Romanian language 25534 225805401 2008-07-15T14:13:51Z Zigomer trubahin 4762059 replaced Romanian name with English one {{sprotected|small=yes}} {{Infobox Language |familycolor=Indo-European |name=Romanian (Daco-Romanian) |nativename=Română |pronunciation=[roˈmɨnə] |states=[[Romania]], [[European Union]], [[Republic of Moldova]], [[Bulgaria]], [[Canada]], [[USA]], [[Russia]], [[Spain]], [[Ukraine]], [[Israel]], [[Serbia]], [[Hungary]]; various communities around the wider [[Balkans|Balkan peninsula]] and beyond. |region=[[Southeastern Europe]], some communities in the [[Middle East]] |speakers=First language: 24 million <br>Second language: 4 million <ref name="28mil">The Latin Union reports 28 million speakers for Romanian, out of whom 24 million are native speakers of the language: ''Latin Union - The odyssey of languages:'' [http://dpel.unilat.org/DPEL/Creation/Odyssee/5.ro.asp ro], [http://dpel.unilat.org/DPEL/Creation/Odyssee/5.es.asp es], [http://dpel.unilat.org/DPEL/Creation/Odyssee/5.fr.asp fr], [http://dpel.unilat.org/DPEL/Creation/Odyssee/5.it.asp it], [http://dpel.unilat.org/DPEL/Creation/Odyssee/5.pt.asp pt]; see also [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=ron Ethnologue report for Romanian]</ref> |rank=34 (native) |fam2=[[Italic languages|Italic]] |fam3=[[Romance languages|Romance]] |fam4=[[Eastern Romance languages|East Romance]] |nation={{flag|Moldova}} <ref name=Moldova>The [[constitution]] of the Republic of [[Moldova]] refers to the country's language as ''Moldovan'' rather than ''Romanian'', though in practice it is often called "Romanian". The introduction of the law concerning the functioning of the languages (September 1989), still effective in Moldova according to the Constitution [http://www.parlament.md/law/constitution/t7/], asserts the linguistic identity between the Romanian language and the Moldovan language. [http://www.iatp.md/ladom/downloads/M3.doc] For more information, see [[History of the Moldovan language]].</ref><br>{{flag|Romania}}<br>{{flag|Vojvodina}} ([[Serbia]]) {{flag|European Union}} |agency=[[Romanian Academy|Academia Română]] |iso1=ro|iso2b=rum|iso2t=ron|iso3=ron|map=[[Image:Map Roumanophone World.png|center|300px]]<br><center><small>Map of the Romanian-speaking territories</center></small>}} '''Romanian''' or '''Daco-Romanian''' ([[wiktionary:dated|dated]]: '''Rumanian''' or '''Roumanian'''; self designation: ''limba română'', {{IPA2|ˈlimba roˈmɨnə}}) is a [[Romance languages|Romance language]] spoken by around 24 to 28 million people,<ref name="28mil"/> primarily in [[Romania]] and [[Moldova]]. It has official status in [[Romania]], [[Moldova]] and the Autonomous Province of [[Vojvodina]] in [[Serbia]]. The official form of the [[Moldovan language]] <ref name=Moldova/> in the [[Republic of Moldova]] is identical to that of Romanian; a minor difference in spelling was abolished in 2000.<ref>The new edition of "Dicţionarul ortografic al limbii române (ortoepic, morfologic, cu norme de punctuaţie)" &ndash; introduced by the [[Academy of Sciences of Moldova]] and recommended for publishing following the board reunion on 15 November 2000 &ndash; applies the decision of the General Meeting of the [[Romanian Academy]] from [[17 February]] [[1993]], regarding the return to "â" and "sunt" in the orthography of the Romanian language. ([http://ro.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imagine:Asm_lbro3.jpg Introduction, Institute of Linguistics of the Academy of Sciences of Moldova]) The decision is mandatory in schools and other official use of the language.</ref> Romanian is also an official or administrative language in various communities and organisations (such as the [[Latin Union]] and the [[European Union]]). [[Romanians|Romanian speakers]] are scattered across many other countries, notably [[Italy]], [[Spain]], [[Israel]], [[Portugal]], [[United Kingdom]], the [[United States]], [[Canada]], [[France]] and [[Germany]]. == History == {{main|History of Romanian language}} [[Image:Map-balkans-vlachs.png|thumb|250px|right|Map of Balkans with regions inhabited by Romanians/Vlachs highlighted]] The [[Dacia]]ns, an Indo-European people, were the ancient inhabitants of Romanian territory. They were defeated by the [[Roman Empire|Roman]]s in 106, and part of Dacia ([[Oltenia]], [[Banat]] and [[Transylvania]]) became a Roman province. This province, which was rich in ores, especially silver and gold,<ref>{{cite web|title = Dacia-Province of the Roman Empire|publisher =United Nations of Roma Victor|url =http://www.unrv.com/provinces/dacia.php|text="gold and silver were found in great quantities in the Western Carpathians. After Trajan's conquest, he brought back to Rome over 165 tons of gold and 330 tons of silver"}}</ref> was colonized by the Romans,<ref>{{cite book|last = Deletant|first = Dennis|title = Colloquial Romanian|publisher = Routledge|date=1995|location =New York|pages =1}}</ref> who brought with them [[Vulgar Latin]] as the language of administration and commerce, and who started a period of intense [[romanization]], which gave birth to proto-Romanian language.<ref> {{cite book|| last =Matley|| first =Ian|| title =Romania; a Profile|| publisher =Praeger||date=1970|| pages =85}} </ref> <ref>{{cite book||last = Giurescu|| first =Constantin C.|| title = The Making of the Romanian People and Language|| publisher =Meridiane Publishing House||date=1972|| location =Bucharest|| pages =43, 98-101,141}}</ref> But in the 3rd century AD, under the pressure of [[Free Dacians]] and from invasions of migratory populations such as [[Goths]], the [[Roman Empire]] was forced to withdraw from [[Dacia]], in 271 AD, leaving it to the Goths.<ref>{{cite book||last =Eutropius||authorlink = Eutropius||coauthors = Justin, Cornelius Nepos||title =Eutropius, Abridgment of Roman History||publisher =George Bell and Sons||date=1886|| location =London|| url = http://www.ccel.org/p/pearse/morefathers/eutropius_breviarium_2_text.htm}}</ref><ref>{{cite web||last = Watkins||first = Thayer||title = The Economic History of the Western Roman Empire ||url =http://www.sjsu.edu/faculty/watkins/barbarians.htm||text= "The Emperor Aurelian recognized the realities of the military situation in Dacia and around 271 A.D. withdrew Roman troops from Dacia leaving it to the Goths.The Danube once again became the northern frontier of the Roman Empire in eastern Europe"}}</ref> It is matter of debate whether modern-day Romanians are descendants of the people that abandoned the area and settled south of the Danube or of the people that remained in Dacia. (''See also [[Origin of the Romanians]].'') Owing to its people's geographical isolation, Romanian was probably among the first of the [[Romance language]]s to split from Latin. It received little influence from other Romance languages until the modern period (until the middle of the 18th century), and is therefore one of the most uniform languages in Europe. It is the most important of the remaining [[Eastern Romance languages]] and is more conservative than other Romance languages in [[Romanian nouns|nominal]] [[morphology (linguistics)|morphology]]. Romanian has preserved [[declension]], but whereas Latin had seven cases, Romanian has five: the [[nominative]], [[accusative]], [[genitive]], [[dative_case|dative]], and the [[vocative]], and still holds the neuter [[Grammatical gender|gender]]. However, the [[verb]] morphology of Romanian has shown the same move towards a compound [[perfect tense|perfect]] and [[future tense]] as the other Romance languages. All the dialects of Romanian are believed to have been unified in a [[Proto-Romanian]] language up to sometime between the 7th and 10th centuries, when the area came under the influence of the [[Byzantine Empire]]. It was then that Romanian became influenced by the [[Slavic languages]] and to some degree the [[Greek language|Greek]]. For example, [[Aromanian language|Aromanian]], one of the closest relatives of Romanian, has very few Slavic words. Also, the variations in the [[Daco-Romanian]] dialect (spoken throughout Romania and Moldova) are very small. The use of this uniform Daco-Romanian dialect extends well beyond the borders of the Romanian state: a Romanian-speaker from Moldova speaks the same language as a Romanian-speaker from the Serbian [[Banat]]. Romanian was influenced by Slavic (due to migration/assimilation, and feudal/ecclesiastical relations), Greek (Byzantine, then [[Phanariotes|Phanariote]]), Turkish, and Hungarian, while the other Romance languages adopted words and features of [[Germanic languages|Germanic]]. == Geographic distribution == {{Romanian language clickable map}} {| border=1 align=right cellpadding=0 cellspacing=2 width=345 style="margin: 0 0 1em 1em; border: 1px #dddddd solid; border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 95%;" |+<big><big>'''Romanian speaking countries and territories'''</big></big> |- !bgcolor=#DDDDDD| '''Country''' !bgcolor=#DDDDDD|Speakers </br> (%) !bgcolor=#DDDDDD|Speakers </br>(native) !bgcolor=#DDDDDD|Population </br> (2005) |- !colspan="4" bgcolor=#f9f9f9|[[Europe]] |- |[[Romania]] | align="right" | 91% | align="right" | 19,736,517 | align="right" | 21,698,181 |- |[[Moldova]] ² | align="right" | 76.4% | align="right" | 2,588,355 | align="right" | 3,388,071 |- |[[Transnistria]] (Moldova)³ | align="right" | 31.9% | align="right" | 177,050 | align="right" | 555,500 |- |[[Vojvodina]] ([[Serbia]]) | align="right" | 1.5% | align="right" | 29,512 | align="right" | 2,031,992 |- |colspan="4"|<small>not official:</small> |- |[[Timočka Krajina]] (Serbia) <sup>4</sup> | align="right" | 8.2% | align="right" | 58,221 | align="right" | 712,050 |- |[[Ukraine]] <sup>5</sup> | align="right" | 0.8% | align="right" | 327,703 | align="right" | 48,457,000 |- |[[Spain]] | align="right" | 0.83% | align="right" | 312,000<ref>Instituto Nacional de Estadística: ''Avance del Padrón Municipal a 1 de enero de 2006. Datos provisionales.'' [http://www.ine.es/prodyser/pubweb/anuario06/anu06_02demog.pdf]. According to [http://www.fedrom.org FEDROM – Federaţia Asociaţiilor Româneşti din Spania], the total number of Romanians living in Spain could be well over 500,000 people.</ref> | align="right" | 44,708,964 |- |[[Italy]] | align="right" | 0.51% | align="right" | 297,570 | align="right" | 58,462,375 |- |[[Hungary]] | align="right" | ~1% | align="right" | 100,000<ref>[http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=ron Number of speakers of Romanian in Hungarry in 1995 according to Ethnologue]</ref> | align="right" | 10,198,315 |- !colspan="4" bgcolor=#f9f9f9|[[Asia]] |- |colspan="4"|<small>not official:</small> |- |[[Israel]] | align="right" | 3.7% | align="right" | 250,000 | align="right" | 6,800,000 |- |[[Kazakhstan]] <sup>1</sup> | align="right" | 0.1% | align="right" | 20,054 | align="right" | 14,953,126 |- |[[Russia]] <sup>1</sup> | align="right" | 0.12% | align="right" | 169,698 <ref> [http://www.perepis2002.ru/index.html?id=87] Perepis 2002 </ref> | align="right" | 145,537,200 |- !colspan="4" bgcolor=#f9f9f9|[[The Americas]] |- |colspan="4"|<small>not official:</small> |- |[[Canada]] | align="right" | 0.2% | align="right" | 60,520 | align="right" | 32,207,113 |- |[[United States]] <sup>6</sup> | align="right" | 0.11% | align="right" | 340,000 | align="right" | 281,421,906 |- !colspan="4" bgcolor=#f9f9f9 align="left" | <small> <sup>1</sup> Many are Moldovans who were deported<br /> ² Data only for the districts on the right bank of Dniester (without Transnistria and the city of Tighina)<br />In Moldova, it is called "[[Moldovan language]]"<br /> ³ In Transnistria, it is officially called "[[Moldovan language]]" and is written in [[Moldovan alphabet|Cyrillic alphabet]]<br /> <sup>4</sup> Officially divided into Vlachs and Romanians<br /> <sup>5</sup> Most in Northern Bukovina and Southern Bessarabia; according to a ''Moldova Noastră'' study (based on the latest Ukrainian census). [http://noinu.rdscj.ro/article.php?articleID=146&document=4]<br /> <sup>6</sup> See [[Romanian-American]] |} Romanian is spoken mostly in [[Southeastern Europe]], although speakers of the language can be found all over the world, mostly due to emigration of Romanian nationals and the return of immigrants from Romania to their original countries. Romanian speakers account for 0,5% of the world's population,<ref> [http://dtil.unilat.org/LI/2005/ro/rezultatele_detaliate.htm Latin Union - Languages and cultures online 2005]</ref> and 4% of the Romance-speaking population of the world.<ref>[http://encarta.msn.com/media_701500404/Languages_Spoken_by_More_Than_10_Million_People.html MSN Encarta - Languages Spoken by More Than 10 Million People]</ref> Romanian is the single official and national language in [[Romania]] and [[Moldova]], although it shares the official status at regional level with other languages in the Moldovan autonomies of [[Gagauzia]] and [[Transnistria]]. Romanian is also an official language of the [[Autonomous Province of Vojvodina]] in [[Serbia]] along with five other languages. Romanian minorities are encountered in [[Serbia]] ([[Timok Valley]]), [[Ukraine]] ([[Chernivtsi oblast|Chernivtsi]] and [[Odessa oblast]]s), [[Hungary]] ([[Gyula]]) and [[Bulgaria]] ([[Vidin]]). Large immigrant communities are found in [[Italy]], [[Spain]], [[France]], and [[Portugal]]. The largest Romanian-speaking community in [[Asia]] is found in [[Israel]], where as of 1995 Romanian is spoken by 5% of the population.<ref>According to the 1993 ''Statistical Abstract of Israel'' there were 250,000 Romanian speakers in Israel, at a population of 5,548,523 (census 1995).</ref><ref>[http://www.eurojewcong.org/ejc/news.php?id_article=110 Reports of about 300,000 Jews that left the country after WW2]</ref> Romanian is also spoken as a second language by people from Arabic-speaking countries who have studied in [[Romania]]. It is estimated that almost half a million [[Middle East]]ern Arabs studied in Romania during the 1980s.<ref>[http://www.evz.ro/article.php?artid=185041 Evenimentul Zilei]</ref> Small Romanian-speaking communities are to be found in [[Kazakhstan]] and [[Russia]]. Romanian is also spoken within communities of Romanian and Moldovan immigrants in the [[United States]], [[Canada]] and [[Australia]], although they don't make up a large homogeneous community state-wide. ===Legal status in Romania=== According to the [[Constitution of Romania]] of 1991, as revised in 2003, Romanian is the official language of the Republic.<ref>[http://www.cdep.ro/pls/dic/site.page?den=act2_1&par1=1 Constitution of Romania]</ref> [[Romania]] mandates the use of Romanian in official government publications, public [[education]] and legal [[contract]]s; [[advertisement]]s must bear a translation of foreign words. The [[Romanian Language Institute]] (''Institutul Limbii Române''), established by the Ministry of Education of Romania, promotes Romanian and supports people willing to study the language, working together with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Department for Romanians Abroad.<ref>[http://www.edu.ro/index.php/articles/c262/ Ministry of Education of Romania]</ref> ===Legal status in Moldova=== {{main|Moldovan language}} About 10% of the world's Romanian-speaking population is Moldovan, and Romanian is the single official language of [[Moldova]]. In the Constitution, the language is officially called [[Moldovan language|Moldovan]], although most linguists consider it to be largely identical to Romanian.<ref>{{cite book |last=Dalby |first=Andrew |authorlink=Andrew Dalby |title=Dictionary of Languages |origyear=1998 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=0-7475-3117-X |pages=p. 518}} </ref> It is also used in schools, mass media, education and in the colloquial speech and writing is often called "Romanian". Romanian has been the only official language of [[Moldova]] since the endorsement of the law on language of the [[Moldavian SSR]]. This law, still in force today, mandates the use of Moldovan in all the political, economical, cultural and social spheres, as it also asserts the existence of a "linguistic [[Moldovan language|Moldo]]-Romanian identity". <ref>[http://www.iatp.md/ladom/downloads/M3.doc Legea cu privire la functionarea limbilor vorbite pe teritoriul RSS Moldovenesti Nr.3465-XI din 01.09.89 Vestile nr.9/217, 1989] (Law regarding the usage of languages spoken on the territory of the Republic of Moldova): ''"Moldavian RSS supports the desire of the Moldovans that live across the borders of the Republic, and considering the really existing linguistical Moldo-Romanian identity - of the Romanians that live on the territory of the USSR, of doing their studies and satisfying their cultural needs in their maternal language."''</ref> In the [[unrecognized state]] of [[Transnistria]], it is co-official with [[Ukrainian language|Ukrainian]] and [[Russian language|Russian]]. In the [[2004 Moldovan Census|2004 census]], out of the 3,383,332 people living in Moldova, 16.5% (558,508) stated Romanian as their mother tongue, whereas 60% stated Moldovan. While 40% of all [[urban area|urban]] Romanian/Moldovan speakers chose Romanian as their mother tongue, in the countryside under 12% of Romanian/Moldovan speakers indicated Romanian as their mother tongue.<ref>National Bureau of Statistics of the Republic of Moldova: [http://www.statistica.md/recensamint.php?lang=ro Census 2004]</ref> However, the group of experts from the international census observation Mission to the Republic of Moldova concluded that the items in the questionnaire dealing with nationality and language proved to be the most sensitive ones, particularly with reference to the recording of responses to these questions as being "Moldovan" or "Romanian", and therefore it concluded that special care would need to be taken in using them.<ref>[http://azi.md/news?ID=34282 Experts Offering to Consult the National Statistics Bureau in Evaluation of the Census Data], ''Moldova Azi'', May 19, 2005, story attributed to [[AP Flux]]. Retrieved October 11, 2005.</ref> ===Legal status in Vojvodina=== {{main|Official status of Romanian language in Vojvodina}} [[Image:Romanian language Serbia.png|thumb|right|160px|'''Romanian language''' in [[Vojvodina]] and [[Timok Valley]] (both in Serbia), census 2002 {| width=100% |- | valign=top | {{legend|#DFB5F7|1-5%}} {{legend|#D094EE|5-10%}} {{legend|#B366FF|10-15%}} | valign=top | {{legend|#903CC4|15-25%}} {{legend|#6B0194|25-35%}} {{legend|#490165|over 35%}} |}]] The [[Constitution of the Republic of Serbia]] <ref>Official Gazette of Republic of Serbia, No. 1/90</ref> determines that in the regions of the Republic of Serbia inhabited by national minorities, their own languages and scripts shall be officially used as well, in the manner established by law. The Statute of the Autonomous Province of [[Vojvodina]] <ref>Official Gazette of Autonomous Province of Vojvodina</ref> determines that, together with the Serbo-Croat language and the Cyrillic script, and the Latin script as stipulated by the law, the [[Hungarian language|Hungarian]], [[Slovak language|Slovak]], Romanian and [[Rusyn language|Rusyn]] languages and their scripts, as well as languages and scripts of other nationalities, shall simultaneously be officially used in the work of the bodies of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, in the manner established by the law. The bodies of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina are: the Assembly, the Executive Council and the Provincial administrative bodies.<ref>[http://www.puma.vojvodina.sr.gov.yu/text.php?sek=42&vr=1&PHPSESSID=e5dca20bb275318e6915ffc24968d402 Official use of languages and scripts in the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina] published by the ''Provincial Secretariat for Regulations, Administration and National Minorities''</ref> <!-- let the Romanian language names of the municipalities, as Romanian is official there --> The Romanian language and script are officially used in 8 municipalities: [[Alibunar]], [[Biserica Albă (Vojvodina)|Biserica Albă]], [[Zitişte]], [[Zrenianin]], [[Kovăciţa]], [[Cuvin]], [[Plandişte]] and [[Secanj]]. In the municipality of [[Vârşeţ]], Romanian is official only in the villages of [[Voivodinţ]], [[Marcovăţ]], [[Straja]], [[Jamu Mic]], [[Srediştea Mică]], [[Mesici]], [[Jablanka]], [[Sălciţa]], [[Râtişor]], [[Oreşaţ]] and [[Coştei]].<ref>Provincial Secretariat for Regulations, Administration and National Minorities: [http://www.puma.vojvodina.sr.gov.yu/dokumenti/sljezik.xls Official use of the Romanian language in the APV]</ref> In the 2002 Census, the last carried out in Serbia, 1,5% Vojvodinians chose Romanian as their mother tongue. [[Image:DiagramăLimbaRomână.png|350px|thumb|left|Distribution of first-language native Romanian speakers by country]] ===Legal status in other countries and organisations=== In parts of Ukraine where Romanians constitute a significant share of the local population (districts in [[Chernivtsi Oblast|Chernivtsi]], [[Odessa Oblast|Odessa]] and [[Zakarpattia]] [[oblast]]s) Romanian is being taught in schools as a primary language and there are newspapers, TV, and radio broadcasting in Romanian.<ref>Ukrainian Center for Independent Political Research: [http://www.ucipr.kiev.ua/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=3384&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0], [http://www.ucipr.kiev.ua/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=3377&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0]</ref><ref>[http://www.saske.sk/cas/1-2000/gulpa-petrisce.html Slovak Academy of Sciences in Kosice]</ref> The [[University of Chernivtsi]] trains teachers for Romanian schools in the fields of Romanian philology, mathematics and physics.<ref>[http://www.chnu.cv.ua/index.php?page=ua/gradinf/rules/02bac_d University of Chernivtsi]</ref> Romanian is an official or administrative language in various communities and organisations, such as the [[Latin Union]] and the [[European Union]]. Romanian is also one of the five languages in which religious services are performed in the autonomous monastic state of [[Mount Athos]], spoken in the monk communities of [[Prodromos (Mount Athos)|Prodromos]] and [[Lacu (Mount Athos)|Lacu]]. ===Romanian as a second and foreign language=== {{seealso| Romanian diaspora}} Romanian is taught in some areas that have Romanian minority communities, such as [[Vojvodina]] in Serbia, [[Bulgaria]], [[Ukraine]] and [[Hungary]]. The [[Romanian Cultural Institute]] (ICR) has since 1992 organised summer training courses in Romanian for language teachers in these countries.<ref>[http://www.ziua.net/display.php?id=183071&data=2005-08-19&ziua=f08bdeacd2583ee59a42d5f08d1fba7e ''Cursuri de perfecţionare''], published in [[Ziua]] on [[August 19]], [[2005]]</ref> In some of the schools, there are non-Romanian nationals who study Romanian as a foreign language (for example the Nicolae Bălcescu High-school in [[Gyula]], Hungary). Romanian is taught as a [[foreign language]] in various tertiary institutions, mostly in neighboring European countries such as [[Germany]], [[France]] and [[Italy]], as well as the [[Netherlands]], and elsewhere, like the [[USA]]. Overall, it is taught as a foreign language in 38 countries around the world.<ref>Romanian Language Institute: [http://www.old.edu.ro/download/ilrdoc3.pdf Data concerning the teaching of the Romanian language abroad]</ref> === Popular culture === Romanian has become popular in other countries through movies and songs performed in the Romanian language. Examples of recent Romanian acts that had a great success in non-Roumanophone countries are the bands [[O-Zone]] (which had great success with their #1 single ''[[Dragostea din tei]]/Numa Numa'' across the world), [[Akcent]] (popular in the [[Netherlands]], [[Poland]] and other European countries), [[Activ]] (successful in some Eastern European countries) as well as high-rated movies like [[4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days]], [[The Death of Mr. Lazarescu]], [[12:08 East of Bucharest]] or [[California Dreamin' (film)|California Dreamin']] (all of them with awards at the prestigious [[Cannes Film Festival]]). <font style="font-size:90%"> *[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NwJzdPIJPA Trailer of ''4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days'' on YouTube] </font> On the other hand, some artists wrote songs dedicated to the Romanian language. The multi-platinum pop trio [[O-Zone]] (original from [[Moldova]]) released a song called "''Nu mă las de limba noastră''" (lit. 'I won't let go of our language'). The final verse of this song, ''Eu nu mă las de limba noastră, de limba noastră cea română'' is translated in [[English language|English]] as ''I won't let go of our language, our Romanian language''. Also, the [[Moldova]]n musicians Doina and Ion Aldea Teodorovici performed a song entitled "The Romanian language". <font style="font-size:90%"> *[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBKIpALH_Mw ''O-Zone - Nu mă las de limba noastră'' on YouTube] *[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Xbe6sq9FVU ''Doina and Ion Aldea Teodorovici - Limba română'' on YouTube] </font> === Dialects === {{main|Romanian dialects}} The term "Romanian" in a general sense envelops four hardly mutually intelligible speech varieties commonly regarded as independent languages. It is thought that the Romanian language appeared north and south of the Danube. All the four dialects are offsprings of the [[Romance languages|Romance language]] spoken both in the northern and southern Danube, before the settlement of the [[Slavic peoples|Slavonian]] tribes south of the river - Daco-Romanian in the North, and the other three dialects in the south. However, this article deals primarily with [[Daco-Romanian]], and thus the regional variations of that will be discussed here instead. The differences between these varieties are usually very small, usually consisting in a few dozen regional words and some phonetic changes. [[Image:Romania Graiuri.jpg|thumb|340px|Romanian varieties (''graiuri'')<br />Blue: Southern varieties<br />Red: Northern varieties]] Like all other languages, Romanian can be regarded as a [[dialect continuum]]. Romanian cannot be neatly divided into separate dialects and Romanians themselves speak of the differences as accents or "speeches" (in Romanian: "accent" or "grai"). This correctly conveys the linguistics notion of [[accent (linguistics)|accent]], as language variants that only feature slight pronunciation differences (Romanian accents are fully mutually intelligible). Several accents are usually distinguished: * Muntenian accent (Graiul muntenesc), spoken mainly in [[Wallachia]] and southern parts of Dobruja. * Moldavian accent (Graiul moldovenesc), spoken mainly in [[Moldavia]], northern parts of [[Dobruja]] and the [[Republic of Moldova]]. Written <nowiki><p></nowiki> is realised as /k/; written <nowiki><c></nowiki> before front vowels is realised as {{IPA|/ʃ/}}. Written <nowiki><ă></nowiki>, in final position, is palatalized. * Maramureşian accent (Graiul maramureşean), spoken mainly in [[Maramureş]]. * Transylvanian accent (Graiul ardealean), spoken mainly in [[Transylvania]]. * Banatian accent (Graiul bănăţean), spoken mainly in [[Banat]]. Written <nowiki><t></nowiki> before front vowels is realised as {{IPA|/ʧ/}} and <d> as {{IPA|/dʒ/}}. * Oltenian accent (Graiul oltenesc), spoken mainly in [[Oltenia]] and by the Romanian minority in [[Timok]] region of Serbia. In Oltenia a notable dialectal feature is the usage of the [[Romanian verbs#Verb paradigm|simple perfect]] tense rather than the compound perfect which is used elsewhere. Over the last century, however, regional accents have been weakened due to mass communications and greater mobility. == Classification == {{seealso|Romance languages}} [[Image:Romance languages and Romanian.png|thumb|right|350px|The place of Romanian within the Romance language family]] Romanian is a Romance language, belonging to the [[Italic languages|Italic branch]] of the [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European language family]], having much in common with languages such as [[French language|French]], [[Italian language|Italian]], [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]], and [[Spanish language|Spanish]]. However, the languages closest to Romanian are the other [[Eastern Romance languages]], spoken south of Danube: [[Aromanian language|Aromanian/Macedo-Romanian]], [[Megleno-Romanian language|Megleno-Romanian]] and [[Istro-Romanian language|Istro-Romanian]], which are sometimes classified as dialects of Romanian. An alternative name for Romanian used by linguists to disambiguate with the other Eastern Romance languages is "Daco-Romanian", referring to the area where it is spoken (which corresponds roughly to the onetime [[Roman Empire|Roman]] province of [[Dacia]]). Compared with the major Romance languages, Romanian is closest to [[Italian language|Italian]], and the two show limited degree of asymmetrical [[mutual intelligibility]], especially in their cultivated forms: speakers of Romanian seem to understand Italian more easily than the other way around.{{Fact|date=October 2007}} Even though Romanian has obvious grammatical and [[lexical similarity|lexical similarities]] with [[French language|French]], [[Catalan language|Catalan]], [[Spanish language|Spanish]] or [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]], it is not mutually intelligible with them to a practical extent; Romanian speakers will usually need some formal study of basic grammar and vocabulary before being able to understand even the simplest sentences in those languages (and vice-versa). In the following sample sentence (meaning "She always closes the window before having dinner.") [[cognate]]s are written in bold: <!-- in bold are words that derive from the same Latin word; words are bolded together with their articles: e.g. fereastră=finestra but fereastra=la finestra --> :'''''Ea semper fenestram claudit antequam cenet.''''' (Latin) :'''''Ea închide''' întotdeauna '''fereastra înainte de a cina.''''' (Romanian) :'''''Ella''' '''chiude sempre la finestra''' prima '''di cenare'''''. (Italian) :'''''Elle''' ferme toujours '''la fenêtre avant de''' dîner.'' (French) :'''''Ella siempre''' cierra la ventana '''antes de cenar'''.'' (Spanish) :'''''Ela''' fecha '''sempre''' a janela '''antes de''' jantar.'' (Portuguese) :'''''Idda sempri chiudi la finestra àntica cina'''. (Sicilian) :'''''Ella''' tanca '''sempre la finestra''' '''abans de''' sopar.'' (Catalan) A study done by Italian-American linguist [[Mario Pei]] in [[1949]], which analyzed the evolutionary degree of languages in comparison to their inheritance language (in the case of [[Romance languages]] to [[Latin]] comparing [[phonology]], [[inflection]], [[discourse]], [[syntax]], [[vocabulary]], and [[intonation]]) revealed the following percentages: <ref>>{{cite book |title=Story of Language |last=Pei |first=Mario |authorlink=Mario Pei |year=1949 |isbn=0397004001 }}</ref> *[[Sardinian]]: 8%; *[[Italian language|Italian]]: 12%; *[[Spanish language|Spanish]]: 20%; *[[Romanian language|Romanian]]: 23.5%; *[[Occitan]]: 25%; *[[Portuguese language|Portuguese]]: 31%; *[[French language|French]]: 44%. In the modern times Romanian vocabulary has been strongly influenced by French and Italian,(see [[#French.2C Italian and other international words|French, Italian and other international words]]). At present, the [[lexical similarity]] with Italian is estimated at 77%, followed by French at 75%, Sardinian 74%, Catalan 73%, Spanish 71%, Portuguese, and [[Rhaeto-Romance]] at 72%. === Contacts with other languages === ==== Dacian language ==== The [[Dacian language]] was an Indo-European language spoken by the ancient Dacians. It may have been the first language to influence the Latin spoken in Dacia, but little is known about it. About 300 words found only in Romanian or with a cognate in the [[Albanian language]] may be inherited from Dacian, many of them being related to pastoral life (for example: ''balaur'' "dragon", ''brânză'' "cheese", ''mal'' "shore"<!--The connection between pastoral life on the one hand and dragons and shores on the other is a bit confusing. /Peter Isotalo-->). Some linguists have asserted that Albanians are Dacians who were not Romanized have migrated south.<ref name="georgiev">Vladimir Georgiev (Gheorghiev), {{ro icon}} ''Raporturile dintre limbile dacă, tracă şi frigiană'', "Studii Clasice" Journal, II, 1960, 39-58</ref> A different view is that these non-Latin words (many with Albanian cognates) are not necessarily Dacian, but rather were brought into the territory that is modern Romania by Romance-speaking shepherds migrating north from Albania, Serbia, and northern Greece who became the Romanian people. However, the Eastern Romance substratum appears to have been a [[satem language]], while the Paleo-Balkan languages spoken in northern Greece ([[Ancient Macedonian language|Ancient Macedonian]]) and Albania ([[Illyrian language|Illyrian]]) were most likely [[centum languages]]. The general opinion is that Dacian was a satem language, as was [[Thracian language|Thracian]].<ref name="georgiev"/> ==== Balkan linguistic union ==== While most of Romanian grammar and morphology are based on [[Vulgar Latin]], there are some features that are shared only with other languages of the Balkans and not found in other Romance languages. The languages of the [[Balkan linguistic union]] belong to individual branches of the [[Indo-European language family]]: Bulgarian and Albanian, and in some cases [[Greek language|Greek]] and [[Serbian language|Serbian]]. The shared features include a suffixed [[Article (grammar)|definite article]], the [[syncretism (linguistics)|syncretism]] of genitive and dative case, the formation of the future and perfect tenses, and the lack of infinitives. ==== Slavic languages ==== The Slavic influence was primarily due to the migration of Slavic tribes who traversed the territory of present-day Romania during the early evolution of the language. It is interesting to note that Slavs were assimilated north of the Danube, whereas they almost completely assimilated the Romanized population ([[Vlachs]]) living south of Danube. An important part of this population was still Vlach in the 10th century, only to fade away along with Vlach political power. The other surrounding languages (all Slavic, with the exception of Hungarian) also influenced Romanian through centuries of interaction. Of great importance was the influence of [[Old Church Slavonic]], as it was the [[liturgical language]] of the [[Romanian Orthodox Church]] (compared to western and central European countries which used [[Latin]]) from the Middle Ages, until the 18th century. However, Latin held an important position in [[Transylvania]] during the [[Middle Ages]], a part of the western-styled feudal [[Kingdom of Hungary]] at that moment. Liturgical Romanian was first officially used there after the union of the Romanian Orthodox Church in Transylvania with Rome,<ref name="romanian-liturgy">[http://www.formula-as.ro/reviste_592__44__p.s.-florentin-crihalmeanu.html P.S. Florentin Crihălmeanu in "Formula AS"]: ''După unirea cu Roma, “boscorodirea”, specifică epocii de dominaţie slavonă, va fi înlocuită cu slujba în limba română (curăţată pe cât posibil de impurităţile slavone, prin osârdia extraordinară a latiniştilor Şcolii Ardelene).''</ref> giving birth to the [[Romanian Church United with Rome, Greek-Catholic|Romanian Greek-Catholic Church]] in 1698 <ref>http://www.bru.ro/istorie/madrid.asp?id=cap22c History of the Romanian Church United with Rome]</ref> (the most numerous church in Transylvania until the [[World War II]] <ref>The census in 1930 recorded a Greek-Catholic relative majority (31,1% of the population), whereas Orthodox Church came only second (27,8% of the population).</ref>). This caused Romanian to lose many of its borrowings form Slavonic as the first standardisation of it (among others the switch to the [[Latin alphabet]]) was done by [[Şcoala Ardeleană]], founded in Transylvania.<ref name="romanian-liturgy"/> Borrowings from Old Church Slavonic include: ''a izbăvi'' < ''izbaviti'' "to deliver", ''veşnicie'' < ''vĕčinŭ'' "forever, perpetual, undying", ''sfânt'' < ''svĕntŭ'' "holy, saint", ''a sluji'' < ''služiti'' "to serve", ''amvon'' < ''amŭvonŭ'' "pulpit", ''rai'' < ''raj'' "paradise", ''iad'' < ''jadŭ'' "hell", ''proroc'' < ''prorokŭ'' "prophet". Most of these words have traditional or neological Latin-based synonyms that are usually preferred in the use of the modern language. As was characteristic of the [[Middle Ages]], the Church had a great influence on people's lives. Thus even basic words such as ''a iubi'' "to love", ''glas'' "voice", ''nevoie'' "need", and ''prieten'' "friend" are of Church Slavonic origin. Names were also influenced by the use of Slavonic in Church and in administration. However, many Slavic words are [[archaism]]s, and it is estimated that in modern Romanian 90% of the vocabulary is of Latin origin, the remainder representing Slavic, Greek, Hungarian, and Turkic borrowings as well as the Dacian [[substratum]]. Slavonic influences are also encountered in some phonetic particularities as well as in many suffixes {{Fact|date=March 2008}}. ==== Other influences ==== Even before the 19th century, Romanian came in contact with several other languages. Some notable examples include: * [[Greek language|Greek]]: ''folos'' < ''ófelos'' "use", ''buzunar'' < ''buzunára'' "pocket", ''proaspăt'' < ''prósfatos'' "fresh", cutie < ''cution'' "box" * [[Hungarian language|Hungarian]]: ''oraş'' < ''város'' "town", ''a cheltui'' < ''költeni'' "to spend", ''a făgădui'' < ''fogadni'' "to promise", ''a mântui'' < ''menteni'' "to save" * [[Turkish language|Turkish]]: ''cafea'' < ''kahve'' "coffee", ''papuc'' < ''papuç'' "slipper", ''ciorbă'' < ''çorba'' "wholemeal soup, sour soup" * [[German language|German]]: ''cartof'' < ''Kartoffel'' "potato", ''bere'' < ''Bier'' "beer", ''şurub'' < ''Schraube'' "screw", ''turn'' < ''Turm'' "tower" ==== French, Italian and other international words ==== Since the 19th century, many modern words were borrowed from the other Romance languages, especially from [[French language|French]] and [[Italian language|Italian]] (for example: ''birou'' "desk, office", ''avion'' "airplane", ''exploata'' "exploit"). It was estimated that about 38% of the number of words in Romanian are of French and/or Italian origin (in many cases both languages); and adding this to the words that were inherited from Latin, about 75%-85% of Romanian words can be traced to Latin. The use of these Romanianized French and Italian loanwords has tended to increase at the expense of Slavic loanwords, many of which have become rare or fallen out of use. As second or third languages, French and Italian themselves are better known in Romania than in Romania's neighbors. Along with the switch to the Latin alphabet in [[Moldova]] has tended to reinforce the Latin character of the language. In the process of lexical modernization, many of the words already existing as Latin direct heritage, as a part of its core or ''popular'' vocabulary, have been doubled by words borrowed from other [[Romance languages]], thus forming a further and more modern and literary lexical layer. Typically, the ''popular'' word is a noun and the borrowed word an adjective. Some examples: {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" !Latin !Romanian <br> direct Latin heritage !Romanian <br> neologism |- |agilis <tt>(quick)</tt> |ager <tt>(astute)</tt> |agil (it.<''agile'', fr.<''agile'')<br><tt>(agile)</tt> |- |aqua <tt>(water)</tt> |apă <tt>(water)</tt> |acvatic (it. <''acquatico'', fr.<''aquatique'') <br><tt>(aquatic)</tt> |- |dens, dentem <tt>(tooth)</tt> |dinte <tt>(tooth)</tt> |dentist (it.<''dentista'', fr.<''dentiste'')<br> <tt>(dentist)</tt> |- |directus <tt>(straight)</tt> |drept <tt>(straight, right)</tt> |direct (it.<''diretto'', fr.<''direct'')<br> <tt>(direct)</tt> |- |frigus <tt>(cold)</tt> |frig <tt>(cold - ''noun'')</tt> |frigid (it.<''frigido'', fr.<''frigide'') <br><tt>(frigid)</tt> |- |} In the 20th century, an increasing number of [[English language|English]] words have been borrowed (such as: ''gem'' < jam; ''interviu'' < interview; ''meci'' < match; ''manager'' < manager; ''fotbal'' < football; ''sandviş'' < sandwich; ''bişniţă'' < business; ''ciungă'' < chewing gum). These words are assigned grammatical gender in Romanian and handled according to Romanian rules; thus "the manager" is ''managerul''. Some of these English words are in turn Latin lexical constructions - calqued, borrowed or constructed from Latin or other Romance languages, like "management" and "interview" (from the French "entrevue"). == Grammar == {{main|Romanian grammar}} Romanian nouns are inflected by gender (feminine, masculine and neuter), number (singular and plural) and case (nominative/accusative, dative/genitive and vocative). The articles, as well as most adjectives and pronouns, [[agreement (linguistics)|agree]] in gender with the noun they reference. Romanian is the only Romance language where [[Article (grammar)|definite article]]s are ''[[enclitic]]'': that is, attached to the end of the noun (as in [[North Germanic languages]]), instead of in front (''[[proclitic]]''). They were formed, as in other Romance languages, from the Latin demonstrative pronouns. As in all Romance languages, Romanian verbs are highly inflected for person, number, tense, mood, voice. The usual word order in sentences is SVO (Subject - Verb - Object). Romanian has four verbal [[Grammatical conjugation|conjugation]]s which further split into ten conjugation patterns. Verbs can be put in five [[mood (linguistics)|moods]] that are inflected for the person ([[indicative mood|indicative]], [[conditional]]/[[optative mood|optative]], [[imperative mood|imperative]], [[subjunctive mood|subjunctive]], and [[presumptive mood|presumptive]]) and four impersonal moods ([[infinitive]], [[gerund]], [[supine]], and [[participle]]). == Phonology == {{main|Romanian phonology}} Romanian has seven [[vowel]]s: {{IPA|/a/}}, {{IPA|/e/}}, {{IPA|/i/}}, {{IPA|/o/}}, {{IPA|/u/}}, {{IPA|/ə/}}, and {{IPA|/ɨ/}}. Additionally, {{IPA|/ø/}} and {{IPA|/y/}} may appear in some words. In final positions after consonants (rarely within words) a short non-syllabic {{IPA|/i/}} can occur, which is {{IPA2|ʲ}} and is produced as a [[palatalization]] of the preceding consonant. A similar sound, the voiceless ending ''u'', existed in old Romanian but has disappeared from the standard language. There are also four semivowels and twenty consonants. ===Diphthongs=== Descending diphthongs: ai, au, ei, eu, ii, iu, oi, ou, ui, ăi, ău, îi, îu. Ascending diphthongs: ea, eo, ia, ie, io, iu, oa, ua, uă. ===Triphthongs=== Pattern S-V-S (main vowel between two semivowels): eai, eau, iai, iau, iei, ieu, ioi, iou, oai. Pattern S-S-V (two-semivowel glide before the main vowel): eoa, ioa. ===Phonetic changes=== {{main|Latin to Romanian sound changes}} Due to its isolation from the other Romance languages, the phonetic evolution of Romanian was quite different, but does share a few changes with Italian, such as [kl] > [kj] (Lat. '''cl'''arus > Rom. '''chi'''ar, Ital. '''chi'''aro) and also a few with [[Dalmatian language|Dalmatian]], such as /gn/ (probably phonetically [ŋn]) > [mn] (Lat. co'''gn'''atus > Rom. cu'''mn'''at, Dalm. co'''mn'''ut). Among the notable phonetic changes are: * diphthongization of e and o :* Lat. c'''e'''ra > Rom. c'''ea'''ră (wax) :* Lat. s'''o'''le > Rom. s'''oa'''re (sun) * iotacism [e] → [ie] in the beginning of the word :* Lat. h'''e'''rba > Rom. '''ia'''rbă (grass, herb) * velar [k], [g] → labial [p], [b], [m] before alveolar consonants: :* Lat. o'''ct'''o > Rom. o'''pt''' (eight) :* Lat. '''qu'''attuor > Rom. '''p'''atru (four) :* Lat. li'''ng'''ua > Rom. li'''mb'''ă (tongue, language) :* Lat. si'''gn'''um > Rom. se'''mn''' (sign) :* Lat. co'''x'''a > Rom. coa'''ps'''ă (thigh) * [[rhotacism]] [l] → [r] between vowels :* Lat. cae'''l'''um > Rom. ce'''r''' (sky) * Alveolars [d] and [t] palatalized to [dz]/[z] and [ts] when before short [e] or long [i] :* Lat. '''d'''eus > Rom. '''z'''eu (god) :* Lat. '''t'''enem > Rom. '''ţ'''ine (hold) On the other hand, it (along with French) has ''lost'' the /kw/ ('''qu''') sound from original Latin, turning it either into '''p''' (''patru'', "four"; cf. It. ''quattro'') or a hard or soft '''c''' (''când'', "when"; ''calitate'', "quality"). == Writing system == [[Image:Scrisoarea lui Neacsu.jpg|thumb|200px|[[Neacşu's Letter]] is the oldest surviving document written in Romanian]] The first written record of a Romanic language spoken in the Middle Ages in the Balkans was written by the Byzantine chronicler [[Theophanes Confessor]] in the 6th century about a military expedition against the [[Eurasian Avars|Avars]] from 587, when a Vlach muleteer accompanying the Byzantine army noticed that the load was falling from one of the animals and shouted to a companion ''Torna, torna fratre'' (meaning "Return, return brother!"). [[Image:Romanian-kirilitza-tatal-nostru.jpg|thumb|left|300px|A sample of the Romanian, written in the [[Romanian Cyrillic alphabet]], which was still in use in the early 19th century]] The oldest written text in Romanian is a letter from late June 1521, in which Neacşu of [[Câmpulung]] wrote to the mayor of [[Braşov]] about an imminent attack of the Turks. It was written using the [[Romanian Cyrillic alphabet|Cyrillic alphabet]], like most early Romanian writings. The earliest writing in Latin script was a late 16th century [[Transylvania]]n text which was written with the [[Hungarian alphabet]] conventions. In the late 1700s, [[Transylvania]]n scholars noted the Latin origin of Romanian and adapted the [[Latin alphabet]] to the Romanian language, using some rules from [[Italian language|Italian]], recognized as Romanian's closest relative. The Cyrillic alphabet remained in (gradually decreasing) use until 1860, when Romanian writing was first officially regulated. In the [[Moldavian SSR|Soviet Republic of Moldova]], a special version of the Cyrillic alphabet derived from the Russian version was used, until 1989, when it returned to the Romanian Latin alphabet. === Romanian alphabet === {{main|Romanian alphabet}} The Romanian alphabet is as follows: :A, a (a); Ă, ă (ă); Â, â (â din a); B, b (be), C, c (ce); D, d (de), E, e (e); F, f (fe / ef); G, g (ghe / ge); H, h (ha / haş); I, i (i); Î, î (î din i); J, j (je), K, k (ka de la kilogram), L, l (le / el); M, m (me / em); N, n (ne / en); O, o (o); P, p (pe); Q (chiu); R, r, (re / er); S, s (se / es); {{polytonic|Ș}} {{polytonic|ș}} ({{polytonic|ș}}e); T, t (te); {{polytonic|Ț}} {{polytonic|ț}} ({{polytonic|ț}}e); U, u (u); V, v (ve); W (dublu ve); X, x (ics); Y (i grec); Z, z (ze / zet). K, Q, W and Y are not part of the native alphabet, were officially introduced in the Romanian alphabet in 1982 and are mostly used to write loanwoards like ''kilogram'', ''quasar'', ''watt'', and ''yoga''. The Romanian alphabet is based on the [[Latin alphabet]], and has five additional letters (these are not diacriticals, but letters in their own right). Initially, there were as many as 12 additional letters, but some of them disappeared in subsequent reforms. Also, until the early 20th century, a short vowel marker was used. Today, the Romanian alphabet is largely [[Phonemic orthography|phonemic]]. However, the letters "â" (used inside the words) and "î" (used at the beginning or the end; it can also be used in the middle of a composite word) both represent the same [[close central unrounded vowel]] {{IPA|/ɨ/}}. Another exception from a completely phonetic writing system is the fact that [[vowel]]s and their respective [[semivowel]]s are not distinguished in writing. In dictionaries the distinction is marked by separating the entry word into [[syllable]]s for the words containing a [[Hiatus (linguistics)|hiatus]] that might be mispronounced as a [[diphthong]] or a [[triphthong]]. Stressed vowels also are not marked in writing, except very rarely in cases where by misplacing the stress a word might change its meaning and if the meaning is not obvious from the context. For example ''trei copíi'' means "three children" while ''trei cópii'' means "three copies". ===Pronunciation=== * ''h'' is not silent like in other Romance languages such as Spanish and French, but represents the phoneme {{IPA|/h/}}, except in the groups ''ch'' and ''gh'' (see below) * ''j'' represents {{IPA|/ʒ/}}, as in [[French language|French]] or [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]]. * There are two letters with a comma below, {{latinx|[[Ș]]}} and {{latinx|[[Ț]]}}, which represent the sounds {{IPA|/ʃ/}} and {{IPA|/ʦ/}}. However, the allographs with a cedilla instead of a comma, ''[[Ş]]'' and ''[[Ţ]]'', became widespread when pre-[[Unicode]] and early Unicode [[character sets]] did not include the standard form. * A final orthographical ''i'' after a consonant often represents the palatalization of the consonant (e. g. ''lup'' {{IPA|/lup/}} "wolf" vs. ''lupi'' {{IPA|/lupʲ/}} "wolves") -- it is ''not'' pronounced like Italian ''lupi'' (which also means "wolves"), and is indeed an example of the [[Slavic languages|Slavic]] influence on Romanian. * ''ă'' represents the [[schwa]], {{IPA|/ə/}}. * ''î'' and ''â'' represent {{IPA|/ɨ/}}. * The letter ''e'' is generally pronounced as the [[diphthong]] ''ie'' {{IPA|/je/}} when it is in the beginning of a form of the verb ''a fi'' "to be", e. g. ''este'' {{IPA|/jeste/}} "is". This rule also applies to personal pronouns beginning with ''e'', e. g. ''el'' {{IPA|/jel/}} "he". This also shows the Slavic influence on the language. * ''x'' represents either the phoneme {{IPA|/ks/}} as in ''expresie'' = expression, or {{IPA|/gz/}} as in ''exemplu'' = example, as in [[English language|English]]. * As in [[Italian language|Italian]], the letters ''c'' and ''g'' represent the affricates {{IPA|/ʧ/}} and {{IPA|/ʤ/}} before ''i'' and ''e'', and {{IPA|/k/}} and {{IPA|/g/}} elsewhere. When {{IPA|/k/}} and {{IPA|/g/}} are followed by vowels {{IPA|/e/}} and {{IPA|/i/}} (or their corresponding [[semivowel]]s or the final {{IPA|/ʲ/}}) the digraphs ''ch'' and ''gh'' are used instead of ''c'' and ''g'', as shown in the table below. {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" !Group !Phoneme !Pronunciation !Examples |- |ce, ci ||{{IPA|/tʃ/}} | ''ch'' in '''chest''', '''cheek''' | ''cerc'' (circle), ''cine'' (who) |- |che, chi ||{{IPA|/k/}} | ''k'' in '''kettle''', '''kiss''' | ''chem'' (I call), ''chimie'' (chemistry) |- |ge, gi ||{{IPA|/dʒ/}} | ''j'' in '''jelly''', '''jigsaw''' | ''ger'' (frost), ''gimnast'' (gymnast) |- |ghe, ghi ||{{IPA|/g/}} | ''g'' in '''get''', '''give''' | ''gheţar'' (glacier), ''ghid'' (guide) |} ===Punctuation and capitalization=== The main particularities Romanian has relative to other languages using the Latin alphabet are: * The quotation marks use the [[Quotation mark, non-English usage#Quotation marks in Polish|Polish format]] in the format „quote «inside» quote”, that is, 99 down and 99 up for normal quotations, with the addition of non-French double angle quotes without space for inside quotation when necessary. * Proper quotations which span multiple paragraphs don't start each paragraph with the quotation marks; one single pair of quotation marks is always used, regardless of how many paragraphs are quoted; * Dialogues are identified with [[Quotation mark, non-English usage#Quotation dash|quotation dashes]]; * The [[serial comma|Oxford comma]] before "and" is considered incorrect ("red, yellow and blue" is the proper format); * Punctuation signs which follow a text in parentheses always follow the final bracket; * In titles, only the first letter of the first word is capitalized, the rest of the title using sentence capitalization (with all its rules: proper names are capitalized as usual, etc.). * Names of months and days are not capitalized (''ianuarie'' "January", ''joi'' "Thursday") * Adjectives derived from proper names are not capitalized (''Germania'' "Germany", but ''german'' "German") ==Language sample== English text: : All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood. ::''([[Universal Declaration of Human Rights]])'' Contemporary Romanian - highlighted words are French or Italian [[loanword]]s: : Toate fiinţele '''umane''' se nasc '''libere''' şi '''egale''' în '''demnitate''' şi în drepturi. Ele sunt înzestrate cu '''raţiune''' şi '''conştiinţă''' şi trebuie să se '''comporte''' unele faţă de altele în '''spiritul''' '''fraternităţii'''. Romanian, excluding French and Italian loanwords - highlighted words are Slavic loanwords: : Toate fiinţele omeneşti se nasc '''slobode''' şi '''deopotrivă''' în '''destoinicie''' şi în drepturi. Ele sunt înzestrate cu înţelegere şi cuget şi '''trebuie''' să se poarte unele faţă de altele în '''duh''' de frăţietate. Romanian, excluding loanwords: : Toate fiinţele omeneşti se nasc nesupuse şi asemenea în preţuire şi în drepturi. Ele sunt înzestrate cu înţelegere şi cuget şi se cuvine să se poarte unele faţă de altele după firea frăţiei. {{see also|The Lord's Prayer in different languages}} == See also == * [[Romanian vocabulary]] * [[Romanianization]] * [[Neacşu Lupu|Neacşu]], author of the oldest surviving document written in Romanian * [[Latin Europe]] == Notes == <!--Acest articol foloseşte mecanismul de citare de la Cite.php. Dacă doriţi să aflaţi detalii despre cum se adaugă note de subsol la un articol, vedeţi http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Cite/Cite.php --> <div class="references-small"><references /></div> == References == * Rosetti, Alexandru, ''Istoria limbii române'', 2 vols., Bucharest, 1965-1969. * Uwe, Hinrichs (ed.), ''Handbuch der Südosteuropa-Linguistik'', Wiesbaden, 1999. * [http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/508587/Romanian-language Encyclopedia Britannica] == External links == {{InterWiki|code=ro}} {{Wikibooks|Romanian}} ===Learning Romanian=== * [http://www.romanianlessons.com/ Romanian Lessons] * [http://www.seelrc.org:8080/grammar/pdf/stand_alone_romanian.pdf Romanian Reference Grammar, by Dana Cojocaru, University of Bucharest (183 pages) - 4.6 MB - pdf] ===Phrasebooks=== * [http://wikitravel.org/en/Romanian_phrasebook Romanian phrasebook] on [[Wikitravel]] * [http://www.unilang.org/resources/vocab/basicwords.ro.html Romanian Basic Words] ===Dictionaries=== {{Wiktionarylang|code=ro}} * [http://www.dicts.info/dictlist1.php?l=Romanian Romanian bilingual dictionaries] ===Miscellaneous=== * [http://www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/sampa/rom-uni.htm SAMPA for Romanian] * [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=ron Ethnologue report for Romanian] {{Romanian language|show=yes}} {{Romanian topics}} {{Official EU languages}} {{Romance languages}} {{Languages of Europe}} {{Latinunion}} <!-- spellfixno --> [[Category:Romanian language| ]] [[Category:Languages of Austria]] [[Category:Languages of Kazakhstan]] [[Category:Languages of Romania]] [[Category:Languages of Russia]] [[Category:Languages of Moldova]] [[Category:Languages of Ukraine]] [[Category:Languages of Serbia]] [[Category:Languages of Vojvodina]] [[Category:Languages of Hungary]] <!-- interwiki --> {{Link FA|ro}} [[af:Roemeens]] [[ang:Rumǣnisc sprǣc]] [[ar:لغة رومانية]] [[an:Idioma rumán]] [[roa-rup:Română]] [[frp:Roumen]] [[ast:Rumanu]] [[az:Rumın dili]] [[zh-min-nan:România-gí]] [[be-x-old:Румынская мова]] [[bcl:Rumano]] [[bs:Rumunski jezik]] [[bg:Румънски език]] [[ca:Romanès]] [[cs:Rumunština]] [[tum:Rumence]] [[co:Lingua rumena]] [[cy:Rwmaneg]] [[da:Rumænsk (sprog)]] [[de:Rumänische Sprache]] [[et:Rumeenia keel]] [[el:Ρουμανική γλώσσα]] [[es:Idioma rumano]] [[eo:Rumana lingvo]] [[eu:Errumaniera]] [[fa:زبان رومانیایی]] [[fr:Roumain]] [[ga:Rómáinis]] [[gv:Romaainish]] [[gl:Lingua romanesa]] [[ko:루마니아어]] [[hy:Ռումիներեն]] [[hsb:Rumunšćina]] [[hr:Rumunjski jezik]] [[io:Rumaniana linguo]] [[id:Bahasa Rumania]] [[ia:Romaniano]] [[is:Rúmenska]] [[it:Lingua rumena]] [[he:רומנית]] [[ka:რუმინული ენა]] [[kw:Roumanek]] [[sw:Kiromania]] [[la:Lingua Dacoromanica]] [[lv:Rumāņu valoda]] [[lt:Rumunų kalba]] [[lij:Lengua romenn-a]] [[li:Roemeens]] [[hu:Román nyelv]] [[mk:Романски јазик]] [[ms:Bahasa Romania]] [[nl:Roemeens]] [[ja:ルーマニア語]] [[no:Rumensk]] [[nn:Rumensk språk]] [[nrm:Roumain]] [[oc:Romanés]] [[nds:Rumäänsche Spraak]] [[pl:Język rumuński]] [[pt:Língua romena]] [[crh:Roman tili]] [[ro:Limba română]] [[rmy:Rumunikani chhib]] [[rm:Lingua rumena]] [[ru:Румынский язык]] [[sc:Limba romuna]] [[sq:Gjuha rumune]] [[scn:Lingua rumena]] [[simple:Romanian language]] [[sk:Rumunčina]] [[sr:Румунски језик]] [[sh:Rumunski jezik]] [[fi:Romanian kieli]] [[sv:Rumänska]] [[ta:ருமானிய மொழி]] [[th:ภาษาโรมาเนีย]] [[vi:Tiếng Romana]] [[tr:Rumence]] [[uk:Румунська мова]] [[vec:Łéngoa rumena]] [[wa:Roumin]] [[yi:רומעניש]] [[zh:羅馬尼亞語]]