I want to be a Romanian translator. Rules for reading in Romanian

Date of: 10.01.2022

For beginners to learn Romanian, in this chapter we will consider:

1) Alphabet;

2) Reading rules;

3) Arrangement of stresses

Alphabet

The Romanian alphabet is the Latin alphabet, which has several special letters with diacritics (Ăă, Ââ, Îî, Șș, Țț)

The Romanian alphabet has 31 letters (7 vowels, 4 semivowels and 35 consonants). The letters K, Q, Y, W are used to write words of foreign origin (kilogram, quasar, week-end).

Letter	Russian pronunciation
A a	but
Ă ă	Between A and E
Â â	s (in the middle of a word)
Bb	b
c c	to h (before e, i)
D d	d
ee	e, e
F f	f
G g	G j (before e, i)
H h	X
I i	and (in the stressed position-and, in the unstressed-th or b)
Î î	s (at the beginning or end of a word)
Jj	well
Kk	to (rarely used)
l l	l
M m	m
N n	n
O o	about
Pp	P
Q q	to (only in loanwords)
R r	R
S s	from
Ş ş	w
T t	T
Ţ ţ	c
U u	at
Vv	c (rarely used)
Ww	in (only in loanwords)
X x	ks
Y y	й, и (only used in loanwords)
Zz	h

We invite you to watch the video for the best experience.

Rules for reading in Romanian

In Romanian, all words are pronounced clearly and weightily, so sometimes it may seem that there are many stresses in one word. Although Romanian speech sounds fast but all the words sound clearly.

At the beginning of training, do not chase for speed or for a "seemingly correct" Romanian accent! It is very important to learn how to pronounce all the words clearly! Otherwise, you simply will not be understood.

Romanian uses the Latin alphabet. Knowing at least a little English, we can say that you already know how to read Romanian! Since reading is based on the basic principle “As we see, we pronounce all the letters without gaps!”*

*This is the basic principle. Minor nuances will be discussed below.

Now let's take the words from the video above and analyze the reading rules in detail!

A Autobuz Apă Avion

The letter “a” is read like the Russian “a”, the letter “z” sounds loudly like “z” (not like “s”). All voiced consonants in Romanian are pronounced voiced as written, and the vowel “o” is always pronounced like “o” (not like “a”).

The special Romanian letter “ă” is pronounced between “a” and “e”, the sound is formed not on the teeth, but in the larynx. There is something similar in English at the end of words, for example - better

B Baloane Bebe Bomboane

The letter “v” corresponds to the Russian “b”, the diphthong (combination of 2 vowels) “oa” is pronounced like “oa” (not shortened), “e” sounds like a soft “e”

C Căţel Cană Cocoş

The letter "s" is read as "k". This letter is read as “h” in combination: “ce, si”, in other cases - as “k”. The combination of “she” and “chi” is read as “ke” and “ki”, respectively. (Cheie-keye, China-kina).

The letter “ţ” corresponds to the Russian “ts”.

D Delfin Doi Dinosaur

The letter “d” corresponds to the Russian “d”, “i” is read as a soft sign. If “i” is at the end of a word and if it is not stressed, it is read as “ь” or “й”. For example, pisici-pisich, poliţişti-policysht, maşini- machine.

In the indefinite form of the verb, the stress falls on the last syllable (except for verbs ending in “e”) and “i” is read like “and”: a locui - a lokui, a citi- a chiti, a şti- a shti.

Often in the middle of a word before the vowel “i” we read as “ь”, for example, câine, pâne, situaţie, piaţă.

The letter "z" is always read as "z"

E Elefant Evantai Elicopter

Corresponds to the Russian softened “e”, at the end of the word it is always read as “e”. At the beginning in words Eu, Ești, El, Este, Ei, Ele reads like the Russian "e".

The letter “t” is “t”, and “n” is “n”, “v” is “v”

F Flori Furnica Fluturi

The letter "f" corresponds to the Russian "f". The letter "u" always sounds like "y". The diphthong "iu" is pronounced like "yu". For example, iubire - yubire

G Girafă Gărgăriţă Găină

The letter “g” in combination “ge” and “gi” is read as “je” and “ji”, respectively. In other cases, it is the letter "g". The combination of “ghe” and “ghi” is read as “ge” and “gi”, respectively, that is, the letter “h” is not pronounced. For example, ghiozdan- giozdan, îngheţată- yngetsate.

H Harpa Hamac Halat

The letter “n” is read like the Russian “x”, the letter “r” sounds like “r”, but more expressive and intense.

I iepuras inel iaurt

The letter “ş” corresponds to the Russian “sh”, “iau” we pronounce “yau”

Î înger îngheţată împărat

The letters “â” and “î” stand for the same sound – “ы”. The difference is only in the place of writing! At the beginning and end of the word, you should write “î”, as after prefixes, and in the middle of the word, write “â”.

J joben jeleu jucarii

The letter "j" is always read as Russian "zh", for example, wife, fiance.

K kiwi koală kilogram

This is the letter “k”, but it is used quite rarely, only in borrowed words.

L leu lapte legan

The letter "l" always sounds soft. For example, to pronounce La piaţă, for “l” the tongue must rest with its tip against the front teeth, forming a noble sound on the front teeth, unlike the Russian “la”, which is formed by the middle part of the tongue.

The letters K, Q, W, Y are used only in words borrowed from other languages. For example, kilometru, week-end, Quebek, hobby.

The letter “x” in the combination “ex” is pronounced as “gz”, in other cases - as “ks”.
For example, examen - exam, ехerciţiu - egzerchitsiu or piх - pix.

The combination “ea” is heard in fast speech as the Russian “I”, but you should try to pronounce short “e” from these 2 vowels and longer “a” so that the sound “a” is heard at the end. For example, Cafea

Stress in Romanian

As a rule, the stress in Romanian falls on last syllable if the word ends in consonant or U or at penultimate syllable if the word ends in vowel.

For example,

Bai a t, cai e t, tabl o u, bir o u, calculat o r, telef o n,crei o n, televiz o r, or aş, stră i n

(emphasis underlined)

F a tă, fem e ie, c a rte, stud e nţi, pis i ca, pis i ci, so a re….

In words ending in A (words with an indefinite article), the stress falls on the end of the word:

Pijam a, perde a(curtain!!!), ste a cafe a.. .

The stress in the indefinite form of the verb, except for the group of verbs ending in “e”, also falls on the last syllable:

A f i, a cit i, a cant a, a locu i, a lucr a…..

In addition to all this, deviations from these norms are very common:

fl u tură, dr a guest, a isberg, p a gină, mec a nic, c a ngur

Conclusion: the stress in Romanian falls towards the end of the word in most cases!

Romanian language(aka Daco-Romanian, Moldavian, Wallachian) formally belongs to the Romance languages, that is, it is a "relative" of Italian, French and Spanish. But one must understand that since the time of Dacia and Trajan, Huns, Goths, and Bulgars also swept through these lands ... So really modern Romanian is an enchanting mishmash of Dacian (in particular, many Dacian geographical names have survived, for example, the same Argesh), Latin, Slavic languages and later borrowings from Western European languages. As a result, the vocabulary from Western European languages differs very much, there are very few familiar roots in Romanian, but pretty Slavic ones.

We, of course, cannot master the language seriously, but it may be worth making some efforts to give our speech some recognizable flavor - especially since the same Poles or Serbs have already done this hundred pounds. Perhaps this has already been done for Romanians on XC before, so if someone comes up with some smart ideas, it will be very cool. For now, I propose to dwell on two things - phonetics and a small phrasebook.

Phonetics

The Romanian language uses the Latin alphabet. "Cyrilizations" of Romanian words in some cases are not quite phonetically accurate - they sound logical for a Russian person, but do not fully reflect the Romanian flavor (for example, it is more correct to pronounce - Draculesti and Danesti). We can change this for ourselves. So, how to read Romanian Latin?

Most of the letters are read quite habitually, as in Latin or German.
- Unstressed vowels are reduced much weaker than we are used to, it is worth trying to pronounce all vowels like stressed ones.
- In electronic texts and writing, diacritics are often omitted, but with a little practice you can guess where they should be and read them correctly.
- Non-obvious letter readings: ă /uh(actually something in between but And uh), î /s, â /s, from/to, g/G, j/well, ș /w, ţ /c.
- Unobvious combinations of letters: ci/whose(in Russian they often write chi), ce/Che, chi/ky(in Russian they often write ki), Che/ke, gi/ji, ge/je, ghi/gi, ghe/ge.
- voiced consonants b/b, d/d, g/G, j/well, v/in, z/h are not stunned and are not replaced by paired deaf.
- Sounds ţ /c, ș /w, j/well softened by subsequent vowels i/And, e/e, that is, they turn into "ts", "sh", "zh".

Phrasebook

There are very few words in my phrasebook for travelers that are useful to us. But Google Translate does an excellent job of translating both Romanian and Romanian (although its robotic Romanian pronunciation is only good for the trash). There is also a very useful Romanian-Dacian-English dictionary (and here's a little more). If someone figures out what words can be useful to us and adds, it will be great.

Pronunciation modifications

What to do with ordinary Russian words to form a characteristic accent - I don’t know yet. It is possible, for example, from on the w change would be quite typical. Durmstrang and Stefan, for example. And also Romania, Romany. Suggest.

The Romanian alphabet is based on the Latin script with diacritics ( ă , î , ş , ţ ). Letters q, w, x, y found only in names and names of foreign origin.

2. Transliteration

Part of the Romanian letters is transmitted into Russian unambiguously:

ă	→ uh	k	→ to	p	→ P	t	→ T
b	→ b	l	→ l	q	→ to	ţ	→ c
d	→ d	m	→ m	r	→ R	v	→ in
f	→ f	n	→ n	s	→ from	w	→ in
j	→ well	o	→ about	ş	→ w	z	→ h

3. C, G, H

Before front vowels ( i And e) c → h, g → j. Often i And e serve solely to show softening c And g. In particular, cea (cia) → cha, cio → cho, ciu → chu, geo (gia) → ja, geo (gio) → Joe, Giu → ju. At the end of a word ci → h.

Mitigate does not occur if after g And c should h: ch → to, gh → G, th → T.

In other cases c → to, g → G, h → X.

So, Tecuci → Fluid, Gheorghe → George.

4. X, Y

Letter x occurs only in names and names of foreign origin and can be transmitted as ks or how gz, depending on the pronunciation in the corresponding language: Alexandru → Alexander.

Letter y also occurs only in loanwords and can be transmitted as And or th, depending on pronunciation.

"Transcriptor" always translates x → ks, y → And.

5. Vowels and their combinations

Diphthong ea in transcription corresponds I(excluding combinations cea, geo).

Diphthongs of the species i + vowel are transmitted as follows:

At the end of a word ia → and I, ie → ie, iu → july;

At the beginning of a word and after vowels ia → I, ie → e, io → yo, iu → Yu;

In the middle of a word after consonants ia → ya, ie → ye, io → yo, iu → ew.

In diphthongs of the form vowel + i the rule works i → th: Baicoi → Beikoy.

doubled ii at the end of words is conveyed by a single letter i.

At the beginning of a word î → And, in other positions î → s.

In names of foreign origin at the beginning of a word and after vowels, it is possible e → uh, in proper Romanian words always e → e.

6. Indirect forms

The Romanian language has a definite postpositive article, which is written together with the word to which it refers. During transcription, it remains in its place.

If the word in the Romanian text is in an indirect form, for transcription it must be translated into its original form, that is, put the definite article in the nominative case.

"Transcriptor" does not decline Romanian names.

7. Pre-reform spelling

In the 1950s, the Romanian orthography was reformed. In particular, the letter â everywhere replaced by î and instead s before voiced consonants b, d, g, m now spelled z. In addition, the mute is omitted u at the end of words. These changes are not always reflected in the spelling of proper names.

Romanian language(in rum. limba română/român) belongs to the Romance languages and has about 24 million speakers in Romania, Moldova and Ukraine. Romanian retains a number of Latin features, including noun cases that have long been lost to other Romance languages. The Romanian language contains many words borrowed from the Slavic languages of neighboring countries, as well as from French, Old Slavonic, German, Greek and Turkish.

The first written monuments of the Romanian language appeared in the 16th century. and are predominantly religious texts and other documents. The oldest text in Romanian dates back to 1521 - this is a letter from the boyar Nyaksu from Campulung to the mayor of Brasov. The letter is written in a krillic script similar to the Old Slavonic script used in Wallachia and Moldavia until 1859.

From the end of the 16th century for writing in Romanian in Transylvania, a variant of the Latin alphabet with Hungarian features was used. At the end of the XVIII century. a spelling system based on the Italian language was adopted.

The Cyrillic script was used in the Moldavian SSR until 1989, when it was replaced by the Romanian version of the Latin alphabet.

Ancient Romanian alphabet

This variant of the Latin alphabet was used during the period of transition from Cyrillic to Latin script. At present, it is still used mainly in church texts.

Cyrillic alphabet of the Romanian language (1600-1860)

Notes

Some letters had a special form that was used at the beginning of a word:

The letters Ѯ, Ψ, Ѳ and V were used in Greek loanwords.

The modern alphabet of the Romanian language

A a

Ă ă

Â â

c c

D d

e e

F f

G g

H h

I i

Î î

has

jî

l l

M m

N n

O o

R r

S s

Ș ș

T t

Ț ț

U u

X x

șî

țî

ics

zet

The letters Q (chiu), W (dublu ve) and Y (i grec) are used mainly in foreign loanwords.

Phonetic transcription of the Romanian language

Vowels, diphthongs and triphthongs

Consonants

Notes

c= [ ʧ ] before i or e, but [ k ] in any other position
g= [ʤ] before i or e, but [g] in any other position
ch= [k] before i or e
gh= [ g ] before i or e
i= [i ̯] before vowels, but [i] in any other position. When the letter i stands at the end of a polysyllabic word, it is not pronounced, but softens the previous consonant. For example, vorbiti (you speak) = . The exceptions are words that end in a consonant + r + i, as well as infinitive forms of verbs, for example. "a vorbi" (to speak).
To convey the full sound [ i ] at the end of the word, the digraph "ii" is used, for example. "copii" (children) = [kopi].
iii at the end of a word it is pronounced [iji], e.g. "copiii" (these children) = [kopiji].
u= [u̯] before vowels, but [u] in any other position
k, q, w and y are used only in loanwords