Re a couple things on this thread: 1) The basis of Romany language - both Hindi and Sanskrit are considered the closest ancestral relatives of the Romany language base. This is part of the Indo-Iranian family of languages not the Indo-European (while the proto Indo-European can be considered the ancestral language family of Indo-Iranian). Ok that being said - I'm not sure about the Irdu/Urdu language previously mentioned. For further information regarding this subject I would suggest reading any of the late Angus Fraser's linguistical analyses on the subject. 2) The terms Tinkers and Travellers have been interchangeably mixed by those who see all wandering peoples in the same light. All Rom are usually considered Travellers. All Travellers are not considered Rom. I also agree with one of the previous posters that Tinkers are generally an Irish term for those who have been the pot menders, ferrier's, general travelling salesmen. Tinkers were prevalent in both Ireland and England before the Rom actually made it there. 3) Specifically to Arbuthnot; I am very interested in your statement about 2 Rom tribes of the Rom and the Zingar. Would you mind sending me any references to that? (billing@pipcom.com) Zingar and especially Zinganos is very close to the Zigeuner (German), Tsiganes (French), Zingari (Italian), Czigan (Hungarian - term now equates to an insult) etc names given to Rom by Gadje. This is attributed to have stemmed from the Greek term Atsinganoi in Byzantine times.