The largest sub-group of German Roma  in the latter sense consists of the population that now refers to itself as ‘Sinti.’ They are descendants of a Romani- speaking immigrant population that began leaving the Balkans around the end of the 14^th century.

First attestations of Roma in Germany date from the early 15^th century. As a sub-division of the European Romani population, the Sinti are fairly closely related, both culturally and linguistically, to the Romani populations of Britain and Scandinavia (Finland), who migrated to these locations via Germany.

All these groups are relatively closed and isolated, with rather strict codes regulating family, and limiting contacts with non-Roma (gadje). They also have a shared tendency to conceal their identity from non-Roma, and to prevent outsiders from learning about their customs and language.

Like the Romani populations of Scandinavia, Britain, and the Iberian Peninsula, up to the late 18th century the Sinti referred to themselves as ‘Kale’ (lit. ‘blacks’). The term ‘Sinti’ or ‘Sinte’  may be found in 18^th and 19^th century linguistic documentation alongside ‘Kale,’ and appears to have been borrowed from the secret vocabulary of the Yenish travelers, perhaps because of its usefulness in concealing ethnic identity.  Only toward the late 19^th century does the self-appellation ‘Sinti’ replace ‘Kale’ entirely in Germany.

Link: https://books.openedition.org/ceup/1417?lang=en#tocfrom1n2

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