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The fullest recorded dialect is Domari (Nawar) and for this reason only I have taken it as a model to which other
material can be referred. I have kept the original orthography of the sources in most cases.
Present Tense of the Verb
| |
Domari
|
Kaloro
|
North Kara-chi
|
| |
(bring) |
(know) |
(go) |
| I |
nan-ami |
jan-ami |
gesht-um |
| You |
nan-eki |
- |
*gesht-oi |
| He/She |
nan-ari |
jan-ari |
*gesht-id |
| We |
nan-ani |
- |
*gesht-ing |
| You (pl) |
nan-asi |
- |
*gesht-ikha |
| They |
nan-andi |
- |
*gesht-ind |
| (*marks reconstructed forms) |
The Domari and Kaloro forms can be derived from Sanskrit and contemporaries, though the second person singular
is a problem. A different origin should be sought for the Kara-chi endings.
Imperative
Both Kaloro and Kara-chi prefix 'le' to imperatives. 'le' is probably the verb 'take':
| gh'andi le-tchin |
cut the throat (Kaloro) |
| le-pi |
drink (Kara-chi) |
Past tense of the verb
| |
Domari |
Kaloro |
North Kara-chi |
| |
(brought) |
(went out) |
(lost) |
| I |
nan-d-om |
nikil-d-om |
*nejus-um |
| You |
nan-d-or |
*nikil-d-or |
*nejus-un |
| He |
nan-d-a |
*nikil-d-i |
*nejus-a |
| She |
nan-d-i |
- |
nejus-a |
| We |
nan-d-en |
- |
*nejus-enge |
| You (pl) |
nan-d-es |
- |
- |
| They |
nan-d-e |
- |
*nejus-end |
The Kaloro 3rd person singular in -i is consistently recorded ('ghari'-he went) and represents the feminine becoming
generalized for both genders.
Noun
Plural
| Domari generally |
+ -e |
kajja |
Gorgio |
| |
|
kajje |
Gorgios |
| Kaloro |
+ -hin |
di |
village |
| |
|
dihin |
villages |
Kara-chi uses Persian plural.
Cases
Domari has six productive cases (as does 'phen' Romani) though they do not quite correspond.
| Accusative |
-as |
| Dative |
-asta |
| Instrumental |
-asma |
| Associative |
-assanni |
| Ablative |
-aski |
| Directive |
-askara |
Five cases have been recorded in Kara-chi. They are formed directly from the stem and not from the accusative
(unlike Domari and 'phen' Romani).
| Accusative |
-as |
| Dative |
-iqa |
| Instrumental |
-isan |
| Ablative |
-u |
| Genitive |
-az |
Kaloro has one example of the non-productive ('old') locative: gurie ghiri - homeward he went.
Adjectives
Masculine adjectives end in -a, and feminine in -i, in both Domari and Kara-chi. From the recorded examples
it appears that Kaloro adjectives end in -i for both genders (cf. 3rd person of past).
To be
In Domari the original present tense of 'to be' has fallen into disuse. It is replaced by the present tense
of the verb meaning 'to become' which has regular endings:
homi, hweki, hori, honi, hwesi, hondi
The past of the Domari verb 'to be' has the same endings as the past of the regular verb.
astom, astor, (m) asta (f) asti, asten, astes, aste
Only the form 'it is' has been recorded in Kaloro.
esti (shortened to 'i')
The Kara-chi verb has the same endings as other verbs in the present tense, except for the third person singular.
astum, astoi, astaq, *asting, *astikha, -----, -----
Passive mood
Domari has a set of distinct forms for the passive.
One example has been recorded in Kaloro:
arattiri "it becomes night" ('phen' Romani = aratovela)
Personal Pronouns
| |
Domari |
Kaloro |
Kara-chi |
Kurbat/Krismal |
| I |
ama |
me |
ma |
man (Kurbat) |
| You |
atu |
du |
tu |
to (Kurbat) |
| He |
panji |
hui |
hu |
hui (Kurbat) |
| She |
panji |
- |
ohe |
- |
| We |
ame |
emi |
ame |
amin (Krismal) |
| You (pl) |
atme |
*dimi |
dime |
- |
| They |
panjan |
- |
hue |
- |
The Krismal list also gives 'pari' for 'we' and a Gurbati vocabulary 'marzu' (we).
The Mugat pronouns seem to be secret formations from a local language; dakim, dakit, uajdaki (he), dakima, dakihomo,
uajdakiho.
Possessive Pronouns
In Domari these are suffixed to the noun (in imitation of Arabic and Persian usage). Kaloro and Kara-chi have
both suffixed and independent forms, while Kurbat has independent forms only.
Suffixed Possessive Pronouns
| |
Domari |
Kaloro |
N. Kara-chi |
| My |
-m |
-m |
-m |
| Your |
-r |
-ori |
|
| His/Her |
-s |
-z |
|
| Our |
-man |
|
|
| Your |
-ran |
|
|
| Their |
-san |
|
|
|
Example-babom 'my father' (Kaloro)
|
Independent Possessive Pronouns
| |
Kurbat |
Kaloro |
Kara-chi |
| My |
manki |
maghi |
meri |
| Your |
toiki |
dirki, turki |
*teri |
| His |
huiki |
oriki |
|
| Our |
|
emiki |
|
| Your |
|
*dimiki |
|
Note the idiomatic usage in Kaloro.
maghi dost ast - Literally "my friend is" = I have a friend.
While Kara-chi also suffixes the pronoun to the verb.
Agurum astagum - Literally "my horse is to me" = I have a horse
Model Sentences
ma thisan geshtum deh (Kara-chi)
I with-you will-go to-the-village
hidja zi Halep airom (Kaloro)
Yesterday from Aleppo I-came
Numerals
The numbers 1-6, 10, 20, 100 are of Indian origin. In view off the evident inter-dialect borrowing I shall merely
give a list of all the recorded forms in 'ben' dialects.
1. yek, yuka, yeki, yika
2. di, didi
3. tirin, trin, teran, tron, taran
4. ishtar, shtai, schtar
5. pentch, penez, punj
6. shesh
7. hoft, haut (Persian), peng-i-dui, heft
8. haisht, hoscht (Persian), shtar wa (Arabic) shtar, iter, heshter
9. neya, nu, nah (Persian), shtar wa punj, enna (Greek)
10. dez, dest, desch, des
11. dez-i-yek
20. visht, yuksi (?)
30. si (Persian)
40. tchul (Persian), kumaki (?)
50. penche
60. trin visht
70. triin visht dez
80. heysad (Persian), shtar visht
90. sadiki dez eksik (100-10, Turkish)
100. sad
The expected ex-Indian words for 7, 8, 9 (*sat, *at, *nav) do not appear in any 'ben' (or 'phen') dialect.
Vocabulary of 'ben' Romani
First, I should like to deal with two 'languages' spoken by Romanies in the Middle East which can no longer
be classed as Romani: Sim and Lafzi Mugat.
Sim
Sim is the language of the Helebi in Egypt. In the main it consists of Arabic words disguised to make them unrecognizable
to the Arabs.
| Sim |
Arabic |
English |
| mebradish |
bard |
cold |
| megunwara |
nar |
fire |
| menahrish |
nahar |
day |
| mubgursha |
bagara |
cow |
There are a few words which are relics of their earlier Romani dialect:
sunno - dog
gaonti - village (-gav)
The grammar is Arabic:
semi - my brother
Lafzi Mugat
This is the secret language of the Mugat (Luli) in Asian USSR. They speak local languages but have preserved
some 200 words of what was once probably a larger vocabulary. The sources of Lafzi Mugat, also known as "Arabi"
are various.
warsit - arrive = Persian 'rasidan' reversed
dulung - trousers = Hindi do-lung 'double loin-cloth'
chila-gar - doctor = a humorous formation from 'chila' (gun-powder)
Other words belong to the common vocabulary of 'ben' Romani:
nughur - eye, cf. Ghorbati nuhur
tana-gul - partridge, cf. Ghorbati tenai (bird)
dugut - meat, cf. Ghorbati dihut
dila - tent, cf. Ghorbati dilih (house), Krismal daylah (house), Hindi dera
I now turn to 'ben' Romani proper. Here the main vocabulary element is words of Indian origin. Many are similar
to European 'phen' Romani:
Bura (big), chin (cut), dai (mother), dant (tooth), de (give), gulda (sweet), ja (go), jan (know), jivi (woman),
jow (barley), khani (spring, fountain), manes (man), pani (water), ratti (night).
In some cases regular phonetic correspondences exist between the forms in 'ben' and 'phen' Romani: bis (straw),
vat (stone = 'phen' Romani 'bar').
I list below some common words which occur in at least two dialects. A key to the abbreviations will be found below.
| Romani |
English |
Dialects |
| ag |
fire |
Do. Gh. Gur. Kal. Kar (S). Kol. |
| agora, gora |
horse |
Do. Dum. Gh. Gur. Kal. Kar (S). Kur. |
| aki |
eye |
Ko. Kal. Kar (S). |
| ana |
egg |
Do. Kal. Kol. |
| angul |
finger |
Kal. Kar (S). |
| astara, stiari |
star |
Dum. Gh. Kal. Kur. |
| babo |
father |
Dum. Kal. Kol. |
| bar |
brother |
Do. Kal. Kar (S). Kur. |
| ben, bhanu |
sister |
Do. Dum. Kal. Kur. |
| boydji |
dog |
Dum. Kal. |
| buhu |
much |
Dum. Gur. Kal. Kri. |
| chang |
hand |
Gh. Gur. Kri. |
| gam, gaham |
sun |
Do. Dum. Kal. Kar (S). |
| heiuf |
moon |
Dum. Kal. Kur. |
| Huia, Huva |
God |
Do. Kal. Kar (S). |
| lachi, lavti |
girl |
Do. Dum. Kal. Kar (S). Kur |
| lui |
iron |
Do. Kal. |
| mena |
bread |
Do. Gur. Kal. Kar (S). Kol. Kri. |
| orp |
silver |
Do. Dum. Kal. Kar (S). |
| senuta, sunno |
dog |
Gh. Gur. Hel. Kar (S). |
| zaru |
boy, son |
Do. Kar (S). |
There are also many loan words from Arabic, Persian and Turkish: atash (fire-Persian), kapu (door-Turkish).
Key to the Abbreviations
This will also serve as a list of the main vocabularies of 'ben' Romani that have been collected.
| Do |
Domari. The language of the Nawar. Syria, Israel, Lebanon U.I. Seetzen Reisen 1854, JGLS (NS)iii-vi |
| Dum. |
Duman. In Baghdad. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society 1856 p. 285-312 |
| Gh. |
Ghagar. Egypt. JRAS 1856. |
| Gur. |
Gurbati. In Jiruft and Sirjan. Journal of the Anthropological Institute 1905 |
| Hel. |
Helebi. Egypt. JRAS 1856 |
| Kal. |
Kaloro. In Marach, Aintab and on banks of Euphrates. Paspati. Etudes sur les Tchingianes. Const. 1870. |
| Kar. N. |
North Kara-chi. Transcaucasus. JGLS (1) iip. 21, (NS) ii p. 260- |
| Kar. S. |
South Kara-chi. Tabriz. JGLS (1) ii |
| Kol. |
Koli. Iran. JRAS 1856 p. 311 |
| Kur. |
Kurbat. In Aleppo and Antioch. JRAS 1856 |
| Kri. |
Krismal. In Khorasan. JAI 1906 |
| Mugat |
Luli or Mugat. Asian USSR. JGLS (NS) 1.209, ii 255-9 |
| MiS |
Egypt. JRAS 1856 |
Continue to part 3
Article reprinted on DRC web site with the permission of the author.
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