Romani (Northern Vlax, Mexico)

Glottocode : cent1980   ISO639-3 : rmn

Romani in the Americas

It is estimated that there are between 1.5 and 3.5 million Roma in the Americas. Most probably, they migrated to the Americas along various routes in the nineteenth century as part of the more general European migration, but archival work is virtually non-existent. Some Romani communities were already settled in countries such as Brazil and Argentina following earlier migrations from Spain and Portugal starting in the sixteenth century, and historical documents mention the presence of the gitanos in eighteenth-century Mexico. Many Roma arrived after the Second World War and mobility to several countries in Northern, Central, and South America still continues today.

Romani in Mexico

In Mexico, Roma are settled in several cities, mainly in Mexico City, but also in the outskirts of the cities of Oaxaca, Veracruz, Tuxtla Gutierrez, Puebla, and Guadalajara. Men, women, and children are typically bilingual in Romani and Mexican Spanish. The Romani varieties spoken in Oaxaca and in Veracruz share several features with the south-eastern Romani dialects of Europe and more specifically the Vlax dialects.