The modern Greek race or people is that which has descended, with considerable foreign admixture, from the ancient Greeks. While the stock has changed much, physically and otherwise, the modern language is more nearly like the ancient Greek than Italian, for instance, is like the ancient Latin.
The Greek race of today is intensely proud of its language and its history, and naturally wishes to be considered as genuinely Hellenic. The official title of the country is now the “Kingdom of Hellas,” and any citizen, however mixed in race, styles himself a Hellene. The people are wide-awake on political questions, are avid readers of newspapers, and, like the Greek of older times, eager to learn some new thing. Generally speaking, in customs, superstitions, and folklore, the modern race is a continuation of the ancient.
It may not be commonly known that the greater part of the Greeks live outside of Greece, probably twice as numerous as those in Greece. Ripley says that they form a third of the total population of the Balkan States. On the other hand, von Hellwald says that of the population of Greece itself only about 1,300,000 are truly Greek in race.
Gypsies (jip´sēz).—A peculiar wandering race which appeared in eastern Europe in the fourteenth century and is now found in every country of Europe, as well as in parts of Asia, Africa, and America. The Gypsies are distinguishable from the peoples among whom they rove by their bodily appearance and by their language. Their forms are generally light, lithe, and agile; skin of a tawny color; eyes large, black and brilliant; hair long, coal black, and often ringleted; mouth well shaped; and teeth very white. Ethnologists generally concur in regarding the Gypsies as descendants of some obscure Hindu tribe. They pursue various nomadic occupations, being tinkers, basket-makers, fortune-tellers, dealers in horses, etc.; are often expert musicians; and are credited with thievish propensities. They appear to be destitute of any system of religion, but traces of various forms of paganism are found in their language and customs.
The Gypsy calls himself “Rom,” whence comes Romany as a name for the language. Special names are applied to Gypsies in the different countries where they are found. Some of these relate to the supposed origin of this singular people, as Gypsy or Egyptian in the British Isles, Bohémien in France, Gitano (Egyptian) in Spain, and Tatare in Scandinavia. In some countries they are known, by a term of contempt, as Heiden (heathen) in Holland, Harami (robbers) in Egypt, and Tinklers in Scotland, but in most parts of Europe a local form of the word Zingani is used to designate them, as Zigeuner in Germany, Cygany in Hungary, and Zingari in Spain.
Intermarriage with other peoples is becoming more frequent. Through loss of language, the assumption of a sedentary life, and intermarriage, Gypsies are decreasing in numbers and seem everywhere doomed to extinction by absorption.
Of the total population of Gypsies in the world, three-fourths are in Europe. There are 200,000 in Roumania, 100,000 each in Hungary and the Balkan Peninsula, 50,000 each in Spain, Russia and Servia, and 50,000 in Germany and Italy combined. The number in the British Isles is variously estimated at from 5,000 to 20,000. There are thought to be 100,000 in Asia and 25,000 in Africa. Only a few thousand are found in the Americas.
Hebrews (hē´bruz), Jewish or Israelite.—The race or people that originally spoke the Hebrew language. They were primarily of Semitic origin, and according to tradition, descended from Heber, the great-grandson of Shem, in the line of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They are scattered throughout Europe, especially in Russia, yet preserve their own individuality to a marked degree. Linguistically, the nearest relatives of the ancient Hebrew are the Syriac, Assyrian, and Arabic languages. While the Hebrew is not so nearly a dead language as the related Syrian, Aramaic, or the ancient Assyrian, its use in most Jewish communities is confined mainly to religious exercises. The Jews have adopted the languages of the peoples with whom they have long been associated. More speak Yiddish, called in Europe “Judeo-German,” than any other language, since the largest modern population of Jews borders on eastern Germany and has been longest under German influence.
Physically the Hebrew is a mixed race. In every country, however, they are found to approach in type the people among whom they have long resided. The two chief divisions of the Jewish people are the northern type, and the Spanish or southern type. The latter are now found mainly in the countries southeast of Austria. They consider themselves to be of purer race than the northern Jews and in some countries refuse to intermarry or worship with the latter. Their features are more truly Semitic.
The social solidarity of the Jews is chiefly a product of religion and tradition. Taking all factors into account, and especially their type of civilization, the Jews of today are more truly European than Asiatic or Semitic.