A Note on Terminology
Ethnonym Follows Self-Identification in the National Language
Terminology related to Roma is a complex and often fraught matter, due especially to divergent and complex self-identification in Romani and related communities. Terminology also has varying levels of pejorativity depending on the national language in which it is used. To make matters even more complicated, views on particular words are shifting, with words which until recently were not pejorative becoming more and more so as a result of a changing social environment and social mobilization.
At the centre of this problematic is the term “Gypsy”, which is pejorative for many Roma, but a term of self-identification for some. The term is also very strongly pejorative in some national languages, while less so in others. In United Nations documents, the term most frequently used is “Roma”, following the usage most strongly articulated at international level. In the Americas, it is not possible to use “Roma” as an overarching ethnonym, because some people in the Americas explicitly reject this term.
This mapping proceeds by using the terminology of self-identification used by the person or group in question, in the relevant national language, such as Romanichal, Ludar, Kalderash, Machwaya, Bashaldey, Boyash, Sa Roma, Rom, Calon, Calo (in all cases spelled upper-case in English, and lower-case in Portuguese and Spanish) and others, depending on context. Finally, in some entries in English the term Gypsy appears because it is part of the name of an archive or public space, as is the case with the "Carlos de Wendler-Funaro Gypsy Research Collection" archive. Gypsy or Bohemian is also used when setting out how a person was recognized in society locally or nationally. For example, Jimmy Marks was known as an eccentric "Gypsy". Similarly, in the Calvary Cemetery there is a well-known tomb of George Adams, remembered as the "Gypsy King”. Regarding the term ciganos in Portuguese or gitanos in Spanish, the map uses these terminologies because it corresponds to those used by groups that self-identify as such, which is the case of the calos in Argentina who self-identify as calos and/or gitanos, or the case of the calons in Brazil who self-identify as calons and/or ciganos.
“Roma” and “Romani” in English
In this mapping, “Roma” is the plural noun.
“Romani” is the adjective form. Thus, for example: “The Romani people”, “Romani communities”, “a Romani woman”, etc.
“Romani” is also the name of the language: “He was speaking Romani”. This usage slightly follows the grammatical logic of Romani itself, where an adverb is used: “Vo del duma romanes”, approximately: “He is speaking in the Romani way.”
This mapping does not use “Romany” with a “y” at the end, due to the association of that spelling with 19th century Romantic literature and its stereotyped portrayals of Roma. The “I” at the end of the word “Romani” places Romani correctly in the family of Indic languages.
Holocaust/Samudaripen
This mapping uses the terms “Holocaust” and “Samudaripen” as the legitimate terms for the events of World War II. The mapping’s use of “Holocaust” appropriately recognizes Nazi targeting of Roma as similar to that of other groups targeted for mass killing by the Nazis, including above all Jews, as well as homosexuals and people with disabilities. “Samudaripen” is an accepted term in Romani, meaning “The Mass Killing”.
This mapping does not use “genocide” to speak about Holocaust/Samudaripen, because the use of that term appears to be part of an effort to construe the events befalling Roma in World War II as different from that of other groups targeted by the Nazis and their allies for mass killing. This mapping also does not use the term “Porrajmos”, as that term is highly offensive in some Romani dialects.