We shall now conclude with a few remarks on the present state of
the Gitano language in Spain, where, perhaps, within the course of
a few years, it will have perished, without leaving a vestige of
its having once existed; and where, perhaps, the singular people
who speak it are likewise doomed to disappear, becoming sooner or
later engulfed and absorbed in the great body of the nation,
amongst whom they have so long existed a separate and peculiar
class.
Though the words or a part of the words of the original tongue
still remain, preserved by memory amongst the Gitanos, its
grammatical peculiarities have disappeared, the entire language
having been modified and subjected to the rules of Spanish grammar,
with which it now coincides in syntax, in the conjugation of verbs,
and in the declension of its nouns. Were it possible or necessary
to collect all the relics of this speech, they would probably
amount to four or five thousand words; but to effect such an
achievement, it would be necessary to hold close and long
intercourse with almost every Gitano in Spain, and to extract, by
various means, the peculiar information which he might be capable
of affording; for it is necessary to state here, that though such
an amount of words may still exist amongst the Gitanos in general,
no single individual of their sect is in possession of one-third
part thereof, nor indeed, we may add, those of any single city or
province of Spain; nevertheless all are in possession, more or
less, of the language, so that, though of different provinces, they
are enabled to understand each other tolerably well, when
discoursing in this their characteristic speech.
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