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Individual natural languages (UDC 811.1/.8)
DOI: 10.18454/RULB.5.13 Кючуков Х.
Магдебургский Университет Прикладных Наук ОЧЕРК О ЦЫГАНСКОМ ЯЗЫКЕ БАЛКАН
Аннотация
Статья описывает формирование некоторых грамматических категорий в цыганском языке, распространенном среди цыган на Балканах. Цыганский язык, относящийся к индоарийским языкам, сохраняет грамматические черты индийских языков, тем не менее в нем есть грамматические категории, которые сформировались благодаря контакту цыганского языка с европейскими языками. Балканские диалекты, получившие влияние румынского языка, имеют ряд грамматических категорий, которых нет в других цыганских диалектах. Данные категории сформировались благодаря использованию архаичных суффиксов и префиксов в новых комбинациях. С другой стороны, существуют некоторые глаголы, которые возникли при помощи падежной системы цыганского языка, что показывает как эти глаголы функционирует.
Ключевые слова: цыганский язык, суффиксы, префиксы, глаголы, системный падеж.
Kyuchukov H.
Magdeburg - Stendal University of Applied Sciences SOME NOTES ON BALKAN ROMANI
Abstract
The paper presents the formation of some grammatical categories in Romani, spoken by some Roma groups in Balkan countries. Romani, belonging to Indo-Arian languages, preserves some of the grammatical system form Indian languages, however there are grammatical categories which are developed throughout the centuries due to the contacts of Romani with European languages. A group of dialects, being in contact with Romanian language developed grammatical features which the other dialects of Romani do not have. These categories are developed by the use of old suffixes and prefixes in new combinations. From other side there are certain verbs which developed through the case system of Romani, which show how these verbs function in different cases.
Keywords: Romani, suffixes, prefixes, verbs, case system.
Introduction
Romani is a comprehensive language with its grammatical structure. In Balkan countries such as Bulgaria, Macedonia, Greece, Serbia, Romania, there are mainly groups which dialects were influenced by Romanian language and at the same time there are groups which never came in contacts with Romanian. In this paper I will try to show how the grammatical categories are developed and preserved in some dialects spoken in some of the Balkan countries. These are dialects spoken by Gurbeti, Dzhambazi, Kalajdzhi, Burgudzhi, and similar groups and subgroups and they live in countries such as Bulgaria, Macedonia, Greece, Kosovo, Serbia and Romania.
Number of authors during last decades published on different dialects related to the mentioned ones, showing the grammatical structure of Romani and its close relationship with Indo-Ariyan languages. (Borezky, 1993; Duric, 2005; Hancock, 1995; Igla, 1996; Kyuchukov, 2003; Matras, 2002; Sarau, 1992). Here I am going to focus more on some phenomenon from the Romani spoken in Balkan countries by professional groups mentioned above. Their religion does not play a role. They can be Muslims or Christians. The grammatical characteristics are the same.
From lexical point of view, part of Romani still preserves items from Indian languages and mainly from Hindi and the other part is made up by borrowing words, using the "patterns" offered by the old Romani suffixes and prefixes. The observations on different dialects prove that the Romani lexicon comes from the derivation of suffixes and prefixes and by their combinations. Derivation of suffixes and prefixes A. Suffixes
With the use of some suffixes, one may create: nouns, adjectives, adverbs, verbs, numerals. Nouns
The suffixes -no (for masculine noun) and -ni (for feminine nouns)
a. from verbs:
from the verb arakh-av "to find, guard, take care"+ suffix -no >arakhno "care taker, bodyguard, finder"
from the verb astar-av "to catch" + suffix -no > astarno; with feminine suffixe -ni > astarni "trap, something that catches "
from the verb sikav-av "to point to" + suffix -no > sikavno; with feminine suffix -ni > sikavni "guide, teacher". b) from nouns:
The -ni suffix is used to get feminine nouns. For instance: from the masculine noun grast "horse" + -ni >grastni "mare" from the masculine noun manus "man"
+ -ni > manusni "woman"
from the masculine noun rom "Rom" + -ni >romni "Roma woman"
from the masculine noun thagar "king"
+ -ni > thagarni "queen" etc
The suffix -ipe(n) forms the abstract nouns. With the help of the suffix -ipe(n) from nouns, adjectives and verbs: a) from nouns:
from the masculine noun amal "friend" + suffix -ipe(n) > amalipe(n) "friendship";
from the masculine noun phral "brother"
+suffix -ipe(n) > phralipe(n) "brotherhood"
b) from adjectives:
from the adjective dil/o(-i,-e,-e) "crazy, mad, stupid"+suffix -ipe(n) >dilipe(n) "madness, stupidity"
from the adjective sukar "beautiful"+suffix -ipe(n)
> sukaripe(n) "beauty"
c) from verbs:
from the verb kam-av "to want, to wish, to love" + suf. -ipen > kamipen "wish, love". The Suffix -lin.
a) from nouns:
from the noun ambrol "pear"+ suffix -lin > feminin noun ambrolin "pear tree"
from noun phabaj "apple" +suffix -lin > feminin noun phabajlin "apple tree"
The nouns can also be formed from some adjectives. Adjectives
Adjectives can be formed by adding to the word the following suffixes:
The Suffix -utn/o (-i,-e,-e). The adjectives formed by means of this suffix come from: a) nouns:
from the noun kast "wood" + suffux -utn/o(-i,-e,-e)
> adjective kastun/o(-i, -e, -e) "wooden, made out of wood"
from the noun kher "house" + suffix -utn/o(-i,-e,-e)
> adjective kherutn/o(-i,-e,-e) "domestic, pertaining to the household"
a. adjectives:
from adjective cac/o(-i, -e, -e) "right, just, true" + suffix -utn/o(-i,-e,-e) > adjective cacutn/o (-i,-e,-e) "truthful, just"
c) adverbs:
from the adverb akana "now" + suffix -utn/o (-i,-e,-e) > adjective akanutn/o(-i,-e,-e) "contemporary, from
from the adverb opre "up"+ suffix -utn/o(,-i,-e,-e)
> adjektive oprutn/o (-i, -e, -e) "superior"
d) prepositions:
from the preposition anglal "before, in front of" + suffix-utn/o (-i,-e,-e) > adjective anglutn/o(-i, -e, -e) "anterior, preceeding"
from the preposition palal "after, behind" + suffix -utn/o(-i,-e,-e) > adjective palutn/o(-i, -e, -e) "posterior, following"etc
The Suffix -(v)al/o (-i,-e,-e). Adjectives of this type are formed:
a. from nouns:
from the masculine noun chor "beard" +
suffix -(v)al/o(-i,-e,-e) > adjective chorval/o (-i,-e,-e) "person who has a beard"
from the masculine noun rat "blood" +
suffix -(v)al/o(-i,-e,-e) > adjective ratval/o(-i, -e, -e) "bloody" The Suffix -ikan/o (-i,-e,-e). Adjectives can be formed from:
a) nouns:
from the masculine noun murs "man" + suffix -ikan/o(-i,-e,-e) > adjective mursikan/o (-i, -e, -e) "manly" from the feminin noun iuvli "woman" + suffix -ikan/o(-i,-e,-e)
> adjective iuvlikan/o(-i, -e, -e) "womanly"
from the masculine noun phral "brother" + suffix -ikan/o(-i,-e,-e) > adjective phralikan/o(-i, -e, -e) "brotherly"
b) adjectives:
from adjective dilo "crazy, mad, stupid" + suffix-ikan/o (-i,-e,-e) > adjective dilikan/o(-i, -e, -e) "crazy, foolish"
The Suffixes -esk/o (-i, -e, -e) / -eng/o (-i, -e, -e) / -ak/o (-i, -e, -e) / -ang/o (-i, -e, -e) are forms for the Genitive of the nouns.
from the masculine noun dad "father" +suffix -esk/o (-i, -e, -e) > adjective dadesk/o(-i, -e, -e) " the father's" (Gen.)
from masculine noun dada "father's"+ suffix eng/o (-i, -e, -e) > adjective dadeng/o (-i, -e, -e) "the father's" (Gen);
from the feminin noun daj "mother"+suffix -ak/o (-i, -e, -e) > adjective dajak/o(-i, -e, -e) "the mother's" (Gen); The Participial Suffixes -d/o (-i, -e, -e)
from the verb lachar-av "to fix, to repair" > lachard/o (-i, -e, -e) "fixed, repaired" Adverbs The Suffix -es.
from the adjective roman/o (-i,-e,-e) "rom" + suffix -es > romanes "in a roma way"
from the adjective cac/o(-i,-e,-e) "right, just" + suffix -es
> caces "truthfully"
The Suffix -al.
from the masculine noun maskar "middle" + suffix -al > adj. maskaral "from the middle"
from the adverb avri "outside" + suf. -al > adverbs avrjal "from the outside" Verbs
The Suffix -ar-/ -jar- is one of the most productive Rromani suffixes and added to nouns, adjectives, numerals, adverbs,verbs, it can form verbs.
a) from nouns:
from the feminin noun mel "dirt" +suffix -jar- > verb meljar-el " to get something dirty"
from the feminin noun los "joy"+suffix -ar- > verb losar-el "to make somebody happy"
b) from adjectives:
from the adjective bar/o(-i, -e, -e) "big"+suffix -jar- > verb barjar-el "to grow, to cultivate, to develop"
from the adjective dil/o(-i,-e,-e) "crazy, stupid" + suffix -jar- > verb diljar-el "to drive somebody crazy"
from the adjective sukar "beautiful"+ suffix -jar- > verb sukarjar-el "to beautify, to make beautiful"
c) from adverbs:
from the adverbs dur "far" + suffix -jar-> verb durjar-el "to run from, to put some distance between"
d) from verbs:
from the verb sikljol "to study"+ suffix -jar- > verb sikljar-el " to teach" B. Prefixes
The Prefix bi- can form: a) nouns:
prefix bi—+ feminin noun baxt "good luck, chance" > feminin noun bibaxt "bad luck" a. adjectives:
prefix bi- +adjective londo "salty" > adjective bilondo "with no salt"
a. verbs:
prefix bi- + verb starel "to catch, to grab, to remember" > verb bistarel "to drop, to forget"
prefix bi- + verb kinel "to buy"> verb bikinel "to not sell, to not buy"
The grammatical cases and Romani verbs
An important part of Romani language are the cases. Many authors have written about the case system of Romani. (Borezky, 1993; Matras, 2002). The case system in Romani can be presented in two ways: with postpositions (kher-es-tar > house-from) or with prepositions (andar o kher > from the house). There are differences in the case endings for masculine and feminine nouns, plural and singular, as well as for animate and inanimate nouns. However, very little is known and there is no research and publications about the verbs in relation to the Romani case system. Here I will present examples about some verbs from Romani language and how they go along with different cases in Romani: 1) dzal (to go) ACC
1) O rom dial kastenge
the man go-3sg wood-
for
'The man goes for wood'
2) O rom dial po drom
the man go(walk)-3sg on road 'The man walks on the road'
3) O rom dial po grast the man go-3sg after horse 'The man follows the horse' DAT
0 gad dial leske sukar the shirt go-3sg him nice 'The shirt suits him well' INSTR
Me diav tusa ando foro
1 go-1sg you-with in-the town
'I am coming with you to the town' LOK
1) I romni dial ando kher the woman go-3sg into house 'The woman goes into the house'
2) Me diav pas tute I go-1sg to you
'I am coming to you' 2) avel (to come) ACC
O manus avel po drom the man come-3sg on-the road 'The man comes on the road' DAT
O habe avela leske sukar the food come-3sg him-to nice 'He likes the food' ABL
1) O chavo avel andar o kher the boy come-3sg from the house 'The boy comes from the house'
2) O chavo avel kherestar the boy come-3sg house-from 'The boy comes from the house' INSTR
Avav tusa come-1sg you-with 'I am coming with you'
LOK
Me avav pas tute I come-lsg to you 'I am coming to you'
3) tradel/bicalel (to send) ACC
I romni bicalel e chaves ko kurko the woman send-3sg the child to market 'The woman sends the child to the market' DAT
Trade mange jek lil send-PT-3pl me-to one book 'They sent me a book' ABL
Bicalde les andar o gav
send-PT-3pl him from the village
'They sent him from the village'
INSTR Tradas lensa love
send-PT-3sg them-with money
'He sent money with them'
LOC
Bicalde mande e chave send-PT-3pl me-to the child(boy) 'They sent me the child(boy)'
4) avel palpale (to come back) ACC
Me avav palpale po drom I come back from road 'I come back from my trip' ABL
Me avav palpale tumendar I come back you-pl-from 'I come back from your place' INSTR
Me avav palpale lasa I come back her-with 'I come back with her' LOC
Me avav palpale pas tute I come back toyou 'I come back to you'
5) inkljol (to get out/to get on) ACC '
Inkljol pe les jekh kiri go out on him one ant 'An ant crawling on him' DAT
Inkljon leske _ jakha go out his eyes 'May he becomes blind' ABL
1) Inkljav andar o kher go out-1 sg from the house 'I leave the house'
2) Inkljav kherestar go-out -1sg house-from I leave home/the house' INSTR
O chavo inklyola lasa ko bijav the boy go-out 3sg her-with to wedding 'the boy goes to the wedding with her' LOC
0 rom inkljol opre khereste
the man go out-3sg on house-the 'The man climbs on the houses wall'
6) gyndel/del pes gogi (to think) LOC
Me dav man gogi pe leste
1 think about him 'I think about him'
7) mangel (to ask) ACC
Mangav e chaja love-1sg the girl
'I love the girl'
8) dikhel (to see) ACC
1) Dikhav o kher see-1sg the house 'I see the house'
2) Dikhav e dades see-1sg the father 'I see the father'
ABL
1) Dikhav e kerestar dzi ki len see-1sg the house-from till the river
'I can see from the house till the river'
2) Dikhav andar o kher dzi ki len see-1sg from the house till the river 'I can see from the house till the river' INSTR
Dikhav tusa o filmo
see/Watch1-sg you-with the film 'I watch the film with you' LOC
Dikhav opre leste sukar gad see-1 sg on him nice shirt 'He has a nice shirt on'
9) vakerel (to say/ to talk) DAT
Me vakerav tuke kaj ame dzas ando foro I tell-1sg you that we go-1pl to-the city 'I tell you that we go to the city' ABL
Vakerdem andar o il speak-PT1sg about the book 'I spoke about the book' INSTR
Vakerdem lensa speak-PT1sg them-with 'I spoke with them' LOC
Vakerdem ko radio speak-PT1sg in the radio 'I did spoke on radio'
10) prandel pes (to get married) INSTR
Me prandilem lasa
I marry-PT1sg her-with
'I got married with her'
12) prandavav (make s.o. to get married)
ACC
Me prandavav les jeke chajasa I marry-1sg him one girl-with 'I married him to a girl' INSTR
Me prandavav lesa mire chaja I marry-1sg him-with my daughter 'I made him to marry my daughter'
12) bijanel(to give a birth) DAT '
I thagarni bijandili e thagareske jeke the queen gave birth the king-DAT one-to sumnakune rakles golden boy
'The queen gave a birth to a golden boy for for the king' ACC
I daj bijandili jekhe chaves the mother gave birth one-to boy 'The mother gave birth to a boy' LOC
I khamni bijandili ando lengo kher
the pregnant woman gave birth intheir house
'The pregnant woman gave a birth in their house'
13) merel (to die ) DAT
Ov merel lake
he die-3sg her-for
'He dies for her'
LOC
Voj muli and-o gav
she die-3sgPT in-the village
'She died in the village'
LOC
'She died of anger'
Tu meres po drom you die-2sg on-the road 'You die on the road' INSTR
The examples above show clearly that there are certain verbs which go or do not with certain cases. The same verb used in different cases can have different meanings and the same phenomenon is observed in Hindi as well (Mohanan, 1994).
Von mule lensa ando foro
they die-3plPT them-with in-the city
'They died together with them in the city'
Conclusions
ABL
2) Voj muli andar i xoli she died from the anger
1) Voj muli xoljatar she died anger-from 'She died of anger'
As it is shown in the paper, Romani still preserves structures typical for Hindi and other Indo-Arian languages. All this structures are typical for dialects which have been in contact with Romanian throughout the centuries. The verbs used by some cases are also similar to Hindi, or dialects of Hindi, which show that the deep structure of Romani comes from Indian languages, or dialects of Hindi.
References
1. Boretzky, N. (1993) Bugurdzi: Deskriptiver und historischer Abriß eines Romani-Dialekts. Wiesbaden:Harrassowitz
2. Djuric, R. (2005) Gramatika e Rromane chibaki. Beograd: Otkrovene
3. Hancock, Ian (1993) A Grammar of Vlax Romani. Ohaio: Slavic Publishers
4. Igla, B. (1996) Das Romani von Ajia Varvara. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.
5. Kyuchukov, H. (2003) Kratko opisanie na romskiya ezik v Bulgaria. Sofia: Delfi.
6. Matras, Y. (2002) Romani. A linguistic introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
7. Mohanan, Tara (1994) Argument Structure in Hindi. Stanford: CSLI Publication.
8. Sarau, Gheorghe (1992) Mic dictionar rom - roman. Bucuresti: Kriterion.
