Traditional occupation, ethnonyms and intergroup borders of South Central Romani speakers in Hungary. An attempt to classify the Roma of Versend.
Abstract
The paper attempts to classify the Romani community of Versend. The presented classification is based on the traditional occupation and the ethnonyms used by the Roma of Versend.
These are compared with the occupations and ethnonyms of other South Central Romani speakers. The author identifies three main traditional occupations of these Roma: musicians, grinders and blacksmiths.
In addition, the examined linguistic groups often call themselves by professionyms based on these occupations. The author finds that the Roma of Versend feel the belonging to the linguistically assimilated musicians.
The presented data in particular come from the recordings acquired during a fieldwork among the communities speaking South Central Romani in Hungary, which has been carried out by the author from 2008.