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court of justice’, a strategy in line with using Romani exclusively for
headings, titles and names.
• The use of Romani only in the name of the organisation also applies
for the web presentation of the Kumanovo/Macedonia-based NGO
Daja, ‘Mothers’, . Apart from the official
denomination, the entire website is in Macedonian with some texts
translated into English.
Such bilingual websites using English in addition to the respective dominant
language of the country where the NGO is active demonstrate not only the
importance of English as an international language but also the functional
restrictions of Romani as a dominated language outlined in chapter 1. The
written style in public political domains of a state is fully covered by the
dominant state language. Thus the scope of all other languages spoken on the
territory of the respective country is limited to some other formal written
domains, for instance education, and mainly to oral informal domains of
everyday life and the private sphere. To spread information beyond the
national level and to produce an effect on the international level, the use of an
international language is indispensible. Therefore, English in its function as the
global lingua franca is used alongside the national language. The use of Romani
in web presentations of Romani NGOs is more or less mere symbolism. It is
used for identity flagging, for indicating cultural independence, for maintaining
ethnocultural status, etc., but almost never for communicative purposes.
2.1.2. International Websites
Supranational organisations and Roma NGOs acting primarily on the international
level as a rule use English in its globally dominant function as the primary language
for their web presence. Examples of such web pages are listed below: 89
• The web presentation of the European Roma Information Office ‒ ERIO
is exclusively in English. This international
Brussels/Belgium-based NGO, which is almost exclusively run by
Roma, aims to be the sole legitimate representation of Roma to the
European Commission and the European Parliament.
• The European Roma and Travellers Forum – ERTF based in Strasbourg/France is an international umbrella
organisation of Roma associated to the Council of Europe. On its website
only the name is trilingual: European Roma and Travellers Forum ‒
Europako Forumo e Romenge thaj e Phirutnenge – Forum Européen des
Roms et des Gens du Voyage. The French denomination is in line with
the tradition of language use in the European supranational context.
89
Accessed 2012-02-25.
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