Română

Romanian

Romance

FamilyRomance Speakers~24M ScriptLatin CountriesRomania, Moldova (as Moldovan/Romanian), Serbia (Vlach), Ukraine (Bukovina) Official inRomania, Moldova, EU; Serbia + Ukraine recognized regional Vitalitysafe ISO 639-3ron

Romanian (Română) is the easternmost Romance language with ~24M speakers — sole official language of Romania and (as "Moldovan" until 2023, now officially "Romanian") in Moldova; recognized minorities in Serbia (Vlach), Ukraine (Bukovina), and Hungary. The only Romance language descended from Eastern Latin (Balkan-Romance branch), preserving features lost elsewhere: case system (5 cases including dative), neuter gender (separate from masculine/feminine), and definite-article suffix (-ul, -a). Heavy Slavic substrate/superstrate (~10% of vocabulary) plus Greek, Turkish, Hungarian loanwords. Latin orthography post-1860 (replacing Cyrillic).

Where it is spoken

20 core words in Romanian

Water

apă

/apə/

Fire

foc

/fok/

Sun

soare

/so̯are/

Moon

lună

/lunə/

Mother

mamă

/mamə/

Father

tată

/tatə/

Eat

a mânca

/a mɨnka/

Drink

a bea

/a be̯a/

Love

iubire

/jubire/

Heart

inimă

/inimə/

Tree

copac

/kopak/

House

casă

/kasə/

Dog

câine

/kɨine/

Cat

pisică

/pisikə/

Hand

mână

/mɨnə/

Eye

ochi

/okʲ/

Hello

salut

/salut/

Thank you

mulțumesc

/mult͡sumesk/

One

unu

/unu/

Good

bun

/bun/

Sources

Words compared

Compared with related Romance languages

Meaning RomanianAromanianMegleno-RomanianNeapolitanCorsicanInterlinguaSardinian
Water apă /apə/ apâ /ˈapɨ/ apâ /ˈapɨ/ acqua /akkwə/ acqua /akwa/ aqua /akwa/ abba /abba/
Fire foc /fok/ foc /fok/ foc /fok/ fuoco /fwɔkə/ focu /fɔku/ foco /fɔko/ fogu /foɣu/
Sun soare /so̯are/ soare /ˈso̯are/ soari /ˈsoari/ sole /solə/ sole /sɔle/ sol /sɔl/ sole /sole/
Moon lună /lunə/ lunâ /ˈlunɨ/ lunâ /ˈlunɨ/ luna /lunə/ luna /luna/ luna /luna/ luna /luna/
Mother mamă /mamə/ mumâ /ˈmumɨ/ mumâ /ˈmumɨ/ mamma /mammə/ mamma /mamma/ matre /matre/ mama /mama/
Father tată /tatə/ tatâ /ˈtatɨ/ tatâ /ˈtatɨ/ pate /patə/ babbu /babːu/ patre /patre/ babbu /babbu/
Eat a mânca /a mɨnka/ mâcari /mɨˈkari/ mâcari /mɨˈkari/ mangià /mandʒa/ manghjà /manɟa/ manducar /mandukar/ mandigare /mandiɡare/
Drink a bea /a be̯a/ beari /ˈbeari/ beari /ˈbeari/ vevere /vevərə/ beie /beje/ biber /biber/ bìere /ˈbiere/
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Word order compared

Compare with major world languages

Romanian
Eu vreau să probez un costum pe care l-am văzut într-un magazin în fața hotelului
أنا أريد أن أجرب بدلة رأيتها في محل مقابل الفندق
试穿 酒店 对面的 商店 看到的 那套西装
I want to try on a suit I saw ‌in a shop across from the hotel
Ich möchte einen Anzug anprobieren den ich in einem Geschäft gegenüber vom Hotel gesehen habe
मैं होटल के सामने एक दुकान में देखा सूट को पहनकर देखना चाहता हूँ
私は ホテルの 向かいの お店 見た スーツを 試着 したいです
Я хочу примерить костюм который я увидел в магазине напротив отеля

Compare with closely-related languages

Jo vull provar-me un vestit que vaig veure en una botiga davant de l'hotel
Je voudrais essayer un costume que j' ai vu dans un magasin en face de l'hôtel
Eu quero probar un traxe que vin nunha tenda fronte ao hotel
Io voglio provare un abito che ho visto ‌in un negozio di fronte all'hotel
Romanian
Eu vreau să probez un costum pe care l-am văzut într-un magazin în fața hotelului

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