GYPSY LIFE IN AMERICA

Gypsy Life in America

[Date of Submission]Gypsy Life in America

Introduction

The Roma are an ethnic group, sometimes also called Gypsies, mainly living in Europe, but can be in almost in every continent. According to historians, their origin can be genetically traced back to the Indian continent from where they have migrated to Europe followed by their settlement in other regions like North America, Africa etc. The Roma are partly settled, partly nomadic, inhabiting all continents, with largest population groups in Europe, mainly Romania, Hungary and Slovakia. They have their own religion but they usually adopt a religion of the country in which they live. Roma usually live in isolation with most of them follow their true cultural tradition. They speak many dialects, which belong to the same category of the Gypsy (Romani) language. These dialects are different primarily in terms of vocabulary and syntax. From their origin in India, they came to Europe in the eighth century AD through Persia, Armenia and Greece (Heichelheim & Yeo, 1962). In this paper, the origin, culture and lifestyle of Roma people living in America are discussed.

Discussion

Anthropological Origin

Anthropologists are now in agreement that the first home of ancestors of the Roma were India, however, they could not accurately determine the area. Scientists have tried to look for analogies between Roma and the various ethnic groups living in the Indian subcontinent and occupying the lowest position. One of the most convincing analyses is derived from the tribe of their homes, not only because it refers to a style of life, but also to the similarity of names. A pioneer exploration of contemporary Romani ancestors in the higher social strata of India was done by J. Kochanowski, according to whom, the name “Rom” is derived from Rama - the name of the hero of the epic Sanskrit “Ramayana”, who is considered as an incarnation of the god Vishnu. The ancestors of the Roma, according to him would then be with twofold origin - dark-skinned and fair-skinned, the former derived from Scythian, and others from Aryan warriors who were the ruling class (Tripat?hi, 2004).

Linguistic characteristics, however, provide more convincing evidence than the analysis of written texts. Roma language incorporates elements of Persian, Armenian, and Greek languages, which made it possible to reconstruct the paths through which their ancestors have travelled from their homeland to the countries where they are currently living and how the language of their ancestors evolved over the centuries. It is now believed that there is similarity in the Romani dialects and the Indian languages, particularly the Sanskrit, which is considered as one of the oldest languages in India. More important in determining the relationship, however, is the similarity of grammar. It is also clear that some letters in the Romani are similar to some languages spoken in India in terms of voicing assimilation, rules of word formation, the principle of the creation of abstract nouns etc (Tripat?hi, 2004).

Ancestors of contemporary Roma people are also searched using the methods of ...