In Romani Language “Gipsy� Does Not Exist
Posted on March 20, 2009
On its edition from March 2, the Jurnalul National daily newspaper published a proposal for a new law by which the word “Roma� would be replaced by “Gipsy� in Romania and Internationally in order to avoid confusion with Romanian citizens.
The newspaper explains its approach by the “increased number of crimes made by Roma in Italy but not only, as well as by associating those acts with Romanian people, presented as rapist, thieves which conducted to negative effects not only on our country’s image but over Romanians who, in good will, go aboard to make an honest buck.”
The newspaper also said “we reached strange situations where Romania means in foreign media not the country of Nadia Comaneci, of George Enescu or Brancusi, not a country with marvelous beauties and traditions, but a country of barbarians. And everything starts from the term confusion: Roma/Romanian, terms which in other languages, such as Italian (Rom/Rumeno), are very much alike and the differences disappear in the collective mentality, and so those two words become synonyms.” Therefore, “the entire Romanian people are to be blamed.”
