Welsh Romani language

{{short description|Variety of the Romani language}} {{redirect|Welsh Romani|the Roma of Wales|Kale (Welsh Roma)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox language | name = Welsh Romani | nativename = {{lang|rmw|Romnimus}} | states = Wales (United Kingdom) | ref = e25 | familycolor = Indo-European | fam2 = Indo-Iranian | fam3 = Indo-Aryan | fam4 = Romani | fam5 = Northern Romani | fam6 = British Romani | iso3 = rmw | glotto = wels1246 | glottorefname = Welsh Romani }}

The '''Welsh Romani language''', or {{lang|rmw|'''Romnimus'''}}, is a dialect of the Romani language spoken by the Kale subgroup of the Romani people, who have been present in Wales since the 16th century. Welsh Romani is one of the many Northern Romani dialects.<ref>Norbert Boretzky: Kommentierter Dialektatlas des Romani. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2004 p. 18</ref>

While most of its vocabulary is of Indo-Aryan origin, there are a significant number of words derived from other languages, such as Persian and Greek. Welsh loanwords include ''melanō'' ("yellow", from ''melyn''), ''grīga'' ("heather", from ''grug'') and ''kraŋka'' ("crab", from ''cranc''). English loanwords include ''vlija'' ("village"), ''spīdra'' ("spider") and ''bråmla'' ("bramble").<ref>John Sampson (1926) ''The dialect of the Gypsies of Wales, being the older form of British Romani preserved in the speech of the clan of Abram Wood'', Oxford University Press, London.</ref>

Historically the variants of Welsh Romani and Angloromani (spoken by the Romanichal) constituted the same variant of Romani, known as British Romani.<ref>Sampson. J. (1926) The Dialect of the Gypsies of Wales. Oxford. Clarendon Press.</ref> Welsh Romani is closely related to Angloromani, Scandoromani (spoken by Romanisael in Sweden and Norway), Scottish Cant (spoken by Scottish Lowland Romani in Lowland Scotland) and Kalo (Spoken by Kaale in Finland and Sweden). Kale, Romanichal, Romanisael, Kaale and Scottish Lowland Romani are closely related Romani subgroups which stem from the wave of Romani immigrants who arrived in Northern Europe in the 16th century.<ref>Bakker (1997) Review of McGowan, The Winchester Confessions. Journal of the Gypsy Lore Society. Fifth series, 7. (1): 49–50.</ref>

==Phonology==

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center" ! ! colspan="2" |Labial ! colspan="2" |Dental ! colspan="2" |Alveolar ! colspan="2" |Post-<br />alveolar ! colspan="2" |Palatal ! colspan="2" |Dorsal ! colspan="2" |Glottal |- !Nasal | style="border-right: 0;" | | style="border-left: 0;" |{{IPAlink|m}} | colspan="2" | | style="border-right: 0;" | | style="border-left: 0;" |{{IPAlink|n}} | colspan="2" | | colspan="2" | | style="border-right: 0;" | | style="border-left: 0;" |{{IPAlink|ŋ}} | colspan="2" | |- !Stop | style="border-right: 0;" |{{IPAlink|p}}<br />{{IPA link|pʰ}} | style="border-left: 0;" |{{IPAlink|b}} | colspan="2" | | style="border-right: 0;" |{{IPAlink|t}}<br />{{IPA link|tʰ}} | style="border-left: 0;" |{{IPAlink|d}} | style="border-right: 0;" |{{IPAlink|tʃ}} | style="border-left: 0;" |{{IPAlink|dʒ}} | colspan="2" | | style="border-right: 0;" |{{IPAlink|k}}<br />{{IPA link|kʰ}} | style="border-left: 0;" |{{IPAlink|ɡ}} | colspan="2" | |- !Fricative | style="border-right: 0;" |{{IPAlink|f}} | style="border-left: 0;" |{{IPAlink|v}} | style="border-right: 0;" |{{IPAlink|θ}} | style="border-left: 0;" |{{IPAlink|ð}} | style="border-right: 0;" |{{IPAlink|s}} | style="border-left: 0;" |{{IPAlink|z}} | style="border-right: 0;" |{{IPAlink|ʃ}} | style="border-left: 0;" |{{IPAlink|ʒ}} | colspan="2" | | style="border-right: 0;" |{{IPA link|x}} | style="border-left: 0;" |{{IPA link|ɣ}} | style="border-right: 0;" |{{IPAlink|h}} | style="border-left: 0;" | |- !Trill | colspan="2" | | colspan="2" | | style="border-right: 0;" | {{IPAlink|r̥}} | style="border-left: 0;" |{{IPAlink|r}} | colspan="2" | | colspan="2" | | colspan="2" | | colspan="2" | |- !Approximant | colspan="2" | | colspan="2" | | colspan="2" | | style="border-right: 0;" | | style="border-left: 0;" | | style="border-right: 0;" | | style="border-left: 0;" |{{IPAlink|j}} | style="border-right: 0;" |{{IPAlink|ʍ}} | style="border-left: 0;" |{{IPAlink|w}} | colspan="2" | |- !Lateral | colspan="2" | | colspan="2" | | style="border-right: 0;" |{{IPAlink|ɬ}} | style="border-left: 0;" |{{IPAlink|l}} | colspan="2" | | colspan="2" | | colspan="2" | | colspan="2" | |}

{| class="wikitable" !   ! Front ! Central ! Back |- align=center !Close |{{IPA link|i}} || || {{IPA link|u}} |- align=center ! Mid | {{IPA link|e}} || {{IPA link|ə}} || {{IPA link|o}} |- align=center ! Open | || {{IPA link|a}} || |}

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== *[https://books.google.com/books?id=CGWFAQ9RZ0oC&dq=%22welsh+romani%22&pg=PA18 Welsh romani within Britain] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20091026174043/http://geocities.com/Area51/Nova/1245/manfri.html Welsh Romani word list] *[http://www.valleystream.co.uk/romhome.htm Romani Cymru]

{{Romani languages}} Category:Northern Romani dialects Category:Languages of Wales Category:Languages of the United Kingdom Category:Romani in Wales Category:Extinct languages of Europe {{Languages in Wales}} {{IndoAryan-lang-stub}} {{Romani-stub}}