Historical Dictionary of the Gypsies (Romanies) - Scarecrow Press

Reader’s Note
For typographical reasons, Romani words cited are spelled in accordance
with general international usage, not in the standard alphabet adopted by
the fourth World Romany Congress for writing the language.
•č ch, pronounced as in church
• sˇ sh, as in ship
•zˇ zh, as in leisure
•xas in loch or German doch
•rris a guttural or retroflex r (as opposed to trilled or flapped r), depending
on the dialect
It has regrettably not been possible to reproduce in one font all the accents
used in all the languages of Europe.
Gypsy and Traveler have been capitalized and spelled thus—except in
citations, names of organizations, and book titles. This volume uses the
term Romani for the Gypsy language and Romany (Roma) for the people.
Gypsy and Romany are used as synonyms throughout the text except in entries
referring to Asia; here the term Gypsy implies an industrial or commercial
nomad (a so-called peripatetic) not necessarily of Indian origin.
The definition of who is a Gypsy varies. This dictionary includes as
Gypsies those who are accepted as such by the community or who proclaim
themselves to be Gypsies. A number of non-Gypsy organizations
and non-Gypsies whose life or works are relevant to Gypsy history have
also been included in the dictionary. They are identified by the name in the
entry header being in italics, for example, SHAKESPEARE, WILLIAM.
Cross-references in the text are in bold type. The terms Gypsy, Rom,
Roma, Romani, and Romany on their own are, however, never printed
in bold.
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