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Romani people (Czech: Romové, commonly known as Gypsies Czech: Cikáni) are an ethnic minority in the Czech Republic, currently making up around 2% of the population. Originally migrants from North Western India sometime between the 6th and 11th centuries, they have long had a presence in the region.
In the Czech areas of the country, 90% of native Romani were killed during the war; the Romani in modern-day Czech Republic are mostly post-war immigrants from Slovakia or Hungary and their descendants.
A medieval legend about a "gypsy" blacksmith who made nails for crucifixions spread throughout Europe. Other ancient accounts note that "gypsies" were musicians, for example in the Turkish army. The first reference to Roms in the region that is now Czechoslovakia dates to the fifteenth Century.
Bohemian Romani or Bohemian Romany was a dialect of Romani formerly spoken by the Romani people of Bohemia, the western part of today's Czech Republic. It became extinct after World War II, due to the genocide of most of its speakers in extermination camps by Nazi Germany.
Šebková and Žlnayová, while describing Slovak Romani, argues that Romani is a free word order language [25] and that it allows for theme-rheme structure, similarly to Czech, and that in some Romani dialects in East Slovakia, there is a tendency to put a verb at the end of a sentence. However, Matras describes it further. [78]
During the occupation, Gypsies were sent to death camps in both Czechoslovakia and Poland. Fewer than 1000 remained alive at the time of liberation in May, 1945. In contrast, the nominal independence of Slovakia during the war provided Slovak Gypsies with a measure of security.
In English, they are often called Gypsies. Some (but not all) Roma think "Gypsy" is a slur . Another disrespectful slang word, "chingar," is rarely used today.
