Who are the Yenish people?

Question

Who are the Yenish people?

Answer 1

The Yenish people live mainly in Switzerland, but are also found in the neighbouring coun­tries of Austria, Germany and France. Today, approximately 35,000 Yenish live in Switzerland,about 5000 of whom still lead nomadic or semi-nomadic lives. Their unusual fair skin and blue eyes have given rise to some contentious theories about their origins, such as that they are of Celtic origin, or that they are the descendants of dispossessed non-Gypsy settlers in Switzerland. Other theories claim that they are part of a migration of Gypsies from India, belonging to a fair-skinned group. In German-speaking areas the Yenish language is loosely based on the structures of German grammar and has incorporated many words from Hebrew, Yiddish, German and Rotwelsch.