Paper short abstract:

In this talk, I will discuss the case of Romani communities, engaged in mobile practices throughout the centuries, in order to illustrate how a language on the move is maintained, lost and, more importantly, changes in different contact settings.

Paper long abstract:

Romani is an Indic language whose speakers migrated from India to the Byzantine Empire, around the 10th century AD. During this period, Romani was influenced by Byzantine Greek and acquired its European typological profile that sets it apart from other Indic languages (Adamou and Matras 2020). At the end of the Byzantine era, several groups fled the wars and migrated toward western and northern Europe. Over the centuries, some Romani varieties ceased to be transmitted to younger generations, while others were maintained. All, however, were shaped by extensive multilingual practices with the various European languages (Matras and Adamou 2020; Adamou, Feltgen, and Padure 2021).

Beyond Europe, Romani is the heritage language of several million people living in the Americas. Romani presence in the Americas is documented as early as the colonial period but arrivals resumed during the 19th century and have been continuous ever since. Roma settled in various countries, where they obtained their official documents, or moved across the continent in search of better working opportunities. In the Latin American context, in particular, we note that multilingual practices with Spanish gave rise to unique changes that spread throughout the continent via traditional, translocal social networks, and mobile professional activities (Adamou 2013; Adamou et al. 2019; Acuña, Adamou, and Sutre, in press).

In sum, the study of Romani shows how complex multilingual practices shape the grammar of a language on the move, constantly adapting to novel linguistic influences.