This map shows the regions
of the world where Romany (the Gypsy tongue) is commonly spoken
(red circle). Romany is an unusual language. It has spread throughout
the regions of the Centum languages in Europe, but
it actually a Satem language. It descends from a northwestern
Indian dialect. Romany is most closely related to various Indian
languages like Assamese,
Gujarati, Hindi,
Marathi, Punjabi,
Sindhi, Singhalese,
Bengali, and Urdu.
Romany, however, varies a great deal from region to region.
Gypsies have historically tended to adapt hundreds of loanwords
from the area they inhabit, so the Romany dialect spoken by
Gypsies in Germany will end up with many German characteristics,
and the Romany dialect spoken by Gypsies in Spain will end up
with many Spanish characteristics, and so on.
| Daniel M. Short originally created this
map and the other Indo-European language charts for his website at http://www.danshort.com/.
I reproduce these images here with the author's permission, but they are
copyrighted by Daniel Short as of 2002. These charts should not be reproduced
or reused without Mr. Short's approval. You may contact him at danshort@gte.net
for more information. These images are not public domain. |