Dissertation on the Gipseys: Representing their manner of life, family economy, occupations & trades, marriages & education, sickness, death, & burial, religion, language, sciences & arts, &c. &c. &c.; with an historical enquiry concerning their origin & first appearance in EuropeGrellmann, Heinrich Moritz Gottlieb
History
Dissertation on the Gipseys: Representing their manner of life, family economy, occupations & trades, marriages & education, sickness, death, & burial, religion, language, sciences & arts, &c. &c. &c.; with an historical enquiry concerning their origin & first appearance in Europe
Grellmann, Heinrich Moritz Gottlieb
Romanies
“In the year 1763, on the 6th of November,” says Captain Szekely, “a
printer, whose name was Stephen Pap Szathmar Nemethi, came to see me.
Talking upon various subjects, we at last fell upon that of the
Gipseys; and my guest related to me the following anecdote, from the
mouth of a preacher of the reformed church, Stephen Vali, at Almasch
in the county of Komora.—When the said Vali studied at the university
of Leyden, he was intimately acquainted with some young Malabars, of
whom three are obliged constantly to study there, nor can they return
home till relieved by three others. Having observed that their
native language bore a great affinity to that spoken by the Gipseys,
he availed himself of the opportunity to note down, from themselves,
upwards of one thousand words, together with their significations.
They assured him, at the same time, that upon their island was a
tract of land, or province, called Czigania (but it is not laid down
on the map). After Vali was returned from the university, he
informed himself, among the Raber Gipseys, concerning the meaning of
his Malabar words, which they explained without trouble or
hesitation.”
In this anecdote, every thing seems to happen by chance; even to the
learned man who published it in the Gazette, it appeared as if fallen
from the clouds, and entirely oversets his system; for he was the person,
mentioned above, who broached the opinion of the Gipseys being Mongol
Tartars. So much more weighty, therefore, and unexceptionable, are the
hints it throws out, for the discovery of the Gipseys’ mother country, by
means of their language.
The consideration that, according to this anecdote, the Gipsey language
is declared to be Malabar, and we have pronounced it Hindostan, does not
create any difficulty, although they are very different from each other.
Probably the three young men, from whom Vali took down his words, were
Bramins’ sons, whose language was that proper to the learned Bramins, or
the Shanscritt. But the affinity between this and the common language
spoken by the people of Hindostan, is the same as between pure Latin and
modern Italian. It was therefore very natural that the Raber Gipseys
should understand, if not all, at least the greatest part of the words
which Vali repeated to them.
However, we do not want this come-off. The difficulty will subside
without it, when we examine the connection between the Gipsey and
Hindostan languages. The next thing, therefore, is to give a list of
words from both.
NUMERALS.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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