Romani in Ireland: A study of its use, importance, transmission, and speakers’ attitudes

Migration has always been a phenomenon across nations worldwide. People moving from one area to another for economic and social reasons have influenced and caused many linguistic changes. Migrants acquire the dominant language of the given country, which can often lead to language attrition and loss with the upbringing of the next generations. The Romani language is an example of how a language can be either preserved or lost depending on the environmental settings, pressures, and perceived attitudes. Historically, as the Roma migrated from India to and across Europe, they acquired linguistic features and customs from local cultures. This study examines the Romani language use, transmission and importance amongst Roma living in Ireland. It explores the changes of language use and transmission of Romani onto the next generations brought up in Ireland. The research investigates the importance the language has amongst the Roma people and their attitudes towards it. The study involved fifty participants of the Roma ethnic background, originally from the Czech Republic and Slovakia who were aged eighteen to sixty-five and over. It employed a mixed method research approach based on questionnaires and qualitative open-ended questions and used convenient sampling. The findings were analysed using descriptive statistical methods and a thematic analysis approach. The research indicates that the use of Romani in Ireland is perceived positively, whereby people have no fear speaking the language in the presence of non-Roma members of the society. However, the language is losing its importance in daily life and is being taken over by the use of English.