The Rromani language, as well as all other languages in their natural state, exists under a certain range of dialectal varieties[1]. Unlike in most other languages however, this plurality appears also in the common language. Modern linguistics has demonstrated that a total unification of all dialectal forms of a given language is not only not achievable, but also not advisable, especially when its speakers are spread throughout several States. It is sufficient to induce an adequate convergence of the idioms among themselves, until no more difficulty or misunderstanding remains in the process of communication. In such a way, every single idiom may preserve its own personality while gradually eliminating only these elements which hinder mutual understanding within the Rromani linguistic space. This was the theoretical basis upon which we have drafted this primer, keeping in mind also that the pupil is not only supposed to assimilate a graphic codex but also a dynamical process of dialectal integration. This primer is based upon this part of vocabulary which is common to all Rromani dialects, and as a result may be used throughout Europe and in the United States, as well as in Latin America. When a form common to all dialects is missing, we provide the reader with both existing forms, as for example pani and paj "water" or even with both existing words, as for example korr and men "neck", ʒukel and rikono "dog" etc... The teacher will find below more detailed explanations about the purpose and the manner of use of all 53 didactic units of which this primer consists.

The Rromani words are written in bold characters and the pronunciation(s) — when given — is/are usually given first in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA[2]) in square brackets, and sometimes an English transcription is added in small braces. When the pronunciation may be clearly understood after the explanation, any phonetic transcription is omitted.

1) The segmentation of the spoken chain in syllables is quite natural to the child, as one may notice when he chants a counting rhyme according to the syllables. In the first unit, the pupil learns how to link a symbol (a dash) with a voice utterance (syllable): ba\kro "sheep", śo\śoj "rabbit", nakh "nose", gu\rum\ni "cow", an\grus\tik "ring", dan\da "teeth", ker\mu\so (or ʒi\vin\do) "rat, mouse" and kham "sun". The words have been chosen so that their number of syllables be the same in all dialects.

2) Unit 2 presents the first letter: o, which is also the article of the masculine gender. Again there is a series of words to be pronounced syllable by syllable, but this time preceded by the article o: o kher "the house", o pè\ta\lo "the horseshoe", o ja\rro (or van\do etc...) "the egg", o baś\no "the rooster", o xer "the donkey", o kò\ka\lo "the bone".

3) The second letter: i, which is also the article of the feminine gender, appears in unit 3: i lu\lu\di or i lu\lu\dî "the flowerl", i jag "the fire", i rroj "the spoon", i kan\gli(k) "the comb", i mu\si "the arm" and i baj "the sleeve".

4) Unit 4 presents again material for syllabification, with interspersed articles: i ber\li (or bur/li) "the wasp", o ka\miò\ni "the truck/lorry", o gras(t) "the horse", i gras\ni "the mere", o xer "the donkey", i xer\ni "the she-donkey", o ba\kro "the sheep", i ba\kri "the ewe", i buz\ni "the nanny goat" and o buz\no "the billy goat".

5) Letter a appears in unit 5; together with o and i it constitutes the kernel of the syllables of the words of this unit: o ma\ro "the bread", o pa\ni "the water", o nakh "the nose", o kò\ka\lo "the bone", i ka\ka\ràś\ka "the magpie" and o (v)i\lo "the heart".

6) Unit 6 presents the first consonnant, b: i bibi "the ant", o bàbo "the daddy", o bòbo "the Indian corn", baro "big", tikno "little".

7) Letter u appears in unit 7; its shape reminds the outline of the leg of a mushroom and justly the word for "mushroom" contains twice the vowel u: o xuxur (or xundrul) "the mushroom". Be carefull, x is pronounced like the Scottish ch-sound in Lochness, that is to say as the German ch in "rauchen", or the Spanish jota, but never as the English "x" [ks]. Bùbi is a popular name of dog.

Exercise in reading open syllables (ba bi bo...) without the support of an illustration or of a signification. This is an important step toward the abstract perception of the written sign.

8) Letter r: baro "big", i bori "the bride", ròba "the dress"; o bàbo, o bàbi, o bàba "the daddy" (three affectionate variants). This letter does not sound like the Englis r, it is rolled as in Scottish, or like the Spanish and Italian r. The pupils may ask here: "Why is there a small strike over some vowels?" They can be answered even now:

—when there is no gravis accent over the word, one knows that its last syllable is "stressed", that is to say is pronounced stronger than the rest of the word: barO, borI etc...;

—when any other syllable than the last one is stressed, then it is indicated by means of this gravis acent upon it: ròba, bàbi etc..."

10) Letter s also does not present any difficulty. The pupils may notice the use of a capital letter in the proper name Samìri.

11) Letter p. The speakers of some idioms may be amazed to find here the form piro for "foot", due to the fact that they know the forms purro, punro and especially pindro, which are not rare. They need to be told that all these forms are correct as well, but that their spelling presents some difficulties and that they will be learnt further on. In any case all these pupils are also acquainted with the form piro, which is very widespread, even if they do not use it personally.

12) With letter e, the learning of the vowels of the Rromani common language is completed. In this unit, illustrations are replacing some words containing sounds which have not yet been learnt: o Samìri [thovel] po piro "Samir [is washing] his foot", i Maria [thovel] pe pire "Maria [is washing] her feet", isi ma 2 pire "I have two feet/legs" and mo bàbo [anel] 2 mare "my daddy [is bringing] two loaves of bread". On this occasion, the pupils learns also figure 2.

13) For the first time here, the pupil is faced with the reality of the range of varieties of forms the Rromani language displays also in writing. He is supposed to become accustomed to this situation which preserves the personality of every single idiom, but he is also supposed to acquire a passive knowledge of the forms of the other idioms, while actively cultivating his own. As a matter of fact, the overwhelming majority of the pupils have a rich experience in this respect, even before attending school, thanks to the numerous contacts between Rromanis of different origins: me sinum rom etc... "I am a Rromani", amen sinam roma etc... "we are Rromanis", o Samìri isi rom "Samir is a Rromani", i Màra isi romni "Mara is a Romni"; at the end of the page, the two forms for "water" are introduced: pani et paj.

14) Revision of letter n (the word golni "ball" has been replaced by an illustration). Exercise in reading open syllables (ne pa so...), isolated words (musi amaro...) and closed syllables (mar mis bon...). The pupil also exercises numerals 1 (jekh) and 2 (duj).

15) Letter v in open and closed syllables. Beginning of short conversations in the text.

18) Letter j in medial and final positions. It is always pronounced as English {y} (Phonetics: [j])

According to the given idiom, the antonymic pair "there is — there is not" is rendered by isi — nane, isi — nanaj or isi — naj, as shown by the illustration.

19) Letter k is always pronounced as English {k} (Phonetic [k]) in front of the vowels a, o and u irrespectively of the idiom.

Note - the vowels are divided into anterior e and i, pronounced in the front part of the buccal cavity and in non-anterior a, o and u, pronounced in the middle part of the buccal cavity (a) or in its back part (o et u). This classification is of the utmost importance in Rromani.

20) This unit is also devoted to letter k but this time in front of front wovels e and i. In this position, k is pronounced [k] in most idioms; this is the genuine ancient Rromani pronunciation and the one recommended for persons wishing to learn common Rromani; however everybody is supposed to be trained in understanding the other idioms which palatalize this k into [ky] or even into an affricate [t∫], i.e. Engl. {ch}.

Notice: In romance languages, we have a similar difference of pronunciation of the letter c in front of, on the one hand, e and i and, on the other hand, in front of a, o and u; in principle, we are dealing with the same phenomenon, even if the result is different at the level of the pronunciation.

In any case, every pupil reads this letter according to his own pronunciation (obviously as far as Rromani is spoken in his family), as he has learnt from his parents. We are facing here the most important principle of the common spelling of the Rromani language, which states: in written there is no visible difference, but while reading, everybody follows his own pronunciation.

21) The pupil meets here the so-called "pre-yoticized vowels", which are characteristic for the Rromani phonology: the diphthong [ja], i.e. {ya}, works in Rromani as a single phonological unit in the linguistic system and as a result, it is rendered in script by a single sign æ (a topped by an inflex). The same thing may be said for the diphthongs [jo], i.e. {yo} and [ju], i.e. {yu}, which are also written by means of a single sign œ and º respectively. It is worth mentioning that the Rromanis who have been living in Rromania (especially the Kalderars) have taken for the diphthong æ the pronunciation of the Rromanian diphthong "ea", that is to say [e8a] instead of [ja]. The pupil learns how to pronounce this diphthong correctly thanks to the examples provided by the unit. As far as people wishing to learn Rromani are concerned, the pronunciation [ja], i.e. {ya}, [jo], i.e. {yo} and [ju], i.e. {yu} is recommended in all positions. The first sentence is given in two characteristic varieties of the main dialects of the Rromani language, so that the pupils can see the difference between them (one of stratum I and one of stratum III[3]). The speakers of some idioms, especially as spoken in Skopje and Sofia, can notice here another phenomenon: the group r + ^, that is to say {ry} or {r^}, is pronounced reversewise in their native idiom: {yr};

22) The pupil learns how to read the preyotized vowels after the dental d. In most idioms, the pronunciation is [-dj-], i.e. {dy}: [kerdjom, kerdjum, etc..] i.e. {kerdyom, kerdyoom} while in some other idioms, the d sound is palatalized into a sound close to the initial of "Djakarta" or "jazz" (Phonetics [dʒ]). In Skopje and Sofia, it is even realized [-gj-], i.e. {gy}, in such a way that several variants result:: [kerdjom, kerdʒom, kerg'om, kergjom, kerdjum, kerdʒum, kerg'um, kergjum etc...], i.e. {kerdyom, kerdjom, kergyom, kerdyoom, kerdjoom, kergyoom etc...}, as well [kerdom] without [j] i.e. {y} and, in Kalderar and Lovari, [kerdem]. The same phenomenon occurs naturally in the other similar words. One can see here how a series of different pronunciations is reduced to a small number of written forms. For beginners, the best pronunciation to recommend is [dj], i.e. {dy}.

23) The pronunciation of the letter l is mellow in front of front vowels (e and i).

24) A short tale introduces the letter c, which is pronounced [ts] as in the beginning of "czar" and never like the English c. Revision of previously learnt letters. Resun (fem. resuni) is the genuine Rromani word for "fox" but it is limited to some idioms of Rromania, while most other idioms have adopted the Slavism licìca or lìcica.

25) As it was pointed out at unit 23, the l sound is mellow in front of front vowels. In any other positions, viz. 1) before a, o and u, 2) before a consonant and 3) at the very end of the word, its pronunciation is hard, more or less like the English dark l. O parno vast "the white hand/race" and o kalo vast "the black hand/race" are "two friends": duj amala - amalinǎ.

26) The letter g is learnt here; note that it is always realized as [g] in front of non-front vowels (a, o and u), exactly as in English in this position.

28) Preyoticized vowels mellow a l coming right before them, just as front vowels do. In this way the same mellow l is heard as well in berlǎ and rovlǎ as in berli and rovli. The pupil improves his knowledge of the figures from 1 to 4 and trains simple additions: 1+ 2 = 3; 3 +1 = 4 etc...

29) Follow-up of the matter given in lesson 28 (l + preyoticized vowels and simple additions).

30) Unit 26 has presented letter g. This unit is also devoted to letter g but this time in front of the front wovels e and i. In this position, g is pronounced [g] in most idioms; this is the genuine ancient Rromani pronunciation and the one recommended for persons wishing to learn common Rromani; however everybody is supposed to be trained in understanding the other idioms, which palatalize this g into [g’] or [gj] i.e. {gy}, or even into an affricate [dʒ], close to the {j} of "jazz".

Note: As well as for the c, seen above (unit 20), Romance languages also have a similar difference of pronunciation of the letter g in front of, on the one hand, e and i and, on the other hand, in front of a, o and u; in principle, we are dealing with the same phenomenon, even if the result is different at the level of the pronunciation. In English as well, g may have two different pronunciations: [g] or [dʒ], i.e. {j} but the situation is more complicated, due to the fact that the etymology of the word interferes: in English, g is usually palatalized into [dʒ] before front vowels in loan-words (gentle, gem, giant, ginger) while it retains an occlusive sound in genuine English words (geese, get, girl, give, etc...). In any case, every pupil reads this letter according to his/her own pronunciation (obviously as far as Rromani is spoken in his/her family), as he has learnt from his/her parents. We encounter here again the very important principle of the common spelling of the Rromani language, which states: in written there is no visible difference, but while reading, everybody follows his/her own pronunciation. The pupils who pronounce this g as an occlusive are supposed to read it likewise, while pupils who palatalize it into [gy], [gj] or [dʒ] (the {j} of "jazz") are supposed to pronounce it exactly the way they speak at home. Pronounce in reading the way you have learnt from your parents and the way you pronounce at home.

31) The pupil discovers the diacritic sign upon the s, making a ś out of it. This letter is pronounced [∫], i.e. {sh}: śośoj "rabbit"is pronounced [∫o∫oj], i.e. {shoshoy}. It is important to point out that the diacritic sign is a constitutive part of the letter, although the concept of diacritic sign does not exist in the English alphabet. The teacher may possibly, if useful, compare with the ç of French or the ñ of Spanish all pupils have seen in movies. Kobor, kozom, sode and keci are words of different dialectal varieties, all meaning "how much/how many". The pupil learns to count up to 6.

32) First contact of the pupil with an aspirated consonant: ph which doesn't present any difficulty. Please emphasize however that it is never pronounced as in English [f] "philosophy, "Philips" etc... but rather as the group ph in "nip-hole". The teacher may point out that aspirated consonants are characteristic of the languages of India, but that they occur also in other languages, like in the Germanic linguistic group or in ancient Greek.

33) First contact of the pupil with the letter ć, which has a diacritic over it, just like ś, and is pronounced [t∫], i.e. exactly like {ch} in "cheese".

34) Garado lav, litt. "hidden word", means "riddle". This unit displays three riddles allowing a revision of letters ś and ć . The teacher may develop the symbolic value of the third riddle in educational purpose, since it means: "I cannot take yours if I don't give mine, guess what it is? — The hand."

35) After unit 33, devoted to letter ć , we encounter here the digraph ć h, which may have two completely different pronunciations according to the dialect:

-either it represents the aspirated counterpart of ć and then it is pronounced [t∫h], i.e. as a {ch} followed by an aspiration: {ch'h}, something like chh in "beachhouse". This pronunciation is the most widespread geographically ; it is also the most archaic and it mirrors the original Indian pronunciation.

-or it represents a very softened ś, i.e. a softened {sh} (in International Phonetic Alphabet [Ç]), a sound which does not exist in English; this pronunciation is characteristic of the Kalderar and Lovari groups, living especially in Rromania, Hungary, the former USSR, Sweden, France and the U.S.A. The change from the pronunciation [t∫h] to a softened [Ç] is refered to as the mutation of affricates. Naturally, the teacher will mention both pronunciations, stressing that they are spelled the same way and he will use his/her pupils' mother pronunciation during the exercises.

The word tez "sharp" has disappeared in most dialects and is usually replaced by local borrowings or expressions like mordo "rubbed": mordi ć huri(k).

36) The next aspirated consonant th is learnt, while ph is revised. Note: in Rromani language, th is never read as the English th, but like the group th in "rat-house".

37) As it was the case with the preyoticized vowels after a d, these vowels can modify as well the pronunciation of t preceeding them in a number of idioms. While in most idioms, the sequences t+ǎ and t+ǒ are respectively pronounced [tja], i.e. {tya} and [tjo], i.e. {tyo}, there are other idioms which present pronunciations like [t'a] and [t'o], [kya] and [kyo] or [t∫a], i.e. {tcha} and [t∫o], i.e. {tcho}. Obviously, beside the form to, "your", characteristic of the Gurbets and ¢ergars (stratum II) and of the Kalderars and Lovaris (stratum III), a range of idioms, especially in stratum I, present the simple form to. Here again, the pupil is supposed to read exactly the way he/she pronounces in his/her family.

38) The vowels i and e may occur also with the inflex ˅, which is the sign of preyotization (cf. unit 21), but only in a very limited number of idioms, especially among the Gurbets and, outsides the Balkans, among the Kalderars and Lovaris. When one puts the inflex above an i or an e, it may only be after a dental consonant: t, th or d. It indicates that this dental is pronounced as an affricate, for example [t'], [t'h], and [d'] respectively or [ky], [kyh] and [gy] or even as an affricate: [t∫], [t∫h] or [dʒ], i.e. the {j} of "jazz". The latter pronunciation is the most widespread in the group of dialectal varieties under consideration. In addition, in a very small number of idioms, the sequence dǐ is pronounced [zi], for instance among the Bugurs of Cossovia and in some villages of the Pleven district in Bulgaria. However the basic pronunciation remains [i] or [ji], i.e. {yi}, for ǐ and [e] or [je], i.e. {ye}, for ê. Thus the word for "day", in addition to its long form dives (with var. dǐves) presents such pronunciations as [dyes], [gyes], [dʒes], [zes] etc... all spelled d s.

39) The letter z is pronounced exactly as in English or French; the Italian and German pronunciations (as [ts]) would be wrong as well as the Spanish one.

40) Exactly like the other dorsal stops k and g, their aspirated counterpart kh is always pronounced explosive in front of the non-front vowels a, o and u, irrespectively of the idiom under consideration, something like the group kh in "sock-hole".

41) Unit 40 has presented the aspirated dorsal stop kh. Exactly like the other dorsal stops k and g, their aspirated counterpart kh is pronounced in different ways according to the idiom under consideration when it occurs in front of the front wovels e and i. In this position, kh is pronounced as an aspirated stop [kh] in most idioms; this is the genuine ancient Rromani pronunciation and the one recommended for persons wishing to learn common Rromani; however everybody is supposed to be trained in understanding the other idioms, which palatalize this kh into [k’h] or [kjh] i.e. {kyh}, or even into an aspirated affricate [t∫h]. Note that this realisation is very close or even identical to ć h, but never develops into a smooth [Ç], i.e. {shy} as it was the case for the genuine letter ć h (Unit 35). In any case, every pupil reads this letter according to his/her own pronunciation (obviously as far as Rromani is spoken in his/her family), as he has learnt from his/her parents. Once more we are meeting here the basic principle of the common spelling of the Rromani language, which states: in written there is no visible difference, but while reading, everybody follows his/her own pronunciation. The pupils who pronounce this kh as an aspirated stop are supposed to read it likewise, while pupils who palatalize it according to their own home practice are supposed to pronounce it exactly the way they are used to. Pronounce in reading the way you have learnt from your parents and the way you pronounce at home.

42) Unit 35 has presented the two possible pronunciations of letter ćh according to the stratum to which the dialect under consideration belongs (strata I and II have not undergone the mutation of affricates, while stratum III has). In exactly the same way, letter ʒ presents two basicly different pronunciations, according to the same dialectal criterium:

-either it represents the affricate sound [dʒ], as encountered at the initial {j} of "Djakarta" or "jazz"; This pronunciation is the most widespread geographically ; it is also the most archaic and it mirrors the original Indian pronunciation.

-or it represents a very softened ź, i.e. a softened {zhy} (in International Phonetic Alphabet [Û]), a sound which does not exist in English; this pronunciation is characteristic of the stratum III, i.e. the Kalderar and Lovari groups, living especially in Rromania, Hungary, the former USSR, Sweden, France and the U.S.A. The change from the pronunciation [dʒ] to a softened [Û], along with the change from [t∫h] to a softened [Ç], is refered to as the mutation of affricates. It is important to point out that both changes occur simultaneously. Naturally, the teacher will mention the two different pronunciations, stressing that they are spelled the same way and he/she will use his/her pupils' mother pronunciation during the exercises. In addition several idioms from Bulgaria have undergone a simplification of [dʒ] into [ʒ], but this phenomenon has nothing to do with the mutation itself. This simplified pronunciation is not avisable, due the fact that it corresponds to the loss of a distinctive feature. One should also avoid the twofold neutralization which occurs in some dialects in Hungary between genuine ś and [Ç] originating from ćh (both being pronounced as ś) as well as between genuine ź and [Ç] originating from ʒ (both being pronounced as ź). These are some of the few exceptions to the general rule of a common spelling with different pronunciations: in this particular case the home speech is not refered to as a model, due to the fact that it would too often provoke homonymy and would hinder mutual understanding.

43) Unit 43 is devoted to the palatalization of dorsal stops k, g and kh in front of preyoticized vowels: as it was the case when occuring in front of front vowels, the dorsal stops k, g and kh palatalize in a series of idioms when preceding a preyoticized vowel (cf. Units 20, 30 and 41).

44) Since letter f does not present any special difficulty, we have also introduced letter ź in the word źiràfa.

45) Revision of letter ź by means of a short tale and a riddle under two dialectal variants.

46) In this short popular folksong from Central Europe, an important Rromani civilizational word is encountered: dikhlo "a shawl". This word has been lost by the Balkan dialects (they use śamìa instead), but it has been retained by the Spanish Gitanos, who spell it often the Spanish way: dicló.

The present unit presents a riddle under two great dialectal forms in order to exemplify their similarities beyond the differences; it is completed by another riddle with no dialectal character, which means it is spelled the same way irrespective of the dialect in which it is told.

47) Unit 47 introduces letter x which renders the Scottisch ch-sound as in "loch", identical to the Spanich "jota" or the German ch-sound in "rauchen"; it is never pronounced [ks]. The tendency, which has been noticed in some idioms to pronounce the x as the English [h], should be avoided. This is another of the few exceptions to the general rule of a common spelling with different pronunciations: in this particular case the home speech is not refered to as a model, due to the fact that it would too often provoke homonymy and would hinder mutual understanding.

48) In this unit the pupil gets better acquainted with letter h, which he has already encountered not as a separate graphem, but as a part of the digraphs ph, th etc... However this letter does exist also as an independant symbol which renders the same sound as in English or German.

49) Here again we have to deal with a very ticklish problem in Rromani phonology. We have met so far only one kind of r, pronounced rolled as in Scottish. However in a series of idioms, the Rromanis distinguish this rolled r from a second one which may have several different pronunciations, all of them characterized basicly by the fact that they are not rolled. They may be very strong [rr], retroflex (with the tip of the tongue curled back, as some American people do), uvular (as the French r, as pronounced the Parisian way) or similar to letter x; they may bear also a nasalization or be pronounced as a cluster [-ngr-] or [-ndr-]. The basic common feature of these different r in all these dialects, beyond the variety of their pronunciations, is that they all differ from the regular [r]. In accordance with the decision of the 4-th World Rromani Congress, the difference in writing is indicated only for the idioms in which it does exist in the pronunciation. The regular rolled [r] is then written r, while the other one is written rr, irrespective of its concrete pronunciation.

50) The last four units of the primer are devoted to three particular letters, which may occur only as initial letters of a very limited class of words: the postpositions. These small words are characteristic of the Rromani language and of the other modern Indian languages, although they may be encountered as for example in Turkish or Hungarian. The "postpositional letters", θ, ç and q, have different values, on the one hand according to their position (which can be summarized in the opposition: after the nasal n versus in any other position) and on the other hand according to the idiom under consideration. The rules which regulate their pronunciation and which in some idioms are comparatively complex are called in all languages "sandhi", a word borrowed from the Indian grammatical terminology; such rules of sandhi are of a particular importance in the Indian languages, especially in the ancient ones, where they are extremely complicated.

Letter θ appears in two postpositions: -θar which denotes the origin, the place one is coming from: e gaves-θar "(coming) from the village" and -θe which denotes the place one is remaining: me dades-θe "at my father's"; this letter has a very simple pronunciation: always [-d-] after n and always [-t-] in any other position, as exemplified in the lesson. The palatalized prononciation which is encountered in some ¢ergar and Kalderar idioms ([-dʒ] after n and [t∫] in any other position) is not recommended. In some Balkan idioms this letter has the property of modifying an s occuring immedialtely in from of it: this s may become in pronunciation an [h] or be totally dropped. This phenomenon is called visargation (again a term borrowed from the Indian grammatical vocabulary). In the dialect of the Finnish Rromanis, the θ is pronounced geminated when not following an n: [-tt-]. All these informations are carried by the simple sign θ.

51) The postpositional letter ç occurs only in one postposition: -ça or -çar, which denotes somebodies' company: me phralen-çar "with my brothers" or a tool, an instrument by means of which an action is achieved bare ć hurikaça "with a big knife", duje vasten-çar "with two hands". The usual translation in English is "with" in both cases.

This letter is always pronounced [-ts-] after an n (except in some idioms of Turkey, where it sounds [-dʒ-]), while in any other position its pronunciation depends only on the idiom under consideration: the most ancient and at the same time most widespread pronounciation is [-s-] — but one may also very often hear [-h-] or [-j-], i.e. {y}; in a series of idioms, ç is mute in this position.

Thus mança(r) "with me" is generally pronounced [mantsa(r)], while tuça "with you" is pronounced [tusa], [tuha], [tuja], i.e. {tooya} or even [tua].

52) We will divide the introduction of the last postpositional letter q in two units. In unit 52, the pupil learns its pronunciation in front of the non-front vowel o:

-while after s letter q constitutes with the s the sequence -sq-. This sequence is pronounced [-sk-], [-hk-], [-k-] or only [-s-].

Once more here, every pupil has to train reading according to the phonetic laws of his/her own home idiom. When there are in the same class several pupils of different home idioms, the pronunciation [-sk-] may be given some kind of priority because it is the most ancient and widespread but it has to be pointed out that all other pronunciations are equally correct.

53) In this unit displayed in two pages, the pupil learns the pronunciation of the postpositional letter q in front of the front vowels e and i . In this position, it undergoes exactly the same laws of palatalization as the dorsal stops g and k, since actually it is a dorsal stop (the feature voiced/unvoiced of which is determinated only by its position: voiced after an n, unvoiced in any other position):

-after n, letter q is pronounced [-g-] in all idioms which do not palatalize their dorsal stops in front of the front vowels e and i, while in palatalizing idioms, it is palatalized exactly the g in the same position (see unit 30).

-après a, letter q is pronounced [-k-] in all idioms which do not palatalize their dorsal stops in front of the front vowels e and i, while in palatalizing idioms, it is palatalized exactly the same manner as is k in the same position (see unit 20).

-while after s letter q constitutes with the s the sequence -sq-. This sequence, in the idioms which do not palatalize their dorsal stops in front of the front vowels e and i, is pronounced [-sk-], [-hk-], [-k-] or only [-s-]. In the idioms which do palatalize their dorsal stops in front of the front vowels e and i, the q of the sequence -sq- undergoes palatalization exactly like k in the same position (see unit 20). In addition, the -s- which precedes it may be changed to [h] or dropped (visargation). In some idioms, q may remain mute as well in this position. The advantage of the spelling by means of postpositional letters is to respect all these possible pronunciations while bringing them together into one common graphic form.

Note that some idioms, especially among the ¢ergar and Kalderar dialects, are inconsistent regarding the palatalization of dorsal stops: they do palatalize k, g and kh in front of front vowels but they leave q unpalatalized in the same position, due to a specific evolution. However this pronunciation is quite correct and will be used throughout with the pupils speaking these idioms.

Once more here every pupil has to train reading according to the phonetic laws of his/her own home idiom; as pointed out above, if there are in the same class several pupils of different home idioms, the pronunciation [-g-], [-k-] and [-sk-] may be given some kind of priority because they are the most ancient and widespread ones, but it has to be emphasized that all other pronunciations are equally correct.

So everybody reads according to his/her own idiom, as one is accustomed to speak at home with his/her own family, but all of us write the same way so that all possible readers can understand us easily.

The dialectal strata of the Rromani language have been refered to several times in this booklet; this leads us to give here a brief account of the dialectological structure of Rromani, the dialectal varieties (or idioms) of which can be sorted into the following groups:

Due to the speakers'way of life, which has been for a long time a wandering one, dialectal divisions based on geographical isoglosses are not appropriate to describe the dialectological structure of Rromani and a pattern of three evolutive strata, each one with its geographical area of extension, is prefered to the classic approach:

1) stratum I, or Balkano-Carpatho-Baltic dialect; this is the most archaic one in several respects, especially as far as phonetics is concerned. It can be divided into:

—Balkanic varieties of stratum I, represented especially by the following: Erli (Bulgaria and Macedonia), Tharo-Gono and Mahaʒer (Cossovia), Mećkar and Kabuʒi (Albania), Fić ir and Xandur (Greece) as well as Ursari (Rromania).

—Carpathic varieties, among which the most famous are the one spoken in Slovakia and Southern Poland;

—Baltic varieties, in use not only in the so-called Baltic countries but also in Northern Russia and among the Polska Roma (Poland).

The Rromani varieties spoken in the Italian Abruzze as well as the one refered to as "high-level" by the Mustala (or Kaale) of Finland are related to this archaic stratum.

2) stratum II, or Gurbet-¢ergar dialect; the main varieties of this stratum are known as Gurbet (Serbia and surrounding areas), Ωambaz (Macedonia), ¢ergar (Montenegro, Bosnia), Filipiʒi (Greece) etc... As a rule the speakers have not spread out of the Balkans, with the exception of a very recent and limitated poverty-motivated migration, especially toward Italy and Germany. The isoglosses between strata I and II are mostly of morphological nature.

3) stratum III, or Kalderar-Lovari dialect; mainly represented on the one hand by Kalderar, widespread almost all over Europe as well as in North and South America and one the other hand by Lovari, which covers also a comparatively wide area (Central Europe, Scandinavia, the United States — it is sometimes mistaken for Kalderar). The main isogloss between stratum II and sratum III is of phonologic nature: it is called the "mutation of the affricates" and has provoked a shift-around of a good part of the phonological system in the idioms of stratum III (see units 35 and 42 of the booklet).

B) In addition, one distinguishes the pogadilects (named after the so-called "Pogadi" idiom in use in Great-Bretain, another name for Anglo-Rromani, and which exemplifies particularly well this phenomenon); they consist of a residual Rromani vocabulary merged into the language of the host country. Apart from the Anglo-Rromani, the most famous pogadilects are the Ibero-Rromani "Calós" (in use among the Gitanos properly speaking), viz. the Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan etc... based mixed languages. Dialectologically, these idioms arose from stratum I of the Rromani language but, probably due to terrible vawes or persecution, their regular generation to generation transmission was discontinued within the family and was relayed by a kind of informal teaching of the young adults by the elder during occupational activity, which could be an account for the decline and loss of the Rromani grammatical element in these idioms; the word pogadization has been coined to denote this very specific phenomenon.

C) Finally, another group of Rromani-like idioms, called sinto-manuś, split very early from stratum I (more precisely from the Carpatho-Baltic sub-dialect): they have not undergone pogadization but they have drifted away so far, under the influence of surrounding German and to some extent Italian, that there is hardly any possibility of mutual understanding with the speakers of Rromani.

Note: For the sake of exhaustivity, a mention has to be done of two other groups of idioms, historically related to Rromani but split from the common trunk already before the arrival of the trek in Minor Asia; they are still possibly in use among several tens of thousands of speakers and are labelled respectively Lomani (or Bo∂a/Lomavren — Armenia) and Domani (or Nuri/Nawar — Syria), after the reflex of the stem "Rromani" in each of them.

Unity: Dialectometrics indicate that the different varieties of the Rromani language properly speaking are between themselves in a dialect-to-dialect relationship as evidenced within a unitary language, which is confirmed by the comparatively easy mutual understanding between the speakers of these idioms. The other idioms, such as the Pogadilects and Sinto-Manuś, which are separated by a greater dialectometrical distance and do not enter directly in the composition of the standard Rromani language, are refered to as Para-Rromani.

As a matter of fact the Pogadilects (with maybe several hundreds of thousands users altogeher) are very remote from the different varieties of Rromani properly speaking, while the Sinto-manuś idioms (also several hundreds of thousands speakers possibly) stand dialectometrically closer to Rromani (spoken by millions of persons) than to the Pogadilects, which is confirmed by the lack of mutual understanding with the speakers of the latter.

[1] In this booklet the word "dialectal variety" or "idiom" is used to denote the specific way of speaking as used homogeneously by small groups of Rroms, while the term "dialect" is reserved for the main dialectal divisions of the Rromani language.

[2] In IPA, the symbol [ʒ] represents the s-sound of leisure while in Rromani script it is a specific letter, the pronunciation of which is explained in Unit 42. One has to distinguish carefully these two different uses.

[3] See explanations about the dialectological structure of the Rromani language and the concept of "stratum" in the appendix.