Aspects of language use

There are no genuinely reliable census figures confirming the number of Romani speakers. Numbers cited in the literature are usually based on informal estimates by multilateral organisations and by non-governmental organisations that specialise in advocacy work on behalf of Romani communities (cf. e.g. Bakker et al. 2000: 40). Perhaps the most accurate picture is therefore obtained from relative, rather than from absolute estimates, for the countries with the largest Romani-speaking populations (table 10.1). The actual figures may be considerably higher; for Romania for instance, it is assumed that there are around one million speakers of the language. There are numerous other countries with smaller Romani-speaking minorities, including most European countries, Canada, Argentina, Brazil, and Australia. Even the most conservative estimates agree that Romani is spoken by a population of more than 3.5 million people worldwide.

Romani is primarily an oral language. It is acquired almost exclusively as a first language (or as one of two first languages) by children in the context of the family home, with no institutional or normative reinforcement through schools or media. All adult speakers of Romani are fully bilingual or even multilingual. Romani always stands in a diglossic relation to the majority language, and in many cases also to other surrounding minority languages. Patterns of language use in Romani communities are usually seen as a continuum between the private and public spheres (see especially Halwachs 1993; also Hübschmannová 1979, Réger 1979).