International Romani Language Day celebrations took place in six cities across the Czech Republic!

Author readings and a discussion on neologisms in the Romani language took place on November 5th in six cities across the Czech Republic: Písek, Rokycany, Pardubice, Jihlava, Ostrava, and Prague. The Prague event, a discussion on Romani neologisms, was also streamed online via social media.

The event, held at the Scout Institute, was moderated by Claudie Laburdová and Vojtěch Lavička. Guests included Romani author Stanislava Miková, Romani studies scholar and historian Michal Mižigár, and Jan Dužda, a Romani studies scholar, musician, and activist. The latter, along with singer Michael Žolták, enriched the event with several beautiful musical performances.

International Romani Language Day was proclaimed by UNESCO in 2015 at the request of Croatia. Why November 5th? It was on this day fourteen years ago that representatives of the Romani community and members of Croatian public life signed a charter establishing November 5th as Romani Language Day in Croatia.

A year later, at the World Symposium for the Standardization and Codification of the Romani Language, the International Romani Union and the non-profit educational organization Kali Sara issued a declaration calling for November 5th to be established as World Romani Language Day. And that is exactly what happened in 2015.

Romani is an ancient Indian language. The number of speakers in Europe can only be estimated based on statistical data from various countries, ranging from 4.6 to 12 million, with a realistic median of around 6.6 million speakers—a figure that unfortunately does not align with the number of people of Romani ethnicity. The reason for this lies in the assimilation policies of various states and repressive measures aimed at suppressing the use of the Romani language. In the Czech context, for example, most families stopped passing their mother tongue down from generation to generation. Fears of potential problems, which Romani speakers faced primarily in schools and other public institutions, pushed the language to the very margins of social interest.

A turning point came thanks to Czech linguist Milena Hübschmannová, who dedicated most of her professional life to the research, codification, and promotion of the Romani language. It is also thanks to her that the Romani Studies seminar at the Department of Central European Studies at Charles University's Faculty of Arts has existed for three decades.

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