Roma people (gypsies) have been living in Europe since about 1200 years. It is now universally accepted that they originated from Northern India/ Pakistan. This conclusion is primarily based on their language which as many words similar to those used in Indo-Pak region.
Since Roma left, the languages in this region have transformed radically due to foreign influences of Persian, Arabic, Turkish, English, etc. Due to lack of written record, it is very difficult to reconstruct those languages.
But Roma language was not influenced by those foreign languages because they left the region very early.
I think it would be an interesting idea to compare words of Roma with those from Punjabi/Urdu. That will be like time travel in past.
Re: A suggestion for reconstructing old Urdu/Punjabi using Roma language
The word for number 3 is similar to Sindhi 'tray' more than Urdu 'teen'.
But even more surprisingly, the word for number 7 is closer to Persian 'haft' than Urdu 'saat'?!
Re: A suggestion for reconstructing old Urdu/Punjabi using Roma language
The word for number 3 is similar to Sindhi 'tray' more than Urdu 'teen'.
But even more surprisingly, the word for number 7 is closer to Persian 'haft' than Urdu 'saat'?!
I can’t read it properly.