Is There a Difference

[colin salmon]

I thought until recently Romanys and Gypsys were one and the same, but after reading a book by some Irish authour he said that they were totally different with their origins in different places, can somebody please clarify this for me.

Cheers

Fish

[Buenchico]

(Posted in 2 parts):

You could get several hundred responses here and still not get a definitive answer. Different people seem to use the words 'Romany' and gypsy in different ways.

The dictionary definition of 'gypsy' states that this refers to a "member of a wandering people of Hindu origin with dark skin and hair, living often by basket-making, horse-dealing, fortune-telling, etc and speaking a language related to Hindi" OR " a person resembling or living like a gypsy".

The dictionary definition of 'Romany', however is much briefer: a "gypsy"!
(These definitions are from the Concise Oxford Dictionary, 7th edition).

So, to a lexicographer, it seems that the two terms are synonymous. This, of course, isn't the end of the story. 'Romany' tends to be used for those peope who are directly descended from the 'wandering people of Hindu origin' referred to above. If this definition is accepted then true 'Romanies' will speak (or at least understand) the Romany language (which is derived from Sanskrit).

[Buenchico]

(2nd Part):

The term 'gypsy' tends to be more generally used for 'wandering people', irrespective of their origins. Some of those with Irish roots, however, often like to reserve the word 'gypsy' for the travelling communities with family and historic links to the 'Emerald Isle'.

The waters can be further muddied by introducing the term 'traveller'. Obviously, the literal definition has to be simply 'someone who travels' but there are those within the Irish-based travelling community who prefer this term to 'gypsy' - or at least they used to until the arrival of 'New Age travellers'!

So, I've probably left you more confused than you were to start with but at least I hope I've indicated the many different interpretations of the two words which you asked about! (If you want to play safe, I believe that the current all-embracing 'politically correct' tem is 'member of a travelling community'. At least it's OK this week. By next week it will probably be regarded as denigrating, xenophobic and racist!).

Chris

[Octavius]

The Roma people (singular Rom; sometimes Rroma, Rrom), along with the closely related Sinti people, are commonly known as Gypsies in English. They are a traditionally nomadic people who originated in northern India, but currently live worldwide, chiefly in Europe. Most Roma speak some form of Romany, a language closely related to the modern Indo-European languages of Europe, northern India and Pakistan, but usually speak the dominant language of a region they live in as well. Modern anthropology has related Romany to Punjabi and Pothohari, spoken in northern India and Pakistan. The Roma are popularly known in English as Gypsies or Gipsies, a derivation of the word Egypt, from a former belief among outsiders that they were natives of Egypt. This ethnonym was never used by the Roma to describe themselves. The term Gypsy has long been associated with persecution, and has acquired pejorative connotations.

A Gypsy (derived from Egyptian/Copt) may be:

+ any member of any nomadic people (the term is sometimes considered derogatory), especially:
the Roma and Sinti, found worldwide but mainly in Europe;
+ Travellers found mainly in Great Britain, Ireland and the United States; and
+ Luli in Central Asia.
+ Gitanos or Spanish Gypsies speak Cal�

Whilst Roma people are generally thought to be from far eastern/asian regions, other nomadic peoples not from these parts are generally rounded up into the word 'gypsy' or 'traveller' but the origins of the word "gypsy" are the same, but the ethnic origins of all the nomadic peoples are not.