across a Lovary one. Well and who cares, here is a gypsy and there is a gypsy, right?)

Furthermore!!!

Do you know what this fairy tale tells first graders about?

About how GOD ALLOWED TO DECEIVE AND RIP PEOPLE for helping a gypsy blacksmith to Christ.

Excellent moral education and excellent socialization of the rising gypsy generation in the interests of the state, I brush. Just great.

Comrades! Expensive! Is there a way to save the poor gypsy children of Ukraine from the gypsy alphabet given to them by the government?!?!?!

On the territory of Russia, the gypsies use the Cyrillic alphabet.

A a, B b, C c, G g, Ґ ґ, D d, E e, E e, F g, Z h, I i, Y y, K k, L l, M m, H n, O o , P p, R p, S s, T t, U y, F f, X x, C c, H h, Sh w, s, b, E e, Yu yu, I am

As we can see, from the Russian alphabet, which served as the basis, the gypsy alphabet is distinguished by one letter: ґ . It denotes the sound, the middle between G and X, as in the word giril(peas).

Breathing after a consonant is indicated by the letter X: pharo(heavy), thud(milk), Kher(house).

Letters A a, Her, Her, Oh oh, u u, s, uh uh, yu yu, I am are vowels. They are easy to remember: each of them is easy to sing, stretch, hum.

Letters B b, in in, G g, Ґ ґ , D d, F, W h, K to, L l, Mm, N n, P p, R p, C with, T t, f f, x x, C c, h h, W w are consonant.

Letter th, also known as " iot", is a semivowel.

When writing, many gypsies have difficulty rendering iotated vowels at the beginning of a word or after a vowel and consonants at the end of a word.

For example, some write yone, other yone, third yone. Correct, literary will use on " iot" + a, about, at, and the letters I, yo,Yu. If iotation is very noticeable in your dialect, you can also write through " iot", but then already ioted vowels (i, e, u) should not follow it. The exception is the combinations" iot"+e, and, characteristic of some dialects: gaye(non-gypsies), yeibeng(life), yekh(one), yiv(snow).

In the middle of a word iot" not used: laya(did) pya(drank), gyya(walked), etc.

A vowel at the end of a word is usually stunned, i.e. chib(language) sounds like [chip], thud(milk) as [thut]. However, what kind of letter should really be written can be determined by deriving a diminutive form from the word: chibori(tongue), thudoro(milk).

Rule: Do you want to know what's at the end of a word? Say kindly!

Several strengthening exercises.

1. Try to remember and write a few words that begin with an iotized vowel. So you will see if you understand what an "iotated vowel" is, and you will get used to the fact that it is called that.

2. Write some breathy words after P, to, t.

3. Insert the correct letter at the end of the word (instead of an ellipsis):

Bibach... (grief)
brishyn ... (rain)
bya... (wedding)
you... (hand)
ha... (shirt)
glo... (voice)
yes... (father)
joe... (oats)
dra... (tea)
i... (fire)
porridge ... (wood)
la... (word, name)
ma... (meat)
ra... (night)
ru... (wolf)
tha... (thread)

Do not be surprised if some words are unfamiliar: I have specially selected words of different adverbs.

4. An exercise in getting used to the order of the letters in the gypsy alphabet.
Arrange the words in alphabetical order.

Pany (water), bala (hair), yakh (eye), odi (soul), thuv (smoke), joltiro (yolk), danda (teeth), lilo (book), angrusta (ring), vesh (forest), swarm (spoon), mursh (male), gera (legs), nakh (nose), ublady (noose), feld (field), ilo (heart), zor (strength), yiv (snow), coldo (soldier), years (mind), kana (ears), shtar (four), herds (hat), chick (skin), chib (tongue)

An exercise for verification (if you suddenly want to) you can send me to [email protected] . You can ask me the right answers, especially if some words are unfamiliar :)

Accidentally stumbled upon.

Gypsy language (romano rakirebe).

greetings

Hello - bahtales
Hello - dubrIdin
Welcome! - Mishto yavYan!
Happy stay! (to many people) - te yavEn bahtalE!
Happy stay! (to a man) - te yavEs bakhtalO!

Good afternoon (everyone) - devEs lachO (sarEnge)

Standard phrases

Thanks - Nais
Be healthy - yavEn saste
Good night - lachi ryat
How are you? - Cheese tere business?
How are you? - Cheese tu jivEsa?
Everything goes well! - Sa avela mishto!
What is your name? - the cheese is kharen?
My name is... - man kharen...
At your place beautiful name- tute gojo laf
I'm sorry - I'm sorry
What you said? - So Tu PyeongYang?
Can you hear me? - Tu man shunEsa?
Understood)? - Polyyan?
How do you feel? - Do you feel the cheese?
What should I do? - So mange te kira?
What do you want? - From that KamES?
I love you - me here kamAm / kamAv
I hate you - me here nakamAm / nakamAv
I give you my word - dava tukE mirO laf
It hurts… - man o dukhal…
I beg you - me here mangav
You know? - that JinEs?

Let's go home - yavEn khare
I will come - me avav
I won't tell you anything - nichi me tuter on pengawa
Wait! (Stop!) - tyrdЁv!
So it is - dey sy
It's true - hell chachipe
Who's there? (when they knock) - condy?
Don't go! - wow!
Come here - yav darik
Get out of here - jadad kher / yav durik
I beg you - me here mangawa
I see - me dykhav
I thought - mae doumindyom
I don't know how to say it - na ginom, hell peng cheese
Look! - Duc!
Do not be angry - on holidays
Do not smoke - on tyrdY; are you going to smoke? - AVESA TYRDES?
It's my fault? - me bango?
I remember everything - me sa rapirAva
Bought for me - manga kimle
What are you going to eat? - So that lEse tehAs?
Will I sit here? - Me datE pobushala?
Do you know where to go? - Tu dzhinEs, karik te dzhyas?
Where are you ball? - Kai tou sanAs?
We are leaving - ame karadasa
I'm fine - me shukAr
I went (we went) - mae gaeom (ame gaeom)
Done - gata
My God! - miro devel!

Closed - Zaker
Open - utkErdo

Pronouns

I - me
With me - mander
Me - mange/mange
With me - manza
Without me - bi world
I have - man o / mande
To me - ke me
My (my, mine) - world (world, world)

We are AME
Nam - amEnge
Our (our, our) - amorO (amorI, amorE)
To us - ke yame

You are the one
You are here
You have - tute
To you - tuke
Yours (your, yours, yours) - cho / terO (ti / terI, terE, tiR / terO)
To you - ki tu
Without you - bi terO

You are tume
Yours (your, yours) - tumarO (tumari, tumarE)

He is yov
Him - laske
His (in the genitive case) - les
His (as an adjective) - laskO

She - her/youne
Her - la

They are Ana
Im - lenge
Their (in the genitive case) - len

Himself - Kokuro
Own - pengo
Yourself - peskE
Yourself - pes

This is hell
This one is like

Everything - sa (saro)
All - saverE
Everyone - SarEn
Everyone - sarEnge
Quite - sarEsa

Who - con
Nobody - nikon
With whom - kasa

So - kadyake
Together - khetane
Because - dulEski
What - with

Questions

What? - So?
Where? - Kai?
Where to? - Karik?
How? - cheese?
What for? - palso?
Why? - nipples? (but more often - the same as in Russian)
When? - sneakers?
Who? - con?
How much? - but?
Which? - Savo?

Answers

Yes Yes; no - nat
No - nane
Good - shukAr/mishto
Bad - nashuka
Nothing - nothing
Nobody - nikon
Everything is ready - sa gata
Many - but
A little bit of a booty
I give you my word - dava tukE mirO love

Description

Handsome - hojo
Ugly - Bank
You are my (my) pretty (th) - that world (peace) pretty
Dear - drago
Favorite (th) - kamlO (kamly)
Good (pretty) - lacho (lachinko)
Fool (fool) - dyrlyny (dyrlyno)
small - small
Big - baro
Poor - charoro
Rich - barvalo
Gypsy - rom / romal
Not a gypsy - gajo
"Devil with Horns" - Beng rogEnsa
New - nEvo
Sly / cunning (cunning) - uzhYanglo (uzhYangle)
Smart - godyavir
Happy (happy, happy) - bakhtalo (bakhtali, bakhtalE)
Daredevil (male) - mursh
Gypsy - romAno
Golden (golden, golden, golden) - sanakUno (sanakUny, sanakUno, sanakUne)
There are no more like them in the world - nane ada vavir pre light

Status Description

I feel bad (I feel good) - mange nashuk (mange shukAr)
I'm tired - me kranio
I slept - me popAcio
I got sick - me zanasvaluYo
I'm over it! - Mander is enough!
New - nEvo
Happy (happy) - bahtalo (bakhtali)
I want to sleep - kamElpe tesovEs

People (monushA)

The people are crazy
Good people - lache monushA
Girl / girl - chayuri; "docha" - tea
Girls/girls - chaYale
Woman - Rumy
Boy / guy - chavoro; "son" - chavoraAle
Boys/Guys - ChavAle
Man - Roma
Fortune teller - drabarovkina
Witch - shuvani
Little boy - tykhnenko chavoro
Friend (girlfriend, friends) - vortAko (vortAka, vortAchya)
Him (her) ... years - leskE (lakE) ... bersh
Two brothers - dui pshala

Relatives

Mom - yes
With mom - yes sa
Dad - dado/dad
Son - whoa
Daughter - tea
Sister - phrEn
With Sister - PhrenA So
Brother - pshal
With brother - pe pshalEse
Brother - pshalEske
Grandpa - papo
Grandma - mami
With grandma - baba co
Daughter-in-law Bori
Husband - Roma
Wife - Romanians
uncle - how
With uncle - kakE se
Aunt - bibi
With aunt - bbya co

Time

Year - bersh
Month - Shen
Day - devEs/des
Night - ryat; at night - ryate
Morning - daediminians
Evening - dekusare
In the morning - dodesara
Today - Dadyves
Tomorrow - taYa
The day after tomorrow - halibut
Now - the same as in Russian

Place

House - kher (you can - kher)
There - dute
Here - date
Road - DrOm; on the way - pe droma
Here - darik
There - fool
From here - dates
Forward - pale
Back - angel

Body parts

Eye (a) - yakh (A)
Nose - nakh
Lips - high
Teeth - dAnda
face - mui
Hand - Vast
Head - Shero/Shuru
Hair - bala
Belly - peer
Leg - punrro
On my feet - about the hero

Products

Cooking - tekareles haben
Woman cooks - rromni keravEla
What do you eat? - from that hass?
Eat - texas
Drink - play
Boiled - carado
Apple - phabai
Pear - ambrol
Watermelon - lubenytsa
Melon - harbuzo
Apricot - baratskaya
Potato - colompiri
Cabbage - shah
Rice - rezo
Meat - mas
Sugar - prakhu
Water - PanI
Milk - thud
Coffee - kava
Vodka - bravInta

Creatures and animals

God - devel
Damn bang
Dog - jukel
Horse - gray
Bird - ChirEkly

Clothing, jewelry

Trousers - halloween
Scarf - dykhlo
Skirt - just like in Russian
Gold - sumnakay
Golden ring - sanakUno angrusty
Silver - Rupee

Miscellaneous

Conversation - rakirebe
Truth - chacho / chachipe
Lies - hohAype
Rain - brishind
Wind - balval
Heart/Soul - Ilo
Moon - shyonuto
Star - black; stars - chirgIn (I); asterisk - chirgenorI
Sun - kham
Money - love
Without money - without lovEngi
Fire - yag
Water - PanI
Blood - rat
Table - scamInd
Bed - chibe
Door - blowA
Song - Gila
Love - KamAm
Knife - churi
Light - yak
Leaflet / passport - lilOro
wedding - bjav
Stone - bar
Road/path - core
Tree - kasht

"winged"

May God punish you! - Te scarin man devel!
A dog won't bite a dog - djukel dzhukles on hala
Lying stone - pashlo bar
Sings like a bird - bagala cheese chirEkly
Your eyes are like stars - terE yakhA chirgin cheese

Miscellaneous phrases and actions

Come / come to me - yav ke me
He Knows Everything - Yeow SarO JinL
It's raining - brishind jyala
Where should I go? / Do you know where to go? - Karik tejav? / JeanEs, Karik tejYas?
Who is coming? - con avela?
We walk together - ame jyasa khetane
Don't be afraid - on dArpe
Give me your hand - de waste
I heard it - me hell shundem
I beg you - me here mangav
I don't ask you for anything - nothing me tuter on mangaAwa
I'll tell you - me here pengAwa
I won't tell you anything - nichi me tuter on pengAwa
Do you hear? - shunEsa?
Let's go (home) - yavEn (khare)
What should I do? / What do we do? - with mange te kira? / From kyrAs?
I thought (a) - mae doumindyom
It burns, but does not heat - khachen, ne on tatkirEl
Kiss - chamudEv
I remember the song - rapierAva me gily
Looking for - rodAm; found - lakhtem
You got angry - that kholysyan
Do you see it too? - Tu chi dykhes hell?
Okay, I'll come - Mishto, me java
You're lying, I know - tu hohavEsa, mae jinom
I don't know anything - Mae nichi on ginom
Me lived in ... - ame jindYam de ...
We visited ... - ame samAs de ...
We're going to the dance - ame gayom at the disco
We are leaving - ame karadasa
I want to see you - kamAm / kamAv ki tu
Come on! - mishto akana bre!
What, you left (came)? - that with, gee (javdya)?
I want to know - kamElpe jyanAv

Gypsies are one of the most amazing peoples that can only be found in the world. Many would envy their inner emancipation and lifelong optimism. The gypsies never had their own state, and yet they carried their traditions and culture through the centuries. According to the degree of their presence on the planet, they can compete with another people scattered around the world until recently - the Jews. It is no coincidence that Jews and Gypsies were at the very top of the list of those representatives of the human race who were subject to complete destruction, according to Hitler's racial laws. But if about the genocide of Jews - the Holocaust - many books have been written and many films have been shot, dozens of museums in different countries are devoted to this topic, then few people know about Kali Trash - the genocide of gypsies. Simply because there was no one to stand up for the gypsies.

Figure 1. Gypsy girl. Eastern Europe
Source unknown

Both Jews and Gypsies are united by a belief in their own special destiny, which, in fact, helped them survive - after all, both Jews and Gypsies lived for centuries as minorities among other peoples, with languages, customs, and religion alien to them, but at the same time same time were able to maintain their identity. Like the Jews, the Gypsies were scattered throughout different countries Europe, Middle East, Caucasus, North Africa. Both peoples "clung to their roots", practically not mixing with the local population. Both Jews and Gypsies have divisions into “friends” and “strangers” (Gypsies have rum-dirty, Jews have goyim Jews). It is noteworthy that neither one nor the other anywhere made up the majority of the population - and therefore found themselves without statehood by the beginning of the 20th century.

Before the establishment of the State of Israel, Jews from different regions of Eurasia used different languages. Thus, the Jews of Central and of Eastern Europe they spoke almost exclusively Yiddish, a Germanic language very similar to German, but using the Hebrew alphabet. Persian Jews and Jews Central Asia spoke Jewish-Persian and other Jewish-Iranian languages. The Jews of the Middle East and North Africa spoke various Jewish-Arabic dialsktah. Sephardim, descendants of those expelled from Spain and Portugal in XV-XVI centuries Jews spoke a Sephardic language (Ladino), close to Spanish.The gypsies, who do not have their own statehood, also speak several dialects that differ significantly from each other. Each locality uses its own dialect, with a lot of borrowed vocabulary. So, in Russia, Ukraine, Romania, dialects with a great influence of Romanian and Russian are used. The gypsies of Western Europe speak dialects with borrowings from German and French. On the periphery of the gypsy areola of settlement (modern Finland, Spain, Portugal, Scotland, Wales, Armenia, etc.), they use local languages ​​interspersed with gypsy vocabulary.

It is noteworthy that not only the gypsies absorb vocabulary into their language, but also the "aboriginal" peoples borrow some words. For example, widespread Russian jargons have a gypsy origin: love (money), steal (steal), hawal (eat, eat), labat (play a musical instrument). English words lollipop (lollipop), pal (buddy), chav (gopnik), tiny (small, tiny) - similarly. Changes also took place in the cultural environment: in Russia, especially in the 20th century, gypsy ensembles became widespread, which were very popular among all strata of society. In the southern part of Spain, the gypsies created the musical style of flamenco.

So where did the gypsies come from, why were they scattered all over the world, and why are they so disliked wherever they have the misfortune to live? The swarthy skin color and dark hair color clearly indicate that the ancestors of the gypsies came to Europe from the south. On the territory of the northern Indian state of Rajasthan, several tribes still live, which are considered related to the current gypsies. The largest of them are banjars; in addition to the Banjars, the possible ancestors of the Gypsies also include the Chamars, Lohars, Doms and Qajars.


Figure 2. A teenage banjar in a festive costume. Rajasthan (Northwest India).
Photo of the author.

Historians have not yet been able to establish for certain when exactly the gypsies set off on their great journey, but it is assumed that this happened in the interval between VI and X centuries of our era. The route of movement is more precisely known. Having left Northwest India, the nomadic tribes first lived for a long time on the territory of modern Iran and Turkey, from there they began to move north - to the territory of modern Bulgaria, Serbia and Greece. Later, around XV century, the gypsies through the territory of modern Romania began to settle first in the countries of Central Europe (modern Germany, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia), then moved to Scandinavia, the British Isles, and Spain. Around the same time ( XV - XVI century) another branch of the gypsies, having passed from the territory of modern Iran and Turkey through Egypt, settled in the countries of North Africa and also reached modern Spain and Portugal. At the end XVII century, the gypsies ended up in the outlying territories of the Russian Empire (modern Baltic states, Crimea, Moldova).

Why did the gypsies leave their homes and go on a long journey? Scientists do not yet know the exact answer, but they suggest that, most likely, several nomadic Indian tribes at some point began to go beyond the traditional area of ​​​​settlement. Currently, in India, about five percent of the population is constantly migrating - as a rule, these are itinerant artisans, whose route is more or less constant. The basis of the nomadic way of life of the Gypsies and their Indian ancestors was not a "romantic desire to change places", as some readers may think based on the stories of M. Gorky and the films of E. Lotyanu, but economic factor: tabor artisans needed markets for their products, artists needed new audience for performances, fortunetellers needed a change of clientele. In each case, the nomadic area was relatively small - approximately 300-500 square kilometers. This may explain the fact that it took the nomads several centuries to reach Western Europe.

As the nomadic tribes moved further and further away from their historical homeland, they are more and more consolidated. In India, many tribes form a separate caste - the total number of castes in this country exceeds 3000, transitions between castes are difficult or completely prohibited. Most likely, the ancestors of modern gypsies who left the territory of Hindustan belonged to different castes (their main occupations were blacksmithing and pottery, basket weaving, making and tinning boilers, street performances, fortune-telling, etc.). While they were in the territory of present-day Iran and Afghanistan, they did not stand out too much from the indigenous people - they were almost as dark-haired and swarthy. In addition, there were many nomadic pastoralists around, so the way of life of the gypsies did not seem to be something special.

As the gypsies moved farther away from their historical homeland, their differences in dress and traditions became more and more noticeable in comparison with the local population. Apparently, then the various Indian tribes-castes began to gradually grow together, forming a new community, which we call "gypsies."

There were other changes as well. One of the largest and most powerful states in X - XIV centuries on the territory of Europe and Asia Minor was Byzantium, which at that time occupied the territory of modern Turkey, Greece and Bulgaria. Several hundred years of living in the territory of Christian Byzantium led to the fact that the Gypsies converted to Christianity, apparently, this happened around XII-XIV centuries. Byzantine written sources of that time do not distinguish gypsies from other social and ethnic groups. This indirectly indicates that at that time the Roma were not perceived as a marginal or criminal group.

The Byzantine Empire was one of the longest-lived empires in history. It existed for more than a thousand years, but by the middle XV century completely died out and fell under the pressure of the Ottoman Turks. As Byzantium faded, the gypsies again set off - they began to settle in the lands of the surrounding countries. It was then that the process of marginalization of the Roma began.

Europe XV centuries lost to many countries of the East in technology and in living standards. The era of the great sea ​​voyages, which opened up new lands and rich opportunities for Europeans, was just beginning. to industrial and bourgeois revolutions, which put Europe on a height unattainable for other countries, was still far away. Europeans at that time lived poorly, there was not enough food for everyone, and they did not need other people's mouths at all. The negative attitude towards the gypsies as “extra mouths” was aggravated by the fact that during the collapse of Byzantium, the most mobile, most adventurous groups of gypsies moved to Europe, as is usually the case with social cataclysms, among which there were many beggars, petty thieves, fortunetellers. Honest workers, who at one time received numerous letters of privilege in Byzantium, apparently were in no hurry to move to new lands, hoping to adapt to the new orders of the Ottoman Turks. By the time artisans, animal trainers, artists and horse traders (representatives of typical gypsy professions) found themselves in Central and Western Europe, they fell under the already established negative stereotype of perception and could not change it.

Guild and territorial restrictions served as an additional factor in the marginalization of the Roma. medieval Europe. The right to engage in crafts was then inherited - so the son of a shoemaker became a shoemaker, and the son of a blacksmith became a blacksmith. It was impossible to change profession; Moreover, most of the inhabitants medieval cities in all their lives they had never been outside the city walls and were wary of all strangers. Gypsy artisans who arrived in Central Europe faced a hostile and negative attitude from the local population and the fact that, due to guild restrictions, they could not engage in the crafts that they had long earned a living (primarily working with metal).

Starting from the XVI century, economic relations in Europe began to change. Manufactories arose, which led to the mass ruin of artisans. In England, the need for grazing meadows for the needs of the textile industry led to a policy of enclosure, in which peasants were driven off their common lands, and the vacated land was used to herd sheep. Since unemployment benefits and other mechanisms to support socially vulnerable segments of the population did not exist at that time, the number of vagrants, petty robbers and beggars grew. Cruel laws were passed against them throughout Europe, often assuming the death penalty for the fact of begging. Nomadic, semi-nomadic, as well as trying to settle down, but ruined gypsies became victims of these laws.

Fleeing from the persecution of the authorities, the gypsies became more secretive - they moved at night, lived in caves, forests and other secluded places. This contributed to the emergence and widespread myths about gypsies as cannibals, satanists, vampires and werewolves. At the same time, rumors appeared about gypsies kidnapping children (allegedly for eating and performing satanic rites).

The spiral of mutual distrust and rejection continued to unwind. Due to the limited or complete absence of legal opportunities for earning money, the gypsies, forced to somehow find their own food, began to engage more and more in theft, robbery and other not entirely legal activities.


Figure 5. Nikolai Bessonov. "Fortune telling".

In the conditions of a hostile external environment, the gypsies (especially the gypsies from the countries of Western Europe) began to culturally "lock in on themselves", literally and strictly following the old traditions. Looking for better share Gypsies gradually began to settle in the countries of Northern and Eastern Europe, moved to the countries of the New World, but almost nowhere did they move to settled way life and practically nowhere could they integrate into the local society - everywhere they remained strangers.

In XX century, many countries attempted to destroy the traditionalism of the gypsies, tie them to a permanent place of residence, give them the opportunity to earn money through official employment. In the USSR, this policy was relatively successful - about ninety percent of all gypsies settled down.

The collapse of the Soviet bloc countries led to the destruction of the lifestyle of the gypsies in Eastern Europe and former USSR. Until the mid-1990s, the gypsies of the USSR and other countries of Eastern Europe were actively engaged in small-scale underground production, speculation and other similar illegal businesses. The disappearance of the deficit, the development of a market economy in the countries of the Soviet bloc deprived the gypsies of the niche due to which they succeeded in the second half XX century. The low level of education, the lack of a long-term view of the development of their own business led to the fact that most of the Roma were squeezed out of the sphere of petty trade, thanks to which the Roma flourished in the 1980s and 1990s.

The impoverished gypsies returned to begging, and also became more actively involved in the sale of drugs, fraud and petty theft. The disappearance of the Iron Curtain in the USSR and the opening of borders in Europe contributed to an increase in gypsy migration. For example, Romanian gypsies in the 2010s began to actively move to the countries of Western and Northern Europe, where they are also engaged mainly in begging and other socially condemned ways of earning.

So, the gypsies, leaving India about a thousand years ago, gradually dispersed as artisans throughout the Middle East and Asia Minor. As the Byzantine Empire declined, that is, approximately from the beginning XV century, the gypsies gradually began to settle in the countries of Central, Eastern, Northern and Western Europe, and starting from XVIII centuries began to move to the countries of the New World. Faced with the guild restrictions of feudal Europe, the gypsies gradually sank to the social bottom, surviving everywhere with dubious, not entirely legal ways of earning.

In XX century, many countries began to pursue a policy of forcing the ancient nomadic people to a settled way of life. The younger generation of gypsies began to attend schools, secondary special and higher schools; engineers, doctors, and scientists appeared among the representatives of an illiterate people for centuries.

What will happen next? It seems that the Gypsies will either again become marginalized, sinking to the social bottom, or will gradually merge into the society around them, raising their educational and cultural level, mastering modern professions and adopting from more successful nations skills and habits. The path of gradual assimilation is also possible - for example, already now the gypsy groups of the British Isles, Transcarpathia and Central Asia have completely or almost completely lost native language. In those countries where they can get access to education, the Roma will gradually more and more integrate into the world on decent terms. In these regions, while maintaining their identity, they will be able to create a new level of culture, rethink traditions - as the South Koreans or Finns rethought their traditions, having gone from a primitive economy to economic prosperity in a few decades XX century. Where this succeeds, friction between the gypsies and the indigenous population will decrease, and the original colorful customs of the ancient nomadic people will attract the interest not of law enforcement officers, but of tourists, historians and the general public.

In addition to Jews and Gypsies, that list also included those born with congenital neurological and somatic diseases, homosexuals, mentally retarded people, people with mental illness, and many other categories of people - from Hitler's point of view, they were all inferior, and because of this, they were initially subject to all sorts of restrictions, then - isolation and destruction.

Most modern states, especially European ones, were formed in the 17th - 19th centuries on the basis of the national identity of the peoples inhabiting the respective territory. In the bulk of modern states, representatives of the titular people make up the vast majority of the population.

Most modern gypsies consider themselves Christians, although the gypsy version of Christianity differs from all other denominations and movements. At the same time, the gypsies who lived in the territory Ottoman Empire and other Muslim states actively adopted Islam.

It is noteworthy that the attitude towards Jews and Gypsies among European peoples was very similar. Despite the fact that many Jews were able to find a way to socially integrate into the life of European society, at the everyday level they were presented with the same claims as the gypsies: the abduction of babies, satanic rites, etc. Just like the gypsies, the Jews, in response, closed themselves even more within their community (they did not communicate with non-Jews, did business only with fellow believers, did not marry non-Jews, etc.), which caused even greater rejection. At the everyday level, anti-Semitism, as well as anti-Gypsy sentiments, were widespread - without them, the terrible German racial laws would not have been adopted.

Both the stick and carrot methods were used. So, laws were passed that provided for the criminal prosecution of vagrant gypsies (they were equated with parasites). At the same time, local authorities really made efforts to integrate and assimilate the Roma - they were provided with jobs, they were provided with housing, and they raised the level of education. In the USSR, the world's first gypsy theater "Romen" was created, which still exists today.

4. Gypsy alphabet ( Romano alphabetand then)

The alphabet for the literary gypsy language, created on the basis of the northern Russian dialect, officially adopted on May 10, 1927, has 32 characters.

Differences from the Russian alphabet are very minor. Only one character has been added. This is the 5th letter - "Ґ with a nose." It serves to designate a special sound [r] such as Ukrainian long, that is, fricative G, as in the word boo[hg] alter. For example: ghara - for a long time (with a long G), but garadabout - hidden (with a short, ordinary G). In addition, the letters Щ and Ъ were not originally included in the alphabet. Accordingly, instead of more was asked to write eshshyo , but instead fromI h(get away) - from'I h. It must be said that these artificial restrictions were partly the embodiment of the theoretical principles of the creators of the alphabet, and partly were caused by the orthographic fashion of the current moment (rejection of the letter Ъ in post-revolutionary Russia). Subsequently, they did not gain a foothold, and the Russian gypsies, when recording their speech, in practice did not abandon the letters Щ and Ъ. In this book, these letters are also used when writing Russian words borrowed into the Romani language.

5. Gypsy pronunciation ( Romano vyrakiribuh n)

Vowel sounds

Stressed vowels are pronounced in much the same way as the corresponding sounds in Russian words. For example: baht(g.) - luck, share, happiness, con- who, blow- two / two, dykh- look, ker- do, or after soft: yag(g.) - fire, yov- he, chuv- put, pi- drink, belve e eh(f.) - evening.

There are, however, pronunciation options that are quite acceptable from the point of view of the gypsy language, but not characteristic of Russian. Along with nan uh - no (not available) sporadically found pronunciation nan s . That is, [e] and [s] under stress do not differ in the same way as in Russian. We can say that [e] in the Romani language, even under stress, often turns out to be a narrower vowel in individual pronunciation than Russian [e], cat uh R and cat s R- piece.

Unstressed vowels are usually pronounced in much the same way as the corresponding sounds under stress. This is a striking difference between the gypsy pronunciation and Russian. If there is some change in the unstressed vowel [o] or [e], then the shift occurs in the wrong direction, as in the Russian literary (Moscow) pronunciation. For example, it is pronounced galev a wa and galuv a wa- I guess. A well-known gypsy word fishing uh (money) Russians pronounce it like [lav uh]. Different gypsies pronounce this word differently: from pure [lOv uh] to narrowed [lUv uh], but never "akanya" *[lav uh]. The same can be said about the sound [o] after soft consonants. For example, the word yon uh (they) sounds different: from [yOn uh] to [young uh], but there is never a Russian "yakanya" * [yan uh] or “hiccup” *[(th) Ying uh].

As a precautionary measure, in order to avoid "akanya", it can be recommended to practice artificially increasing the rounding of the lips when pronouncing the vowel [o] in an unstressed position, gradually moving from [o] to [y]. For example:

Table

The unstressed vowel [e] can also narrow. For example, Kher a (pl.) - "house a" or Kher uh - "d about ma" is pronounced in the range from pure [kher a] / [kher uh] to the narrowed [khYr a] / [khYr uh]. However, this type of unstressed vowel change is the same in Russian and Romany.

Particular attention should be paid to the pronunciation of unstressed I[a] after soft consonants. For example: yav a le!(appeal) - "Guys! (gypsies!) ”pronounced with [chA-], not * [chIv a le], as, for example, Russian hour a mi[nS a mi].

It can be recommended as an artificial measure to control and prevent a shift in pronunciation [cha] - [chi] to do on cha- weak stress, as, for example, in combination cha from to h a With, where the weak accent is on the first cha-, and the main and stronger stress is on the second cha-. That is, in other words, it is recommended to pronounce yav a le as if written cha_at a le. Only it is necessary to pronounce it without a pause, together.

Consonants

Consonants [n], [b], [f], [c], [m], [t], [d], [s], [h], [p], [l], [n], [k], [g], [x], [d], [g], [sh], [c] are pronounced in the Northern Russian dialect of the Romani language in the same way as the corresponding Russian sounds, denoted by the same signs of the Russian alphabet . Front b and letters and, e, yo, Yu, I consonants [n'], [b'], [f'], [c'], [m'], [t'], [d'], [s'], [h'], [p'] , [l'], [n'], [k'], [g'], [x'] are pronounced softly. For example: [l] - [l ']: Gil s (g.) - song, Gil I (pl.) - songs, [k] - [k ']: ker- do, kin- buy. The sounds [th] and [h '] in this dialect are always pronounced softly, the sounds [g], [w], [c] are always hard.

dad(m.) - father [dat], yag(g.) - fire [yak].

Attention should be paid to the specific consonants of the Romani language, which do not have special signs for their designation, but are indicated by combinations of letters. However, it is important to keep in mind that these are special and integral sounds.

The so-called affricates (complex sounds) [ts] and [h '] have voiced pairs [dz] and [d'zh '], also pronounced together. For example: c s pa(f.) - skin, chick a ri(m.) - skinner, but: dzevel s (g.) - scrambled eggs, b a ndza(g.) - shop, shop. However, there are also cases of loss of [dz] and mixing it with the usual [h]: zet and zet(m.) - vegetable oil, zen and zen(g.) - saddle. Same: yav about (m.) - guy (gypsy), son, chen(m.) - month, but: j I wa- I'm going jev(f.) - oats.

In Russian, fused sounds [dz] and [d’zh’] are also found, but are perceived as variants of [ts] and [h’]. Compare, for example, literary pronunciation c and h in combinations con e [dz]_ G about Yes, P e [d'zh ']_ pancake s .

Aspirated consonants [kh], [pkh], [tkh], also pronounced together, constitute a specific feature of the Romani language, which unites it with other modern Indian languages. The sounds [kh], [pkh], [tkh] should be distinguished from simple [k], [n], [t], they are included in the roots of different words. For example: Kher(m.) - house, but: ker- do; phar about - heavy, but: steam at in- change; thuv(m.) - smoke, but: that- you.

In a number of other dialects of the Romani language, there is another aspirated [chh]. For example, in the Belarusian dialect, the Baltic group also differs initial sounds chang(g.) – ‘knee’ and chav about (m.) - ‘guy (gypsy)’, while the northern Russian dialect of the gypsy language did not retain this distinction: chang(g.) – ‘knee’ and yav about (m.) – ‘guy (gypsy)’. Also, [h] and [chh] are distinguished in a number of other dialect groups, for example, in Vlach. Wed Kalderari: chang(g.) – ‘knee’, but shav(m.) – ‘guy (gypsy)’. The list of roots with historical [chh] in our dialect is small, for example: Ah e l- leaves; beam e l- asks; chen(m.) – month; black(m.) - a thief; chib(g.) - language; chik(f.) - sneeze (but not chik(f.) - dirt); rank uh l- cuts, writes; chiv uh l- pours; chuv uh l- puts; chuch yo empty (but not chuch and (g.) - female breast); chyurd uh l- throws; chungard uh l- spits; chiur and (f.) - a knife (but not chiur(g.) - female braid); yav about - gypsy boy tea- a gypsy girl yad uh l- be sick; at-chakir uh l- u-covers; chyal about - well-fed; chalav uh l- touches; chiam(g.) - cheek, from which - jamoud uh l- kisses; char(f. obsolete) - ashes, ash (but not char(g.) - grass).

Voiced consonants, if they occur at the end of words, are pronounced as deaf: dad(m.) - father [dat], yag(zh.) - fire [yak], although - in behaves differently: some say RU[f] - wolf, others - RU[w]. However, in general, what is called "sandhi", that is, processes at the junction of words, has been poorly studied. In groups of consonants at the junctions of words, voicing takes place ( but_m about ly- many times, but: boo[e]_ bersh a – many years) and stun ( chib_world and - my language, but: chi[P] _tyr and - your language). P.S. Patkanov noted a hundred years ago among Moscow gypsies a pronunciation like: is s [h] m a nde…- I had ... This voicing before the vowels and sonorants of the next word, obviously, was taken out of the Western Territory Russian Empire. Today this is a rarity.

Complete "adhesion" at the junctions of words is also characteristic of consonants ( boot drome a – boo[d]rum a - Multi-Lane, thut tat about – thu[t]at about - milk is warm), and for vowels ( on av uh la – n[a] in uh la- will not be).

Aspirated [kh], if it occurs at the end of words, is pronounced as a simple [k]: yakh(g.) - eye [yak], dykh- see [Duc]. The other two aspirates occur only before vowels, so their possible behavior at the end of words is not known. In gypsy there are traces of the action of a pattern characteristic of Indian languages: a word cannot contain two aspirates. So, the combination *ekkh-e + than-e gives ekkhetan uh and khatan uh - together; verb *phuchh a va - I ask, having two aspirated, it really sounds like in Russian-Gypsy beam I wa(out of breath chh), in Belarusian and Ukrainian dialects with puchh-, in Vlach with modified chh: forest-, in the Slovak dialect of Romani - phuch-, although chh preserved there. There are different solutions caused by the ban on two aspirates in one word.

In a position before consonants, aspiration, if not lost at all, is expressed weakly and peculiarly, for example: dykh yo m and dykht yo m- I saw (I), it seems to sound something like [duk-hyom] and [dy-khyom].

Consonant posterior fricative ґ , denoted special sign, sounds like a Ukrainian or South Russian fricative (long) [r]: gir and l(m.) - peas, gan s ng(g.) - a well. Among Moscow gypsies, this sound is often replaced by the usual G, that is, they sing cherg uh n, but not hell uh n star, they say gar a , but not ghar a - for a long time. The same goes for common pronunciation. willows- snow, silt about - the heart, although a hundred years ago P.S. Patkanov and later researchers noted the pronunciation: yiv, yil about . This is apparently due to the influence of Russian speech, where the pronunciation blah[ґ]about, a[ґ]a, her[yyy about] has been superseded by the new one: blah[G] about, a[G] a, her[yy about].

stress

Stress in the northern Russian dialect of the Romani language is not as sharp as in Russian, it does not lead to such a noticeable lengthening of stressed vowels and the weakening of adjacent unstressed vowels. The choice of the place of stress both in native gypsy words and in borrowed words of various types depends on the grammatical composition of the given form of the word. Therefore, we consider the rules for placing stress below in parallel with the study of grammar. They are quite simple and obey strict logic.

Spelling of vowels after hissing and c

Following the principle “we write as we hear” was manifested in the fact that after always hard w, and, c, dz not written I, e, yo, Yu, and, and after always soft h, j are written only I, e, yo, Yu, and. This allows us to distinguish between hard and soft pronunciation, for example: shyng(m.) - horn, Zhyko Kirl about - up to the throat c s pa(g.) - skin. However: rank- cut (also: write) yav a le(appeal) - guys (gypsies), chen(m.) - month, jiv- live jev(f.) - oats, ja- go.