Talk:Romani people/Archive 1

message: I know about a Roma legend that says that they simply fled India in front of foreign occupation, to avoid being slaughtered. Shouldn't this be mentioned along 'great mysteries of history'? Also, last year in Belgrade there was a concert of a band from India (called "Raja" if I recall well) that played "traditional Roma music". Now, the article says that there are no Roma in India... Nikola 06:32, 29 Jul 2003 (UTC)
thread_title: India

message: In Romania they are refered as "tzigani", but this is more a derogatory term. I heard that in their language (Roma) means "man good for nothing", but I have no sure source. After communism fall, it was somehow offially imposed to call them rrom/rroms (with 2 r).   [User:Mihai]
:: In Romania (a country, capital is Bucharest) press writes "rroma" to "prevent the dignitiy of Romania against foreign confusion with regards to tzigane people". The romanian people think they are the direct descendants of the magnificent ancient romans (of Julius Ceasar, Cicero, etc. fame). This theory of so called "draco-roman continuity " is otherwise pure nonsense, pseudo-science, in fact they are descendants of the "vlach" shephard tribes that arrived in the 14th century. Anyhow, romanians have high-self esteem and they do not want anybody to confuse them with the lowly gypsies, so they use the double-R form of the word.195.70.32.136 11:54, 5 September 2005 (UTC)
thread_title: Romania

message: As I was reading wikitravel (for example, http://wikitravel.org/en/article/Paris ), I thought -- how appropriate that the #2 language on a travel website is *not* the #2 language spoken by people on the internet, but the language spoken by the nomadic Roma.
But now I'm not so sure -- is the "Română" language mentioned there really the Romanian language spoken in the country of Romania ? Is that the same or different from the "Calé ... Romany" language (Romany_language) spoken by the nomadic Roma and Sinti ?
:The page you are referring to is in Romanian. — Miguel 19:07, 2004 Oct 24 (UTC)
Of course not. Romany is derived from an Indian language. Romanian is derived from Latin. Fred Bauder 11:09, 21 Jan 2004 (UTC)
thread_title: Languages

message: Mihai, Roma does NOT mean "man good for nothing" in Romany (the language of the Roma). I mean, who would call themselved "good for nothing"?? Roma is the plural of Rom and in Romany means "men" or "people."
:I do believe he was talking about Tsigani meaning that in Romany. --gcbirzantalk 10:33, 25 Jan 2005 (UTC)
thread_title: Meaning of "Roma"

message: I've always heard the story that parents sell their bad kids to Gypsies. Now, that's probably not true. But, what's the origin of that story?
:That's one of a huge number of folk stories and myths that have grown up around the Roma over the centuries. It's similar to the (false, of course) medieval idea that Jews went round poisoning wells. It would probably be difficult to pin down the exact origins of a story like the one you mention. — Trilobite (Talk) 21:06, 27 Dec 2004 (UTC)
thread_title: Parents selling their kids

message: I removed the claim that the Roma are the "largest minority in Europe"
since it is not clear what it means and I can't see in what sense it can be true. It clearly can't be literal (eg. people of the male gender are a minority in Europe!). Not can it mean "ethnic minority", since the Slavs, for example,
are a far larger minority of Europeans. In the common sense of "people who are in a cultural minority in the area in which they live", I would imagine that they are outnumbered by Muslims, even in predominantly non-Muslim countries of Europe. If there is a sense in which it is true, by all means put it back with some clarification! Cambyses 06:19, 21 Apr 2004 (UTC)
replies: text: I would have said "largest non-Caucasian minority in Europe" but when I check our article on Caucasian I find that I am using a North American definition of Caucasian and that the other definition includes Turks (the second largest minority) and probably even Roma as Caucasian. Rmhermen 13:06, Apr 21, 2004 (UTC)
For what its worth, given that the population of Istanbul alone is estimated between 11 and 15 million, I think there must be more Turks than Roma in Europe, too.... Cambyses 14:27, 21 Apr 2004 (UTC)

text: That would require a definition of Europe which included Turkey. Rmhermen 23:01, Apr 21, 2004 (UTC)
Istanbul is definitely in Europe. You're right that Asia Minor (which forms most of Turkey by area) is not usually considered European, but there is a small part of Turkey on the Western side of the Bosphorus strait, which is as much a part of Europe as neighbouring Greece and Bulgaria. That is where Istanbul is located. Cambyses 01:46, 22 Apr 2004 (UTC)
thread_title:  Largest minority 

message: Substituted at 22:01, 3 May 2016 (UTC)
thread_title: Assessment comment