Related shifts
| ID | Meaning 1 | Direction | Meaning 2 |
| ACCEPTED Realization 1 | ||
|---|---|---|
| type | Semantic evolution | |
| language 1 | Ancient Greek | |
| language 2 | Byzantine Greek | |
| lexeme 1 | Αἰγύπτιος | |
| lexeme 2 | Γύϕτος | |
| meaning 1 | Egyptian | |
| direction | → | |
| meaning 2 | Romani person | |
| reference | OED | |
| comment | ||
| NEW Realization 2 | ||
|---|---|---|
| type | Polysemy | |
| language | Dutch | |
| lexeme | Egyptenaar | |
| meaning 1 | Egyptian | |
| direction | → | |
| meaning 2 | Romani person | |
| reference | OED | |
| comment | Early XVI c. Also Dutch Gipteneer, Gyptenaar 'Romani person' |
|
| ACCEPTED Realization 3 | ||
|---|---|---|
| type | Polysemy | |
| language | English | |
| lexeme | Egyptian | |
| meaning 1 | person from Egypt or of Egyptian descent | |
| direction | → | |
| meaning 2 | (obsolete) Gipsy | The people then assembled in this barn were no other than a company of Egyptians, or, as they are vulgarly called, gypsies, and they were now celebrating the wedding of one of their society (1749, Henry Fielding, Tom Jones). I went to see the Egyptian, and the Hoodoo doctors too. They shook their heads, and told me there was nothing they could do (1968, Little Brother Montgomery, Bruce Saunders, "Prescription for the Blues"). |
| reference | OED Harper's Etymonline | |
| comment | Gypsy (Gipsy) is a clipping of Gyptian, itself an aphetic form of Egyptian, from Middle English Egipcian 'Egyptian' (rarely Gypcian), from Old French egyptien, from Latin aegyptianus. Gypsy as native or inhabitant of Egypt; an Egyptian (obsolete): 1615 In this Gypsy [sc. Pharaoh's daughter], the wife of Salomon. (W. Hull, Mirrour of Majestie 60); 1616 Oh this false Soule of Egypt!.. Like a right Gypsie, hath at fast and loose Beguil'd me. |
|
| ACCEPTED Realization 4 | ||
|---|---|---|
| type | Polysemy | |
| language | French | |
| lexeme | bohémien | |
| meaning 1 | Bohemian (of or from Bohemia) | |
| direction | → | |
| meaning 2 | Gipsy | |
| reference | CNRTL | |
| comment | ||
| ACCEPTED Realization 5 | ||
|---|---|---|
| type | Polysemy | |
| language | Spanish | |
| lexeme | egiptano | |
| meaning 1 | Egyptian | |
| direction | → | |
| meaning 2 | (obsolete) Gipsy | |
| reference | DRAE | |
| comment | Usually gitano 'gipsy' |
|
| ACCEPTED Realization 6 | ||
|---|---|---|
| type | Polysemy | |
| language | Spanish | |
| lexeme | flamenco | |
| meaning 1 | Flemish | |
| direction | → | |
| meaning 2 | of a cultural manifestation, or of its interpreter: Of a popular Andalusian character, and often linked to the Romani people | |
| reference | DRAE | |
| comment | ||
| ACCEPTED Realization 7 | ||
|---|---|---|
| type | Polysemy | |
| language | Turkish | |
| lexeme 1 | Kıptı | |
| lexeme 2 | Kıpti | |
| meaning 1 | Copt | Kıptiler Mısırlı yerli Hıristiyanlardır. The Copts are the native Christians of Egypt. |
| direction | → | |
| meaning 2 | gypsy (colloquial) | |
| reference | Baskakov 1977: 540 | |
| comment | ||
Traditional name for Romani people, which can be found in several languages, is "Egyptian" (English gipsy, gypsy, Albanian Evgit, Greek γύφτος, French gitans, Spanish gitano, and the South Slavic languages gipcan, gupcan, egjupci). The sources of these names are Byzantine Greek Αἰγύπτιος and Latin Aegyptanus 'Egyptian'. The term can be traced back to the fact that for centuries Gypsies were considered to be of Egyptian origin. The name 'Egyptians', which appears in Byzantium and is especially common in the sources of the XIV-XV centuries, is associated with the areas of Gypsy living in "Little Egypt", by which some scholars understand the Peloponnese, and others - the area of modern Izmir or Antioch in Asia Minor.
The myth of their Egyptian origin was supported by the Gypsies themselves, who said that they allegedly renounced the Christian faith twice under pressure from the Arabs (“Saracens”), after which the Pope imposed a penance on them: they had to wander for seven years. Also this belief appears to be derived from verses in the Biblical Book of Ezekiel (29: 6 and 12–13) which refer to the Egyptians being scattered among the nations by an angry God. According to one narrative, they were exiled from Egypt as punishment for allegedly harbouring the infant Jesus. In his book The Zincali: an account of the Gypsies of Spain, George Borrow notes that when they first appeared in Germany, it was under the character of Egyptians doing penance for their having refused hospitality to Mary and her son. There was a widespread hypothesis of European scholars of the XV-XVIII centuries that the Gypsies women learned the art of divination in Egypt
The Latin term populus Pharaonis 'Pharaoh's people' was also used as a synonym for "Egyptian" in the Middle Ages. The expressions fáraók népe 'people of the pharaohs' and fáraók ivadéka 'offspring of the pharaohs' were also used in the Hungarian language until the 19th century. Among the Montenegrin gypsies, many still believe in the Egyptian origin, which is why they also declare themselves Egyptian during the census.
Деметер Н. Г. , Бессонов Н. В. , Кутенков В. К. История цыган: новый взгляд. Воронеж, 2000.
Цыгане / отв. ред. Н.Г. Деметер, А. В. Черных. - М. 2018
Марушиакова Е., Попов В. Циганите в Османската империя. София, 2000. 17.
Fraser, Angus (1992), The Gypsies, Oxford, UK: Blackwell
White, Karin (1999). "Metal-workers, agriculturists, acrobats, military-people and fortune-tellers: Roma (Gypsies) in and around the Byzantine empire". Golden Horn. 7 (2) https://web.archive.org/web/20010320210002/http://www.isidore-of-seville.com/goudenhoorn/72karin.html
Soulis, G (1961), The Gypsies in the Byzantine Empire and the Balkans in the Late Middle Ages, Dumbarton Oaks Papers, Trustees for Harvard University, pp. 15, 141–65