Language
name and location:
Domari,
Turkey,
Syria, Jordan
[Refer to
Ethnologue] |
1. yēka ~ yōka (short forms yē ~ yō) |
21. wīst yēka |
2. dədī, dī (modifier) |
22. wīst dədī |
3. trən / tɾən / |
23. wīst trən |
4. štār /ʃtaːɾ / |
24. wīšštār < wīst štār |
5. panɡ̌ / pandʒ / |
25. wīst panɡ̌ |
6. šēš /ʃeːʃ/ (Kurdish) |
26. wīššēš < wīst šēš |
7. ḥawt ~ ḥaft (Kurdish) |
27. wīst ḥawṭ ~ ḥašt |
8. ḥašt (Kurdish) |
28. wīst ḥašt |
9. nu (Kurdish) ~ nah (inherited) |
29. wīst nah ~ nu |
10. dazz / dazː/ (Kurdish) |
30. sī /siː / (Kurdish) |
11. dazz yēk |
40. čəl / tʃəl / (Kurdish) |
12. dazz dī |
50. pēnǧā /pe:ndʒaː /(Kurdish) |
13. dazz trən |
60. trən wīst |
14. dašštā < dazz štār |
70. trən wīst dazz |
15. dazz panɡ̌ |
80. trən wīst wīst ~ štār wīst |
16. daššēš < dazz šēš |
90. ṣadd illa dazz ~ štār wīst dazz |
17. dazz ḥawṭ ~ dazz ḥaft |
100. ṣadd (Kurdish) |
18. dazz h̩ašt |
200. dī ṣadd |
19. dazz nah ~ nu |
1000. hazār (Kurdish) |
20. wīst (Kurdish) |
2000. dī hazār |
Linguist providing data and dateː Dr. Bruno Herin,
Université Libre de Bruxelles, Faculté de Philosophie et Lettres,
Belgium, February 13, 2013 |
Other comments: Domari or Dom, Gypsy, Middle Eastern Romani, Tsigene is spoken by about 14,000 speakers Scattered in the region between Mersin and Sanliurfa provinces, Turkey as well as Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine and Syria. Domari has a decimal system mixed Indo-Aryan with loanwords from Kurdish and Greek origins. The data given above reflect forms recorded in several dialects of northern Domari (Aleppo, Saraqib and Beirut). The short forms yē and yō “one” are used as modifiers. The modified noun is also marked with the indefinite marker -ā(k): yē xašt-ā “one hand”, yō dīs-āk “one day”. The form dī “two” is used adnominally: dī wars “two years”, while dədī is a pro-form. Amongst the units, šēš “six”, ḥawt ~ ḥaft “seven”, ḥašt “eight” and nu “nine” were borrowed from Kurdish. Interestingly, an inherited form alternates for “nine”: nah. Tens from 20 to 50 were also borrowed from Kurdish, while 60 to 90 are formed by compounding a unit and Kurdish wīst “twenty” and inherited dazz “ten”. The compound ṣadd illa dazz “ninety” is a good example of the different layers of borrowing in northern Domari: ṣadd “hundred” was borrowed from Kurdish, illa “except” is from Arabic, and dazz is inherited. The form hazār “thousand” was also replicated from Kurdish. In most contemporary dialects of southern Domari (spoken in Palestine and Jordan), numerals above five have been replaced by Arabic forms (Matras 2012). The original system was nevertheless documented by Macalister (1914:18-19). Forms are given respecting Macalister’s transcription: Domari is an Indic language spoken by the Dōm, commonly described as the ''Gypsies'' of the Middle-East. The m are originally service-providing itinerant communities who left India at an early stage and spread across the Middle-East. The term m is itself cognate with the Indian caste name Dōm which is still widely used in India to designate a variety of peripatetic communities. Amongst the Indic languages spoken outside the Indian subcontinent, the most well-known and studied is Romani, the language of the European Roma. The Lom, located in Armenia and also in parts of Eastern Turkey, also spoke a fully-fledged Indic language but it has only survived as a lexicon within an Armenian matrix (Voskanian 2002). Domaaki and Parya are also diasporic Indic languages spoken outside or at the periphery of India but they remained typologically closer to Central Indo-Aryan languages.3 Although the historical links between Romani and Domari are still to a large extent obscure, it is now accepted that they are not sister-languages or even dialects of the same language. Note that the traditional phonetic symbols and IPA transcriptionː 1. y = I.P.A. [j] 2. h̩ = I.P.A. [ħ] 3. š = I.P.A. [ʃ] 4. č = I.P.A. [tʃ] 5. ǧ, j = I.P.A. [dʒ] 6. s̩ = I.P.A. [s] ~ [sˤ] 7. t̩ = I.P.A. [t] ~ [tˤ]
Macron above vowel indicates length
References Herin, Bruno (2012). The Domari language of Aleppo (Syria). Linguistic Discovery 12 (2), 1-52. Macalister, R. A. S. (1914). The language of the Nawar or Zutt, the nomad smiths of Palestine. (Gypsy Lore Society Monographs 3) London: Edinburgh University Press. Matras, Yaron (2012). A Grammar of Domari. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. |
Language
name and location:
Domari,
Turkey,
Syria, Jordan
[Refer to
Ethnologue] |
1. yíkǎ, yikák |
21. wīs-u-yikák |
2. dī, dīs, diḗs, diḗsni |
22. |
3. tǎ́rǎn, tǎrǎnḗs |
23. |
4. štar, štarḗs |
24. |
5. pǔnj, punjás |
25. |
6. šas, šasás, tǎ́rǎn-wǎ-tǎ́rǎn |
26. |
7. ḥōṭ, ḥōṭī́s, štár-wǎ-tǎ́rǎn |
27. |
8. štár-wǎ-štǎr |
28. |
9. štár-wǎ-štár-wǎ-yikák, štár-wǎ-púnj |
29. wī́s-u-štar-u-štar-wǎ-yikák |
10. das, des |
30. ǎ́rǎn das, wǎt |
11. daz-wǎ-yikák |
40. štar das, dī wīs |
12. |
50. nīm sai |
13. |
60. šaš das, tǎ́rǎn wīs, dī wǎt |
14. |
70. ḥōṭ das |
15. |
80. štar-wǎ-štár das, štar wīs |
16. |
90. sai-ilǎ-dás |
17. |
100. sai |
18. das-wǎ-štár-wǎ-štár |
200. dī ṣadd dī sai |
19. wīs-ilǎ-yikák |
1000. das sai, tílli sai |
20. wīs, wī́stǎne |
2000. |
Linguist providing data and dateː Dr. Bruno Herin,
Université Libre de Bruxelles, |
Other comments: The data given above are from Southern Domari, Numerals from 1 to 5 are inherited and similar to what is found in northern dialects. The inherited form for “six” was also maintained. The same goes for inherited sai “hundred”. Southern dialects also show Iranian derived items: ḥōṭ “seven”, wīs “twenty” and nīm “half” in nīm sai “fifty” (literally half-hundred”). Also common is a compounding strategy above five with the Arabic coordinator u / wa “and”. Note that the traditional phonetic symbols and IPA transcriptionː 1. y = I.P.A. [j] 2. h̩ = I.P.A. [ħ] 3. š = I.P.A. [ʃ] 4. č = I.P.A. [tʃ] 5. ǧ, j = I.P.A. [dʒ] 6. s̩ = I.P.A. [s] ~ [sˤ] 7. t̩ = I.P.A. [t] ~ [tˤ] Macron above vowel indicates length References Herin, Bruno (2012). The Domari language of Aleppo (Syria). Linguistic Discovery 12 (2), 1-52. Macalister, R. A. S. (1914). The language of the Nawar or Zutt, the nomad smiths of Palestine. (Gypsy Lore Society Monographs 3) London: Edinburgh University Press. Matras, Yaron (2012). A Grammar of Domari. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. |
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