By Rolf Theil

The song Romano rakklo ("Tater Boy") illustrates Norwegian-Romani – and the traditional Tater life. The lines in the song alternate between Romani and Norwegian. In the left column, the song is in Romani; the right column is a translation, word for word, into English.

Code-switching is a term used by language researchers to describe the switching between two languages, but it could equally be called language alternation. In Norway we recognise it among the Romani people, but also among Kvens, South Samis and immigrants.

During code-switching, the two languages play slightly different roles in the sentence. One language acts as the grammatical frame into which elements from the other language are inserted. In code-switching between Norwegian and Romani, Norwegian acts as the grammatical frame. This is evident, for example, from the order of the words and from the fact that many grammatical structures are Norwegian. Code-switching of the kind we find between Romani and Norwegian is typical for minorities who, for various reasons, need to talk in a way that outsiders do not understand.

Although it is common to use Romani in code-switching with Norwegian, it is of course possible to speak pure Romani. Examples may be seen in these books, all written by people of Tater background:

•    Paa Fantestien – Erindringer og Oplevelser (Along the Vagabond trail – Remembrances and Experiences) (1893/1917) by teacher Martin J. Mathiassen Skou.
•    Romanifolkets ordbok (The Romani People’s Dictionary) (1993) by the preacher Ludvig Karlsen.
•    Kjerkloane/Fuglene (The Birds) (2001) by the preacher Hermann Karlsen Wigardt.
•    Vandriane rakkrar / taterne forteller / taterane fortel (The Tater’ Stories) (2014) by Rolf Theil in cooperation with the TL.