Acquisition of Some Grammatical Categories in Romani (Gypsy) Language by Preschool Rural Roma Children in Bulgaria

The goal. The paper presents research findings from a small study with Roma (Gypsy) children living in a small village in Southeast Bulgaria. Methods. Two groups of preschool Roma children (between 4-5 years old and 5-6 years old, 10 children in each group in total 20 children) were tested with...

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Main Author: Хусейн С. Кючук C. (Христо Кючуков)
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Hryhorii Skovoroda University in Pereiaslav 2025-06-01
Series:Preschool Education: Global Trends
Subjects:
Online Access:https://preschool-journal.com/index.php/journal/article/view/83
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author Хусейн С. Кючук C. (Христо Кючуков)
author_facet Хусейн С. Кючук C. (Христо Кючуков)
author_sort Хусейн С. Кючук C. (Христо Кючуков)
collection DOAJ
description The goal. The paper presents research findings from a small study with Roma (Gypsy) children living in a small village in Southeast Bulgaria. Methods. Two groups of preschool Roma children (between 4-5 years old and 5-6 years old, 10 children in each group in total 20 children) were tested with a test, specially designed for testing Roma children’s knowledge of some grammatical categories in their mother tongue. All children were attending kindergarten, where they learn the official language of the country- Bulgarian, but there are no any lessons in their mother tongue Romani. The children are tested individually for measurement of their knowledge on Romani multiple wh-questions, long distance wh-questions, passive verbs, possessiveness, tense and aspect of the verb. Results. The results show that some grammatical categories such as multiple wh-questions, long distance wh-questions and possessiveness, are acquired between the age of 4-5 years old, but other categories are more difficult for children and they are acquired between the age of 5-6 years old: passive verbs, tense and aspect of the verb. Conclusions. These types of studies are important because they show that although Roma children may live in a small village, they have normal development of their mother tongue and they learn the grammatical categories in the same way as the Roma children resident in big towns and cities.
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issn 2786-703X
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publishDate 2025-06-01
publisher Hryhorii Skovoroda University in Pereiaslav
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series Preschool Education: Global Trends
spelling doaj-art-86feb64ae85e4402bcf3b43e7733daeb2025-08-20T02:37:33ZengHryhorii Skovoroda University in PereiaslavPreschool Education: Global Trends2786-703X2786-70482025-06-017395110.31470/2786-703X-2025-7-39-5183Acquisition of Some Grammatical Categories in Romani (Gypsy) Language by Preschool Rural Roma Children in BulgariaХусейн С. Кючук C. (Христо Кючуков)0University of Silesia (Poland)The goal. The paper presents research findings from a small study with Roma (Gypsy) children living in a small village in Southeast Bulgaria. Methods. Two groups of preschool Roma children (between 4-5 years old and 5-6 years old, 10 children in each group in total 20 children) were tested with a test, specially designed for testing Roma children’s knowledge of some grammatical categories in their mother tongue. All children were attending kindergarten, where they learn the official language of the country- Bulgarian, but there are no any lessons in their mother tongue Romani. The children are tested individually for measurement of their knowledge on Romani multiple wh-questions, long distance wh-questions, passive verbs, possessiveness, tense and aspect of the verb. Results. The results show that some grammatical categories such as multiple wh-questions, long distance wh-questions and possessiveness, are acquired between the age of 4-5 years old, but other categories are more difficult for children and they are acquired between the age of 5-6 years old: passive verbs, tense and aspect of the verb. Conclusions. These types of studies are important because they show that although Roma children may live in a small village, they have normal development of their mother tongue and they learn the grammatical categories in the same way as the Roma children resident in big towns and cities.https://preschool-journal.com/index.php/journal/article/view/83rural roma children, bulgaria, romani language, grammatical categories.
spellingShingle Хусейн С. Кючук C. (Христо Кючуков)
Acquisition of Some Grammatical Categories in Romani (Gypsy) Language by Preschool Rural Roma Children in Bulgaria
Preschool Education: Global Trends
rural roma children, bulgaria, romani language, grammatical categories.
title Acquisition of Some Grammatical Categories in Romani (Gypsy) Language by Preschool Rural Roma Children in Bulgaria
title_full Acquisition of Some Grammatical Categories in Romani (Gypsy) Language by Preschool Rural Roma Children in Bulgaria
title_fullStr Acquisition of Some Grammatical Categories in Romani (Gypsy) Language by Preschool Rural Roma Children in Bulgaria
title_full_unstemmed Acquisition of Some Grammatical Categories in Romani (Gypsy) Language by Preschool Rural Roma Children in Bulgaria
title_short Acquisition of Some Grammatical Categories in Romani (Gypsy) Language by Preschool Rural Roma Children in Bulgaria
title_sort acquisition of some grammatical categories in romani gypsy language by preschool rural roma children in bulgaria
topic rural roma children, bulgaria, romani language, grammatical categories.
url https://preschool-journal.com/index.php/journal/article/view/83
work_keys_str_mv AT husejnskûčukchristokûčukov acquisitionofsomegrammaticalcategoriesinromanigypsylanguagebypreschoolruralromachildreninbulgaria