Română
Romanian
Romance
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 | Romanian | Aromanian | Megleno-Romanian | Neapolitan | Corsican | Interlingua | Sardinian |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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/ |
| Love | iubire /jubire/ | vreari /ˈvreari/ | ublami /ˈublami/ | ammore /ammorə/ | amore /amɔre/ | amor /amor/ | amore /amore/ |
| Heart | inimă /inimə/ | inimâ /ˈinimɨ/ | inima /ˈinima/ | core /korə/ | core /kɔre/ | corde /kɔrde/ | core /kore/ |
| Tree | copac /kopak/ | arbur /ˈarbur/ | lemnu /lemnu/ | àrvero /arvərə/ | arburu /arburu/ | arbore /arbore/ | àrbure /ˈarbure/ |
| House | casă /kasə/ | casâ /ˈkasɨ/ | casa /ˈkasa/ | casa /kasə/ | casa /kaza/ | casa /kasa/ | domo /domo/ |
| Dog | câine /kɨine/ | câni /ˈkɨni/ | câni /ˈkɨni/ | cane /kanə/ | cane /kane/ | can /kan/ | cane /kane/ |
| Cat | pisică /pisikə/ | cãtushã /kɨˈtuʃɨ/ | mâța /ˈmɨtsa/ | jatto /jattə/ | ghjattu /ɟattu/ | catto /katto/ | gattu /ɡattu/ |
| Hand | mână /mɨnə/ | mânâ /ˈmɨnɨ/ | mâna /ˈmɨna/ | mano /manə/ | manu /manu/ | mano /mano/ | manu /manu/ |
| Eye | ochi /okʲ/ | oclju /ˈokʎu/ | ocl /okl/ | uocchio /wɔkkjə/ | ochju /ɔcu/ | oculo /okulo/ | ogru /ˈoɣru/ |
| Hello | salut /salut/ | bunâ-vã ziuâ /ˈbunɨ vɨ ˈziwɨ/ | ubavu /uˈbavu/ | uè /wɛ/ | salute /salute/ | salute /salute/ | salude /salude/ |
| Thank you | mulțumesc /mult͡sumesk/ | haristo /hariˈsto/ | hăirau /hɨiˈrau/ | grazie /ɡratsjə/ | grazie /ɡratsje/ | gratias /ɡratias/ | gràtzias /ˈɡrattsjas/ |
| One | unu /unu/ | unu /ˈunu/ | unu /ˈunu/ | uno /unə/ | unu /unu/ | un /un/ | unu /unu/ |
| Good | bun /bun/ | bun /bun/ | bunu /ˈbunu/ | buono /bwɔnə/ | bonu /bɔnu/ | bon /bon/ | bonu /bonu/ |
Word order compared
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