Sepečides Romani

Part of a series on
Romani people
Archaeology Cuisine Culture Dance Dress Folklore History Language Media Music Names People Religion Settlements
Romani people by sub-group Arlije Bergitka Roma Burgenland Roma Boyash Cascarots Crimean Roma Garachi Gurbeti Judeo-Romani Kalderash Kale (Finnish Roma) Kale (Welsh Roma) Kawliya Lovari Lăutari Machvaya Romanisæl Polska Roma Romanichal Ruska Roma Sepečides Romani Servitka Roma Sinti Ursari Zargari
Romani diaspora by country Albania Argentina Australia Austria Belarus Belgium Bosnia-Herzegovina Brazil Bulgaria Colombia Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Czechoslovakia Denmark Estonia Finland France Germany Greece Hungary Ireland Italy Kosovo Latvia Lithuania Mexico Montenegro North Macedonia Moldova Netherlands Norway Poland Portugal Romania Russia Serbia Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland Turkey Ukraine (Crimea) Scotland ) Hungarian-Slovak ) Uruguay Venezuela
WikiProject
v t e

Sepečides Romani, also known as Sevlengere Roma (lit. 'basket-weaving Roma'),^[1] is the Romani dialect of the traditionally basketweaving Roma originally from Thessaloniki. Their ancestors lived there as nomads during the Ottoman Empire until the population exchange between Greece and Turkey.^[2][3] The Sepečides dialect is considered to be non-Vlax.^[4] It belongs to the Southern Balkan group of Romani dialects,^[5] although the RomArchive claims the language is practically extinct.^[6]

The dialect has many Greek and Turkish

During the population exchange between Greece and Turkey, the Christian and Greek Sepečides remained in Greece, as did the Muslims who adopted the Orthodox religion; those who remained Muslim went to Turkey. Many of the families that left Saloniki but remained in Greece settled in the Volos area and became Greek Orthodox. The children of these families speak Romani as their first language, followed by Greek. The others who were more inclined towards Turkish and the Muslim religion and who moved to Turkey speak only Turkish as their mother tongue. Some of the old settlements where they once lived include Tralangere (Trala, a village near Saloniki) and Kardičakere (also known as Karditsa, in northern Greece).^[4] In 1920, migrants wishing to avoid the Greco-Turkish War presented themselves as either Greeks or Turks and alternated between using two flags to identify themselves.^[5]

Greece

The Sepečides Romani who were Greek or converted to the Greek Orthodox faith and remained in Greece after 1923 moved south to settle in Volos.^[16] Their families primarily speak a Greek dialect with some Turkish words. These Romani tend to call themselves Sevlengere Roma.^[4] The younger generation's first language is Romani, followed by Greek.^[4] The Sevlengere on the island of Skyros are Greek Roma or are the descendants of the Muslim Roma who stayed and converted to Orthodox Christianity. Some of the Orthodox Sevlengere also settled in Volax.^[17] The Sepečides who remained in Greece at Volos took up the additional profession of carpet trade, unlike their Roma relatives in Izmir.^[4]

Turkey

In Menemen, some Sepečides still make baskets.^[18] In Anamur,^[19] Edremit, Düzce and Kozan,^[20] the descendants of the Sepečides also weave baskets.^[21][22][23] Some settled in East Thrace and Evreşe at Gelibolu after 1923 and still make baskets.^[24] Some descendants of the former Sepetçiler (lit. 'basketmakers') in Istanbul became flower sellers^[25] or musicians.^[26] A group of Sepetçiler settled in the 1950s in Söke where they still weave baskets.^[27] Some words and phrases from the old Sepečides dialect survived, but their main language is now Turkish.^[28]

See also

• Sepetciler Palace
• Basketry Museum of the Roma

References