The
Megleno-Romanians or
Meglen Vlachs or
Moglenite Vlachs (
Megleno-RomanianMegleno-Romanian is a Romance language, similar to Aromanian and Romanian, or a dialect of the Romanian language...
:
Vlashi; ,
Vlachomoglenítes; ,
Megleniţi, or
Vlaşi) are a small Eastern Romance people, currently inhabiting seven villages in the Moglena region spanning the
PellaPella is one of the prefectures of Greece. Its capital town is Edessa. The prefecture was created out of the then gigantic Thessaloniki Prefecture in 1930 and is named after the ancient city Pella...
and
KilkisKilkis is a prefecture in Central Macedonia, in northern Greece. Its capital is the city of Kilkis.-Geography:The mountains near Kilkis are Paiko to the west, parts of the western part of Kerkini to the northeast and Krousia to the east...
prefectures of
Central MacedoniaCentral Macedonia is one of the thirteen peripheries of Greece, consisting of the central part of the region of Macedonia. It is divided into the prefectures of Chalkidiki, Imathia, Kilkis, Pella, Pieria, Serres, and Thessaloniki...
,
GreeceGreece , officially the Hellenic Republic , is a country in southeastern Europe, situated on the southern end of the Balkan Peninsula....
, and one village, Huma, across the border in the
Republic of MacedoniaMacedonia , officially the Republic of Macedonia , is a country in the central Balkan peninsula in southeastern Europe. It is one of the successor states of the former Yugoslavia, from which it declared independence in 1991...
. This people live in an area of approximately 300 sq. km in size. Unlike the
AromanianAromanians are a people living throughout the southern Balkans, especially in northern Greece, Albania, Serbia, the Republic of Macedonia and Bulgaria, and as an emigrant community in Romania...
Vlachs, the other Romance speaking population in the same historic region, the Meglen Vlachs are traditionally sedentary agriculturalists, and not traditionally transhumants.
They speak a Romance language most often called by linguists
Megleno-RomanianMegleno-Romanian is a Romance language, similar to Aromanian and Romanian, or a dialect of the Romanian language...
or Meglenitic in English, and βλαχομογλενίτικα (
vlachomoglenítika) or simply μογλενίτικα (
moglenítika) in
GreekGreek , an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, is the language of the Greeks. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. In its ancient form, it is the language of classical...
. The people themselves call their language
vlaheshte, but the Megleno-Romanian diaspora in
RomaniaRomania is a country located in Southeastern and Central Europe, North of the Balkan Peninsula, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea. Almost all of the Danube Delta is located within its territory...
also uses the term
megleno-româna.
Unlike the other Eastern Romanace populations, in time Megleno-Romanians have disused a name for themselves originating from Latin
Romanus, and instead have adopted the term
Vlasi or
Vlashi, derived from
VlachsVlachs or Walachians is a blanket term covering several modern Latin peoples descending from the Latinised population in Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe...
, a general term by which in the middle ages non-Romance people called the Romance peoples. (The word
Vlachs appears in the Byzantine documents at about the 10th century.) The term
Megleno-Romanians was given to them in the 19th century by the scientists that studied their language and customs, based on the region in which they live.
Their number is estimated between 5,213 (P. Atanasov, most recent estimate), and 20,000 (P.Papahagi, ca, 1900). There is a larger Megleno-Romanian diaspora in Romania (ca. 1,500 people), and a smaller one in
TurkeyTurkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey
, is a Eurasian country that stretches across the Anatolian peninsula in Western Asia and Thrace in the Balkan region of southeastern Europe...
(ca. 500 people).
GreeceGreece , officially the Hellenic Republic , is a country in southeastern Europe, situated on the southern end of the Balkan Peninsula....
does not recognize national minorities, thus this approximately 4,000-strong community does not have any official recongnition from Greece. Another 1,000 Megleno-Romanians live in the
Republic of MacedoniaMacedonia , officially the Republic of Macedonia , is a country in the central Balkan peninsula in southeastern Europe. It is one of the successor states of the former Yugoslavia, from which it declared independence in 1991...
. It is believed, however, that there are up to 20,000 people of Megleno-Romanian descent worldwide (including those assimilated into the basic populations of these countries).
Origins
The Moglen region (
TurkishTurkish is spoken as a first language by over 63 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Cyprus, with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo, Albania and other...
: Karadjova) is located in the north of Greece at the border with the Republic of Macedonia. It is roughly bounded by the
VardarThe Vardar or Axios is the longest and major river in the Republic of Macedonia and also a major river of Greece. It is long, and drains an area of around ....
river to the east, by the Cosuf and Nigea Mountains to the west, by the plains of Ianita and Vodena to the south, and by the Mariansca Mountains to the north. The number of Megleno-Romanians was estimated by different authors as follows:
- 14,000 in 1892
- 21,700 in 1895
- 11,960 in 1900
- 20,000 in 1902
- 14,720 in 1925
Historians
Ovid DensusianuOvid Densusianu was a Romanian poet, philologist, linguist and folklorist...
and C. Jirecek considered that Megleno-Romanians descend from a mixture of
RomaniansThe Romanians are a nation and ethnic group native to Romania, who speak Romanian ; they are the majority inhabitants of România.In one prominent interpretation of the census results in Moldova, Moldovans are counted as Romanians, which would...
with Pecenegs, settled in Moglen by the Byzantine Emperor
Alexios I KomnenosAlexios I Komnenos, Latinized as Alexius I Comnenus , was Byzantine emperor from 1081 to 1118, and the founder of the Komnenian dynasty...
in 1091. They argued this based in part on the Asian-like facial appearance (more prominent cheek bones) of Meglen Vlachs. By contrast,
Gustav WeigandGustav Weigand , was a German linguist and specialist for Balkan languages, especially Rumanian and Aromanian. He is known for his seminal contributions to the dialectology of the Rumanian language and to the study of the relationships between the languages of the Balkan sprachbund.Weigand was born...
and
George MurnuGeorge Murnu was a Romanian university professor, archaeologist, historian, translator, and poet of Aromanian origin....
believed that Megleno-Romanians are descendants of the
Romanian-Bulgarian EmpireThe Second Bulgarian Empire was a medieval Bulgarian state which existed between 1185 and 1396 . A successor of the First Bulgarian Empire, it reached the peak of its power under Kaloyan and Ivan Asen II before gradually declining to be conquered by the Ottomans in the late 14th-early 15th century...
that retreated to Moglen.. This view was opposed by Jiricek.
Pericle Papahagi argued another version, that Megleno-Romanians are descendants of a group of Romanians who were incorrectly called Vlachs.
Megleno-Romanians used to have a traditional custom, called
bondic, where the head of a household would take an oak log and place it in the hearth just before
ChristmasChristmas , also referred to as Christmas Day, is an annual holiday celebrated on December 25 that commemorates the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. The day marks the beginning of the larger season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days. The nativity of Jesus, which is the basis for the anno Domini...
, burning it bit by bit till Epiphany. The resulting charcoal would be put under fruit trees to make them fertile. A similar custom (called
bavnic), but with specific variations, also existed among
AromaniansAromanians are a people living throughout the southern Balkans, especially in northern Greece, Albania, Serbia, the Republic of Macedonia and Bulgaria, and as an emigrant community in Romania...
, some Romanians and
LatviansLatvians , the indigenous Baltic people of Latvia, occasionally refer to themselves by the ancient name of Latvji, which may have originated from the word Latve which is a name of the river that presumably flowed through what is now eastern Latvia...
. Some believe that this and other cultural archetypes discovered by scientists are a proof that Megleno-Romanians come from a traditional mountainous region.
Theodor Capidan, studying the resemblance of the
Megleno-Romanian languageMegleno-Romanian is a Romance language, similar to Aromanian and Romanian, or a dialect of the Romanian language...
with
RomanianRomanian or Daco-Romanian is a Romance language spoken by around 24 to 28 million people, primarily in Romania and Moldova. It has official status in Romania, Republic of Moldova, and the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina in Serbia...
and other languages, concluded that Megleno-Romanians must have spent some time in the
Rhodope MountainsThe Rhodopes are a mountain range in Southeastern Europe, with over 83% of its area in southern Bulgaria and the remainder in Greece...
before moving on to Moglen (due to similar elements with the language of the
BulgariansThe Bulgarians are a South Slavic people, generally associated with the Republic of Bulgaria and the Bulgarian language. Emigration has resulted in Bulgarian minorities or immigrant communities in a number of other countries.-Ethnogenesis:...
in the Rhodopes). Both Papahagi and Capidan observed that
ArmonanianAromanian , also known as Macedo-Romanian, Arumanian or Vlach in most other countries, is an Eastern Romance language spoken in Southeastern Europe...
and
Megleno-RomanianMegleno-Romanian is a Romance language, similar to Aromanian and Romanian, or a dialect of the Romanian language...
lack a
SlavicThe Slavic languages , a group of closely related languages of the Slavic peoples and a subgroup of Indo-European languages, have speakers in most of Eastern Europe, in much of the Balkans, in parts of Central Europe, and in the northern part of Asia.-Branches:Scholars traditionally divide Slavic...
influence, but have a Greek one instead. The study of Megleno-Romanian and other Eastern Romance varieties led Capidan to believe that during the establishment of the Romanian lanaguage in the Early Middle Ages, there was an ethnic Romanian continuity on both banks of the Danube (north and south).
From the medieval and modern periods, it is known that Moglen Vlachs had an administration of their own. Each village was led by a
captain. Their economic and social center was the town of
Nânta. After the incursions of the
PomaksPomaks are a Bulgarian speaking, Muslim population group native to some parts of Bulgaria, specifically southern Bulgaria, and the adjacent parts of Greece and Turkey. Members of the group today declare a variety of ethnic identities, Bulgarian, Turkish, Greek, Pomak or Muslim...
of Moglen against the Ottomans, the latter started a persecution campaign against villages in the area, including those of the Moglen Vlachs. Most of the villages were put under the administration of an Ottoman
bei, who exploited them to the extreme in exchange for their security. The village of
Osani, however, resisted much longer before being subdued by the Ottomans, because its captain was more skilled militarily.
In 1900, the then province of
GevgelijaGevgelija is a town with a population of 15,685 located in the very southeast of the Republic of Macedonia along the banks of the Vardar River, situated at the country's main border with Greece , the point which links the motorway from Skopje and three other former Yugoslav capitals with...
, which contained most of the Megleno-Romanian settlements, had a population of 49,315, of which 20,643 Slavs, 14,900
TurksThe Turkish people , also known as the "Turks" are defined mainly as citizens of the Republic of Turkey. An early historic text provided the definition of being a Turk as "any individual within the Republic of Turkey; whatever his/her faith or racial/ethnic background; who speaks Turkish, grows up...
, 9,400 Christian Aromanians and Megleno-Romanians, 3,500 Muslim Megleno-Romanians, 655 Gypsies, and 187
CircassiansCircassians is a term derived from the Turkic Cherkess . Generically it refers to the Caucasian peoples of northwest Caucasus. It might be understood in a narrower sense , or in a broader sense...
. The villages of Meglen Vlachs had in 1900 the following populations:
| Village |
Population |
| Notia Nótia is a village in the Exaplatanos municipality of the Pella Prefecture, Central Macedonia, Greece...
(Nânti, Nânta) |
3,660 |
| Perikleia (Birislav) |
380 |
| Lagkadia (Lugunţa) |
700 |
| Archangelos Archangelos is a town and part of the Exaplatanos municipality in the Pella Prefecture of Macedonia, Greece, near Aridaia. Originally, the inhabitants of the town speak Megleno-Romanian, though nowadays Greek is spoken more often. The town is known for its monastery of Saint Michael, in which many...
(Ossiani, Osani) |
1,500 |
| Skra (Liumniţa) |
2,600 |
| Koupa (Cupa) |
600 |
| Kastaneri (Baroviţa) |
237 |
| Karpi (Tarnareca) |
400 |
| Huma (Uma) |
490 |
| Konsko (Coinsco) |
560 |
| Sermenin (Sirminia) |
480 |
| Livadia Livadia is a community in the Paionia Province of Kilkis Prefecture in Central Macedonia, Greece, 11 km northewest of Griva, 15 km northwest of Goumenissa. Its population in 2001 was 402...
(Giumala de Jos)1 |
2,100 |
1AromanianAromanians are a people living throughout the southern Balkans, especially in northern Greece, Albania, Serbia, the Republic of Macedonia and Bulgaria, and as an emigrant community in Romania...
village surround by the Megleno-Romanian ones.
20th century
Most Meglen Vlachs are Orthodox Christians, but the population of the village of
Nânti (Nótia)Nótia is a village in the Exaplatanos municipality of the Pella Prefecture, Central Macedonia, Greece...
, which in 1900 had a population of 3,660, of which 3,500 Megleno-Romanians, in the Upper Karadjova Plain converted to
IslamIslam Islam Islam ( al-’islām,
[There are ten pronunciations of Islam in English, differing in whether the first or second syllable has the stress, whether the s is or , and whether the a is pronounced as in father, as in cat, or (when the stress is on the i) as in the a of sofa...]
in the 17th or 18th century. It is the only case among Eastern Romance populations with an entire community converting to Islam. The entire population of this village was forcefully expelled to
TurkeyTurkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey
, is a Eurasian country that stretches across the Anatolian peninsula in Western Asia and Thrace in the Balkan region of southeastern Europe...
in 1923, as part of the
population exchange between Greece and TurkeyThe 1923 population exchange between Greece and Turkey was the first compulsory large-scale population exchange, or agreed mutual expulsion of the 20th century. It involved approximately 2 million people, most of whom were forcibly made refugees and de jure denaturalized from their homelands...
, where they mostly settled in
KırklareliKırklareli is the capital of Kırklareli Province in Eastern Thrace, on the European part of Turkey. Ongoing archeological excavations in the city support the claim that the area may have been the location of the first organized settlement on the European continent.-Name:It is not clearly known...
and
ŞarköyŞarköy is a seaside district of Tekirdağ Province situated on the north coast of the Marmara Sea in Thrace in Turkey. Şarköy is 86 km west of the town of Tekirdağ, and can be reached either by the inland road or by the winding coast road, which goes on to Gallipoli.-History:Stone-age weapons...
, and became known as
Karadjovalides after the Turkish name of Moglen..
Since 1913, after the
Second Balkan WarThe Second Balkan War was a conflict which broke out when Bulgaria dissatisfied from its share after the division of the spoils of the First Balkan War, attacked its former allies, Serbia and Greece, on 16 June 1913. Serbian and Greek armies repulsed the Bulgarian offensive and counter-attacked...
, there was a general policy of the Balkan states to achieve more ethnically uniformity through exchange of population. On September 29, 1913, a first such treaty was signed between Turkey and Bulgaria about exchange of population of up to 15 km deep from their border. The Treaty of Neuilly-sur-Seine (November 27, 1919) led to an exchange 50,000 Greeks for 70,000 Bulgarians between the two countries. After the
Greek-Turkish WarThe Turkish War of Independence is the political and military resistance developed by Turkish Nationalists to the Allied partitioning of the Ottoman Empire after its defeat in World War I...
, by the
Treaty of LausanneThe Treaty of Lausanne was a peace treaty signed in Lausanne, Switzerland, that settled the Anatolian and East Thracian parts of the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire by annulment of the Treaty of Sèvres that was signed by the Constantinople-based Ottoman government; as the consequence of the...
, 500,000 of Turks and other Muslims were exchanged for a comparable number of Asia Minor Greeks. Muslim Megleno-Romanians, despite all their protests were forcefully deported to Turkey because of their religion. A significant number of arriving Greeks were settled in Greek Macedonia and Greek
ThraceThrace is a historical and geographic area in southeast Europe. As a geographical concept, Thrace designates a region bounded on the north by the Balkan Mountains, on the south by the Rhodope Mountains and the Aegean Sea and on the east by the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara...
, including in traditional Aromanian and Megleno-Romanian areas. Economic and social consequences soon followed, and local conflict between Aromanians and Greeks appeared. Acts of intimidation by the Greek authorities led to the formation in 1921-1923 of a national movement among Aromanians and Megleno-Romanians favorable to the idea of emigration to Romania, especially from Moglena,
VeriaVeria is a city built at the foot of Vermion Mountains in Greece. It is a commercial center of Macedonia, the capital of the prefecture of Imathia, the province of Imathia and the seat of a bishop of the Greek Orthodox Church...
and Vodena.
In 1926, about 450 families of Megleno-Romanians of Greece moved to
RomaniaRomania is a country located in Southeastern and Central Europe, North of the Balkan Peninsula, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea. Almost all of the Danube Delta is located within its territory...
, and settled in
Southern DobrujaSouthern Dobruja is an area of north-eastern Bulgaria comprising the administrative districts named for its two principal cities of Dobrich and Silistra...
(
Cadrilater), a region which became Romanian in 1913. They originated from the villages of
Osani, Liumnita, Cupa, Lundzini, Birislav, Livezi, and were settled in villages around the city of Durostor such as
Cocina, Cazimir, Capaclia, Bazarghian, Aidodu, Tatar Admagea, Uzungi Ozman, Strebarna Viskioi, Cadichioi, Haschioi.
After Bulgaria re-acquired Southern Dobruja from Romania in 1940, the Megleno-Romanians moved to other regions of Romania, many of them to the village of
Cerna in
Tulcea CountyTulcea is a county of Romania, in the historical region Dobruja, with the capital city at Tulcea.-Demographics:In 2002, Tulcea County had a population of 256,492...
, in northern
DobrujaDobruja, or Dobrudja , is a historical region shared by Bulgaria and Romania, located between the lower Danube river and the Black Sea, including the Danube Delta, Romanian coast and the northernmost part of the Bulgarian coast....
. 270 families of Megleno-Romanians and 158 families of Aromanians settled in this village in 1940. Between 1940 and 1948, the Aromanian families moved to other localities of Dobruja.
In 1947-1948, the new
Communist authoritiesCommunist Romania was the period in Romanian history when that country was a Soviet-aligned communist state in the Eastern Bloc, with the leading role of Romanian Communist Party enshrined in its successive constitutions...
deported 40 Megleno-Romanian families from Cerna to the
IalomiţaIalomiţa is a county of Romania, in Muntenia, with the capital city at Slobozia.-Demographics:In 2002, it had a population of 296,572 and the population density was 67/km²....
and
Brăila CountiesBrăila is a county of Romania, in Muntenia, with the capital city at Brăila.- Demographics :In 2002, it had a population of 373,174 and the population density was 78/km².*Romanians - 98%*Romas, Russians, Lipovans, Aromanians and others....
, and to
BanatThe Banat is a geographical and historical region in Central Europe currently divided between three countries: the eastern part lies in Romania , the western part in Serbia , and a...
, and only a few of them returned to Cerna, where about 1,200 continue to speak Megleno-Romanian to this day.
Another wave of Megleno-Romanians emigrated to Romania and to other countries during
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and the
Greek Civil WarThe Greek Civil War was fought from 1946 to 1949 between the Greek governmental army, backed by the United Kingdom, United States, and the Democratic Army of Greece , the military branch of the Greek Communist Party , backed by Bulgaria, Yugoslavia and Albania...
, due to the heavy fighting carried out in the Moglená region.
Current Megleno-Romanian settlements
The following is a list of the Megleno-Romanian settlements.
GreeceGreece , officially the Hellenic Republic , is a country in southeastern Europe, situated on the southern end of the Balkan Peninsula....
In seven villages (including one already assimilated by Greeks) and the small town of
NotiaNótia is a village in the Exaplatanos municipality of the Pella Prefecture, Central Macedonia, Greece...
, ca. 4,000 Moglen Vlachs still speak their language today, while several thousand others are already assimilated:
Greece
ArchangelosArchangelos is a town and part of the Exaplatanos municipality in the Pella Prefecture of Macedonia, Greece, near Aridaia. Originally, the inhabitants of the town speak Megleno-Romanian, though nowadays Greek is spoken more often. The town is known for its monastery of Saint Michael, in which many...
(
Megleno-RomanianMegleno-Romanian is a Romance language, similar to Aromanian and Romanian, or a dialect of the Romanian language...
:
Ossiani)
Greece Karpi (
Megleno-RomanianMegleno-Romanian is a Romance language, similar to Aromanian and Romanian, or a dialect of the Romanian language...
:
Tarnareca)
Greece Koupa (
Megleno-RomanianMegleno-Romanian is a Romance language, similar to Aromanian and Romanian, or a dialect of the Romanian language...
:
Cupa)
Greece Langadia (
Megleno-RomanianMegleno-Romanian is a Romance language, similar to Aromanian and Romanian, or a dialect of the Romanian language...
:
Lugunţa, Lundzini)
Greece
NotiaNótia is a village in the Exaplatanos municipality of the Pella Prefecture, Central Macedonia, Greece...
(
Megleno-RomanianMegleno-Romanian is a Romance language, similar to Aromanian and Romanian, or a dialect of the Romanian language...
:
Nânti, Nânta)
Greece Perikleia (
Megleno-RomanianMegleno-Romanian is a Romance language, similar to Aromanian and Romanian, or a dialect of the Romanian language...
:
Birislav)
Greece Skra (
Megleno-RomanianMegleno-Romanian is a Romance language, similar to Aromanian and Romanian, or a dialect of the Romanian language...
:
Liumniţa)
- Former Megleno-Romanian village
Greece Kastaneri (
Megleno-RomanianMegleno-Romanian is a Romance language, similar to Aromanian and Romanian, or a dialect of the Romanian language...
:
Baroviţa)
Republic of MacedoniaMacedonia , officially the Republic of Macedonia , is a country in the central Balkan peninsula in southeastern Europe. It is one of the successor states of the former Yugoslavia, from which it declared independence in 1991...
Over 2,000 people of Megleno-Romanian descent, most of which are already
slavisizedSlavicisation is a term used to describe a cultural change in which something non-Slavic becomes Slavic. The process can either be voluntary, or applied with varying degrees of force....
, live in three villages. Ca. 500 speak
Megleno-Romanian languageMegleno-Romanian is a Romance language, similar to Aromanian and Romanian, or a dialect of the Romanian language...
:
Republic of Macedonia Huma (
Megleno-RomanianMegleno-Romanian is a Romance language, similar to Aromanian and Romanian, or a dialect of the Romanian language...
:
Uma)
- Former Megleno-Romanian villages
Republic of Macedonia Konsko (
Megleno-RomanianMegleno-Romanian is a Romance language, similar to Aromanian and Romanian, or a dialect of the Romanian language...
:
Coinsco)
Republic of Macedonia Sermenin (
Megleno-RomanianMegleno-Romanian is a Romance language, similar to Aromanian and Romanian, or a dialect of the Romanian language...
:
Sirminia)
RomaniaRomania is a country located in Southeastern and Central Europe, North of the Balkan Peninsula, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea. Almost all of the Danube Delta is located within its territory...
They adopted the Megleno-Romanian exonym promoted by the Romanian authorities. As of 1996, in all Romania there were about 820 families that claimed Megleno-Romanian origin.
Romania
Cerna, a commune on
Tulcea CountyTulcea is a county of Romania, in the historical region Dobruja, with the capital city at Tulcea.-Demographics:In 2002, Tulcea County had a population of 256,492...
,
Situated in a hilly landscape 55 km from the city of
TulceaTulcea is a city in Dobrogea, Romania. It is the administrative center of Tulcea county, and has a population of 91,875 as of 2002...
and 25 km from
Măcin-Location:Măcin is located in the north-western part of the Dobrudja region, in Tulcea County. The city is located at the intersection of the DN22 and DN22D national roads. The DN22 road links it to the Romanian capital, Bucharest and to the cities of Isaccea and Tulcea...
, the village of Cerna had at the 2002 Romanian Census a population of 2,427, and together with three smaller villages the population of the entire commune was 4,227. Estimates of the number of Megleno-Romanians in this village vary from 1,200 to 2,000. In this locality, Megleno-Romanians settled according to the villages they originate from in Moglen:
lumnicianii, those from
Lumniţa in the South-East,
lunzaneţii, those from
Lugunţa in the North,
usineţii, those from
Ossiani in the Center, North and North-East,
cupineţii, those from
Cupa in (w)est, wihle Romanians and Bulgarians that lived in the village before them are concentrated in the (w)estern part of the village.
Megleo-Romanians in this village preserved very well their
Megleno-Romanian languageMegleno-Romanian is a Romance language, similar to Aromanian and Romanian, or a dialect of the Romanian language...
. Ca. 1,200 people speak the language today.
However, their small overall number led to the fact that after 1950 mixed marriages with
RomaniansThe Romanians are a nation and ethnic group native to Romania, who speak Romanian ; they are the majority inhabitants of România.In one prominent interpretation of the census results in Moldova, Moldovans are counted as Romanians, which would...
were more often, unlike the
AromaniansAromanians are a people living throughout the southern Balkans, especially in northern Greece, Albania, Serbia, the Republic of Macedonia and Bulgaria, and as an emigrant community in Romania...
who by the nature of their traditional occupations have developed a special psychology, gaining weight in the Romanian society and preserving their people (very few mixed marriages with Romanians occuring). However, due to the hardships this small community has passed through, Megleno-Romanians in Romania remain very united, with a very sharp national sentiment. During their weddings, they use the Romanian tricolor as a
furgliţa (
wedding flag), and very rarely the traditional white-red colors. This ilustrates the fact that despite their distinct (albeit also East Romanic) language, identity-wise, Megleno-Romanians in Romania identify themselves as Romanians. According to one observer, they consider themselves "more Romanian than the Romanians".
Very small numbers of Megleno-Romanian live also in the communes of
VariaşVariaş is a commune in Timiş County, Romania. It is composed of three villages: Gelu, Sânpetru Mic and Variaş....
and
BiledBiled is a commune in Timiş County, Romania....
, and in the city of
JimboliaJimbolia is a town in Timiş county, Romania. In 2004, it had a population of 11,605.-History:...
in
Timiş CountyTimiş is a county of western Romania, in the historical region Banat, with the county seat at Timişoara...
, in the historic region of
BanatThe Banat is a geographical and historical region in Central Europe currently divided between three countries: the eastern part lies in Romania , the western part in Serbia , and a...
in Romania.
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