Un problema di morfologia romaní: la diacronia dei derivati astratti

This article addresses several aspects of the development of Romani abstract nouns in -ipen, -iben and -imo. The first section shows that, despite the agreement on the etymology of the three suffixes, Romani abstract nouns are the outcome of complex diachronic pathways: their derivational markers exhibit a high degree of internal and interdialectal variation in their inflection, but they are always followed by an oblique case marker -as-, spread throughout Romani and specific to these derivatives. The second section examines Proto Romani forms of the Indian markers -ipen and -iben, proposing a diachronic analysis for some of their oblique variants attested in Romani and discussing the accountability of the oblique marker -as- as an Indo-Aryan marker. The third section proposes a source for the oblique marker -as- involving the contact with Greek and Romani derivatives in -imo. The last section finally provides a path for the development of abstract nouns’ variation in Romani, with some remarks on the relative chronology of the discussed phenomena.