Angloromani Language - Phonology and Syntax

Phonology and Syntax

Romani had a phonemic distinction between two /r/s - a flap and a voiced uvular fricative - which in Anglo-Romani has been lost and replaced by a single rolled /r/. Anglo-Romani has also lost the phonemic distinction between aspirated and non-aspirated stops. Overall, Anglo-Romani consonants reflect the standard British English consonantal system with these exceptions:

• Anglo-Romani includes the consonant /x/ in certain dialects.
• Anglo-Romani may sometimes be rhotic even in parts of the country that are non-rhotic. In other cases, it is non-rhotic like English non-rhotic dialects; for example, in Romani terno "young" (passing through the stage tarno) can be rendered as tawno.

Romani allowed for two word orders - SVO and VSO. Anglo-Romani has only SVO word order. Negation in Anglo-Romani is achieved through the use of the word kek, i.e.

• măndī can kek ker lĭs - “I can’t do it”
• there’s kekə pani left in kŭvə kurī - “there’s no water left in this bucket”

“Be” is optionally deleted

• tūte kūšta diken muš - “you (are a) fine looking man”
• tūte rinkna râne - “you (are a) pretty lady”

Reduplication is employed for emphasis, as in:

• dūvrī - “distant”
• dūvrī-dūvrī - “very distant”