What is something without its tongue?
With this question, one of the members of the Adžović family from the north of Montenegro explains why in his house all the members of the family speak the Romani language... At school, at work, on the street..., he explains, it's different, so they speak the same way as the majority their fellow citizens.
"We have no books, newspapers, radio or TV... in Romani, but we must preserve our language. My children live in Germany, and they also speak Romani, as they learned from their parents, and we from our parents. I think it has to be that way and that it is man's duty to preserve his mother tongue", he says Bozidar Adzović.
The state's obligation to preserve the Romani language also belongs to the "must", however, so far there has been no visible effort, so "Romani chib", as the Roma call their language, in Montenegro is still predominantly the language of families and private conversations. The status of the Romani language is "threatened" due to the reduced number of those who speak it, especially among the younger generations, according to "Vijesti" from the Roma Council.
"Between 6.000 and 8.000 Roma live in Montenegro, however, the active use of the Romani language is declining due to assimilation, migration and socio-economic pressures. Many Roma use Montenegrin or Serbian as their primary language, especially in public spheres and schools, while Romani remains reserved for the private sphere," the Council explains.
A language that must be preserved
In the school system of Montenegro, the Romani language is not represented, which prevents its systematic learning and preservation. The space for that language is very limited in cultural institutions as well, if we exclude occasional manifestations, sporadic efforts of the civil sector and the works of very rare scientists. As they say in the Roma Council, in addition to all this, state institutions face "the challenges of a lack of resources and capacity to seriously devote themselves to the preservation of the Roma language and culture."
Montenegro urgently needs to find a place for the Romani language in all institutions, Dr. Anthropologie told "Vijesti". Vesna Delic. This, he explains, should first be done through the education system, that is, "the training of experts in the Romani language, the engagement of experts to deal not only with issues of the Romani language, but also issues of Romani culture and society, promoting scientific research and their publication. .
"Everything needs to be monitored and the Roma community constantly strengthened on projects and codification/standardization of the Roma language because, as my previous research has shown, they cannot do it alone... Montenegro is a signatory to the European Charter on Minority and Regional Languages which "minority languages defined as languages that are traditionally in use in a certain territory of a country by citizens of that country and which are different from the official language of that country, which does not include dialects of the official language of that country or the languages of migrant workers. Starting from the existing practice of the official use of languages and letters and the use of languages in the field of culture, education, judicial and administrative proceedings, it is specified that in Montenegro, for which the obligations from the third part of the charter are assumed, are the minority languages: Albanian and Romani", reminds Dr. Delić. to the obligations of our state.
According to the typology he gave Ranko Bulgarian, she explains, the Romani language belongs to the category of minority languages that are autochthonous in several countries, but in none of them they have an official status at the national level, so they are most often endangered. And in the UNESCO Atlas of Endangered Languages, Romani is listed as such, while in Montenegro it is the only language identified as endangered, says the "Vijesti" interlocutor. According to Dr. Delić, "if there is no codification/standardization of the Romani language on Montenegrin soil soon, it is in great danger."
"It is necessary to include the Romani language in formal and informal education, but before that we have to "produce" professors and teachers of the Romani language who would come from that community. It is necessary to motivate Roma men and women, especially young ones, to speak their native language and to continue to use it themselves and pass it on to younger generations. Provide as many opportunities as possible for them to create in their own language (books, publications, media, music) in order to "preserve" their language, that is, its authenticity", suggests the interlocutor of "Vijesti".
The obligation of the state, confirmed by the Roma Council, is the inclusion of the Romani language in schools, "either through teaching in the Romani language, or through classes where the language would be taught". Also encouraging non-formal education, promotion of Roma culture and language, publication of books in the Roma language, audio-visual projects...
"The state should work closely with representatives of Roma communities to better understand their needs and help preserve the language. Despite the existence of these obligations, practice often lags behind policies, so additional efforts and financial support are needed in order for the Romani language to be adequately protected and integrated into the educational system and wider social community", the organization concludes.
Different varieties of the same dialect
In response to the question of how "alive" the Romani language is in Montenegro, it is necessary, explains Dr. Delić, to point out the complexity of that language and the heterogeneity of Romani groups. According to her, "the Romani language is in a diametrically opposite position to other "national" languages, given that its speakers do not live within one country, but are scattered almost all over the world." There are two Roma groups living in Montenegro who speak different varieties of the same dialect.
"Čergari are a semi-nomadic group that settled in Montenegro at the end of the 19th century, as is assumed, from the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Sandžak. Roma-Muslims are a community that settled in Montenegro from Kosovo and Metohija after several waves of migration. Over time, a community was constructed that identifies itself as Roma-Muslims, due to the Islamic confession that was chosen as the basic ethnic identifier. According to the romological and philological dr Hedini Tahirović-Sijerčić both groups speak the Gurbet dialect," says Dr. Delić.
Considering the territorial affiliation of the Čergar Roma and the Roma from Kosovo and their subgroups living in the territory of Montenegro, their Gurbet language belongs to the Western Gurbet or Bosnian Gurbet, that is, the Bosnian-Montenegrin branch, including Sandžak, and the South Gurbet spoken in Kosovo.
"Based on my own multi-year anthropological and qualitative research, I came to the conclusion that the Čergari use the Romani language within their houses, with other members of their group, in private and public places and use it in the virtual world. On the other hand, the Roma from Kosovo (Roma-Muslims) use the Roma and Albanian languages equally well, although it turns out that the younger generations practically do not use the Roma language at all," explains the anthropologist.
"Romani chib is considered the only "book" that Roma brought from India. It belongs to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European language family and is the only Indo-Aryan language spoken exclusively outside the Indian subcontinent. It is spoken by about 10-15 million Roma around the world, and after their arrival in Europe, at least 80 of its variations and dialects developed. Although the structure of their speeches is almost identical, not all of them are mutually intelligible, and for this reason they do not have a single standardized language," recalls Dr. Delić.
Because of this, he says, "Roma groups within one country speak different dialects/varieties of the Romani language and because of their socio-political marginalization, speakers of the Romani language are multilingual and members of other nations rarely know their language". However, reminds Dr Delić, "many linguists, Roma intellectuals and activists point out that the Roma language is one language and that despite the complicating factors it is possible to standardize and/or codify the Roma language".
Research necessary for standardization
Dr. Delić claims that in Montenegro "there are almost no studies from different social disciplines when it comes to the Roma." According to her, these studies would be "a basic prerequisite for seriously dealing with Roma culture".
"This especially applies to philological research, which is necessary to establish the foundations for the codification/standardization of the Romani language. However, I would single out the Institute for Foreign Languages, headed by Prof. Ph.D Igor Lakić, who launched the accredited program "Romology" consisting of four modules. I hope that the path outlined by Professor Lakić will continue and that this path will lead Romology to the university benches. All in all, much greater support is needed from the entire state system, from the majority, but above all from the Roma community," concludes the "Vijesti" interlocutor.
Research into the Roma community, she explains, also poses great challenges for scientists. They should be done with great caution "because there is not enough data, above all in written documents, there are no specific Roma written legacies and, most importantly, there is no real research interest in these issues". The main reason for such a situation, according to Dr. Delić, is the stigma that reigned, but still reigns today when it comes to those groups.
"Montenegro is an excellent example of complete research silence when it comes to the Roma. Namely, he did the first research on Roma only in the middle of the 20th century Momcilo Lutovac, when in 1987 he published the book "Roma in Montenegro (from the beginning to the present)", while the next anthropological research was done by my little one in 2008, and the result is the book "Open Door. Anthropological contribution to the cultures of Roma and Egyptians in Montenegro,'" says the anthropologist.
Since 2008, she has been conducting field research, first for the purposes of her book, and then for the purposes of her doctoral dissertation, "Ethnic identity of the Roma in the process of transition in Montenegro." It has never happened, he claims, that any Roma family refused to share every segment of their culture and society.
"My interviewees dispelled the prejudice that the Roma community is extremely closed and does not want anything to be known about them. It is only up to us to ask them... My interest in the Roma language has always been integrally related to the ethnic processes that took place among the Roma groups in Montenegro, because it has long been established that origin, language and religion are the most important in constructing ethnic and / or national identities," says Dr. Delić.
She also adds that her research into the Romani language is primarily anthropological, not philological. It also reminds of the words of Dr. Tahirović-Sijerčić from the introduction of the "Dictionary of the Roma-Montenegrin and Montenegrin-Roma language", which says that we cannot talk about the real language situation of the Roma in Montenegro and the region in a reasoned and precise manner because so far not a single professional research has been carried out in that area...
Bonus video:
