Ideologies of social differentiation among Transylvanian Gabor Roma

Abstract

The paper gives an insight into a few of the ideologies by which the members of a Transylvanian Gabor Roma community construct and explain intra-ethnic social differences. It analyzes how the terms (Čurar, Kăldărar) often used as labels in Roma-related literature to denote various Roma ethnic groups and their dialects function and what meanings they assume in the local practices of social differentiation. Examining the Gabor speakers’ linguistic ideology, related to two morphological variables, the study points out that neither is the Gabor Romani variety a homogeneous dialect, nor can the Roma known as Gabors be considered as a homogeneous social group. It also shows that the intra-dialectal differences are not obvious facts of a language existing “out there” but rather linguistic resources imbued with local social meanings, embedded in social and situational context. The paper argues that linguistic ideologies and other ideologies of social differentiation are to be examined not in themselves, but in their interactions. In the construction and explanation of linguistic differences the ideologies of ethnicity, “rango” (‘rank’), gender and locality also play an important role, and vice versa: language ideologies also contribute to the maintenance of other ideologies and practices establishing social differences.