Roma in Slovenia speak two distinct dialects
Ljubljana, 5 November - The Roma around the globe celebrate the World Day of Romani Language on 5 November. There are an estimated 10,000 to 12,000 Roma in Slovenia, who largely speak two different dialects. Those in the northeast do not understand those in the southeast and there is little literature written in them while children do not learn Romani at school.
Murska Sobota
A conference on the Romani language as the basis to understand the Roma history and culture.
Photo: Marjan Maučec/STA
File photo
Roma educator Bojana Rozman, who is also a court-appointed translator, says she can only represent the Roma from the southeast (Dolenjska, Posavje and Bela Krajina), because their dialect is close enough to hers.
The Roma from the region of Prekmurje in the northeast speak a different dialect. "In Dolenjska, the Romani language is written down, we have a few books. For example, Jelenka Kovačič and Rajko Šajnović's poems are written in the Romani language which I understand. If I read poems written by a Roma from Prekmurje, unfortunately I don't understand them."
Rozman is also one of the three Roma assistants at Bršljin Primary School in Novo Mesto, southeast, where 13% of all school children are Roma.
She says it would help if there were more Roma assistants who speak the Romani language. "Unfortunately, there are also Roma assistants working in schools who are not Roma" and thus don't speak the language.
She believes it will be easier to motivate children to learn their mother tongue if more educated Roma could be hired to instruct the children in the language they know.
Rozman helps the children in different ways, including by providing explanation at classes in the Romani language whenever possible.
This year she also launched extra-curricular activities where they discuss the importance of the Romani language and read Romani fairy tales.
There is concern that the non-uniformity of the language of the Slovenian Roma, paired with modern words entering it, could lead to its gradual extinction.
There is also the stigma of using the Romani language in public, which Roma journalist Sandi Horvat says discourages the parents from passing it down to their children.
Mass media thus play an important role in the preservation and promotion of the Romani language, including fighting the stigma of its public use.
Public broadcaster RTV Slovenija produces a TV show So Vakeres/What Are You Saying twice a month and a weekly radio show Amare Drome/Our Ways.
Horvat, who hosts or contributes to both, says the advantage is that the shows are made by Roma journalists. "It's true, however, that the vast majority of Roma appearing in them choose to make their statements in Slovenian rather than in the Romani language."
Two Romani dialects currently spoken on the TV programme are the Prekmurje dialect and the Romani dialect spoken in Kočevje, south.
"The main purpose of the programmes is to present the lives and stories of Roma, both in Slovenia and abroad," says Horvat.
In recent years, the most high-profile stories have been those of successful Roma in Slovenia, while viewers are also interested in culture, especially on major Roma holidays, such as World Roma Day, he says.
UNESCO proclaimed the World Day of Romani Language in 2015 to promote the preservation of Romani language and culture and improve the well-being of Romani people.
Several events are being organised to mark it in Slovenia. Imer Traja Brizani, a Slovenian Roma musician and composer who was born in Kosovo, will give a concert with the band Amala at Cankarjev Dom this evening, while a conference on the Romani language in Prekmurje was held yesterday in Murska Sobota.