Gadjo (non-Romani)

In Romani culture, a gadjo (feminine: gadji) is a person who has no Romanipen. This usually corresponds to not being an ethnic Romani, but it can also be an ethnic Romani who does not live within Romani culture.

It is used by Romanies to address or denote outsiderneighbors living within or very near their community.

Romanies of Western Europe and the Americas often interpret gadjos as "impure" because they consider that only those following Romani Code are "pure".

Etymology

The exact origin of the word is not known. One theory considers that the word comes from the proto-Romani word for "peasant" and has the same root as the Romani word "gav" (a village). Romani ancestors were nomadic musicians and craftspeople; they did not live in villages. In the Latin world, the derived gachó and gachí, after passing through Caló, have come to mean "man, lover" and "woman, girl".

Derivatives

Gadgie or gadge is a term used for any man in Scots[1][2] and in Ulster and North East England.

'Gadjo' is also used as a slang word in France, notably in the south where it carries the same meaning as 'gadgie'.

The Bulgarian word "гадже" (pronounced GA-djeh), neuter gender, means 'boyfriend' or 'girlfriend' and until recently used to be the most widely used word with this meaning.

Romanian nouns "gagic" and "gagică" mean "boyfriend" and "girlfriend", but they may also mean "guy" and "girl".

"Gagiu" (also noun) is sometime used to describe a guy which doesn't belong to a group or a gang.

Gajo (or gaja, depending on gender) is widely used as slang for "man" or "woman" in Portugal.

See also

Bibliography

References

  1. ↑ Robinson, Mairi, ed. (1987). The Concise Scots Dictionary. Aberdeen University Press. p. 221. ISBN 0-08-028492-2.
  2. ↑ "Dictionary of the Scots Language". Retrieved 6 September 2014.

External links