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generally referred to by the term kowli in Persian, seemingly a distortion of kboli, that is, coming from
Kabol, the capital of Afghanistan. It is not at all certain, however, that all the groups referred to as kowli
are authentic gypsies; nor that only the groups referred to as kowli should be considered as gypsies.

GYPSY. Gypsies are generally referred to by the term kowli in Persian, seemingly a distortion of kboli,
i.e., coming from Kabol, the capital of Afghanistan. It is not at all certain, however, that all the groups
referred to as kowli are authentic gypsies; nor that only the groups referred to as kowli should be
considered as gypsies. The fact is that almost everywhere in Persia there are groups with characteristics
similar to those of the Gypsies, but they are called by different names, sometimes designating their
geographic or ethnic origin, sometimes their social status, and sometimes their profession. This entry will
be treated in two sections:
i. Gypsies of Persia.
ii. Gypsy Dialects.
(J ean-Pierre Digard, Gernot L. Windfuhr)
Originally Published: December 15, 2002
Last Updated: February 24, 2012
This article is available in print.
Vol. XI, Fasc. 4, pp. 412-421
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GYPSY i. Gypsies of Persia 2.
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Almost everywhere in Persia there are groups with characteristics similar to those of the Gypsies, but they
are called by different names, sometimes designating their geographic or ethnic origin, sometimes their
social status, and sometimes their profession.

GYPSY
i. GYPSIES OF PERSIA
Gypsies are generally referred to by the term kowli in Persian, seemingly a distortion of kboli, i.e.,
coming from Kabol, the capital of Afghanistan. It is not at all certain, however, that all the groups referred
to as kowli are authentic gypsies; nor that only the groups referred to as kowli should be considered as
gypsies. The fact is that almost everywhere in Persia there are groups with characteristics similar to those
of the Gypsies, but they are called by different names, sometimes designating their geographic or ethnic
origin, sometimes their social status, and sometimes their profession: abdal (uzestn), hangar (several
places), egini or ingna (Azerbaijan, the Caspian provinces), fiuj (uzestn), arblband (Tehran),
gowdari (Baluchestan), jat (Khorasan, Afghanistan), jugi (Central Asia), Karai or Kari (Azerbaijan),
kvol (Lorestn), kowli (Tehran, central province, Lorestn, Batiri, Frs), orbati (Lorestn, Batiri),
lom (Tajikestan), luli (several places), luri (Baluchestan, center, not to be confused with the inhabitants of
Lorestn), lui (Kermn, Lorestn, not to be confused with the 19th-century urban thugs, see Migeod,
1959), mazang, mul- tni (Central Asia), moreb (Lorestn), qereml (Khorasan), irzi (Batiri),
sudni (Persian Gulf), suzmni (Kermnh), tuml (Batiri), ott (Baluchestan, u-zestn) (Sykes,
1902, pp. 437-38; Minorsky, 1931; Ama-nolahi and Norbeck, pp. 3-4; ok, passim).
The identity of these groups being uncertain, there are no statistics about them; at best they are estimated
to be two or three thousand people (Amanolahi and Norbeck, p. 2). Their origins are just as obscure.
According to a legend reported in h-nma (Moscow, VII, pp. 451-52) and repeated by several modern
authors (e.g., Bausani; Goeje), the Sasanian king Bahrm V Gr (q.v.) learned towards the end of his
reign (421-39) that the poor could not afford to enjoy music, and he asked the king of India to send him
ten thousand luris, men and women, lute playing experts (l. 2558). When the luris arrived, Bahrm gave
each one an ox and an ass and an ass-load of wheat so that they could live on agriculture and play music
gratuitously for the poor. But the luris ate the ox and the wheat and came back a year later with their
cheeks hollowed with hunger. The king was angered with their having wasted what he had given them,
ordered them to pack up their bags on their asses and go wandering around the world.
This interesting legend only partially reflects the real life of the kowlis and assimilated groups. These
groups, however, possess several common characteristics. They are usually small groups of two or three
nuclear families on the move, living in tents or temporary dwellings, and following seasonal migrations of
pastoral nomadic tribes to which they are more or less attached (Barth, 1961, pp. 91-92; Digard, 1981, pp.
21-22), or moving from village to village and to town suburbs. That is why they have been described as
peripatetic or peripatecians (Rao, 1985). There are, however, districts in some cities (e.g., Birjand,
Nipur, Sabzavr) where the kowlis live permanently (Ivanow, 1920, pp. 282-83; idem, 1926, p. 157).
The economy of the kowlis is based on supplying the nomads and/or the settlements they frequent with
services or manufactured articles against money or goods, hence their designation by some authors as
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service nomads (e.g., Barth, 1960; Kieffer; Olesen, passim). Their professional specialties are
blacksmithery (hangari), peddling, making small articles of everyday use such as sieves made of wood
and gut, weaving and carding combs made of wood and metal, spindles and tops made by turning wood,
wicker baskets and straw mats (kowli), etc. They also work as musicians (luri, lui, tuml, etc.) and, in a
more marginal sense, fanfare comedians as well as performing in animal shows (Filmer, passim;
Westphal-Hellbusch, 1964, passim; Drukker).
These groups are organized in economically autonomous domestic production units that are related to
each other within each professional guild; each profession corresponds to a group and the groups are in
general endogamous. Within the group the transmission of social status and technical specialization is
patrilineal.
Although the kowlis are Muslims, Shiite or Sunnite as the case may be, and partly adopt the language
(see below) of the village or tribal communities for which they work, they are much despised by these
communities. The generic word orbati (lit: stranger), by which they are designated in many regions, is
very pejorative. The segregation of these artisans and musicians is also manifested by their prohibition to
marry outside their group. In some areas, for instance in the Batiri region, they are prohibited to
practice the same activity of production as the tribe (e.g., animal husbandry, weaving) or wear the tribal
dress (Digard, 1981, p. 211).
In reference to a similar context among the Swat in Pakistan, Fredrik Barth maintains that these despised
professions in the service of land-owners can be likened to castes. This notion is, however, rejected by
the scholars (including the present writer) who believe that castes could not exist outside a social structure
in which all members are categorized in a system of castes (see Bougl; Dumzil; Hocart; Bailey, 1957;
idem, 1961; Balandier, pp. 99-107). The gypsies of Persia seem rather to fit into a system of patronage
and clientele, as Dumont put it (p. 265), complementing a class society (Digard, 1973).
The rough picture drawn of the groups of artisans living in symbiosis with nomadic communities or
villages should, however, be modified in each individual case. A number of these groups should in fact be
treated as particular cases. For instance, the musicians (luri, lui, tuml, etc.) benefit from a special
status, which distinguishes them from both the kowlis and orbatis present in the same area, as well as
from the musicians of other regions. Among the Batiris, for example, the tumls (Digard, 1974) all
belong to the same faction of amala, traditionally at the service of the Khan and an integral part of the
tribe. They are at the bottom of the social hierarchy and must marry among themselves, but they have the
right to wear Batiri dress. The name tuml, by which they are called is an outdated title among the
Batiris, but it is still in use elsewhere, notably in Lorestn, where it is an equivalent to kad-od (chief).
The situation of the tumls is singularly in contrast with that of the musicians of Mamassani, Boir
Ahmadi and Lor tribes culturally and geographically closest to the Ba-tiris, where they have the
unenviable status of foreigner (orbati) and are pejoratively called lui or moreb (Minorsky, 1931;
Bahman Beygi; Nadjamadbadi, passim).
The ethnic identity, real or supposed, of the professionally specialized groups that live in contact with the
nomadic tribes of the southwest of Persia is, therefore, crucial to their status; however, it remains a very
ambiguous question. Even the vocabulary is ambiguous. In fact the terms used, not only in Persia
(Amanolahi and Norbeck; Minorsky, 1931; Sykes, 1902) but in all the Middle East (Burton; Anastase,
1902; Littmann; Massignon, passim; Lewis and Quelquejay; Kenrick, 1975, 1994; Berland) to designate
these groups refer to very distant notions, ranging from socio-economic status (e.g., abdal slaves,
orbati foreigner) and profession (hangar blacksmith, lui, musician) to regional or supposedly
ethnic origins (ingna from angar or ingar, in India, kowli, from Kabol, ott or jat Indian,
sudni, black).
Such confusion is not exceptional. Similar examples date back to most ancient times, e.g., the Khalybes of
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Herodotus, which is not clear whether it refers to some people or it was a professional designation
(blacksmith, Planhol). The same ambiguity exists in our times among the Batiris, where the ethnonym
kowli refers to a specified socio-professional group, that of very mobile pedlars who visit the nomads to
offer them various light objects of their manufacture (e.g., weaving combs, sieves, wooden spoons,
spindles, etc.) and leave them immediately thereafter, contrary to other orbatis who pre-ferably remain
in contact with the same portion of the tribe and move with it. Some of these orbatis are referred to by
the Batiris by the name of a profession, hangar (blacksmith), but they call themselves irzi (from
Shiraz).
Here, the linguistic criterion itself is of little help. However, one thing is certain: For all the groups in
question, Persian or the languages of the tribes with which they associate has, until recent progress in
schooling, been a second language, a working language (Amanolahi and Norbeck). Beyond that, the
linguistic studies of these groups (Amanolahi and Norbeck; Digard, 1978; Ivanow, 1914; Macalister;
Sykes, 1902; Wirth) are too piecemeal and too partial to permit definite conclusions as to the nature of
their language. Except in two cases (Ivanow, 1922; Turner, 1978), their language cannot be considered as
an argot so common among many Persian guilds. In all other cases (languages called Darvii, Luiuna,
hangari, irzi, etc. in various places) one is struck by the existence of common terms among several
groups, such as sanuta or sanufta for dog; tirang, ox; nahur, eye; mana, bread; dontaz, sister; bri, brother;
dqis, mother; bqis, father; kala, son; gowari, chief; and so forth (Amanolahi and Norbeck). Despite
their flimsiness, these few similarities seem to indicate the existence and permanence in Persia of at least
a partially common language and culture among the groups of kowlis and assimilated groups, despite the
strong loss of culture brought about by fragmentation and geographical dispersion.
One is also struck by the presence, in these tongues, of words close to Hindi, Romani and Manouchian
(spoken by Manouch gypsies of Europe and America), such as ekel, earth/Romani ik, mud; gohr,
horse/Hindi qor, horse/Roman huro, colt; loh, iron/Hindi loha, same mean-ing, Lohar, blacksmith;
mrez, man/Romani more, man (interjection), mur, male; ponnawi, rain/Hindi and Manouchian pn,
water; potor, son/Hindi putra, same meaning (literary), and so on (Digard, 1978). These similarities
clearly seem to indicate that the groups in question, their language(s) and their culture(s) could be
considered as part of the vast nebula known as gypsy. Such are the conjectures, much more than
definite conclusions, based on the fragmentary data currently available.

Bibliography:
I. Afr Sistni, Kowlih: pauhe-i dar zamina-ye zendagi-e kowlih-ye Irn wa jahn, Tehran, 1377
./1998.
S. Amanolahi and E. Norbeck, The Luti, an Outcast Group of Iran, Rice University Studies 61, 1975,
pp. 1-12.
P. Anastase, Les Nawar ou Tziganes dOrient, Al-Mashrik 5, 1902, pp. 865-76, 932-40, 966-75,
1031-37, 1077-86.
Idem, Luristan, or Land of the Luri, Journal of the Gypsy Lore Society (JGLS) 7, 1913-14, pp. 298-319.
H. Arnold, Some Ob-servations on Turkish and Persian Gypsies, JGLS 46, 1967, pp. 105-22.
M. Bahman-beygi, Orf o dat dar ayer-e Frs, Shiraz, 1324 ./1945; tr. V. Monteil as Moeurs et
coutumes des tribus du Fars, in V. Monteil, ed., Les tribus du Frs et la sdentarisation des nomades,
Paris and The Hague, 1966, pp. 97-152.
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F. C. Bailey, Caste and the Economic Frontier, London, 1957.
Idem, Tribe and Caste in India, in L. Dumont and D. Pocock, eds., Contributions to Indian Sociology 5,
Paris and The Hague, 1961, pp. 7-19.
G. Balandier, Anthropologie politique, Paris, 1967.
F. Barth, The System of Social Stratification in Swat, North Pakistan, in E. R. Leach, ed., Aspects of
Caste in South India, Ceylon and North-West Pakistan, Cambridge Papers in Social Anthropology 2,
Cambridge, 1960.
Idem, Nomads of South Persia: The Basseri Tribe of the Khamseh Confederacy, Oslo, 1961.
A. Bausani, The Persians, from the Earliest Days to the Twentieth Century, London, 1972.
J. C. Berland, No Five Fingers Are Alike: Cognitive Amplifiers in Social Context, Cambridge, Mass., 1982
(Gypsies of Pakistan).
G. F. Black, The Gypsies of Armenia, JGLS 8, 1913-14, pp. 327-30.
C. Bougl, Essai sur le rgime des castes, Paris, 1908.
R. F. Burton, The Jew, the Gypsy and el-Islam, n.p., n.d.
J.-P. Digard, Histoire et anthropologie des socits nomades: le cas dune tribu dIran, Annales:
Economies, Socits, Civilisations 28, 1973, pp. 1423-35.
Idem, Baxtyri, nomades de la montagne, Paris, 1974.
Idem, Tsiganes et pasteurs nomades dans le sud-ouest de lIran, in J.-P. Ligeois, ed., Tsiganes et
nomades: tendances actuelles de la recherche, Paris, 1978, pp. 43-53.
Idem, Techniques des nomades Baxtyri dIran, London etc., 1981.
R. and B. Drukker, Turkish Gypsy Bear-leaders, JGLS 47, 1968.
G. Dumzil, La prhistoire indo-iranienne des castes, JA 216, 1930, pp. 109-30.
L. Dumont, Homo hierarchicus: essai sur le systme des castes, Paris, 1968.
H. Field, Contributions to the Anthropology of Iran, Chicago, 1939.
H. Filmer, The Pageant of Persia, Indianapolis and London, 1937.
M. J. de Goeje, Mmoire sur les migrations des Tsiganes travers lAsie, Leiden, 1903.
M. J. de Goeje and J. Sampson, The Gypsies of Persia, JGLS N.S. 1, 1907-08, pp. 181-83.
F. H. Groome, Persian and Syrian Gypsies, JGLS 13, 1891.
A. M. Hocart, Les castes, Paris, 1938.
W. Iva-now, On the Language of the Gypsies of Qint (in eastern Persia), J(R)ASB 10, 1914, pp.
439-55.
Idem, Further Notes on the Gypsies in Persia, ibid., 16, 1920, pp. 281-91.
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Idem, An old Gypsy-Darwish Jargon, ibid., 18, 1922, pp. 375-83.
Idem, Notes on the Ethnology of Khurasan, JRGS 67, 1926, pp. 143-58.
D. Kenrick, Romanies in the Middle East, Roma (Chandigarh) 1/4, 1976, pp. 5-9; 2/1, 1977, pp. 30-36;
2/2, 1977, pp. 23-39.
C. M. Kieffer, A propos de la circoncision Caboul et dans le Logar: note de dialectologie et
dethnographie afghanes, in Festchrift fr Wilhelm Eilers, Wiesbaden, 1967, pp. 191-201.
J. Koch-anowski, Gypsy Studies, 2 vols., New Delhi, 1963.
H. C. Kprlzade Mehmet Fuad, Abdal, in Trk halk edebiyati ensiklopedisi, Istanbul, 1935.
G. L. Lewis and C. Quelquejay, ingne, in EI2, pp. 41-42.
E. Littmann, Zigeuner arabisch, Bonn, 1920.
R. A. S. Macalister, Language of the Nawar or Zutt, the Nomad Smiths of Palestine, London, 1914.
Mass, Croyances. L. Massignon, Annuaire du monde musulman, Paris, 1954.
H. G. Migeod, Die Ltis, ein Ferment des stdtischen Lebens in Persien, Journal of the Economic and
Social History of the Orient 2, 1959, pp. 82-91.
V. Minorsky, Les Tsiganes Ll et les Lurs persans, JA 218, 1931, pp. 281-305.
S. Nadjmabadi, Die Shiravand in West-Lorestan: Mit besonderer Bercksichtigung des
Verwandtschaftsystems, Ph.D. diss., Heidelberg, 1975.
A. Olesen, Afghan Craftsmen: The Culture of Three Itinerant Communities, Copenhagen, 1994.
A. G. Paspates, tudes sur les Tchingians ou Bohmiens de lEmpire Ottoman, Constantinople, 1870.
K. P. Patkanoff, Some Words on the Dialects of the Transcaucasian Gypsies, JGLS N.S. 2, 1908-09.
X. de Planhol, Geographica pontica, JA 251, 1963, pp. 293-309.
A. Qem-maqmi, Kowlih ki hastand wa koj hastand? Armagn 29, 1339 ./1960, pp. 262-70.
A. Rao, Les Gorbat dAfghanistan: aspects conomiques dun groupe itinrant Jat, Paris and Tehran,
1982.
Idem, Des nomades mconnus: pour une typologie des communauts pripattiques, LHomme 25,
1985, pp. 97-119.
J. Sampson, On the Origin and the Early Migrations of the Gypsies, JGLS 19, 1923.
A. T. Sinclair, The Oriental Gypsies, JGLS N.S. 1, 1907-08, pp. 197-211.
P. Sykes, Anthropological Notes on Southern Persia, Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 32,
1902, pp. 339-49.
Idem, The Gypsies of Persia: A Second Vocabulary, ibid., 36, 1906, pp. 302-11.
Idem, Notes on Musical Instruments in Khorassan, with Special Reference to the Gypsies, Man 9, 1909,
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pp. 94-103.
Idem, Persian Jats, JGLS N.S. 4, 1910.
D. Tripler, The Banjara: Notes on Some Cousins of the Gypsies, JGLS, 3rd Series 44, 1965.
R. L. Turner, The Position of Romani in Indo-Aryan, Lodon, 1927.
Idem, Notes on A Note on the Secret Language of the Traditional Musicians of Iran, by S. Amanullahi
JGLS,4th Series 1, 1978, pp. 283-86.
S. Westphal-Hellbusch, Randgruppen in Nahen und Mittleren Osten, Baessler Archiv 53, 1980, pp.
1-59.
S. Westphal-Hellbusch and H. Westphal, The Jat of Pakistan, Berlin, 1964.
Idem, Zur Geschichte und Kultur der Jat, Berlin, 1968.
G. L. Windfuhr, European Gypsies in Iran: A First Re-port, Anthropological Linguistics 13, 1970, pp.
271-92.
A. Wirth, A Persian Gypsy Vocabulary, JGLS, 3rd Series, 6, 1927, pp. 88-95.
Y. ok, Kowli wa zendagi-e u, Tehran, 1337 ./1958.
(Jean-Pierre Digard)
Originally Published: December 15, 2002
Last Updated: February 24, 2012
This article is available in print.
Vol. XI, Fasc. 4, pp. 412-415
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The languages and dialects popularly called Gypsy (< Egipcien < qebi Coptic, Egyptian) constitute
three major groups: Asiatic or Middle Eastern Domari, Armenian Lomavren, and European Romani.

GYPSY
ii. GYPSY DIALECTS
The languages and dialects popularly called Gypsy (< Egipcien < qebi Coptic, Egyptian) constitute
three major groups: Asiatic or Middle Eastern Domari, Armenian Lomavren, and European Romani,
technical terms now used to reflect the speakers self-designations: Dom, Lom, and Roma, respectively.
For Gypsy in Iranian-speaking areas the most common terms are Kowli (presumably < Kboli, lit. from
Kabul) and Gorbati (stranger); mostly western groups such as the Karai of Azerbaijan have retained
the term dom man (see listing of names and groups below). While traditionally oral, there are now
written forms for some European varieties.
The three groups as a whole originate in Indo-Aryan (Indic) languages, most likely the central and
northwestern branches. Individually, they reflect three distinct historical layers of Indo-Aryan
innovations, which suggests three successive westward migrations, rather than a single one (Turner, 1926,
1927; Sampson, 1923, 1926; overview in Hancock, 1988, also idem, 1995, pp. 25-32). With Iranian-
speaking territories as their first staging area and linguistic contact, the earliest layer is reflected in the
diverse Middle Eastern group which most likely dates from the second half of the first millennium C.E. It
includes most dialects from Central Asia to Anatolia and to North Africa, and is distinct by the absence of
later Indo-Aryan changes found in the other two groups. The subsequent layer is represented by the
European group, first reported in the southeastern Balkans by 1100 C.E. It is here, in the Greek language
context of the Byzantine Empire, where the constituent varieties evolved into a relatively unified language
from which all European varieties derive. The latest layer appears to be the Armenian group, which may
have established itself in Armenian-speaking northeastern Anatolia separately. The examples in Table 1
illustrate major historical sound changes which serve to define the three groups, but also exemplify the
blurring of the distinctions due to dialect mixture and admixture (Near Eastern examples are Domari from
Syria and Fiuj-orbati from central western Persia; for brother, cf. English pal friend).
The phonological diversity is partially reflected also in the Indo-Aryan core vocabulary, including some
common terms such as juklo dog (< Sk. jukua-) in European vs. reflexes of Sk. unaka in Middle
Eastern Gypsy dialects (e.g., Fiuj-orbati sonoft).
The Gypsy dialects in Iranian speaking areas by and large constitute a continuum from Central Asia and
Afghanistan through Persia to parts of Transcaucasia, Mesopotamia, and eastern Anatolia. The exception
are two: (a) Two related European Romani dialects, one spoken in two villages near Qazvin (Windfuhr,
1970), the other near Qun in northern Khorasan (Djonedi), of which Zargari has fully retained the
highly inflectional morphology of European Gypsy. Both probably originate in southern Bulgaria and
were deported a century or more ago. (b) The dialect of the Seb-Seliyer, literally tin-workers, which is
spoken in a cluster of mountain villages near Firuzkuh (Sotuda). While largely adapted to local
Mzandarni, its small but distinct core vocabulary has remained a linguistic isolate, except for a few
terms such as kr horse. Often, the distinction between Gypsy as a dialect and the use of Gypsy terms
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and features in the argot and jargon of other marginalized groups is blurred (see below).
LEXICON
Extra-Iranian Gypsy. The loan component in European Gypsy has been an important factor in the
attempts to trace the course and time of migrations. While the largest loan component is Greek, the
Persian component in Euro-pean Gypsy as a whole amounts to some 100 items, of which about 60 are
found throughout. It clearly reflects Early New Persian, evidenced by the long mid-vowels and , e.g.,
Romani amrol pear (< amrd), zr power, zn saddle; but also bi- without (rather than b, cf.
Indic vi-), which in Romani is a highly productive prefix. Very few loans are from other Iranian
languages. The absence of any Arabic loans later adapted by (spoken) Persian, as well as the absence of
Turkish loans, reflects the pre-Ottoman and pre-classical Persian date of this migration. Most Middle
Eastern Gypsy dialects outside Iranian territories have rather few Persian loans, varying from sub-group
to sub-group, and by distance from Iran (Hancock, 1995).
Gypsy in Iranian-speaking areas. The lexicon of all dialects has at least three basic components: Indic,
Persian, and loans from various later contact sources. While there is heavy borrowing from local
languages, most dialects have retained a substantial Indic core, though varying with the dialect, including
everyday words such km work, nk nose, l iron, rt night, and gor horse, all with local
variants. The latter term, from Sk. gh-, is most widely retained and serves as a ready initial clue to
identifying a dialect as Gypsy.
The Indo-Persian/Iranian core has been supplemented to various degrees by a distinct component of
Arabic terms other than those found in the Persian varieties, together with a few terms of Hebrew or
Syriac and of obscure origin. This has led to doublets, or the loss of the Indic term; e.g., inherited Indic
jewed woman vs. dena/neda; Indic g fire vs. nrak; Indic pn water vs. mi(w); Indic k eye
vs. nuhur < nr light. Most of these terms entered Gypsy via marginal groups, such as mendicant
darvishes, Sufis, qalandars, also artisans and musicians, as shown in pioneering studies of their probable
origin, the social mechanisms, and their typical linguistic manipulation, not unlike anagrammatic play,
tamya, often with semantic shift, by Wladimir Ivanow (1922, 1927); Alexandr Romaskevich (1945); and
foremost Anna L. Troitskaya (1948); and, in a larger context, Clifford E. Bosworth (1976).
In fact, in addition to vocabulary as such, a typical feature of most recorded Gypsy dialects is the
distortion of words, which may also serve to distinguish related sub-groups. This aspect was
systematically discussed by Moammad Moqaddam in the context of Fiuj-orbati, and includes
metathesis, phonemic substitution, extensions (e.g., le > l maternal aunt, sib > lib apple, amu >
lmu paternal uncle,), and combinations thereof and other concealing means.
GRAMMAR
All Gypsy languages are typologically hybrids, and reflect the results of contact with successive host
languages through centuries. This includes major restructurings in morphology and syntax. The final stage
of this process is the loss of the inherited grammar, while retaining a significant part of the hybrid lexicon,
a type called Para-Romani in studies of European Romani. Romani in Europe, and to some extent in
Anatolia, has increasingly been the subject of systematic linguistic research during the last quarter
century, in particular with regard to the dynamics of language contact, interference, and linguistic
typology (cf. Hancock 1988; Matras 1995; Matras et. al.; for Gypsy in Iran, cf. the typological study of
Zargari by Windfuhr, based on data collected with the assistance of Stilo, who recognized the dialect as
Romani).
In the Middle East, those Gypsy dialects which were or are in contact with inflectional languages such as
Turkic, Arabic, Armenian, and Iranian Kurdish and Pashto have tended to retain the inherited
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morphological distinctions to various degrees, including masculine and feminine gender, two-level case
marking with direct and oblique cases, and secondary cases mostly marked by inherited Indic
postpositions, as well as a basic system of tense, mood, and aspect (similar to European Romani). Such is
the case, e.g., in the language of the Nawar of the Levante, which significantly shows not only lexical, but
also morphological loans from Kurdish, most prominently the indefinite enclitic -ek (Macalister, 1909-10,
p. 299); the language of the Karai of Azerbaijan (Patkanoff, 1909); and probably the language of the
Pashto-based Kuaa of Afghanistan (Rao, 1995). Most other dialects and variants of Gypsy in these
regions are based on local variants of Persian, having adopted both morphology and syntax.
The following examples illustrate the hybrid features of Iranian Gypsy (cf. similar features in the hybrid
language of the Jewish communities of Persia, discussed by Yarshater; upper case = Gypsy); a Zargar-
Romani example is added for comparison:
Example 1. Iranian Gypsy (Fiuj-orbati, Moqaddam, 1960, p. 131, with Persian translation).
Example 2. orbati of Afghanistan (Rao, 1995, with Afghan Persian translation).
Example 3. Jugi, Tajikistan (Oranski, 1964, 1968, with Tajik translation).
Example 4. Rmni of Zargar near Qazvin (Stilo in Windfuhr, 1970, p. 279, here with literal Persian
translation).
The particle TE introducing subjunctive phrases is typical for European Romani and Levantine Nawar
Gypsy, and may be a conflation of the functions of the Persian preposition-conjunction t and the general
present-future particle te found in the Iranian Pamir languages, which would further evidence the diverse
course of the Gypsy varieties.
DIALECTOLOGY
It has been difficult to establish the internal dialectology of Middle Eastern Gypsy. This is partially due to
the inadequate data, some of which date to the early 19th century. Donald Kenrick (1976), who included a
number of Iranian dialects, did the first systematic comparative study, but did not aim at a dialectology.
Aparna Rao (1995) presented an overview of Gypsy in Afghanistan, with careful attention to exonymic
and endonymic terminology, coupled with some linguistic samples. The following suggests a tentative
dialectology of Iranian Gypsy. It is based on the original possessive/oblique forms of the personal
pronouns, which were a crucial part of the former inflectional morphology, and as last vestiges provide
clues for the dialectal interrelationships. The data suggest two major distinct morphological markers: (a)
the suffix -ri/-ra (inherited pronominal possessive forms, probably merged with the dative-accusative
function of the Persian enclitic r); and (b) the suffix -ki (inherited pronominal dative forms). Their
presence or absence define six major dialect groups (Table 2) from northwest to northeast (NOM =
nominative, or direct case; POS = distinct possessive, or oblique case, which became the general
pronominal form in most dialects).
It is evident that there is no direct correlation between name and dialect. The Jugi of northeastern Persia is
clearly distinct from that of Tajikistan, just as Western Persian orbati is distinct from Afghan orbati,
which in turn is closest to its neighbor, eastern Persian Qere-ml (speakers of Afghan orbati claim
western origin; Rao 1995, p. 74). However, there is a close correlation between the distribution of
morphological features and geographic distribution. The notable exception is Persian orbati, which
morphologically is located between the two varieties of Jugi in northeastern Persia and Central Asia.
(Already Moammad Moqaddam detailed the closeness of the orbat of the Ark area he described and
Astarbd Jugi, based on de Morgan, 1904).
In comparison, the dialects of the Ottoman areas clearly belong to the ki-groups, but also show
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compounding with possessive -r (Table 3).
Geographical Listing of Sources, mostly containing linguistic data:
European Romani. Zargari; endonym/language Rmni; two villages in Qazvin area (Windfuhr, 1970).
Rmni, endonym/language; Qun area (Djonedi).
Isolate. Seb-Seliyer, endonym; isolate Gypsy dialect, local dialect base; in mountains of Firuzkuh area
east of Tehran (Sotuda).
Northwest, Transcaucasus, Armenia, Azerbaijan. Boa: endonym Lom, Armenian base, Christian
(Patkanoff 1908; Finck, 1907-08, grammar);Mitrib: exonym, Turkish or Persian base, Sunnite (Patkanoff,
1908; Benninghaus).Kara: endonym Dom, Persian or Tat base, Shiite (Patkanoff, 1909);Kara:
endonym Dom, Tabriz area and Kurdestan (Ouseley, III, pp. 400-401; Patkanoff, 1909).
West, Kurdish areas, western Persia. Kaloro: endonym, also Dom, Marash, eastern Turkey and Ainteb,
Syria, along Euphrates, Sunnite, Alawi, and Kelli groups (Paspates, 1862, 1870, in lexicon).Cingna: in
Central Kurdish areas (Turkey), endonym Dom in most Kurdish areas of Persia and Iraq; Sz(m)n:
exonym, in southern Kurdish areas (Sanandaj and Kermnh; Voskanian, 1997, no linguistic data);
Dmn (Dom): endonym, extensive Persian loans, Baghdad (Newbold, 1856, pp. 285-312).
Central and Southern Persia. orbati: endonym Il-e Fiuj, Ark area, from Shiraz area (Moqaddam,
extensive data and discussion; Wirth); orbati: Jiroft, Sirjn, Ker-mn (Sykes);L language Mkki or
Ln, Ba-luchistan; possibly secret language (Ivanow, 1914, no linguistic data).
Caspian and eastern Persia. Jugi, exonym; Mzandarn and Astarbd (de Morgan, pp. 304-6); Gowdari,
exonym; Astarbd; strong Persian component (de Morgan, pp. 306-7); Qereml, exonym; Khorasan
(Sykes); Gypsies of Nipur, Sabzavr, Qen, Birjand (Ivanow, 1920), Qent (Ivanow, 1914).
Afghanistan. Jat: term for four major Indic Gypsy groups in Eastern Afghanistan, Jall, Pikrj, dibz,
Vangwli, speaking Inku, related to Hendku in Paki-stan (Rao, 1995; the term Jat is also generally used
for Gypsies); aydar: endonym, language Magadi orbati, Fryb province, North Afghanistan
(Pstrusinska,1986). Jgi, Jugi: endonym, also Mugat, language Mogati-bey, North Afghanistan; also
called Jugi-e Bori or orbati in Mazr region; also called Jugi-e Baligi or Qzulgi in Bal region
(Rao, 1995). Kuaa: Pashto base (Rao, 1995); Bal, endonym (Rao, 1995), related to Kara-Luli of
Tajikistan.
Persian-based Gypsy groups of Afghanistan: orbat, endonym, widely found, language also named
Qzulgi in Herat, Magadi in Kabul region, claim to come from Persia (Rao, 1995);ay Moammad:
endonym, language durgari, Pashto loans, Afghan Persian base, mostly secret language, Eastern
Afghanistan (Rao, 1995; Oleson); related to Kavol of Tajikistan.
Central Asia(Tajikistan/Uzbekistan). Jugi; endonym Mugat, Tajiki base, Hissar Valley (Oranski, 1961,
1983; Nazarov), related to Jg of Afghanistan and to Jugi of Astarbd and Mzandarn; Kavol, qawm
Afghan: language Porsi, Pashto loans, Afghan-Persian base mother tongue, Kulyb district (Oranski,
1961), related to ay Moammadi of Afghanistan; Balj: endonym, Persian base (Wilkins, 1882;
Patkanoff, 1909), related to Bal of Afghanistan; Luli: endonym Multni, argot, Tajiki base, Farna
area (Wilkins, 1882; Patkanoff, 1909); Kara-Luli (Lit. Black-Luli): endonym Hindustani, qowm Beluji,
Farna area (Wilkins, 1882; Patkanoff, 1909); related to Bal of Afghanistan; Afn: Indic based
dialect group (Oranski, 1956), related to Inku in Afghanistan.

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anderer europischer Zigeunerdialekte, Mannheim, 1960.
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See also electronic sources at KURI, Electronic Journal of the Dom Research Center: ; Graz Romani
Project: ; Gypsy dictionary: ; and B. F. Grimes, ed., Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Dallas, Summer
Institute of Linguistics, 1988-: (Numerous separate entries on Gypsy dialects and languages).
(Gernot L. Windfuhr)
Originally Published: December 15, 2002
Last Updated: February 24, 2012
This article is available in print.
Vol. XI, Fasc. 4, pp. 415-421
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