More than you ever wanted to know about the Romanian language
Before we begin, here’s a brief pronunciation guide to certain letters in Romanian.
- Ă is pronounced like “uh.”
- These two are more difficult to describe, but Â/Î are pronounced sort of like “ih” except the sound comes from lower in the back of your throat.
- Ș is “sh.”
- Ț is “tz.”
- U has a soft “oo” sound.
Romania is a country located in southeastern Europe, specifically in the Balkans. Throughout its history, it has undergone periods of being ruled by other countries before finally becoming an independent country in 1859, echoes of which can be heard throughout the Romanian language.
Like English (and most other languages), Romanian has been changed over time as a result of outside influences. It retains a strong Latin character despite being surrounded by countries that speak Slavic languages and is considered a Romance language, similar to Spanish and French. However, there are some words that have a Turkish, Slavic, or in modern times, even an English origin.
- Region that is now Romania gets taken over by the Roman Empire, 106 AD – 275 AD
As you might’ve been able to guess from the name Romania, this region was part of the Roman Empire at some point in time. Previous to this period, the area was first inhabited by a people known as the Dacians. While scholars don’t know the complete extent of their influence, there are some remnants of their ancient language present within modern Romanian. These words are mostly nature related, reflecting the agricultural nature of that early civilization.
Examples:
- Copac = tree
- Mazăre = peas
- Mânz = colt
In the early second century, the Romans became interested in the region inhabited by the Dacians and sought to conquer it. After years of long battles, they succeeded under Emperor Trajan and the romanization of Dacia began (Trajan later commemorated his win by constructing Trajan’s Column in Rome). The two cultures intermingled and the original language was forever changed. Out of the two cultures, the Romans definitely had the most impact on the language- making up the core of the modern Romanian language today. While my vocabulary is limited, I would estimate that maybe 75% of words in Romanian have a Latin origin. Not only did they influence the etymology of many words, but even Romanian’s grammar structure is said to be similar to that of Latin’s.
Examples of words:
- Duminică = Sunday (similar to Spanish “Domingo” and French “Dimanche”)
- Roșu = red (similar to Spanish “rojo” and French “rouge”)
- Lumină = light (similar to Spanish “luz” and French “lumiere”)
There’s even Roman names that are relatively common in Romania today. Here’s a couple examples from what I’ve heard among relatives and friends:
- Ovidiu (from Ovid)
- Marius
- Livia
2. Area that is now Romania borders many Slavic-language-speaking communities
Many people think that Romanians speak a Slavic language because of its location in Eastern Europe and proximity to countries that do speak a Slavic language such as Ukraine and Serbia. However, as demonstrated above, Romanian is much closer to Latin-based languages. As a result of that same proximity, there has been a significant Slavic influence on Romanian.
Like with the Romans and Dacians before, the two cultures intermingled and influenced each other’s language. Many words with some kind of emotional connection have Slavic origins.
Furthermore, many church services were held in Old Church Slavonic (the first Slavic literary language) during this time period. As a result, some of the words used to describe religious concepts were loanwords from this language.
Examples:
- Dragoste = love
- Război = war
- Zăpadă = snow
- Rai = paradise / heaven
3. Area that is now Romania gets taken over by the Ottomans – 15th century
During the Middle Ages, the Ottoman Empire took over much of the Balkans and parts of what is now Romania. There were many battles during this period as Romania struggled for independence- eventually retaining some degree of freedom as a vassal state, but ultimately under Ottoman rule.
As before, elements of the Ottoman Turkish language remain present in the Romanian language today. Ottoman Turkish itself has Persian and Arabic influences itself, resulting in the Middle Eastern origin of some words in Romanian.
Examples:
- Ciorapi = socks (similar to Ottoman Turkish “çorap” and Persian “jurâp”)
- Musafir = guest (similar to Ottoman Turkish “musafir” and Arabic “musafir”, both meaning traveler)
- Ghiozdan = backpack (similar to Ottoman Turkish “cuzdan” and Persian “jozdan”)
4. Area that is now Romania gets taken over by … Romanians
After centuries of long battles and wars, Romania finally became independent in 1859 when Alexandru Ioan Cuza united the principalities of Wallachia and Moldova. While they had been united politically, there was a push to bring the country together linguistically as well through the standardization of the language. This nationalization movement can be seen in other spheres of culture as well, including through literature, music, and the arts during the late 19th to early 20th century.
Language-wise, this period solidified the Latin influence on Romanian. French culture was all the rage among the Romanian elite, who wanted to emulate them in any way possible. Romania’s capital, Bucharest, was even known as Little Paris because of the architecture’s resemblance to that of Paris. As a result, there was a movement to favor the Latin-based alternatives to various words.
5. Area that is now Romania gets taken over by the world
The 1900s was a very eventful and tumultuous century for Romania. We went from being a monarchy to a fascist dictatorship to a communist dictatorship to a democracy all within the span of a few decades. The fall of the Iron Curtain combined with the emergence of the internet led to the emergence of global influences on the Romanian language.
Examples:
- Weekend – While a Romanian equivalent does exist (sfârșit de săptămână) most people, especially younger people, prefer to use the simpler and more convenient English alternative.
- Computer – Again, technically the Romanian word is “calculator” but most people opt to use the English alternative, reflective of how English is the language of the Internet.
- Drujbă – this word means “chainsaw” in Romanian and “friendship” in Russian. During the Cold War, Romania imported many things from the Soviet Union, including chainsaws. Most chainsaws were imported from this one company, “Drujba,” the name of which was written on the blade of every chainsaw. As a result, people began to associate the name of the company with the name of the item, and so, “drujba” became synonymous with “chainsaw.”
(cyriillic script says “druzhba”)
Bonus cool infographic!
