Romanian language
In the year 587, a Vlach muleteer accompanying a Byzantine army shouted Torna torna fratre to his companion as a load fell from an animal. Theophanes Confessor recorded this moment during a military expedition against the Avars and Slovenes. This single phrase represents the earliest written record of a Romance language spoken in the Balkans. Romanian descended from Vulgar Latin dialects that separated from Western Romance languages between the fifth and eighth centuries. Three main hypotheses exist regarding its exact territory of development. Autochthony thesis suggests it formed north of the Danube in Dacia alone. Discontinuation thesis argues for right-Danube provinces only. As-well-as thesis supports development on both sides of the river. By the tenth century two major dialects had emerged from Common Romanian. Daco-Romanian became the official language of Romania and Moldova today. Istro-Romanian remains spoken by no more than 2000 people in Istria. Aromanian and Megleno-Romanian developed from southern Common Romanian versions. These four branches now inhabit Central Eastern and Southeastern Europe.
Samuil Micu-Klein printed Elementa linguae daco-romanae sive valachicae in Vienna during 1780. Gheorghe Șincai revised this grammar book which presented Romanian phonological features alongside Latin comparisons. The modern age of Romanian began with this publication marking three distinct phases. Pre-modern period lasted from 1780 to 1830 featuring school textbooks and normative works. Ion Heliade Rădulescu and Gheorghe Lazăr contributed significantly during these early decades. Curierul Românesc and Albina Românească became the first magazines printed in Romanian. Modern phase spanned 1831 to 1880 developing scientific administrative and belletristic literary styles. Mihail Kogălniceanu founded Dacia Literară journal spreading Romantic nationalism ideas. Members known collectively as of '48 included Vasile Alecsandri Grigore Alexandrescu Nicolae Bălcescu and Timotei Cipariu. Contemporary period started in 1880 continuing to present day with supradialectal standardization. Mihai Eminescu Ion Luca Caragiale Ion Creangă and Ioan Slavici defined early contemporary literature. The current orthography fully implemented in 1881 remains regulated by the Romanian Academy today.
Twenty-five million people speak Romanian as their first language according to recent estimates. Speakers account for 0.5% of world population and 4% of Romance-speaking communities globally. Romania hosts 90.65% of native speakers totaling 17,263,561 individuals within its borders. Moldova contains 82.1% of speakers numbering 2,184,065 across its territory. Transnistria region shows 33.0% usage among 156,600 residents speaking Moldovan or Romanian. Vojvodina province in Serbia maintains 1.04% Romanian speakers comprising 18,038 people. Ukraine's Chernivtsi and Odesa oblasts contain 327,703 Romanian speakers representing 0.8% of local population. Hungary's Gyula area holds 13,886 speakers making up 0.14% of Hungarians. Timok Valley in Serbia includes 25,702 speakers at 0.39%. Bulgaria has only 4,575 Romanian speakers constituting 0.06% of Bulgarians. Israel hosted the largest Middle Eastern community with 250,000 speakers in 1995 census data. Large immigrant communities exist throughout Italy Spain France Portugal United States Canada Australia Argentina Venezuela Brazil Kazakhstan Russia Singapore Japan South Korea China UAE New Zealand South Africa.
About 10 to 15 percent of modern Romanian vocabulary originates from Slavic languages according to linguistic studies. Old Church Slavonic served as official written language from fourteenth to eighteenth centuries. Religious ritual and hierarchy terms predominantly derive from Slavic sources. Words like sfârși meaning to end contrast with săvârși meaning to commit showing vernacular differences. German borrowings include cartof for potato bere for beer șurub for screw turn for tower ramă for frame. Austrian High German contributed military administration social welfare economy terms during Habsburg rule. Greek entered through colonies emporia Dobruja Byzantine Empire Bulgarian Empires after Greek Civil War. Hungarian influence appears in cheltui for spend oraș for city a făgădui for promise. Turkish provided papuc for slipper ciorbă for soup bacșiș for tip ultimately Persian baksheesh. Romani slang added mișto good beautiful cool gagică girlfriend a hali to devour mandea yours truly. Since nineteenth century French Italian loanwords comprise about 38% of total vocabulary. Combined Latin inheritance plus Romance loans reach 75 to 85 percent overall. English words increasingly enter computer field business sports domains today.
Romanian nouns feature feminine masculine neuter genders declined by singular plural number nominative accusate genitive dative vocative cases. Definite articles attach enclitically to noun endings unlike other Romance languages where they precede nouns. This unique feature aligns Romanian with Scandinavian languages Bulgarian Albanian. Verbs highly inflect person number tense mood voice following subject verb object order. Four conjugations split into ten patterns govern verbal forms across five moods four non-finite types. Seventeen consonants and seven vowels form phonetic inventory including schwa sound written as ă. Plural inflectional ending -uri developed specifically for neuter gender nouns. Analytic present conditional future tenses emerged from auxiliary verbs derived from Latin volo. Nominal declension preserves two case forms in singular feminine only marginally retaining vocative. Neuter gender functions mixture masculine feminine rather separate category with distinct adjectival forms. Word order flexibility exists but subject-verb-object remains predominant structure throughout sentences.
Constitutional Court of Moldova ruled December 2013 that state language should be called Romanian not Moldovan. Parliament approved law the 16th of March 2023 referring national language as Romanian all legislative texts constitution. President Maia Sandu promulgated legislation March 22 same year implementing court decision. Declaration Independence named official language Romanian while Constitution originally adopted 1994 stated Moldovan. Law on State Language Moldavian SSR 1989 mandated Moldovan usage political economic cultural social spheres. Census 2014 showed 24% declared Romanian mother tongue versus 56% stating Moldovan among 2,804,801 residents. Urban centers split evenly between names capital Chișinău showing strong preference ratio three to two favoring Romanian. Countryside hardly quarter indicated Romanian native language preferring Moldovan designation instead. 2024 census results revealed 49.2% declared Moldown 31.3% Romanian mother tongue increasing share by 8.1%. Younger age groups predominately chose Romanian name especially 20-29 demographic group. Usually spoken language statistics show 46% Moldovan 33.2% Romanian combined increase 0.5% compared previous decade. Breakaway territory Transnistria co-official Ukrainian Russian written Cyrillic alphabet remaining in use.
Neacșu of Câmpulung wrote oldest surviving letter late June 1521 using Cyrillic alphabet addressing Brașov mayor about Turkish attack imminent. Hurmuzaki Psalter dated 1491-1504 represents earliest bilingual religious text Church Slavonic Romanian translation verse after verse. Cyrillic remained gradually decreasing use until 1860 when writing first officially regulated. Soviet Republic Moldova used Russian-derived Moldovan Cyrillic alphabet until 1989 introducing Latin script. Transnistria breakaway region continues employing Cyrillic system today. Romanian alphabet includes five additional letters ă â î ș ț beyond standard twenty-six characters. K Q W Y introduced officially 1982 mostly loanwords kilogram quasar watt yoga. Breve marker survived only in ă former twelve additional letters abolished subsequent reforms. Letters â î represent same close central unrounded vowel sound pronounced differently depending position word. Stressed vowels rarely marked except meaning changes possible misplacement context unclear examples trei copíi three children versus trei cópii three copies. Academy spelling rules proposed 1993 adopted Moldovan Academy 2000 transition schedule completed publications 2011. Order No. 872 signed the 17th of October 2016 by Moldovan minister education aligning institutions with Romanian Academy recommendations.
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Common questions
When was the earliest written record of Romanian language found?
Theophanes Confessor recorded the phrase Torna torna fratre in the year 587 during a military expedition against the Avars and Slovenes. This single phrase represents the earliest written record of a Romance language spoken in the Balkans.
Who published the first grammar book that marked the modern age of Romanian language?
Samuil Micu-Klein printed Elementa linguae daco-romanae sive valachicae in Vienna during 1780. Gheorghe Șincai revised this grammar book which presented Romanian phonological features alongside Latin comparisons to begin the modern age of Romanian.
How many people speak Romanian as their first language today?
Twenty-five million people speak Romanian as their first language according to recent estimates. Romania hosts 90.65% of native speakers totaling 17,263,561 individuals within its borders while Moldova contains 82.1% of speakers numbering 2,184,065 across its territory.
What percentage of modern Romanian vocabulary originates from Slavic languages?
About 10 to 15 percent of modern Romanian vocabulary originates from Slavic languages according to linguistic studies. Old Church Slavonic served as official written language from fourteenth to eighteenth centuries and religious ritual terms predominantly derive from Slavic sources.
When did the Constitutional Court of Moldova rule on calling state language Romanian instead of Moldovan?
The Constitutional Court of Moldova ruled December 2013 that state language should be called Romanian not Moldovan. Parliament approved law the 16th of March 2023 referring national language as Romanian all legislative texts constitution.
Which year was the oldest surviving letter in Romanian language written using Cyrillic alphabet?
Neacșu of Câmpulung wrote oldest surviving letter late June 1521 using Cyrillic alphabet addressing Brașov mayor about Turkish attack imminent. Hurmuzaki Psalter dated 1491-1504 represents earliest bilingual religious text Church Slavonic Romanian translation verse after verse.