Names of the Romani people
The Romani people are known by a variety of names, mostly under the broad categories of gipsy, tsinganoi, Bohémiens, and Roma. Self-designation varies: In Central and Eastern Europe, Roma is common. The Romani of England call themselves Gypsies, Romanies, Romany Gypsies or (in Angloromani) Romanichal, those of Scandinavia (in Scandinavian romanidialect) Romanisæl. In German-speaking Europe, the self-designation is Sinti, in France Manush, while the groups of Spain, Wales, and Finland use Kalo/Kale (from kalo meaning "black" in Romani language). There are numerous subgroups and clans with their own self-designations, such as the Kalderash, Machvaya, Boyash, Lovari, Modyar, Xoraxai, and Lăutari.
In the English language (according to the Oxford English Dictionary), Rom is a noun (with the plural Romá or Roms) and an adjective, while Romany is also a noun (with the plural Romanies) and an adjective. Both Rom and Romany have been in use in English since the 19th century as an alternative for Gypsy. Romany is also spelled Romani, or Rommany.[1]
Sometimes, rom and romani are spelled with a double r, i.e., rrom and rromani, particularly in Romania in order to distinguish from the Romanian endonym (români), to which it has no relation. This is well established in Romani itself, since it represents a phoneme (/ʀ/ also written as ř and rh) which in some Romani dialects has remained different from the one written with a single r.[2]
Roma is a term primarily used in political contexts to refer to the Romani people as a whole.[3][4] Still, some subgroups of Romani do not self-identify as Roma, therefore some scholars avoid using the term Roma as not all Romani subgroups accept the term.[5]
Because all Romanies use the word Romani as an adjective, the term began to be used as a noun for the entire ethnic group.[6]
The term Romani is used by some organizations, including the United Nations and the US Library of Congress.[2] However, the Council of Europe and other organizations use the term Roma to refer to Romani people around the world, and recommended that Romani be restricted to the language and culture: Romani language, Romani culture.[7][8][9]
In Hungarian, the most common word for the Roma is cigány, similar to the Slovak and Czech terms cigáň/cigán. Some Roma consider this a derogatory word, while others reclaim it, similarly to the LGBT community's reclamation of dyke and queer, and use it as a symbol of pride of heritage.
Etymology[edit]
The demonyms of the Romani people, Lom and Dom share the same etymological origin,[10][11] reflecting Sanskrit ḍoma "a man of low caste, living by singing and music"[12][13]
The ultimate origin of the Sanskrit term ḍoma (perhaps from Munda or Dravidian) is uncertain.[14] Its stem, ḍom, is connected with drumming, linked with the Sanskrit verbal root ḍam- 'to sound (as a drum)', perhaps a loan from Dravidian, e.g. Kannada ḍamāra 'a pair of kettle-drums', and Telugu ṭamaṭama 'a drum, tomtom'.[15]