Romini language

General information

The Romini language is one of the last human-based tribal languages left on Avlis. The language is not widely known outside the families and clans that make up the Romini people. Owing allegance to no nation or people, the Romini are the oldest and supposed favorite mortal creation of the god Mikon. The first humans to appear on Avlis were the ancestors of the Romini, created directly by Mikon. When created, Mikon commanded them to spread over the planet and bring balance to the world. They were told to be free, yet fair, and to call no one place their home, but rather many places. They are insular, and follow the strict guidelines set down by Mikon, and their culture and language are strongly gender-based.

Mikon's greatest gift to the Romini was the freedom to choose their life paths on an individual basis. He did not restrict them to the ways of good or evil, nor law or chaos. He simply told them to be. He told them that they must do what the moment requires and not to worry about past or future, but rather to exist as needed for the immediate time period. Much to Mikon's pride, his creation took his words to heart and did exactly as he bade them. The Romini spread throughout Avlis and adopted whatever personalities suited their cause. In addition to possessing the inner joy that nomad people often have, the Romini are crafty and cunning. No matter what their philosophy in life, they refuse to be oppressed and will strike back at oppression with eerie effectiveness, grace, and subversiveness. Romini live by the flow of the water in the rivers, and the smell of the air in the breeze. They do what is needed, when it is needed, and never any other time. The Romini as a people are on tolerable terms with all races and nations, though on a societal level they are seen as thieves and troublemakers whenever they roll into town. City-folk often have stories about being cheated or kidnapped by the Romini.

Although they are often berated for being loyal to no one, Romini are actually intensely loyal to each other. A Romini will not kill or harm another Romini unless it is totally necessary, and even then they will seriously consider not doing it. Whenever a Romini finds another of their kind in trouble, they will always find the best way to aid them when possible. Though they are diverse and scattered throughout the world, they have a tremendous sense of their own unity and culture. Even a Romini born in Tyedu who meets a Romini from M'Chek will converse as if they were brothers who have known each other their whole lives. It is this closeness that has allowed them to survive as a people and not become so scattered that they are forgotten. If one is Romini, they are part of the overall Romini identity... one of them. If one is not, they are georgio, the most common term for a non-Romini.

Conjugating Verbs

Infinitives end in “av” or “au” (masculine or feminine). Verbs are conjugated by taking off the suffix “av” or “au” and replacing it with the appropriate ending, and adding the personal pronoun before the verb.

Personal pronouns

• I...........me
  
• You.........tu
  
• He/She......voj/vou
  
• We..........ame
  
• You (pl)....tume
  
• They........von
  
• It..........pe

Present tense

• I............me (verb)
  
• You..........tu (verb+es)
  
• He/she.......vou/voj (verb+el)
  
• We...........ame (verb+as)
  
• You PL.......tume (verb+en)
  
• They.........von (verb+en)
  
• It...........pe (verb+el)

Example:

• I arrive......me aresav
  
• You arrive....tu areses
  
• He arrives...voj aresel
  
• She arrives...vou aresel
  
• We arrive.....ame aresas
  
• You (PL) arrive..tume asresan
  
• They arrive......von areasen
  
• It arrives.......pe areasel

Past tense

• I.............me (verb+lem)
  
• You...........tu (verb+ljan)
  
• He/she........vou/voj (verb+ljas/laji)
  
• We............ame (verb+ljam)
  
• You (PL)........tume (verb+ljan)
  
• They............von (verb+le)
  
• It.............pe (verb+ljo)

Example

• I asked.......me puslem
• You asked.....tu pusljan
  
• He asked......vou pusljas
  
• She asked.....voj pusiljas
  
• We asked......ames pusljam
  
• You (Pl) asked.....tume pusljan
  
• They asked.......von pusle
  
• It asked.........pe pusljo
  

Future tense

• I..........me (verb+dem)
  
• You........tu (verb+djan)
  
• He/she.....vou/voj (verb+djas/daji)
  
• We.........ame (verb+djam)
  
• You PL.....tume (verb+djan)
  
• They.......von (verb+de)
  
• It.........pe (verb+djo)
  

Example

• I will buy......me tindem
  
• You will buy....tu tindjan
  
• He will buy.....vou tindjas
  
• She will buy....voj tindaji
  
• We will buy.....ame tindjam
  
• You (pl) will buy....tume tindjan
  
• They will buy........von tinde
  
• It will buy........pe tindjo
  

Syntax and Grammar

Sentence structure in Romini is almost exactly the same as common. That is, generally, the sentence "The cat ran under the table" would be structured the same way in both common and Romini: "Le pisika pe prastaljo karing o skafidi." Adjectives tend to follow nouns, however, rather than procede them. Many times those fluent in Romini tend to slur, or run their words together, so that sometimes the articles or adjectives become appended to the nouns or verbs. For example, "Big man" becomes "Rom'bar'o," rather than "Rom barbo." Oftentimes this is one way that the insular Romini are able to tell those who are apart from them, non-Romini, or gadjen.

Possessives

• My, mine............myro, muro
  
• Your(s).............tiro
  
• Their, theirs.......tumaro, tumuro
  
• Our, ours...........amaro, amuro
  
• His.................lesko
  
• Hers................lako
  
• All (all of us)......sa
  
• Its..................pedes
  

Conjunctions. articles, prepositions

A jekh
Above, across opral
About miro
And thaj
Another vareso
Behind, back doom
Both duj
End agor
For de
From kerdi
Front anglal
In ande
If i
Middle mashkari
No na
Not naj
Of pa
Or ori
Out avri
Some niste
None khon
That kadoan
The la (feminine)
The le (masculine)
The o (generic)
This kadoa
To kaj
Under karing
Very maj
With peska
Yes hai

Interrogatives

• How...........sar
  
• What..........so
  
• When..........kana
  
• Where (is it?)......kaj
  
• Which..........savo
  
• Who.........kon
  
• Why.........soske
  

Verb list

Regular Verbs Common Romini To arrive aresav To ask for molinav To ask pušau To become (drunk) matojau To begin lav To believe patjav To bless narbau To bite dandav To bring anav To bring anav To buy tinav To carry igelav To cast pav To clean hoozharav To come avav To craft chatinav To cut cshinav To dance khelav To die merau To do kerav To eat xav To enjoy dehav To fear darav To fight marav To finish resavav To follow denedìnav To forget bisterav To freeze marhonav To get astrav To give dau To go zau To greet resav To grow baryovav To hear, listen shoonav To help akandav To hide garavav To hire yavav To hit marav To hope nadav To kill maranau To kiss choomidav To know, understand zanau To laugh asau To learn siklovav To leave mookav To lie hohavav To live mau To look dikhav To lose nashalav To love jubisarav To meet arakhau To mix ehminav To open putrav To play (music) bashalav To put tovav To read chetinav To recognize penjarav To respect saidinau To run prastav To say phenav To see dikhav To sell tianau To send bichalav To serve (food) cshorav To shoot farav To shut, close phandav To sing gilyavav To sit beshav To sleep sovav To start astarav To stop aschav To survive nakhyarav To take lau To teach sikavav To think godisarav To wake jangarav To walk phirav To want, desire kamav To watch dandinau To weave katav

There are two, commonly used irregular verbs: “to be” sem and “to have” isi

Irregular Verb "To Be" Sem Common Present Past Future I me sym me symas me sydem You tu san tu sanas tu syndan He/She vou/voj sy vou/voj sas vou/voj sayjas/sayji We ame sam ame samas ame samam You.PL tume san tume sanas tume sanjan They von sy von sas von syde It pe sy pe san pe sydo

Irregular Verb "To Have" Isi Common Present Past Future I me isi me isas me isidem You tu isan tu isnas tu isidan He/She vou/voj isoi vou/voj isnan vou/voj isijas/isiji We ame isam ame isamas ame isimam You, PL tume isan tume isanas tume isijan They von ision von isisas von iside It pe isoi pe isnan pe isido

Adjectives:

• alive ........žuvindo
  
• bad ..........nasul
  
• better........maj mišto
  
• big...........barba, barbo
  
• clean .........užo
  
• cold..........sudri
  
• dead.........merani
  
• dirty........midsek
  
• good.........misto
  
• hot...........tato
  
• new............nevi
  
• old (age)........phura (f), phural (m)
  
• old.........purano
  
• short........skurto
  
• small........tikno
  
• smart........barlo
  
• stupid........dilo
  
• tall..........uce
  
• unclean (status).......magerdo
  
• young..........novi

Colors:

• White......parne
  
• Black......kalo
  
• Blue.......naja
  
• Green.......aveda
  
• Red........lolile
  
• Orange.......ojako
  
• Yellow.......khaja
  
• Brown........trinel
  
• Purple.......oolija
  
• Grey, silver......suy

Numbers:

• Zero.......khono
  
• One........ehk
  
• Two........dooy
  
• Three......ootrin
  
• Fouur......ooshatar
  
• Five.......oopanch
  
• Six........ooshov
  
• Seven......efta
  
• Eight......ohto
  
• Nine.......eyna
  
• Ten........desh
  

• Eleven......deshehk
  
• Twelve.......deshdooy
  

(etc)

• Tens...........-desh (ie, seventy is “eftadesh”)
  
• Hundreds......-shel (ie, seven hundred is “eftashel”)
  
• Thousands.....-milya (ie, seven thousand is “eftamilya”)
  

Emotions

• Anger.......range, holyan
  
• Sorrow......rovga
  
• Happiness...bruvja
  
• Fear........menga
  

Nouns

Plural: add “ja” if feminine, “ji” if masculine
Female nouns end in vowels, male nouns in consonants

Animals

• animal........animalo
• hide (animal skin).........morči animalosti
• ant.........kir
• bull.........guruv
• cat......pisika
• chicken...........khajni
• cow.......guruvni
• dog........žukel
• ox..........gooroov
• wolf.........ruv
• wyrm (dragon)..........omida

Body parts

• arm.....vast
• back..........zeja
• belly......peř
• body..........trupo
• breast........čuči
• ear......kan
• elbow........kui
• eye......jakh
• eyebrow.........phova
• finger..........naj
• foot..........laban
• hand...........vaste
• hair..........bal
• heart, soul.......ilo
• hip..........maškar
• horns............singa
• knee..........čang
• leg.........punřo
• lip..........ušt
• mouth..........muj
• neck, throat........koř
• nose.......nak
• skin......morči
• teeth.........danda
• teardrop......jasfa
• tongue........šib

Food

• Apple.........phaba
• bacon.........mas thulo
• bread.........manřo
• butter........unto
• cake.........prežitura
• cheese.......tiral
• corn.........misiri
• egg.........anřo
• flour..........ařo
• sugar..........thud
• milk...........zaro
• nut..........anchor
• wheat..........div

People

Non-Romini georgio(f), georgen (m), also: gadzo (f), gadzen (m); also: gadjo (f), gadjen(m)(usually the plural is implied)
Child chavo
Boy raklo
Son sejo
Brother phral
Man rom
Husband mursk
Girl rakli
Daughter seji
Sister phrali
Woman romjo
Wife zuvli
Father dadesk
Mother mameska
Grandfather papesk
Grandmother mamoska
Aunt baba
Uncle babosk
Niece raklori
Nephew rakloro
Cousin pralisko (f), pralisken (m)
Friend prieteno (f), prieten (m)
Enemy jostumalo(f), jostumalen(m)
Witch drabarni
Wizard drabarn
Priest, cleric drabenshena
Healer drabengro
Bard, singer giliri
Thief choro
Warrior ketano
Nobody khonik
Somebody nistenik
Family kompania
Clan shena
Tribe natsia

Miscellaneous Nouns

• Bed.....pato
• Boat.....barka
• Castle...kastelo
• Chair....skamin
• Clothes........gada
• Demon, devil.......beng
• Door.........udar
• Dress.......rokja
• Earth.......phuv
• Fire........jag
• Flower........luludi
• Forest.....ves
• Gold....sumnakaj
• Grass.....cjar
• Honor......pativ
• Ice....payo
• Land.......tan
• Light........lumina
• Luck........baxt
• Magic........drabi
• Market.......piaco
• Moon.....sonuto
• Mountain.....bur
• Name.........anav
• Rain.........brisind
• River..........len
• Road......drom
• Sea......marja
• Snow.........iv
• Song......gili
• Spring........sartiura
• Spirit, bad.......mulo
• Spirit, good.........leshya
• Star.........ceraja
• Summer.....khamende
• Sun.......kham
• Sunrise..........drosin
• Sunset.......drosara
• Sword..........spada
• Table...........skafidi
• Town........foros
• Tree........kast
• Village........gav
• Wagon...........vurdo
• Water...........paj
• Weather........tsiroos
• Wind...........braval
• Wine.........moljasa
• Winter........ivende

Time (timpo)

• Years..........ando
  
• Days...........dies
  
• Months.........sono
  
• Hours..........hories
  
• Minutes........minos
  
• Now............akana
  
• Long ago........demult
  
• Today..........ades
  
• Tomorrow.......texara
  
• Yesterday......arati
  
• Morning........drosi
  
• Afternoon........drosa
  
• Evening, night.......iraat
  
• Midnight...........mashkari iraat (literally, middle night)

Expressions:

How many, how much?.......Sode?
Goodbye.........Kele! (literally, "Go forth!")
Hello....................Sastipe!
Thank you............Gestena
You’re welcome.........Pesan khuno (literally, “it was nothing.”)
I’m sorry..........M’sym rovgi
Of course...........Hai shava
Good morning!..........Misto drosi!
Good night!...........Kushti irrati!
My love...............Myro jubisarel
Beloved................ves' tacha
Yes, I swear!...........Hai'she'li!
Truth?....................Her’y?
There are many paths............Vai’datha ( an expression of either hope or resignation)
By the gods!...........Li' ha' eer!
Nonsense!...............Shesti!
Do you understand?.............Hai zana? Also: Hai shala?
Shit!...................Sheka!
What a fool!................So trekoth! (what a gullible person!)
Wonderful!...............Forshava!