Romanian Language for Travellers - In a Simple Way
41 videos • 4,345 views • by octavst Romanian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Romania and Moldova, as well as in some parts of Hungary, Serbia, Bulgaria and Ukraine. It is very useful to know the language if travelling in Romania and especially Moldova, particularly in rural areas. Romanian may or may not be difficult for speakers of other languages. It is very similar to Italian, and, to a similiar extent, other Romance languages (French, Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan, etc.), so speakers of these languages are more at an advantage. Note that in Romanian, there is a formal and informal form when addressing people. The informal is tu (you, singular) or voi (you, plural) and the formal is dumneavoastră (one form for singular and plural). There is also a formal way of speaking about other people, not just when addressing them. When referring to she use dumneaei; for he use dumnealui; and for themuse dumnealor. Note that the formal form should be used with the plural form of the verb, at the appropriate person. This is similar to the construction in most other Romance languages, and, to an extent, German, although Germans usually make less use of the informal forms. Use tu when addressing friends or people you know well. When addressing strangers or speaking about strangers, use the formal forms. Romanian should not be confused with Romani or Romany, which is the language of the European Gypsies, or Roma. The similarity is coincidental; the English word for the European Gypsy stems from an Indian/Sanskrit root. The name Romania or Rumania and its derivatives come from the Latin word 'Romanus', and are etymologically related to Rome, the capital city of the Roman empire and now the capital city of Italy. In the past, Romania had a sizable German minority population, although nowadays the number of native German speakers is dwindling. However, the German language is still widely studied in Romania as a foreign language, and, due to the residual German cultural influence, it is used as a second (or third) official language in many parts of Transylvania. Romanian tends to be easy for speakers of Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and Catalan to learn, since all these languages share a common root and influences and are all written as they are pronounced. Romanian is sometimes challenging because of the influx of loanwords, mostly Slavic words as well as a few Hungarian, German and Turkish ones, even though most of these have fallen out of use for a very long time. Neologisms have been imported en masse from French, Italian, German, and recently English. The language uses the Latin alphabet, and the Latinate roots can help tourists to understand some signs, such as Alimentara (a place where you can buy aliments, food) Farmacie (Pharmacy, Drugstore), and Poliţie (Police). Some signs, however, are false cognates or 'false friends' - for example Librărie means a bookstore rather than a lending library (as it does in French); Teatru means a stage theatre rather than a cinema (as in British English); and so on, although if you have a decent conversation guide you can avoid such funny confusions. Coincidentally, these "false friends" also apply in all its sister languages. Even though there are few words of Russian origin and contrary to what some might think, Romanian being a Romance language is very far from Russian. A Romanian (without any prior knowledge of Russian) will not be able to understand any Russian sentence. This is not be confused with the people living in the Republic of Moldova that speak (most of them) both Romanian and Russian which is due to historical reasons. The most notable word apparently inherited form Russian is “Da” (yes): but this is in fact a coincidence, with "da" in Romanian having a Latin origin. Romanian should not be confused with Romani or Romany, which is the language of the European Gypsies, or Roma. The similarity is coincidental; the English word for the European Gypsy stems from an Indian/Sanskrit root. The name Romania or Rumania and its derivatives come from the Latin word 'Romanus', and are etymologically related to Rome, the capital city of the Roman empire and now the capital city of Italy. In the past, Romania had a sizable German minority population, although nowadays the number of native German speakers is dwindling. However, the German language is still widely studied in Romania as a foreign language, and, due to the residual German cultural influence, it is used as a second (or third) official language in many parts of Transylvania. Romanian tends to be easy for speakers of Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and Catalan to learn, since all these languages share a common root and influences and are all written as they are pronounced. Romanian is sometimes challenging because of the influx of loanwords, mostly Slavic words as well as a few Hungarian, German and Turkish ones, even though most of these have fallen out of use for a very long time.