Erromintxela (Aussprache [erominˈtʃela]) is the name both for an group of Roma found in the Basque Country and their language. The remaining speakers are today located on the coast of Labourd, the mountains of Soule, Navarre, Gipuzkoa and Biscay.[1]
Etymology
The etymology of the word Erromintxela is unclear but is of relatively recent origin and was originally not used by the ethnic group itself.[2] They previously appear to have been grouped under more general terms for Roma such as ijitoak (lit. "Egyptians"), ungrianok (lit. "Hungarians) or buhameak (lit. Bohemians).[3]
Research
The earliest record of the language dates research done by Cenac-Moncaute in 1855, who locates them primarily in the Northern Basque Country. His reasearch was followed by additional work by Berraondo and Oyarbide in 1921.[1]
Although labelled gitano (Spanish for gypsy), some of the earliest language data comes from Azkue's 1905 dictionary who lists a number of words identifiable as Erromintxela such as "s̃orkatu (git) robar, voler ("to steal"); "ts̃ora (git) ladrón voleur" ("thief").[1][4].
Latterly, Federico Krutwig published a short article in the Revista Internacional de Estudios Vascos in 1986 entitled Los gitanos vascos, with a short wordlist and a brief analysis of the language's morphology.[5]. Jon Mirande's collection of poems contains one of the earliest known coherent pieces of a text, a poem entitled Kama-goli (see below).[6]
The most detailed research to date was carried out by the Basque philologist Josune Muñoz and the historian Elias Lopez de Mungia who began their work in 1996 at the behest of the Roma organisation Kalé Dor Kayiko, with support from the Euskaltzaindia and the University of the Basque Country.[1] Kalé Dor Kayiko, who has been working to promote the Romani language, was alerted to the existence of Erromintxela in the 1990's through an article by a researcher called Alizia Stürtze who published an article entitled Agotak, juduak eta ijitoak Euskal Herrian ("Agotes, Jews and Gypsies in the Basque Country"), in which she referred to the existence of Erromintxela.[2]
Kalé Dor Kayiko intends to carry out further research into the language, attitudes, identity and history of the Erromintxela, especially in the currently less well researched provinces of Navarre and the Northern Basque Country.[2]
Linguistic features
The research by Muñoz and Lopez de Mungia has confirmed that Erromintxela is not related to the Caló, the Spanish-Romani creole spoken in Spain. Instead, it is a creole based on Kalderash Romani and the Basque language.[1] The vocabulary appears to be almost exclusively Romani in origin, the morphology and grammar however is derived from various Basque dialects.[1] Few traces appear to remain of Romani grammatical structures.[2] The language is incomprehensible both to speakers of Basque and of Caló.[1]
Examples of morphological features in Erromintxela:[2][3]
| Erromintxela | Basque | Root | Function in Erromintxela |
|---|---|---|---|
| -a | -a | Basque -a | definiteness marker |
| -ekoa | -ekoa | Basque -ekoa | the one of |
| -ko | -ko | Basque -ko | genitive suffix |
| -pen | -pen | Basque -pen | suffix denoting act or effect |
| -pen | -pen | Basque -pen | suffix denoting act or effect |
| -tu | -tu | Basque -tu | verb forming suffix |
| -tzea | -tzea | Basque -tzea | nominalizer |
Examples of Erromintxela verbs (Basque included for contrasting purposes):[3]
| Erromintxela | Basque | Romani[7] | Meaning/notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| dikelatu | ikusi | dikháv | to see (plus Basque -tu) |
| keautu/kerau | egin | keráv | to do, make |
| kurratu | lan egin | butjí keráv | to work (plus Basque -tu) |
| mangatu | eskatu | mangáv | to ask for (plus Basque -tu) |
| piautu | edan | pjav | to drink (plus Basque -tu) |
| txanatu | jakin | žanáv | to know (plus Basque -tu) |
| zuautu | lo egin | sováv | to sleep (plus Basque -tu) |
Other Erromintxela vocabulary items (Basque included for contrasting purposes):[3][5]
| Erromintxela | Basque | Romani[7] | Meaning/notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| aka/jak | su | jag | fire |
| baro/baru | handi | baró | large, big |
| basta/baste | esku | vast | head |
| bato/batu | aita | dad | father |
| dui | bi | dúj | two |
| eka/jeka | bat | jék | one |
| gra/goani | zaldi | gras(t) | horse |
| khere | etxe | kheré | house |
| kero | buru | šeró | head |
| latxo/latxu | on | lačhó | good |
| na/nagi | ez/ezetz | na/níči | head |
| pañia/panin | ur | pají | water |
| panin tiñua | erreka | len | small stream (panin plus tiñu"small") |
| pantxe | bost | panž | five |
| pindru/pindro | hanka | punró | foot |
| pindrotakoa | galtzak | kálca | trousers (pindro plus -ekoa) |
| trin | hiru | trín | three |
| txino | txiki | ciknó | small |
| txukel | txakur | žukél | dog |
| upre | gain(ean) | opré | on top |
| xut | esne | thud | milk |
Examples with interlinear version:[5][6]
1. khereko ogaxoa 2. khere-ko ogaxo-a 4. house-of master-the 5. "the master of the house"
1. Hiretzat goli kherautzen dinat 2. Hire-tzat goli kerau-tzen d-i-na-t 3. 2. pers familiar-as song make-gerund 3. pers-predative-feminine allocutive-1. pers ergative 4. "I sing for you,..."
1. erromeetako gazi mindroa 2. errome-etako gazi mindro-a 3. Roma-of the friend pretty 4. "...my dear pretty Roma friend"
State of the language
There are currently an estimated 500 speakers in the Southern Basque Country, approximately 2% out of a total of 21,000 Roma on the Spanish side, and another estimated 500 in the North.[3] The remaining speakers in the south are mostly elderly people over the age of 80, they remain highly fluent in the language (some being equally fluent in Spanish, Basque and Caló); middle aged members of the ethnic group are mostly passive bilinguals, the youngest speak either Basque or Spanish only. In the Northern Basque Country, intergenerational transmission is still functioning.[1]
The percentage of speakers amongst indigenous "Basque" Roma may be higher as large numbers of Caló speaking Roma moved to the Basque Country in the intense period of industrialisation in the 20th century.[8]
History
The Erromintxela arrived in the Basque Country during the 15th century, speaking a variant of Kalderash Romani. Muñoz and Lopez de Mungia suspect that the morphological and ponological similarities between Romani and Basque would have greatly facilitated the adoption of Basque morphology by the Roma.[2]
They have historically integrated much deeper into Basque society, acquiring local Basque dialects, adopting Basque customs such as increased rights of women and cultural traditions such as bertsolaritza and pelota.[2] It would appear that many chose to stay in the Basque Country to escape persecution elsewhere in Europe.[2][8]
While the Erromintxela identify themselves as ijitoak ("gypsies"), they also distinguish themselves from the Caló, whom they refer to as xango-gorriak ("redlegs").[1][3]
External links
References
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i Agirrezabal, Lore Erromintxela, euskal ijitoen hizkera Argia, San Sebastián (09-2003)
- ↑ a b c d e f g h Brea, Unai Hiretzat goli kherautzen dinat, erromeetako gazi mindroa Argia, San Sebastián (03-2008)
- ↑ a b c d e f Referenzfehler: Ungültiges
<ref>-Tag; kein Text angegeben für Einzelnachweis mit dem Namen Pais. - ↑ Azkue, Resurrección María de (1905) Diccionario Vasco Español Frances repr. Bilbao 1984
- ↑ a b c Federico Krutwig Sagredo Los gitanos vascos in Revista Internacional de Estudios Vascos, Volume 31 (1986)
- ↑ a b Mirande, Jon Poemak 1950-1966 Erein, San Sebastián (1984)
- ↑ a b Heinschink, Mozes & Krasa, Daniel Romani Wort für Wort Kauderwelsch 2004
- ↑ a b Plan Vasco para la promoción integral y participación social del pueblo gitano Basque Government (2005)