Today is International Romani Language Day. Here are some quick facts about our language:

The Romani language (Romani chib/Romanes) was what first kick started the investigation into our origin as researchers found that it had Indian roots (closely related to Sanskirit). With later genetic studies providing further evidence of our Indian origin.

The Romani language is made up of many dialects. This has to do with us migrating to and settling in different regions/countries and therefore picking up different words from the local populations we encountered.

For many centuries, the Romani language was passed down orally from generation to generation until recently. When writing in our language, we usually adopt the alphabet of the country that we live in (or the country that we settled in originally).

The Romani language hasn’t always been allowed to be spoken. Throughout different points in history, it was banned for us to speak it in order to forcibly assimilate us.

Currently we have another problem facing our language - it is becoming endangered. The reason is mostly because of trying to assimilate, out of fear of persecution, and as a result think it is better not to speak it so as to not attract attention to ourselves.

As well as, the fact that we speak other languages alongside ours when intergrating with mainstream society, which sometimes means we become less fluent in our own language.