Minority languages in Sweden: Romani Chib

The Roma are an ethnic group originally from India. About a thousand years ago, they leave India and start moving up towards and through Europe. This journey takes several hundred years and it is during this time that the Romany language -- Romani chib -- is born. Along the way, the language picks up many words from Persian and Armenian and in Greece -- where the Roma stay for quite a while -- their language gets its grammar. When the Roma eventually travel on from Greece through Europe different dialects develop depending on how they travel.

Many Roma journey to Romania where they are captured as slaves, and remain so for several generations. In 1512, the first Roma families arrive in Sweden. About thirty families appear in Stockholm. The leader of these families calls himself Count Antonius. Count Antonius' group is well treated.

But just three years later, new rules are set up. The Roma are no longer welcome in Stockholm. They are chased out of the city. During the 17th century there is a law saying that anybody is allowed to capture the Roma and hang them. But many Roma manage to stay out of sight.

They work in trade, help the farmers and during the 18th century, a lot of them are working in the army. This group of Roma, that has been in Sweden since the 16th century, are called travellers. And their dialect is called Swedish Romany. In the 19th century, Romania finally releases its Roma slaves. Many of them arrive in Sweden and bring their dialect, which contains a lot of Romanian words.

These Roma are today called Swedish Roma and their language, Kalderash. The Roma are not allowed to settle down anywhere. They can't stay in one place for more than three days at a time. So they travel between camps with their wagons and tents. In 1842, Sweden gets a new law: every child shall attend school.

But this does not apply to the Roma children. Since the Roma must move all the time they don't have a fixed address, and they are not registered in the public records. And as long as they are not registered, their kids have no right to attend school. Between the years 1914 and 1954 it's forbidden for the Roma to enter Sweden. Even during the Second World War that is.

So it's impossible for the Roma to escape the war - and the Nazi persecution - by fleeing to Sweden. The Roma are put in the Nazi concentration camps. The Nazis have a special section for them in Auschwitz prison camp. There are up to 20,000 Roma here. The night before the 3rd of August 1944 all the Roma in the camp are executed.

From the 1940s up to the 70s, many Roma in Sweden - especially the travellers - are being treated with medical procedures to ensure they are not able to have children: Forced sterilization. During the 1950s, a third major group of Roma arrive in Sweden. It's the Finnish Roma. Their dialect is called Kalé. Now at the end of the 1950s, the Roma kids are finally allowed to go to school, and the families may live in houses.

Also in the 1960s new groups of Roma arrive in Sweden, from Hungary and several slavic countries. Their dialect is called Lovara. In the year 2000, Romani Chib becomes a Swedish national minority language. Now, among other things, the Roma get the right to learn their language in school. There are at least 50 dialects of Romani chib spoken in the world but those that are counted into the national minority language are: Swedish Romany Kalderash Kalé Lovara and Arli.

In Sweden, Romani Chib is spoken by about 40,000 people. Since the Roma have lived here for so long, their language has loaned many words from Swedish. A common way of making a Swedish word into Romany is to add an "O" at the end. The Swedish word "bil" becomes "bilo". Swedish has in its turn loaned words from Romani Chib.

For example: Tjej, lattjo, jycke, macka. The Roma do not have a written language they all share. But several organisations are working to make this possible.