The present chapter provides a brief overview of the principal dialects of Romani that have been described in the linguistic literature, focusing in particular on the dialects that are cited in the following chapters. It does not pretend to offer a complete survey of dialect names or locations; for additional references to dialects of Romani see the list of dialects in Bakker and Matras (1997: xxiv–xxvi) and the dialect index in Elšík and Matras (2000: 229–32).

Speakers usually refer to their language as romani čhib, romanes ‘Romani’ or as amari čhib 'our language’, or else derive the term from the individual group designation, using either a genitive compound – lovarengi čhib ‘the language of the Lovara’ – or an adverbial derivation – sintitikes ‘the Sinti way (of speaking)’. In the descriptive literature, dialects are often referred to using either the group name in the plural – ‘the Xaladitka dialect’ –, or reinterpreting the name as a singular – Bugurdži lit. ‘drill-maker’, Sinto lit. ‘a Sinto’, Arli lit. ‘settled person’. Terms for a single dialect may differ when two distinct groups speak dialects that are close enough to be considered one and the same by linguists. On the other hand, terms may overlap when two communities speaking distinct dialects share a name based on their religious affiliation, trade, or region of origin. In addition, internal designations used by groups often differ from external designations applied to them by other Romani-speaking populations.