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Return to the Romance Languages page.

BASIC INFORMATION
Romanian, both as a language and as a culture, tends to evoke a sense of the beauty of mystery. From the history of the people, one surrounded with the myths of Transylvania and Dracula, to the language itself, which has an alluring, soft pronunciation. Although Romanian (sometimes spelled Rumanian or Roumanian) has not gained as much study as some of the more spoken Romance Languages, it is still one of the major Romance Languages. The number of speakers is estimated about 25 million (25,000,000) in Romania (eastern Europe), Moldavia (next to Romania), and as a minority language in Finland, Germany, Italy, Greece, and even in Israel, as well as holding a comparatively small stock of speakers in the United States.�It is the only Romance Language that has originated in Eastern Europe. Romanian, you will notice, has many words that end in consonants, and many that look as though they are of slavic origin (for it has borrowed many from Slavic languages). Partly due to this slavic influence, you will find especially bothersome consonant groups to pronounce for the English speaker (such as zvon [gossip, rumor]). However, the overwhelming presence of joined vowels may provide added pain (ploaie [rain]). Just as a personal statement, I wish to let you know that of all Romance Languages, Romanian seems to me by far the most interesting to learn, mainly because of the broad difference between it and the other Romance Languages.

PRONUNCIATION
The pronunciation of Romanian is similar to Italian, and only has one sound that conventional Italian does not have in its entirety: the Romanian j sound (pronounced as the "s" in pleasure). Most every letter always represents the same sound:

* These three letters cannot be properly shown in common html form for the western fonts (although they do for Eastern European fonts). The letter � actually looks like an "a" with a an up-side-down, rounded circumflex above it (such as in the image of the word Roman�, see top of page). The "�" (cedilla) falls directly below the "s" and "t", not next to them.

As a general rule, the stress falls one syllable back from the last if the word ends in a vowel, and on the last syllable if it ends in a vowel. If a word ends in an "a", or, if it is an infinitive verb form ("to __" form [ex: to go, to do]) ending in -i or -�, then that vowel takes the stress. In words ending in -i other than infinitives, the last -i is nearly or completely silent (ex: taxiuri [taxis], pronounced tahx-yOOr).

Although some dictionaries mark irregular stress with a grave accent mark, especially if it falls on a vowel at the end of a word (ex: a sp�l� = a sp�la [to wash]), this is not common practice in writing the language.

Due to the restrictions on the Romanian characters in html, you will find many Romanian pages that do not rely on the Eastern European fonts, but use common symbols in the western fonts to denote the Romanian sounds for their convenience. For example, I have noticed both "�" and "�" to replace the true Romanian letter described directly below the pronunciation chart (note how, even on this page, "�" is used). Sometimes the letters "s" and "t" represent the "sh" and "ts" sounds as well, or I have even noticed them written "sh" and "ts"!

BASIC GRAMMAR
The Romanian noun has either a masculine, feminine, or neuter gender. In the singular, masculine and neuter tend to end in a consonant, and feminine in -�. Words ending in -e are mainly feminine, but some are masculine or neuter. Words in -t�ie [sometimes -t�iune]/-sie [sometimes -siune] (related to Spanish -ci�n/-si�n, Portuguese -��o/-s�o, French -tion/-sion, Italian -zione/sione, and Catalan -ci�/-si�) are feminine, just as in those languages. Words in -tate and -are are also feminine. In forming the plural, a masculine noun usually takes -i, a masculine noun ending in -e becomes -i, a feminine noun ending in -� changes it to either -e or -i, a feminine noun ending in -e takes -i in its stead, and a neuter word ending in a vowel takes -uri, most neuter words ending in a consonant also take -uri as well, although some, rather, add -e. If we take the word espulsare, a feminine, singular noun (expulsion; as Spanish expulsi�n, Portuguese expuls�o, French expulsion, Italian espulsione, and Catalan expulsi�), for example, the plural is expulsari. If you think that these grammatical tendencies are complex both from an English and even from a Romantic standpoint, the complexities continue to grow.

Here is a chart to help visualize these basic endings:

You may have noticed that Romanian is a highly inflected language (i.e. relies on word endings rather than supplimentary words to distinguish meaning); more so than any other Romance Language. To demonstrate one property of this inflection, let us continue on to the articles. The Romanian indefinite article (equivalent to a or an in English) varies according to gender in the singular. Un means a/an both for masculine and neuter nouns in the singular, while the feminine relies on o. Thus, un taxi, being neuter, means a taxi, but o mas�in�, feminine, means a car. The plural of the indefinite article is simply nis�te (some; nis�te taxiuri [some taxis], nis�te mas�ini [some cars]).

The definite article is attached to the end of the noun, and follows the below chart for gender, plurality, and case* (based on an assumed stem of the last consonant and not including any vowels that might end the word [these will be shown as endings in the chart rather than simply be passed off as an assumed stem. All initial endings refered to in parentheses are from the non-articulated, nominative, singular form of the noun.):

Definite Article (the)

* A case is the unit of declension delineating the way in which the noun (or adjective) takes the action. The nominative is the "simple" form of the noun (it carries only the meaning of the so defined noun); in this case, the "simple" noun and the definite article. The vocative case is simply for calling out the word (Latin vox became the French voix from which we derive the English word voice). Accusative commonly indicates that the word receives indirect action through a preposition (in Romanian, "weak" means that it follows a weak preposition, of which there are but a mere few, such as cu [with]). The genitive denotes possession, and the dative marks an indirect object (in English we would utilise the prepositions to/for after a verb to employ this case). One note on the accusative case: it is simply a form of the regular nominative that follows the preposition. After weak prepositions, it is the nominative with the definite article; after strong prepositions (which most every preposition happens to be) it is simply the nominative form (no definite article attached).

* Al, a, ai, and ale indicate the subject that the genitive describes or of which it takes possession (al for masculine and neuter nouns in the singular, a for feminine, singular nouns, ai for masculine, plural nouns, and -ale for both feminine and neuter nouns in the plural). For example, the statement Bagajele s�nt ale domnului (the baggages are [of] the man/sir) inflects bagajele (the baggages) as a plural, neuter noun in the nominative, so ale which follows must describe the baggages, and is thus inclined to take up the burden of the plural, neuter word in the genitive case. Domnului does not describe the baggages; rather, it indicates the drawing of the possession to a person through the dative case. This is truly a harsh excercise of Romanian grammar that few English-speakers can comprehend, but, as the language has a tendency to lean in this particular manner throughought its grammar, it will prove rather easy to cope with as you understand further the ideas and principles of the language. As an aside, it may be important to note here that, in many senses, the neuter word is mainly a word with a predominantly masculine character in the singular and a predominantly feminine one in the plural.

* One final note on this section: the feminine form of the genitive and dative depends upon the plural of the unarticulated noun (i.e. if the plural ends in -e, then the genitive and dative end in -ei; if in -i, then the genitive and dative take -ii). In other words, the feminine genitive and dative of the singular, definite article form is no more than the feminine plural noun with an -i added to it.

To return to the indefinite article (a/an in English), it, too, has some inflections based upon the above cases and genders, although it does not have any irregular variations or quite as many cases as the noun may:

The Romanian verb is partly recognizable to speakers or students of other Romance Languages, but does have some basic differences. As in any Romance Language, the present indicative tense of the verb occurs in most situations where English would use the present participle (in Italian, for example, vorbesc means "I speak" or "I am speaking). This is notable for those who do not have much experience in Romance (the languages, that is), but for those who do, it shouldn't come as a surprise.

Romanian has four basic verb terminations ("infinitive endings": the to __ form of the verb [to sing, to do, etc.]): a -a, a -e, a -i, and a -ea. Although verbs ending in -ui and -� (ex: a locui [to live], a omor� [to kill]) have separate conjugations as well, there exist but a few of these verbs, so one commonly labels them "irregulars"). Here are the regular present indicative tense conjugations for each of the infinitive endings, including sample verbs:

*Tu is used for familiar/informal, often even vulgar, situations when addressing a single person, dumneata (or, colloquially, mata) for informal ones as well. Voi is the plural of tu, hence it is less formal than Dumneavoastr� (abbreviated Dvs.), which is very formal, and can be used either for addressing a person or a group of people on very formal terms.

* Both in infinitives ending in -a and those ending in -i have two common verb conjugations: those with and without the extra "stem" (-ez- for -a, -es�t- for -i). For verbs ending in -a, the majority follow the same pattern as a ntreba (conjugated above in the present indicative), although, shall we say, a "vocal minority" rest in the verbs attaching an "-ez-" to the end of the stem (ex: studiez [I study] from a studia). Basically all -i verbs; however, must follow the -es�t- form (which, for orthographic reasons, becomes -esc when no other vowels follow it, a property characteristic of the first person singular and the third person plural of a -i verbs). Any verb that follows what one might call a more "regular" Romance conjugation must, invenerately, be labelled "irregular", for very few such verbs exist (we are, if you recall, speaking specifically of verbs whose infinitives end in -i).

*Note that Romanian has quite an irregularity in its orthography, especially in the tu/dumneata and the el/ea forms. "D" before a final, unstressed "i" becomes "z" (hence vezi [you see] from a vedea to see), "t" becomes "t�", "s" becomes "s�", and an "n" between the penultimate "u" and the final "i" absorbs into the diphthong (thus spui [you say]). An -or- or -er become -oar- and -ear-, respectively, before a final "-�", "-e", or "-ea". In fact, most any soft consonant (or the group -pt-/-mn-/other soft consonant groups) between the letters -o-�/e/ea or -e-�/e/ea will produce the same effect of vowel elongation, yet it is most common with r or t (note, for example, the difference between �ntreb and �ntreab�). As one learns the language, these points become clearly evident, yet, eventually, seem to fit into the whole pattern and structure of the language quite clearly.

* A final note on verbs ending with a -ea: learn to hate them. This is an irregular conjugation most likely used as a method of torture for those learning the language. Most fortunately, it remains true that this class encompasses but a few verbs (but there does exist a vague pattern throughout them).

Adjectives agree with the noun, and most always follow them: o mas�in� ur�t� (an ugly car), i letti neri (the black beds). You must be overjoyed to hear that adjectives must only agree in gender (masculine, feminine, or neuter) and plurality (singular or plural), not in case (you would not say, for example, mas�inii ur�tii, rather mas�inii ur�t� [to/for the ugly car]. Usually (most always) the masculine and neuter are the same in the singular, and the neuter and feminine in the plural (therefore most adjectives have four forms). Some, meanwhile, have two or three (these are very scarce, but very useful adjectives ex: sec [dry; m. and n. singular], which becomes seac� [f. singular; see the rules two paragraphs above if you wonder why the "e" has formed a diphthong] and seci [for every gender in the plural]). Adjectives and adverbs usually correspond (which we who love our English grammar may find difficult to accept).

BASIC WORDS AND PHRASES
These are some of the more common phrases you would hear protruding from the mouth of a Romanian speaker on a daily basis, so, if you wish to become acquainted with the language, these are a great way to start:

Bun� ziua! = Goodday!
Ziua! = Hello!
Ce mai faci? = How are you?, How's it going?
Ce mai facet�i? = How are you? (formal)
Bine. = (I'm) well.
R�u. = Badly.
As�a s�i as�a (3 words). = So-so.
Foarte... = Very...
Cum te numest�i? = What's your name?
Cum v� numit�i? = What's your name? (formal)
Dar tu/dumneata? = And you?
Dar Dumneavoastr�? = And you? (formal)
Domnule. = Sir, Mr.
Doamn�. = Madam, Mrs.
Domnis�oar�. = Miss.
Bine de cunos�tiint��. = Pleased to meet you.
Te rog (informal), V� rog (formal). = Please.
Scuzat�i. = Excuse me.
Aici este... = Here is...
E... = There is...
E... = There are...
Da. = Yes.
Nu. = No.
Mult�umesc, grat�ia. = Thank you.
Placere. = You're welcome.
Ce? = What?
Cine? = Who?
De ce? = Why?
C�t e ceasul? = What time is it?
La revedere! = Goodbye!, See you later!

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