The Ancient Romanian Language was one of the earliest Romance languages known to Europe, with its basic roots in Latin and arms spread out all over Moldova, Serbia, Greece and Romania. For decades, it has survived transformation, migration and modernisation, with only 24 million native speakers standing today. But how commonly do we see someone we know attempt to learn the basic phrases in Romanian? Not a large number of people. That’s because it is an ancient enough language, often left at the sidelines with given popular choices like Spanish, Italian, German, etc.
Little do they know, Romanian is a romance language, rich with its own history, literature and cultural influence.
Romanian: Romance Language
No, the romance here does not imply intimate romance. They are referred to as late Latin languages that have evolved due to modern changes (10% Slavic vocabulary). Italian, Portuguese and French are some other Romance examples which have somewhat similar references to ancient Romanian dialects or vocabulary.
Surprisingly, the Ancient Romanian language is the only romance language that survived in Eastern Europe. The Uralic populations, Turks, Hungarians, Bulgarians and Slavic influenced the eastern region heavily.
If you know any other romance languages or have studied them for at least some years in college, you can find similar Western European counterparts. For example;
- Spanish & French bien, Italian- bene, Romanian: bine
- French: Bon, Spanish: Bueno, Romanian: Bun
Unlike its other linguistic relatives, it’s more Slavic-inclined. Polish, Russian and Czech also influenced Romanian in ways that sound similar. This argument was first presented in 1836 by Frederick Diaz, a philologist who considers Romanian not a complete romance but a semi-romance language since it stands out from the other Latin-derived forms.
Romanian Vocabulary
Grammatically, the Ancient Romanian language is unique from other Romances. Some bold examples:
- Nouns are put before definite articles. Sentences that include words like “the cat” would instead be read as “cat the”. This is the influence of Bulgarian, Serbian, Macedonian and Albanian in neighbourhood regions.
- Spanish, French and some other modern romances no longer used the third gender in original Latin but Romanian has continued the use of this Third gender, neuter.
But, it has similarities too at its core. Nouns, pronouns, congregations, tenses, and numbers are all Latin derived and similar.
Read More – Preserving Old Romanian Language: Why It Matters
Ancient Romanian Language’s Rich Culture
Let’s begin with the classics – we all have heard about Dracula. The story about vampires- the blood-sucking monsters that have been remade into multiple movies and novels is a character that originated in Romanian folk legends. Not just folklore, recently Romanian movies have also become a popular area of discussion. The Cannes Film Festival awarded the Romanian film “A Fost Say Na Fost” by Corneliu P.
“Dragostea din tei” a YouTube sensation popularised in 2014 was another Romanian favourite. This song, based in Moldova, was at a point sung by almost everyone worldwide. Look up “numa numa” if you want to give it a good hear yourself!
The ancient Romanian language never lost its charm, it might have merged with dialects of some other regions come up but its originality and nativity to millions worldwide make it so very necessary.
Why is preserving Romanian important?
Practically speaking, a person who has never heard about Romanian might not want to learn it at first instance when given the opportunity, either in an academic setting or independently. Russians or people from Slavic regions might take an interest if they benefit from it in work environments or the country that they live in. However, the United States of America still considers the ancient Romanian language a “critical language”. We use this term for those groups that come in short supply, speaking Romanian.
To better understand the world we live in, people adapt to their surroundings. So far, Romania, despite being the beautiful country that it is, has not been widespread enough. With the most pristine landscapes and rich cultural heritage, it is inviting enough for visitors, students and any person who wishes to live there. That is why slowly the number of people who speak and know Romanian are increasing, to connect different worlds, open opportunities for people, and companies and diversify our ways of living.
Read More – Why Should You Learn Old Romanian Language
8 Rare Facts about Ancient Romanian Language
Unsure whether Romanian is going to be as interesting as it seems? We can convince you with these facts!
- Romanian continued to be the official language of the Republic of Moldova because it was a former region of Romania before 1940 that was later split because of the Molotov pact.
- Romanian dates back to the 2nd century, almost 1700 years old. It truly is ancient!
- No other language besides Romanians survived in Eastern Europe regions.
- Some French, Spanish and Romanian words are the same.
- The ancient Romanian language is phonetic, with words pronounced exactly how they look on the script.
- Like vowels in English, Romanian also has 5 special letters. They are called diacritics: ā (a), s (sh), t (ts), â, & î.
- Its grammar is the most interesting and also the most difficult, using case differentiation like nominative, genitive and vocative.
- Balkanic countries speak all four dialects of the ancient Romanian language.
At MoniSa Enterprise, we take language projects seriously. That is why our team of linguistics are learned, and even native, to languages as rare as ancient Romanian. Get in touch with us today for services in this and multiple unique languages!
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) :
It is better known as a romance language butter since it also has Slavic roots, the total vocabulary changes and adapts a unique form. People familiar with Spanish and French might also agree that Romanian is grammatically special.
As a tricky yet fascinating language, translators find learning Romanian very interesting because it not only elevates their historical and cultural knowledge as a whole but also allows them to communicate better with people and expand their career horizons. professionals make an effort into learning such ancient languages that date back to 1700 years.
Yes. According to the UNESCO Red Book of endangered languages, all four dialects spoken, namely Meglena Romanian, Aromianian, Istro Romanian and Darko Romanian, are listed as endangered because of the small number of speakers worldwide.
Because Romanian society is very hierarchal, giving importance to age, financial or societal position, older people are respected and multiple terms can be used to denote a senior person or an individual of a higher position. To address someone as ‘Sir’ one can say ‘Donmuleyes sir’.
Languages represent the cultural significance of a community that has transformed over the years, the pattern of migration of people, the influence of ruling dynasties and emperors, and other historical inferences. It is the responsibility of native speakers to preserve their language and pass it on to the next generations. With the rise of translation services worldwide, we can rest assured multiple fading languages would be saved and put to better use through localization.
