Erromintxela
Encyclopedia
Erromintxela is the distinctive language of a group of Roma living in the Basque Country, who also go by the name Erromintxela. It is sometimes called Basque Caló or Errumantxela in English; caló vasco, romaní vasco, or errominchela in Spanish; and euskado-rromani or euskado-romani in French. Although detailed accounts of the language date to the end of the 19th century, linguistic research only began in the 1990s.
Erromintxela is a mixed language
(referred to as Para-Romani
in Romani linguistics
), deriving most of its vocabulary from Kalderash
Romani
but using Basque
grammar, similar to the way the Angloromani language
of the Roma in England mixes Romani vocabulary and English grammar. The development of this mixed language was facilitated by the unusually deep integration of the Erromintxela people into Basque society and the resultant bilingualism in Basque. The language is in decline; most of the perhaps one thousand remaining speakers live on the coast of Labourd
and in the mountaineous regions of Soule
, Navarre
, Gipuzkoa and Biscay
. The Erromintxela are the descendents of a 15th-century wave of Kalderash Roma who entered the Basque Country via France. Both ethnically and linguistically, they are distinct from the Caló
-speaking Romani people in Spain and the Cascarot
Romani people of the Northern Basque Country
.
ns". However, a number of authors believe it to be a Basque rendering of the French name romanichel or romané-michel, an name attested primarily in the vicinity of the Pyrenees
and in particular the Northern Basque Country
. Romanichel is in turn a French rendering of the Romani phrase Romani čel "Romani person". Though now uncommon in France, it is found in the names of the British Ròmanichal and the Scandinavia
n Romanisæl, all descendants, like the Erromintxela, of a group of Roma who had migrated to France.
Early attestations of the name in Basque include Errama-itçéla, Erroumancel, later errumanzel and erremaitzela. The initial E- is the Basque prosthetic
vowel, added because no Basque word may begin with an R-, and the final -a is the absolutive case
suffix, used when citing a name. If this etymology is correct, it is a rare case of a native Romani name for themselves (an endonym) being borrowed by another language.
The people identify themselves as ijitoak, Basque for "gypsies", but more specifically as Erromintxela, in contrast to the Caló Romani, whom they refer to as the xango-gorriak, Basque for "red-legs".
in Spain, approximately 2% of a population of 21,000 Romanis, and another estimated 500 in France. In Spain the remaining fluent speakers are elderly people mostly over the age of 80; some are equally fluent in Spanish, Basque, or Caló
. Middle-aged Erromintxela are mostly passive bilinguals
, and the youngest speak only Basque or Spanish. In the Northern Basque Country, however, the language is still being passed on to children. The percentage of speakers among Spanish Erromintxela are higher than 2%, as large numbers of Caló-speaking Romanis moved to the Basque Country in the intense period of industrialisation
in the 20th century.
Orhoituz and the 1999 novel Agirre zaharraren kartzelaldi berriak by Koldo Izagirre Urreaga with the main character using the language.
(extemporaneous poetic song) and pelota
(the national Basque ballgame). Muñoz and Lopez de Mungia suspect that the morphological and phonological similarities between Romani and Basque facilitated the adoption of Basque grammar by the bilingual Romanis.
It appears that many Romanis chose to stay in the Basque Country to escape persecution elsewhere in Europe. Nonetheless, even here they were not safe from persecution. For example, the Royal Council of Navarre
in 1602 passed an edict to round up all "vagabonds" (meaning Romani), who were to be condemned to 6 years of galley duty. By the 18th century however attitudes had changed, and the emphasis shifted towards integration. In 1780–1781 the Courts of Navarre passed Law 23, which called for "the authorities to take care of them, find them locations for settlement and honest occupations and ways of living..."
Alexandre Baudrimont
's 40-page study Vocabulaire de la langue des Bohémiens habitant les pays basques français of 1862, the most extensive of the early accounts, covers both vocabulary and aspects of grammar. He worked with two female informants, a mother and her daughter from the Uhart-Mixe
area near Saint-Palais
, whom he describes as highly fluent. Unfortunately, he was only able to conduct a single session as the women were then told not to cooperate further for the fear of outsiders prying into the secrets of the Romani. There is a certain degree of confusion in Baudrimont's publication—he himself states that he could not always be certain the correct forms were elicited. For example, most of the verb forms he tried to elicit lack the verbal -tu ending and appear to be participle
s.
The French sociologist Victor de Rochas refers to the Romani in the Northern Basque Country speaking Basque, rather than French, in his 1876 Les Parias de France et d'Espagne (cagots et bohémiens). The Canon
Jean-Baptiste Daranatz published a wordlist in the periodical Eskualdun Ona in 1906 and in 1921 Berraondo and Oyarbide carried out some research. Although labelled gitano (Spanish for 'gypsy') or bohémien / gitan (French for 'gypsy'), some data can also be found in Azkue's
1905 dictionary and Pierre Lhande's
1926 dictionary, both of which list a number of words identifiable as Erromintxela.
Little more was done until the late 20th century. In 1986 Federico Krutwig
published a short article in the Revista Internacional de Estudios Vascos entitled "Los gitanos vascos", with a short word list and a brief analysis of the language's morphology. However, the most detailed research to date was carried out by Basque philologist Josune Muñoz and historian
Elias Lopez de Mungia, who began their work in the Southern Basque Country in 1996 at the behest of the Romani organisation Kalé Dor Kayiko
, with support from the Euskaltzaindia
and the University of the Basque Country
. Kalé Dor Kayiko, who had been working to promote the Romani language, was alerted to the existence of Erromintxela in the 1990s through an article by the historian Alizia Stürtze, Agotak, juduak eta ijitoak Euskal Herrian "Agote
s, Jews, and Gypsies in the Basque Country". Kalé Dor Kayiko intends to continue research into the language, attitudes, identity, and history of the Erromintxela people in the less well researched provinces of Navarre
and the Northern Basque Country.
, the mixed Spanish-Romani language spoken throughout Spain, but is instead based on Kalderash Romani and the Basque language. The vocabulary appears to be almost exclusively Romani in origin; the grammar however, both morphology and syntax, derives from various Basque dialects. Few traces appear to remain of Romani grammatical structures. The language is incomprehensible to speakers of both Basque and of Caló.
Typologically, Erromintxela displays the same features as the Basque dialects it derives its grammatical structures from. Its case marking follows the ergative–absolutive pattern where the subject of an intransitive verb
is in the absolutive case
(which is unmarked), the same case being used for the direct object of a transitive verb
. The subject of a transitive verb is marked with the ergative case
. Similarly, auxiliary verb
s agree with the subject and any direct object and indirect object present and verb forms are marked for allocutive
(i.e. a marker is used to indicate the gender of the addressee).
Since both Erromintxela and Caló derive from Romani, many Erromintxela words are similar to Spanish Caló and Catalan Caló.
Baudrimont uses a semi-phonetic system with the following diverging conventions:
Most Erromintxela verbal inflections are virtually identical to those found in Basque dialects:
Negations are formed with na/nagi (Romani na/níči); cf Basque ez/ezetz. The word for "yes" is ua (Romani va); cf Basque bai/baietz.
rather than Agorrila.
Baudrimont claims that subdivisions of the year (apart from the months) are formed with the word breja (bréχa) "year": breja kinua "month" and breja kipia "week".
Certain items are peculiar. Baudrimont lists mintxa as "tooth". The Kalderash term is dand (daní in Caló) but the term given is immediately more reminiscent of Northern Basque mintzo "speech" or mintza "skin" (with expressive palatalization
). This, and other similar items, raise the question of whether Baudrimont was simply pointing at items to elicit forms.
The forms he attempted to elicit are questionable in some cases as well. For example he attempted to agricultural terms such as plough
, harrow
and aftermath
from his (female) informants and records the suspiciously similar sasta "plough" and xatxa (shatsha) "harrow".
The verb ajin for "to have" attested elsewhere although Basque derived forms appear more common overall. Kalderash Romani employs the 3rd person of "to be" and a dative pronoun to express ownership:
1Note that forms like duk (3rd pers-have-2nd per (male)) are the verbal part whereas Erromintxela tuk is a pronoun.
The negative particle na is fairly clear in the forms above. Buter, as Baudrimont notes, is the word for "much, many" and may not be a true pronoun. Kalderash uses the accusative
pronouns to express possession but the forms above are more reminiscent of wrongly parsed Kalderash dative forms mangé, tuké, léske, léke etc. and perhaps a different case of "to be" (the full Kalderash paradigm being sim, san, si, si, sam, san/sen, si).
On the whole, it raises questions about the level of communication between Baudrimont and his informants and the quality of (some of the) material elicited.
versions (lexical items of Romani origin marked in bold):
Erromintxela is a mixed language
Mixed language
A mixed language is a language that arises through the fusion of two source languages, normally in situations of thorough bilingualism, so that it is not possible to classify the resulting language as belonging to either of the language families that were its source...
(referred to as Para-Romani
Para-Romani
Para-Romani is a term used in Romani linguistics to refer non-Romani languages adopted by Romani communities but with considerable admixture from Romani. Some Para-Romani have no structural features at all, taking only the vocabulary from Romani. The technical term in linguistics for such a...
in Romani linguistics
Romani language
Romani or Romany, Gypsy or Gipsy is any of several languages of the Romani people. They are Indic, sometimes classified in the "Central" or "Northwestern" zone, and sometimes treated as a branch of their own....
), deriving most of its vocabulary from Kalderash
Kalderash
The Kalderash are a subgroup of the Romani people, from the Roma meta-group. They were traditionally smiths and metal workers and speak a number of Romani dialects grouped together under the term Kalderash Romani, a sub-group of Vlax Romani.-Etymology:The name Kalderash The Kalderash (also spelled...
Romani
Romani language
Romani or Romany, Gypsy or Gipsy is any of several languages of the Romani people. They are Indic, sometimes classified in the "Central" or "Northwestern" zone, and sometimes treated as a branch of their own....
but using Basque
Basque language
Basque is the ancestral language of the Basque people, who inhabit the Basque Country, a region spanning an area in northeastern Spain and southwestern France. It is spoken by 25.7% of Basques in all territories...
grammar, similar to the way the Angloromani language
Angloromani language
Angloromani or Anglo-Romani is a language combining aspects of English and Romani, which is a language spoken by the Romani people; a ethnic group who trace their origins to the Indian subcontinent. Angloromani is spoken in the UK, Australia, the US and South Africa.The language combines a mix of...
of the Roma in England mixes Romani vocabulary and English grammar. The development of this mixed language was facilitated by the unusually deep integration of the Erromintxela people into Basque society and the resultant bilingualism in Basque. The language is in decline; most of the perhaps one thousand remaining speakers live on the coast of Labourd
Labourd
Labourd is a former French province and part of the present-day Pyrénées Atlantiques département. It is historically one of the seven provinces of the traditional Basque Country....
and in the mountaineous regions of Soule
Soule
Soule is a former viscounty and French province and part of the present day Pyrénées-Atlantiques département...
, Navarre
Navarre
Navarre , officially the Chartered Community of Navarre is an autonomous community in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Country, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and Aquitaine in France...
, Gipuzkoa and Biscay
Biscay
Biscay is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country, heir of the ancient Lord of Biscay. Its capital city is Bilbao...
. The Erromintxela are the descendents of a 15th-century wave of Kalderash Roma who entered the Basque Country via France. Both ethnically and linguistically, they are distinct from the Caló
Caló (Spanish Romani)
Caló is a language spoken by the Spanish and Portuguese Romani. It is a mixed language based on Romance grammar, with an adstratum of Romani lexical items through language shift by the Romani community. It is often used as an argot, a secret language for discreet communication amongst Iberian...
-speaking Romani people in Spain and the Cascarot
Cascarots
The Cascarots are an ethnic group found in the Northern Basque Country. They are one of many Roma subgroups in Western Europe but not to be confused with the Erromintxela.-History:...
Romani people of the Northern Basque Country
Northern Basque Country
The French Basque Country or Northern Basque Country situated within the western part of the French department of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques constitutes the north-eastern part of the Basque Country....
.
Name
The origin of the name Erromintxela is unclear and may be of relatively recent origin; Basque speakers had previously grouped the Erromintxela under more general terms for Romani such as ijitoak "Egyptians", ungrianok "Hungarians", or buhameak "BohemiaBohemia
Bohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague...
ns". However, a number of authors believe it to be a Basque rendering of the French name romanichel or romané-michel, an name attested primarily in the vicinity of the Pyrenees
Pyrenees
The Pyrenees is a range of mountains in southwest Europe that forms a natural border between France and Spain...
and in particular the Northern Basque Country
Northern Basque Country
The French Basque Country or Northern Basque Country situated within the western part of the French department of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques constitutes the north-eastern part of the Basque Country....
. Romanichel is in turn a French rendering of the Romani phrase Romani čel "Romani person". Though now uncommon in France, it is found in the names of the British Ròmanichal and the Scandinavia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
n Romanisæl, all descendants, like the Erromintxela, of a group of Roma who had migrated to France.
Early attestations of the name in Basque include Errama-itçéla, Erroumancel, later errumanzel and erremaitzela. The initial E- is the Basque prosthetic
Prosthesis (linguistics)
In linguistics, prosthesis is the addition of a sound or syllable at the beginning of a word without changing the word's meaning or the rest of its structure. The alternative spelling prothesis was first used in post-classical Latin, based on Greek próthesis "placing before" or "in public"...
vowel, added because no Basque word may begin with an R-, and the final -a is the absolutive case
Absolutive case
The absolutive case is the unmarked grammatical case of a core argument of a verb which is used as the citation form of a noun.-In ergative languages:...
suffix, used when citing a name. If this etymology is correct, it is a rare case of a native Romani name for themselves (an endonym) being borrowed by another language.
The people identify themselves as ijitoak, Basque for "gypsies", but more specifically as Erromintxela, in contrast to the Caló Romani, whom they refer to as the xango-gorriak, Basque for "red-legs".
State of the language
There are currently an estimated 500 speakers in the Southern Basque CountrySouthern Basque Country
The Southern Basque Country is a term used to refer to the Basque territories within Spain as a unified whole.It does not exist as a political unit but includes the three provinces and two enclaves of the Basque Autonomous Community in the west, as well as the Chartered Community of Navarre to...
in Spain, approximately 2% of a population of 21,000 Romanis, and another estimated 500 in France. In Spain the remaining fluent speakers are elderly people mostly over the age of 80; some are equally fluent in Spanish, Basque, or Caló
Caló (Spanish Romani)
Caló is a language spoken by the Spanish and Portuguese Romani. It is a mixed language based on Romance grammar, with an adstratum of Romani lexical items through language shift by the Romani community. It is often used as an argot, a secret language for discreet communication amongst Iberian...
. Middle-aged Erromintxela are mostly passive bilinguals
Passive speakers (language)
A passive speaker is someone who has had enough exposure to a language in childhood to have a native-like comprehension of it, but has little or no active command of it....
, and the youngest speak only Basque or Spanish. In the Northern Basque Country, however, the language is still being passed on to children. The percentage of speakers among Spanish Erromintxela are higher than 2%, as large numbers of Caló-speaking Romanis moved to the Basque Country in the intense period of industrialisation
Industrialisation
Industrialization is the process of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an industrial one...
in the 20th century.
Literary production
To date, there has been little literary production in the language. The most notable works are a poem by Jon Mirande who published an Erromintxela poem entitled Kama-goli in his 1997 anthologyAnthology
An anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler. It may be a collection of poems, short stories, plays, songs, or excerpts...
Orhoituz and the 1999 novel Agirre zaharraren kartzelaldi berriak by Koldo Izagirre Urreaga with the main character using the language.
History
The Erromintxela arrived in the Basque Country in the 15th century speaking Kalderash Romani. They integrated much more deeply into Basque society than other Romani groups. In the process, they acquired the Basque language and adopted aspects of Basque culture such as increased rights of women and important traditions such as bertsolaritzaBertsolaritza
Bertsolaritza or bertsolarism is the art of singing extemporary composed songs in Basque according to various melodies and rhyming patterns...
(extemporaneous poetic song) and pelota
Pelota
Pelota can refer to the popular and shortened names for a number of ball games:* Baseball* Basque pelota* Bocce* Jai alai* Valencian pilota...
(the national Basque ballgame). Muñoz and Lopez de Mungia suspect that the morphological and phonological similarities between Romani and Basque facilitated the adoption of Basque grammar by the bilingual Romanis.
It appears that many Romanis chose to stay in the Basque Country to escape persecution elsewhere in Europe. Nonetheless, even here they were not safe from persecution. For example, the Royal Council of Navarre
Kingdom of Navarre
The Kingdom of Navarre , originally the Kingdom of Pamplona, was a European kingdom which occupied lands on either side of the Pyrenees alongside the Atlantic Ocean....
in 1602 passed an edict to round up all "vagabonds" (meaning Romani), who were to be condemned to 6 years of galley duty. By the 18th century however attitudes had changed, and the emphasis shifted towards integration. In 1780–1781 the Courts of Navarre passed Law 23, which called for "the authorities to take care of them, find them locations for settlement and honest occupations and ways of living..."
Research
The oldest account of the language dates to 1855, when the French ethnographer Justin Cenac-Moncaut located the Erromintxela primarily in the Northern Basque Country. The oldest coherent Erromintxela text, a poem entitled Kama-goli, published by Jon Mirande in a collection of Basque poetry, only dates to ca. 1960.Alexandre Baudrimont
Alexandre Baudrimont
Alexandre Edouard Baudrimont was a 19th-century French professor of chemistry who published various books connected to the sciences, languages and the Basque Country :...
's 40-page study Vocabulaire de la langue des Bohémiens habitant les pays basques français of 1862, the most extensive of the early accounts, covers both vocabulary and aspects of grammar. He worked with two female informants, a mother and her daughter from the Uhart-Mixe
Uhart-Mixe
Uhart-Mixe is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in south-western France.It is located in the former province of Lower Navarre.-External links:*...
area near Saint-Palais
Saint-Palais, Pyrénées-Atlantiques
Saint-Palais is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in south-western France.It is located in the former province of Lower Navarre.-External links:*...
, whom he describes as highly fluent. Unfortunately, he was only able to conduct a single session as the women were then told not to cooperate further for the fear of outsiders prying into the secrets of the Romani. There is a certain degree of confusion in Baudrimont's publication—he himself states that he could not always be certain the correct forms were elicited. For example, most of the verb forms he tried to elicit lack the verbal -tu ending and appear to be participle
Participle
In linguistics, a participle is a word that shares some characteristics of both verbs and adjectives. It can be used in compound verb tenses or voices , or as a modifier...
s.
The French sociologist Victor de Rochas refers to the Romani in the Northern Basque Country speaking Basque, rather than French, in his 1876 Les Parias de France et d'Espagne (cagots et bohémiens). The Canon
Canon (priest)
A canon is a priest or minister who is a member of certain bodies of the Christian clergy subject to an ecclesiastical rule ....
Jean-Baptiste Daranatz published a wordlist in the periodical Eskualdun Ona in 1906 and in 1921 Berraondo and Oyarbide carried out some research. Although labelled gitano (Spanish for 'gypsy') or bohémien / gitan (French for 'gypsy'), some data can also be found in Azkue's
Resurrección María de Azkue
Resurrección María de Azkue was an influential Basque priest, musician, poet, writer, sailor and academic. He made several made several major contributions to the study of the Basque language and was the first head of the Euskaltzaindia, the Academy of the Basque Language...
1905 dictionary and Pierre Lhande's
Pierre Lhande
Pierre Lhande Heguy was born in Bayonne, France on the 9 July 1877 and died 17 April 1957 in Tardets, Soule. For unknown reasons he was given his grandfather's surname, Lhande, as opposed to his father's surname Basagaitz.-Biography:...
1926 dictionary, both of which list a number of words identifiable as Erromintxela.
Little more was done until the late 20th century. In 1986 Federico Krutwig
Federico Krutwig
Federico Krutwig Sagredo was a Spanish Basque writer and politician, author of several books.Along with Felix Likiniano, he tried to create some resistance to the Francoist regime after the Spanish Civil War...
published a short article in the Revista Internacional de Estudios Vascos entitled "Los gitanos vascos", with a short word list and a brief analysis of the language's morphology. However, the most detailed research to date was carried out by Basque philologist Josune Muñoz and historian
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
Elias Lopez de Mungia, who began their work in the Southern Basque Country in 1996 at the behest of the Romani organisation Kalé Dor Kayiko
Kalé Dor Kayiko
Kalé Dor Kayiko is a Romani cultural organisation in the Basque Autonomous Region. It was founded in 1989 and has centres in Bilbao, Irun, Portugalete and Erandio.It promotes both languages of the Romani resident in the Basque Country, Erromintxela and Caló....
, with support from the Euskaltzaindia
Euskaltzaindia
Euskaltzaindia is the official academic language regulatory institution which watches over the Basque language. It carries out research on the language, seeks to protect it, and establishes standards of use...
and the University of the Basque Country
University of the Basque Country
The University of the Basque Country is the only public university in the Basque Country, in Northern Spain...
. Kalé Dor Kayiko, who had been working to promote the Romani language, was alerted to the existence of Erromintxela in the 1990s through an article by the historian Alizia Stürtze, Agotak, juduak eta ijitoak Euskal Herrian "Agote
Agote
The Cagots were a persecuted and despised minority found in the west of France and northern Spain: the Navarrese Pyrenees, Basque provinces, Béarn, Aragón, Gascony and Brittany...
s, Jews, and Gypsies in the Basque Country". Kalé Dor Kayiko intends to continue research into the language, attitudes, identity, and history of the Erromintxela people in the less well researched provinces of Navarre
Navarre
Navarre , officially the Chartered Community of Navarre is an autonomous community in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Country, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and Aquitaine in France...
and the Northern Basque Country.
Linguistic features
The research by Muñoz and Lopez de Mungia has confirmed that Erromintxela is not derived from CalóCaló (Spanish Romani)
Caló is a language spoken by the Spanish and Portuguese Romani. It is a mixed language based on Romance grammar, with an adstratum of Romani lexical items through language shift by the Romani community. It is often used as an argot, a secret language for discreet communication amongst Iberian...
, the mixed Spanish-Romani language spoken throughout Spain, but is instead based on Kalderash Romani and the Basque language. The vocabulary appears to be almost exclusively Romani in origin; the grammar however, both morphology and syntax, derives from various Basque dialects. Few traces appear to remain of Romani grammatical structures. The language is incomprehensible to speakers of both Basque and of Caló.
Typologically, Erromintxela displays the same features as the Basque dialects it derives its grammatical structures from. Its case marking follows the ergative–absolutive pattern where the subject of an intransitive verb
Intransitive verb
In grammar, an intransitive verb is a verb that has no object. This differs from a transitive verb, which takes one or more objects. Both classes of verb are related to the concept of the transitivity of a verb....
is in the absolutive case
Absolutive case
The absolutive case is the unmarked grammatical case of a core argument of a verb which is used as the citation form of a noun.-In ergative languages:...
(which is unmarked), the same case being used for the direct object of a transitive verb
Transitive verb
In syntax, a transitive verb is a verb that requires both a direct subject and one or more objects. The term is used to contrast intransitive verbs, which do not have objects.-Examples:Some examples of sentences with transitive verbs:...
. The subject of a transitive verb is marked with the ergative case
Ergative case
The ergative case is the grammatical case that identifies the subject of a transitive verb in ergative-absolutive languages.-Characteristics:...
. Similarly, auxiliary verb
Auxiliary verb
In linguistics, an auxiliary verb is a verb that gives further semantic or syntactic information about a main or full verb. In English, the extra meaning provided by an auxiliary verb alters the basic meaning of the main verb to make it have one or more of the following functions: passive voice,...
s agree with the subject and any direct object and indirect object present and verb forms are marked for allocutive
Allocutive agreement
In linguistics, allocutive agreement refers to a morphological feature in which the gender of an addressee is marked overtly in an utterance.-Basque:In Basque, allocutive forms are required in the verb forms of a main clause when the speaker uses the familiar pronoun hi "thou"...
(i.e. a marker is used to indicate the gender of the addressee).
Since both Erromintxela and Caló derive from Romani, many Erromintxela words are similar to Spanish Caló and Catalan Caló.
Erromintxela | Caló | Root | Meaning |
---|---|---|---|
baro | varó/baró | baró | large, big |
dui(l) | dui | dúj | two |
guruni | guruñí | gurumni | cow |
kani(a) | casní, caní | khajní | hen, chicken |
latxo, latxu | lachó (fem. lachí) | lačhó | good |
mandro(a) | manró, marró | manró | bread |
nazaro, lazaro | nasaló (fem. nasalí) | nasvalí | bread |
panin(a) | pañí | paní | water |
pinro(a), pindru(a) | pinrró | punró | foot |
trin, tril | trin | trin | three |
zitzai(a) | chichai | čičaj | large, big |
Phonology
According to Baudrimont's description of 1862 and modern southern sources, Erromintxela appears to have, at maximum, the sound system below. Southern speakers appear not to have the rounded vowel /y/ or the consonant /θ/, in line with north-south differences in Basque, and it is not clear if the northern distinction between /ɡ/ and /ɣ/ also exists in the south. Labial Labial consonant Labial consonants are consonants in which one or both lips are the active articulator. This precludes linguolabials, in which the tip of the tongue reaches for the posterior side of the upper lip and which are considered coronals... |
Coronal Coronal consonant Coronal consonants are consonants articulated with the flexible front part of the tongue. Only the coronal consonants can be divided into apical , laminal , domed , or subapical , as well as a few rarer orientations, because only the front of the tongue has such... |
Dorsal Dorsal consonant Dorsal consonants are articulated with the mid body of the tongue . They contrast with coronal consonants articulated with the flexible front of the tongue, and radical consonants articulated with the root of the tongue.-Function:... |
Glottal Glottal consonant Glottal consonants, also called laryngeal consonants, are consonants articulated with the glottis. Many phoneticians consider them, or at least the so-called fricative, to be transitional states of the glottis without a point of articulation as other consonants have; in fact, some do not consider... |
||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bilabial Bilabial consonant In phonetics, a bilabial consonant is a consonant articulated with both lips. The bilabial consonants identified by the International Phonetic Alphabet are:... |
Labio- dental |
Dental |
Lamino- dental Laminal consonant A laminal consonant is a phone produced by obstructing the air passage with the blade of the tongue, which is the flat top front surface just behind the tip of the tongue on the top. This contrasts with apical consonants, which are produced by creating an obstruction with the tongue apex only... |
Apico Apical consonant An apical consonant is a phone produced by obstructing the air passage with the apex of the tongue . This contrasts with laminal consonants, which are produced by creating an obstruction with the blade of the tongue .This is not a very common distinction, and typically applied only to fricatives... - alveolar Alveolar consonant Alveolar consonants are articulated with the tongue against or close to the superior alveolar ridge, which is called that because it contains the alveoli of the superior teeth... |
Post- alveolar Postalveolar consonant Postalveolar consonants are consonants articulated with the tongue near or touching the back of the alveolar ridge, further back in the mouth than the alveolar consonants, which are at the ridge itself, but not as far back as the hard palate... |
Palatal Palatal consonant Palatal consonants are consonants articulated with the body of the tongue raised against the hard palate... |
Velar Velar consonant Velars are consonants articulated with the back part of the tongue against the soft palate, the back part of the roof of the mouth, known also as the velum).... |
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Nasal Nasal consonant A nasal consonant is a type of consonant produced with a lowered velum in the mouth, allowing air to escape freely through the nose. Examples of nasal consonants in English are and , in words such as nose and mouth.- Definition :... |
m /m/ |
n /n/ |
ñ /ɲ/ |
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Plosive | p /p/ |
b /b/ |
t /t/ |
d /d/ |
k /k/ |
g /ɡ/ |
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Affricate Affricate consonant Affricates are consonants that begin as stops but release as a fricative rather than directly into the following vowel.- Samples :... |
tz /ts̻/ |
ts /ts̺/ |
tx /tʃ/ |
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Fricative Fricative consonant Fricatives are consonants produced by forcing air through a narrow channel made by placing two articulators close together. These may be the lower lip against the upper teeth, in the case of ; the back of the tongue against the soft palate, in the case of German , the final consonant of Bach; or... |
f /f/ |
/θ/ |
z /s̻/ |
s /s̺/ |
x /ʃ/ |
j /x/ |
/ɣ/ |
h /h/ |
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Lateral Lateral consonant A lateral is an el-like consonant, in which airstream proceeds along the sides of the tongue, but is blocked by the tongue from going through the middle of the mouth.... |
l /l/ |
ll /ʎ/ |
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Rhotic Rhotic consonant In phonetics, rhotic consonants, also called tremulants or "R-like" sounds, are liquid consonants that are traditionally represented orthographically by symbols derived from the Greek letter rho, including "R, r" from the Roman alphabet and "Р, p" from the Cyrillic alphabet... |
Trill Trill consonant In phonetics, a trill is a consonantal sound produced by vibrations between the articulator and the place of articulation. Standard Spanish <rr> as in perro is an alveolar trill, while in Parisian French it is almost always uvular.... |
rr /r/ |
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Tap Flap consonant In phonetics, a flap or tap is a type of consonantal sound, which is produced with a single contraction of the muscles so that one articulator is thrown against another.-Contrast with stops and trills:... |
r /ɾ/ |
Front Front vowel A front vowel is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a front vowel is that the tongue is positioned as far in front as possible in the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant. Front vowels are sometimes also... | | Back Back vowel A back vowel is a type of vowel sound used in spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a back vowel is that the tongue is positioned as far back as possible in the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant. Back vowels are sometimes also called dark... |
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unrounded | rounded | ||||
Close Close vowel A close vowel is a type of vowel sound used in many spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a close vowel is that the tongue is positioned as close as possible to the roof of the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant.This term is prescribed by the... |
i i |
ü (y) |
u u |
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Close-mid Close-mid vowel A close-mid vowel is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a close-mid vowel is that the tongue is positioned two-thirds of the way from a close vowel to a mid vowel... |
e e |
o o |
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Open Open vowel An open vowel is defined as a vowel sound in which the tongue is positioned as far as possible from the roof of the mouth. Open vowels are sometimes also called low vowels in reference to the low position of the tongue... |
a a |
Baudrimont uses a semi-phonetic system with the following diverging conventions:
Baudrimont | u | ȣ | y | Δ | Γ | χ | sh | tsh | z |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
IPA | /y/ | /u/ | /j/ | /θ/ | /ɣ/ | /x/ | /ʃ/ | /tʃ/ | /z/ |
Morphology
Examples of morphological features in Erromintxela:Erromintxela | Basque | Root | Function in Erromintxela | Example |
---|---|---|---|---|
-a | -a | Basque -a | absolutive suffix | phiria "the pot" |
-ak | -ak | Basque -ak | plural Plural In linguistics, plurality or [a] plural is a concept of quantity representing a value of more-than-one. Typically applied to nouns, a plural word or marker is used to distinguish a value other than the default quantity of a noun, which is typically one... suffix |
sokak "overcoats" |
-(a)n | -(a)n | Basque -(a)n | locative suffix | khertsiman "in the tavern" |
-(a)z | -(a)z | Basque -(a)z | instrumental Instrumental An instrumental is a musical composition or recording without lyrics or singing, although it might include some non-articulate vocal input; the music is primarily or exclusively produced by musical instruments.... suffix |
jakaz "with fire" |
-(e)k | -(e)k | Basque -(e)k | ergative Ergative The term ergative is used in grammar in three different meanings:* Ergative case* Ergative-absolutive language* Ergative verb... suffix |
hire dui ankhai koloek "with your two black eyes" |
-ena | -ena | Basque -ena | superlative Superlative In grammar, the superlative is the form of an adjective that indicates that the person or thing modified has the quality of the adjective to a degree greater than that of anything it is being compared to in a given context. English superlatives are typically formed with the suffix -est In... suffix |
loloena "reddest" |
-(e)ko(a) | -(e)ko(a) | Basque -(e)ko(a) | local genitive suffix Suffix In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns or adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs... |
muirako "of the mouth" |
-(e)rak | -(e)rat (Northern Basque) | Basque -(e)ra(t) | allative suffix | txaribelerak "to the bed" |
-pen | -pen | Basque -pen | 1 suffix denoting act or effect 2 under | |
-ra | -ra | Basque -ra | allative suffix | penintinora "to the little stream" |
-tu | -tu | Basque -tu | verb forming suffix | dekhatu "to see" |
-tzea | -tzea | Basque -tzea | nominalizer | |
-tzen | -t(z)en | Basque -t(z)en | imperfect suffix | kherautzen "doing" |
Verb formation
Most verbs have a Romani root plus the Basque verb forming suffix -tu. Examples of Erromintxela verbs are given below. (Forms given in angle brackets indicate spellings in the sources which are no longer in use. Basque is included for comparison.)Erromintxela | Basque | Romani North Central Romani North Central Romani is one of a dozen of major dialect groups within Romani, an Indo-Aryan language of Europe. The North Central dialects of Romani are traditionally spoken by some subethnic groups of the Romani people in Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia , southeastern Poland, the... |
English translation |
---|---|---|---|
brikhindu | euria izan | brišínd | to rain |
burrinkatu | harrapatu | (astaráv) | to catch |
dikelatu, dekhatu | ikusi | dikháv | to see |
erromitu (eŕomitu) | ezkondu | to marry | |
gazinain kheautu | haur egin | to give birth (lit. make a child) | |
goli kherautu, goli keautu | kantatu | (gilábav) | to sing (lit. make a song) |
kamatu | maitatu | kamáv | to love |
kerau, keau, kherautu, keautu | egin | keráv | 1 to do, make 2 auxiliary |
kurratu | lan egin | butjí keráv | to work |
kurrautu ⟨kuŕautu⟩ | jo | to hit | |
kuti | begiratu | dikáv | to look |
letu | hartu | lav | to take |
mahutu, mautu | hil | mu(da)ráv | to die, kill |
mangatu | eskatu | mangáv | to ask for, beg |
mukautu | bukatu | to end | |
najin | bukatu | to end | |
papira-keautu | idatzi | (skirív, ramóv) | to write (lit. make paper) |
parrautu ⟨paŕautu⟩ | ebaki | to cut | |
pekatu | egosi | pakáv | to cook |
pekhautu | erre | to burn | |
piautu | edan | pjav | to drink |
tarautu, tazautu | ito | to strangle | |
teilaitu | jan | xav | to eat |
tetxalitu, texalitu | ibili | to walk | |
txanatu | jakin | žanáv | to know |
txiautu | to ram in, push in | ||
txoratu, xorkatu ⟨s̃orkatu⟩ | lapurtu, ebatsi | čoráv | to steal |
ufalitu | ihes egin | to flee | |
xordo keautu | lapurtu, ebatsi | to steal (lit. "make theft") | |
zuautu | lo egin | sováv | to sleep |
Most Erromintxela verbal inflections are virtually identical to those found in Basque dialects:
Erromintxela | Basque (Lapurdian Lapurdian Lapurdian or Labourdin is a dialect of the Basque language spoken in the Lapurdi region of the Basque Country in France... ) |
Translation |
---|---|---|
ajinen duk | izanen duk | you will have |
dekhatu nuen | ikusi nuen | I saw it |
dinat | diñat | I am (familiar female addressee) |
erantzi nauzkon | erantzi nauzkan | I had taken them off |
...haizen hi | ...haizen hi | ...that you are |
kamatu nuen | maitatu nuen | I loved it |
letu hindudan | hartu hintudan | You (familiar) took me |
nintzan | nintzan | I was |
pekhautzen nina | erretzen naute | They are burning me |
pekhautu nintzan | erre nintzen | I (intransitive) burnt |
pekhautzen niagon | erretzen niagon | I (intransitive) was burning (female addressee) |
tetxalitzen zan | ibiltzen zan | I was going |
zethorren | zetorren | It came |
zoaz | zoaz | You go! |
Negations are formed with na/nagi (Romani na/níči); cf Basque ez/ezetz. The word for "yes" is ua (Romani va); cf Basque bai/baietz.
Nouns
The majority of nouns have Romani roots, but frequently attested with Basque suffixes. The variation of nouns cited with or without a final -a is likely due to informants supplying them with or without the absolutive ending. (Forms given in angle brackets indicate spellings in the sources which are no longer in use.)Erromintxela | Basque | Romani North Central Romani North Central Romani is one of a dozen of major dialect groups within Romani, an Indo-Aryan language of Europe. The North Central dialects of Romani are traditionally spoken by some subethnic groups of the Romani people in Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia , southeastern Poland, the... |
Erromintxela translation |
---|---|---|---|
angi | ezti | (avdžin) | honey |
ankhai | begi | (jakh) | eye |
asinia | botila | (fláša) | bottle |
balitxo | txerriki | baló "pig" plus a Basque suffix | pork |
barki | ardi | bakró | ewe, sheep |
barkitxu, barkotiñu, barkixu (barkicho) | arkume | bakró "sheep", plus Basque diminutive -txu, tiñu | lamb |
barku | ardi | bakró | sheep |
basta, baste | esku | vas(t) | hand, arm |
bato, batu | aita | dad | father |
bedeio (bedeyo) | erle | (daraši) | bee |
bliku | txerri | from balikanó mas "pork" | pig |
bluiak | poliziak | (policájcur) | policemen |
budar, budara | ate | vudár | door |
burrinkatzea | harraptze | act of catching | |
dantzari | dantzari | (Basque root) | dancer |
dibezi | egun | djes | day |
duta | argi | udút | (natural) light |
egaxi | gaží | a non-Romani woman | |
egaxo, ogaxo, egaxu | gažó | a gaje, anyone not Romani | |
elakri, ellakria | neska(til) | raklí | girl |
elakri-lumia | woman of ill repute | ||
eramaite | erama(i)te | bringing | |
eratsa, erhatsa, erhatza, erratsa (erratça) | ahate | (goca) | duck |
erromi (eŕomi), errumi, errumia | senar | rom | 1 husband 2 wedding |
erromiti, errumitia | emazte | romní | wife |
erromni | emazte, emakume | romní | woman, wife |
erromitzea | eskontza | (bjáv) | wedding |
erromitzeko (eŕomitzeko), erromitzekoa | eraztun | (angruští) | (the) ring (lit. "the one to marry") |
fula | kaka | khul | excrement |
futralo | eau-de-vie | ||
gata | ator | gad | shirt |
gazin | haur | child | |
giltizinia | giltza | (čája) | key |
goani | zaldi | (grast) | horse |
goia | lukainka | goj | sausage |
goli | kanta | gilí | song |
grasnia, gasnia, grasmiña, gra | zaldi | gras(t) | horse |
guru, gurru ⟨guŕu⟩ | idi | gurúv | ox |
guruni | behi | gurumni | cow |
gurutiño | txahal | gurúv plus a Basque diminutive -tiño | calf (animal) |
haize | haize | (Basque root) | wind |
jak, jaka, zaka, aka | su | jag | fire |
jakes | gazta | (királ) | cheese |
jera, kera (kéra) | asto | (esa) | donkey |
jero | buru | šeró | head |
jeroko | buruko | beret Beret A beret is a soft, round, flat-crowned hat, designated a "cap", usually of woven, hand-knitted wool, crocheted cotton, or wool felt, or acrylic fiber.... (lit. "of the head") |
|
juiben, juibena | galtzak | (kálca) | trousers |
kalabera | buru | (šeró) | head. Compare Spanish calavera, "Skull" |
kalleria ⟨kaĺeria⟩ | silverware. Compare Spanish quincallería, "hardware" | ||
kalo, kalu, kalua | kafe | (káfa) | coffee |
kalo-kasta | ijito-kastaro | Romani borough Borough A borough is an administrative division in various countries. In principle, the term borough designates a self-governing township although, in practice, official use of the term varies widely.... |
|
kamatze | maitatze | < kamáv | loving |
kangei, kangey; kangiria | eliza | kangerí | church; Baudrimont glosses this "altar" |
kani, kania | oilo | khajní | hen, chicken |
kaxta, kasta (casta), kaixta (kaïshta) | zur | kašt | wood, stick |
kaxtain parruntzeko ⟨paŕuntzeko⟩ | aizkora | axe | |
kher, khe, kere, khere, kerea | etxe | kher | house |
kereko-egaxia ⟨kereko-egas̃ia⟩ | etxeko andre | lady of the house | |
kereko-egaxoa ⟨kereko-egas̃oa⟩, kereko-ogaxoa | etxeko jauna | master of the house | |
ker-barna | gaztelu | (koštola) | castle |
ker, qer, kera | asto | (esa) | donkey |
kero, keru, kerua | buru | šeró | head |
khertsima | taberna | tavern | |
kiala, kilako | gazta | királ | cheese |
kilalo | cold air | ||
kirkila | babarruna | (fusúj) | bean |
konitza, koanits, koanitsa | saski | kóžnica | basket |
laia | jauna | mister, sir | |
lajai, olajai, lakaia | apaiz | (rašáj) | priest |
laphail, lakhaia | apaiz | (rašáj) | priest |
latzi, latzia | gau | night | |
lona | gatza | lon | salt |
mahutzea, mautzia | hiltzea | mu(da)ráv (v.), plus the Basque nominalizing Nominalization In linguistics, nominalization or nominalisation is the use of a verb, an adjective, or an adverb as the head of a noun phrase, with or without morphological transformation... suffix -tzea |
killing (see mahutu v.) |
malabana | gantzu | (thuló mas) | lard |
mandro, mandroa | ogi | manró | bread |
mangatzia | eske | mangáv (v.), plus the Basque nominalizing Nominalization In linguistics, nominalization or nominalisation is the use of a verb, an adjective, or an adverb as the head of a noun phrase, with or without morphological transformation... suffix -tzea |
act of begging |
marrun (maŕun) | senar | husband | |
mas, maz, maza, masa (māsa) | haragi | mas | meat |
megazin, megazina | haur | child | |
milleka ⟨miĺeka⟩ | arto | corn (maize) | |
milota | ogi | (manró) | bread |
milotare-pekautzeko | labe | oven | |
Mimakaro | Ama Birjina | the Blessed Virgin | |
miruni | emakume | woman | |
mitxai, ⟨mits̃ai⟩ | alaba | čhaj | daughter |
mol, mola | ardo | mol | wine |
mullon ⟨muĺon⟩, mullu ⟨muĺu⟩ | mando | mule | |
ñandro, gnandro | arraultz | anró | egg |
oxtaben, oxtaban ⟨os̃taban⟩, oxtabena | gartzela | astaripe | prison |
paba, phabana, pabana | sagar | phabáj | apple |
paba-mola | sagardo | cider (lit. apple-wine) | |
panin, panina, pañia | ur | pají | water |
panineko, paninekoa | pitxer | (the) jug (lit. one for water) | |
paninekoain burrinkatzeko ⟨buŕinkatzeko⟩ | net(?) (Lhande gives French filet) | ||
paninbaru, panin barua | ibai, itsaso | (derjáv, márja) | river, ocean (lit. big water) |
panintino, panin tiñua, penintino | erreka | (len) | small stream (lit. small water) |
pangua | larre | meadow | |
panizua | arto | corn (maize). Compare Spanish "panizo" | |
papin, papina | antzar | papin | goose |
papira | paper | papíri | paper |
pindru, pindrua, pindro, prindo | hanka, oin | punró | foot |
pindrotakoa | galtzak | kálca | trousers (the one for the foot) |
piri, piria | lapiko | pirí | saucepan |
pora | urdaila | per | stomach |
potozi | diruzorro | wallet | |
prindotako | galtzerdi | pinró (trousers) | sock (lit. the one for the foot) |
puxka (pushka) | arma | puška | gun, weapon |
soka | gaineko | overcoat | |
sumia | zupa | zumí | soup |
thazautzia | itotze | taslaráv (v.), plus the Basque nominalizing Nominalization In linguistics, nominalization or nominalisation is the use of a verb, an adjective, or an adverb as the head of a noun phrase, with or without morphological transformation... suffix -tzea |
act of throttling |
tekadi, tekari | hatz | (naj) | finger |
ternu | gazte | young person | |
txai ⟨ts̃ai⟩ | čhaj | young person of either gender | |
txaja | aza | (šax) | cabbage |
txara | belar | čar | grass |
txaripen, txaribel | ohe | (vodro) | bed |
txau, xau | seme | čhavó | son |
txipa | izen | (aláv) | name |
txiautu | ijito | a Romani person | |
txiautzia | ?, plus the Basque nominalizing Nominalization In linguistics, nominalization or nominalisation is the use of a verb, an adjective, or an adverb as the head of a noun phrase, with or without morphological transformation... suffix -tzea |
act of ramming in | |
txohi, txoki | gona | skirt | |
txohipen, txohipena | petty theft (lit. "under the skirt") | ||
txor, txora ⟨ts̃ora⟩ | lapur | čor | thief |
txuri, txuria | aizto | čhurí | knife |
xordo, txorda ⟨ts̃orda⟩ | lapurketa | čoripé | theft |
xukel ⟨s̃ukel⟩, txukel, txukela ⟨ts̃ukela⟩, xukela (shȣkéla) | txakur | žukél | dog |
xukelen-fula ⟨s̃ukelen-fula⟩, txukelen fula | txakurren kaka | dogshit | |
xukel-tino keautzale | female dog (lit. "little dog maker") | ||
zuautzeko, zuautzekoa | estalki | (the) bedcovers | |
zitzaia, zitzai, txitxai ⟨ts̃its̃ai⟩, txitxaia, sitzaia (sitçaia) | katu | čičaj | cat |
zume, sume | zupa | zumí | soup |
zungulu, sungulu, sungulua | tabako | (duháno) | tobacco |
zut, zuta, xut, txuta, txuta ⟨ts̃uta⟩ | esne | thud | milk |
Time
According to Baudrimot, the Erromintxela have adopted the Basque names of the months. Note that some of the Basque names represent pre-standardisation names of the months, e.g. August is Abuztua in Standard BasqueBatua
Standard Basque is a standardised version of the Basque language, developed by the Basque Language Academy in the late 1960s, which nowadays is the most widely and commonly spoken Basque-language version throughout the Basque Country...
rather than Agorrila.
Erromintxela | Basque | Romani North Central Romani North Central Romani is one of a dozen of major dialect groups within Romani, an Indo-Aryan language of Europe. The North Central dialects of Romani are traditionally spoken by some subethnic groups of the Romani people in Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia , southeastern Poland, the... |
Erromintxela translation |
---|---|---|---|
Otarila | Urtarrila | (januáro) | January |
Otxaila (Otshaïla) | Otsaila | (februáro) | February |
Martxoa (Martshoa) | Martxoa | (márto) | March |
Apirilia | Apirilia | (aprílo) | April |
Maitza (Maïtça) | Maiatza | (májo) | May |
Hekaña (Hékaña) | Ekaina | (júni) | June |
Uztailla (Uçtaïlla) | Uztaila | (júli) | July |
Agorilla | Agorrila | (avgústo) | August |
Burula | Buruila | (septémbro) | September |
Uria | Urria | (októmbro) | October |
Azalua (Açalȣa) | Azaroa | (novémbro) | November |
Abendua (Abendȣa) | Abendua | (decémbro) | December |
Baudrimont claims that subdivisions of the year (apart from the months) are formed with the word breja (bréχa) "year": breja kinua "month" and breja kipia "week".
Numerals
Numerals (Basque included for contrasting purposes):Erromintxela | Basque | Romani North Central Romani North Central Romani is one of a dozen of major dialect groups within Romani, an Indo-Aryan language of Europe. The North Central dialects of Romani are traditionally spoken by some subethnic groups of the Romani people in Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia , southeastern Poland, the... |
Erromintxela translation |
---|---|---|---|
jek, jeka, eka, jek (yek), jet (yet) | bat | jék | one |
dui, duil | bi | dúj | two |
trin, trin, tril | hiru | trín | three |
higa | higa (variant form) | (trín) | three |
estard | lau | štar | four |
pantxe, pains, olepanxi (olepanchi) | bost | panž | five |
Adjectives and adverbs
Adjectives and adverbs are also mostly derived from Romani forms:Erromintxela | Basque | Romani North Central Romani North Central Romani is one of a dozen of major dialect groups within Romani, an Indo-Aryan language of Europe. The North Central dialects of Romani are traditionally spoken by some subethnic groups of the Romani people in Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia , southeastern Poland, the... |
Erromintxela translation |
---|---|---|---|
baro, baru | handi | baró | large, big |
bokali | gose | bokh | hungry |
buter | asko, ainitz | but | much, a lot |
dibilo | dilino | crazy | |
dibilotua | erotua | < dilino (adj.) | gone crazy |
gabe | gabe | (Basque root) | without |
eta | eta | (Basque root) | and |
fukar | ederra | šukar | beautiful |
geroz | geroz | (Basque root) | once |
hautsi | hautsi | (Basque root) | broken |
kalu | beltz | kaló | black |
kaxkani | zikoitz | stingy | |
kilalo | hotz | šilaló | cold |
latxo, latxu | on | lačhó | good |
londo | samur | soft | |
nazaro, lazaro | eri | nasvaló | sick |
palian | ondoan | nearby | |
parno | garbi | parnó (white) | clean |
telian | behean | téla | under |
tiñu, tiñua | txiki | cignó | small |
upre | gain(ean), gora | opré | on top, up |
Pronouns & demonstratives
Pronouns are derived from both languages:Erromintxela | Basque | Romani North Central Romani North Central Romani is one of a dozen of major dialect groups within Romani, an Indo-Aryan language of Europe. The North Central dialects of Romani are traditionally spoken by some subethnic groups of the Romani people in Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia , southeastern Poland, the... |
Erromintxela translation |
---|---|---|---|
aimenge | ni | mánge "me", possibly aménge "us" (dative forms) | I |
ene | ene | (Basque root) | my (affectionate) |
harekin | harekin | (Basque root) | with it (distal) |
hari | hari | (Basque root) | to you (familiar) |
hartan | hartan | (Basque root) | in it (distal) |
heure | heure | (Basque root) | your (familiar emphatic) |
hi | hi | (Basque root) | you (familiar) |
hire | hire | (Basque root) | your (familiar) |
hiretzat | hiretzat | (Basque root) | for you (familiar) |
mindroa | nirea | miró | my |
neure | neure | (Basque root) | my (emphatic) |
ni | ni | (Basque root) | I (intransitive) |
Baudrimont's material
Much of Baudrimont's wordlist is easily related to other Erromintxela sources. However, some of the material collected by Baudrimont deserves a more detailed overview due to its peculiarities. Most of these relate to the verbs and verb forms he collected but some include nouns and other items.Nouns
His material contains a relatively high number of Basque-derived items.Erromintxela | Basque | Romani North Central Romani North Central Romani is one of a dozen of major dialect groups within Romani, an Indo-Aryan language of Europe. The North Central dialects of Romani are traditionally spoken by some subethnic groups of the Romani people in Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia , southeastern Poland, the... |
Erromintxela translation |
---|---|---|---|
aitza (aitça) | aritz | oak | |
aizia (aicia) | haize | (diha) | air |
egala | hegal | (phak) | wing |
itxasoa (itshasoa) | itsaso | (derjáv) | sea |
keia (kéïa) | ke | (thuv) | smoke |
muxkera (mȣshkera) | musker | (gusturica) | lizard |
orratza (orratça) | orratz | (suv) | needle (Basque orratz is "comb") |
sudura (sȣdȣra) | sudur | (nakh) | nose |
ulia (ȣlia) | euli | (mačhin) | fly (insect) |
xuria (shȣria) | (t)xori | (čiriklí) | bird |
Certain items are peculiar. Baudrimont lists mintxa as "tooth". The Kalderash term is dand (daní in Caló) but the term given is immediately more reminiscent of Northern Basque mintzo "speech" or mintza "skin" (with expressive palatalization
Palatalization
In linguistics, palatalization , also palatization, may refer to two different processes by which a sound, usually a consonant, comes to be produced with the tongue in a position in the mouth near the palate....
). This, and other similar items, raise the question of whether Baudrimont was simply pointing at items to elicit forms.
The forms he attempted to elicit are questionable in some cases as well. For example he attempted to agricultural terms such as plough
Plough
The plough or plow is a tool used in farming for initial cultivation of soil in preparation for sowing seed or planting. It has been a basic instrument for most of recorded history, and represents one of the major advances in agriculture...
, harrow
Harrow (tool)
In agriculture, a harrow is an implement for breaking up and smoothing out the surface of the soil. In this way it is distinct in its effect from the plough, which is used for deeper tillage. Harrowing is often carried out on fields to follow the rough finish left by ploughing operations...
and aftermath
Mower
A mower is a machine for cutting grass or other plants that grow on the ground. Usually mowing is distinguished from reaping, which uses similar implements, but is the traditional term for harvesting grain crops, e.g...
from his (female) informants and records the suspiciously similar sasta "plough" and xatxa (shatsha) "harrow".
Verb system and pronouns
The verb systems and pronouns recorded by Baudrimont is peculiar in several ways. Apart from his problem of eliciting the citation form of verbs as opposed to participles, he lists pronouns and possessive pronouns that appear to contain Romani roots and an unexpected auxiliary.The verb ajin for "to have" attested elsewhere although Basque derived forms appear more common overall. Kalderash Romani employs the 3rd person of "to be" and a dative pronoun to express ownership:
Erromintxela | Basque (allocutive forms) | Romani North Central Romani North Central Romani is one of a dozen of major dialect groups within Romani, an Indo-Aryan language of Europe. The North Central dialects of Romani are traditionally spoken by some subethnic groups of the Romani people in Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia , southeastern Poland, the... |
Erromintxela translation |
---|---|---|---|
mek ajin (mec aχin) tuk ajin (tȣc aχin) ojuak ajin (oχuac aχin) buter ajin (bȣter aχin) tuk ajin (tȣc aχin) but ajin (bȣt aχin) |
(nik) di(n)at (hik) duk1/dun (hark) dik/din (guk) di(n)agu (zuek) duzue (haiek) ditek/diten |
si ma si tu si les/la si amé si tumé si len |
I have you have he/she has we have you have they have |
mek najin (mec naχin) tuk najin (tȣc naχin) ojuak najin (oχuac naχin) buter najin (bȣter naχin) tuk najin (tȣc naχin) but najin (bȣt naχin) |
(nik) ez di(n)at (hik) ez duk/dun (hark) ez dik/din (guk) ez di(n)agu (zuek) ez duzue (haiek) ez ditek/diten |
naj/nané ma naj/nané tu naj/nané les/la naj/nané amé naj/nané tumé naj/nané len |
I don't have you don't have he/she doesn't have we don't have you don't have they don't have |
mek naxano (mec nashano) tuk naxano (tȣc nashano) ojuak naxano (oχuac nashano) buter naxano (bȣter nashano) tuk naxano (tȣc nashano) but naxano (bȣt nashano) |
(nik) izanen di(n)at (hik) izanen duk/dun (hark) izanen dik/din (guk) izanen di(n)agu (zuek) izanen duzue (haiek) izanen ditek/diten |
ka si ma ka si tu ka si les/la ka si amé ka si tumé ka si len |
I will have you will have he/she will have we will have you will have they will have |
1Note that forms like duk (3rd pers-have-2nd per (male)) are the verbal part whereas Erromintxela tuk is a pronoun.
The negative particle na is fairly clear in the forms above. Buter, as Baudrimont notes, is the word for "much, many" and may not be a true pronoun. Kalderash uses the accusative
Accusative case
The accusative case of a noun is the grammatical case used to mark the direct object of a transitive verb. The same case is used in many languages for the objects of prepositions...
pronouns to express possession but the forms above are more reminiscent of wrongly parsed Kalderash dative forms mangé, tuké, léske, léke etc. and perhaps a different case of "to be" (the full Kalderash paradigm being sim, san, si, si, sam, san/sen, si).
On the whole, it raises questions about the level of communication between Baudrimont and his informants and the quality of (some of the) material elicited.
Connected examples
Examples with interlinearInterlinear
In linguistics and pedagogy, an interlinear gloss is a series of brief descriptions or definitions placed between a line of original text and its translation in another language, so that each line of the original text acquires multiple lines of transcription known as an interlinear text or...
versions (lexical items of Romani origin marked in bold):
khere-ko | ogaxo-a |
house-ATTR Attributive In grammar, an attributive is a word or phrase within a noun phrase that modifies the head noun. It may be an:* attributive adjective* attributive noun* attributive verbor other part of speech.... |
master-ABS |
the master of the house |
hire-tzat | goli | kerau-tze-n | d-i-na-t | |||||
your (informal)-BEN | song | make-NMZ Nominalization In linguistics, nominalization or nominalisation is the use of a verb, an adjective, or an adverb as the head of a noun phrase, with or without morphological transformation... -LOC Locative case Locative is a grammatical case which indicates a location. It corresponds vaguely to the English prepositions "in", "on", "at", and "by"... |
ABS Absolutive case The absolutive case is the unmarked grammatical case of a core argument of a verb which is used as the citation form of a noun.-In ergative languages:... .3SG Grammatical person Grammatical person, in linguistics, is deictic reference to a participant in an event; such as the speaker, the addressee, or others. Grammatical person typically defines a language's set of personal pronouns... -PRE DAT Dative case The dative case is a grammatical case generally used to indicate the noun to whom something is given, as in "George gave Jamie a drink".... -FEM Feminine Feminine, or femininity, normally refers to qualities positively associated with women.Feminine may also refer to:*Feminine , a grammatical gender*Feminine cadence, a final chord falling in a metrically weak position... .ALLOC Allocutive agreement In linguistics, allocutive agreement refers to a morphological feature in which the gender of an addressee is marked overtly in an utterance.-Basque:In Basque, allocutive forms are required in the verb forms of a main clause when the speaker uses the familiar pronoun hi "thou"... -ERG Ergative The term ergative is used in grammar in three different meanings:* Ergative case* Ergative-absolutive language* Ergative verb... .1SG Grammatical person Grammatical person, in linguistics, is deictic reference to a participant in an event; such as the speaker, the addressee, or others. Grammatical person typically defines a language's set of personal pronouns... |
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I sing for you |
xau-a, | goli | keau | za-k, | mol | buterr-ago | aji-n-en | d-u-k |
boy-ABS | sing | make | have-ERG Ergative case The ergative case is the grammatical case that identifies the subject of a transitive verb in ergative-absolutive languages.-Characteristics:... .FAM T-V distinction In sociolinguistics, a T–V distinction is a contrast, within one language, between second-person pronouns that are specialized for varying levels of politeness, social distance, courtesy, familiarity, or insult toward the addressee.... .MASC Masculine Masculine or masculinity, normally refer to qualities positively associated with men.Masculine may also refer to:*Masculine , a grammatical gender*Masculine cadence, a final chord occurring on a strong beat in music... |
wine | much-COMP Comparative In grammar, the comparative is the form of an adjective or adverb which denotes the degree or grade by which a person, thing, or other entity has a property or quality greater or less in extent than that of another, and is used in this context with a subordinating conjunction, such as than,... |
have-PFV Perfective aspect The perfective aspect , sometimes called the aoristic aspect, is a grammatical aspect used to describe a situation viewed as a simple whole, whether that situation occurs in the past, present, or future. The perfective aspect is equivalent to the aspectual component of past perfective forms... -FUT Future tense In grammar, a future tense is a verb form that marks the event described by the verb as not having happened yet, but expected to happen in the future , or to happen subsequent to some other event, whether that is past, present, or future .-Expressions of future tense:The concept of the future,... |
ABS Absolutive case The absolutive case is the unmarked grammatical case of a core argument of a verb which is used as the citation form of a noun.-In ergative languages:... .3SG Grammatical person Grammatical person, in linguistics, is deictic reference to a participant in an event; such as the speaker, the addressee, or others. Grammatical person typically defines a language's set of personal pronouns... -have-ERG Ergative The term ergative is used in grammar in three different meanings:* Ergative case* Ergative-absolutive language* Ergative verb... .MASC Masculine Masculine or masculinity, normally refer to qualities positively associated with men.Masculine may also refer to:*Masculine , a grammatical gender*Masculine cadence, a final chord occurring on a strong beat in music... .ALLOC Allocutive agreement In linguistics, allocutive agreement refers to a morphological feature in which the gender of an addressee is marked overtly in an utterance.-Basque:In Basque, allocutive forms are required in the verb forms of a main clause when the speaker uses the familiar pronoun hi "thou"... |
boy, sing, you will have more wine! |
txipa | nola | d-u-zu? | |||||
name | how | ABS Absolutive case The absolutive case is the unmarked grammatical case of a core argument of a verb which is used as the citation form of a noun.-In ergative languages:... .3SG Grammatical person Grammatical person, in linguistics, is deictic reference to a participant in an event; such as the speaker, the addressee, or others. Grammatical person typically defines a language's set of personal pronouns... -have-ERG Ergative The term ergative is used in grammar in three different meanings:* Ergative case* Ergative-absolutive language* Ergative verb... .2SG Grammatical person Grammatical person, in linguistics, is deictic reference to a participant in an event; such as the speaker, the addressee, or others. Grammatical person typically defines a language's set of personal pronouns... |
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what is your name? |
masa-k | eta | barki-txu-ak | pangu-an | d-a-o-z | |||||||
meat-ABS Absolutive case The absolutive case is the unmarked grammatical case of a core argument of a verb which is used as the citation form of a noun.-In ergative languages:... .PL Plural In linguistics, plurality or [a] plural is a concept of quantity representing a value of more-than-one. Typically applied to nouns, a plural word or marker is used to distinguish a value other than the default quantity of a noun, which is typically one... |
and | sheep-DIM Diminutive In language structure, a diminutive, or diminutive form , is a formation of a word used to convey a slight degree of the root meaning, smallness of the object or quality named, encapsulation, intimacy, or endearment... -ABS Absolutive case The absolutive case is the unmarked grammatical case of a core argument of a verb which is used as the citation form of a noun.-In ergative languages:... .PL Plural In linguistics, plurality or [a] plural is a concept of quantity representing a value of more-than-one. Typically applied to nouns, a plural word or marker is used to distinguish a value other than the default quantity of a noun, which is typically one... |
meadow-LOC Locative case Locative is a grammatical case which indicates a location. It corresponds vaguely to the English prepositions "in", "on", "at", and "by"... |
ABS Absolutive case The absolutive case is the unmarked grammatical case of a core argument of a verb which is used as the citation form of a noun.-In ergative languages:... .3SG Grammatical person Grammatical person, in linguistics, is deictic reference to a participant in an event; such as the speaker, the addressee, or others. Grammatical person typically defines a language's set of personal pronouns... -PRES Present tense The present tense is a grammatical tense that locates a situation or event in present time. This linguistic definition refers to a concept that indicates a feature of the meaning of a verb... -go-PL Plural In linguistics, plurality or [a] plural is a concept of quantity representing a value of more-than-one. Typically applied to nouns, a plural word or marker is used to distinguish a value other than the default quantity of a noun, which is typically one... |
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the sheep and lambs are on the meadow |
nire | kera | zure-a-ren | pali-an | d-a-o, | hemen-dik | obeto-ao | dika-tu-ko | d-u-zu | |||||||||||
my | house | your-ABS Absolutive case The absolutive case is the unmarked grammatical case of a core argument of a verb which is used as the citation form of a noun.-In ergative languages:... -GEN Genitive case In grammar, genitive is the grammatical case that marks a noun as modifying another noun... |
proximity-LOC Locative case Locative is a grammatical case which indicates a location. It corresponds vaguely to the English prepositions "in", "on", "at", and "by"... |
ABS Absolutive case The absolutive case is the unmarked grammatical case of a core argument of a verb which is used as the citation form of a noun.-In ergative languages:... .3SG Grammatical person Grammatical person, in linguistics, is deictic reference to a participant in an event; such as the speaker, the addressee, or others. Grammatical person typically defines a language's set of personal pronouns... -PRES Present tense The present tense is a grammatical tense that locates a situation or event in present time. This linguistic definition refers to a concept that indicates a feature of the meaning of a verb... -locate |
here-ABL | better-COMP Comparative In grammar, the comparative is the form of an adjective or adverb which denotes the degree or grade by which a person, thing, or other entity has a property or quality greater or less in extent than that of another, and is used in this context with a subordinating conjunction, such as than,... |
see-PFV Perfective aspect The perfective aspect , sometimes called the aoristic aspect, is a grammatical aspect used to describe a situation viewed as a simple whole, whether that situation occurs in the past, present, or future. The perfective aspect is equivalent to the aspectual component of past perfective forms... -FUT Future tense In grammar, a future tense is a verb form that marks the event described by the verb as not having happened yet, but expected to happen in the future , or to happen subsequent to some other event, whether that is past, present, or future .-Expressions of future tense:The concept of the future,... |
ABS Absolutive case The absolutive case is the unmarked grammatical case of a core argument of a verb which is used as the citation form of a noun.-In ergative languages:... .3SG Grammatical person Grammatical person, in linguistics, is deictic reference to a participant in an event; such as the speaker, the addressee, or others. Grammatical person typically defines a language's set of personal pronouns... -have-ERG Ergative The term ergative is used in grammar in three different meanings:* Ergative case* Ergative-absolutive language* Ergative verb... .2SG Grammatical person Grammatical person, in linguistics, is deictic reference to a participant in an event; such as the speaker, the addressee, or others. Grammatical person typically defines a language's set of personal pronouns... |
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my house is next to yours, you can see it better from here |
External links
- Kalé Dor Kayiko
- Full version of the Erromintxela poem with Basque translation
- Gitano in the Spanish-language Auñamendia Encyclopedia.