In a world where people speak over 7000 languages, it must be striking to a person to learn Romanian because it is only spoken by 30 million people worldwide. The real question is, why do people still continue to learn old Romanian if it is so ancient?
Like other dominant languages these days, beginning with English, followed by Chinese, Spanish, German and much more, there is very less scope for any individual, translator or not, to survive in a world with multilingual skills in such rarely spoken languages. Let’s begin with facts, all Romanian is far from the oldest language ever. In fact, Egyptian holds the record for being established in 2090 BC, while old Romanian was first spoken only 1700 years ago.
What people don’t realise is the multiple obvious benefits of studying a language as ancient as old Romanian. It is like an old treasure box!
Who Speaks Romanian in Modern World?
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Native to almost 30 million people (with 80 million non-natives) all over the world, almost 4 million people actively speak Romanian as either their second or third language. It is even the official language of the Latin Union and European Union, with a minority in Ukraine and Hungary.
Fun Fact – It is the National language of Vojvodina Province (Serbia), the Republic of Moldova and Romania.
The next time somebody asks you, “Who even speaks old Romanian these days?” you know exactly which places to list!
Migration is another factor that caused Romanian immigrants to spread their old language across countries, especially in Russia, the UK and Germany. But if you look far and wide enough, old Romanian speakers are also commonly found in Spain, Canada and the USA. That explains the reason why there is a large demand for Romanian translation from the community in Israel too. The Indo-European language families from the Italian branch also create translation demands. A surprising statistic shows that all Romanians have a lot in common with Portuguese, Italian, Spanish and French languages, owing to their Latin structuring.
4 Romanian Dialects
- Banat – Banat region, Serbia
- Wallachian – Southern part of Romania or Oltebia, Dobrogea, Muntenia
- Moldavian – Moldavia, Ukraine, Russia, Romania
- Maramures – Romania, Ukraine, Maramures
The History of the Old Romanian Language
In a long war of succession between the Emperor of Domitian, Emperor Train and Emperor Aurelian, the Romanian language went through a bilingual transformation between the years 101 and 271 AD. During this time, Romanian and Latin were spoken simultaneously, but the reason was unique for each individual living here. The Roman lifestyle and Latin intertwined because communication was tremendously easy due to the addition of Latin, inspiring men of culture and famous writers in the era too. But Romanian survived despite it all once the Slavic arrived.
Meanwhile, the Danube, where the Romans popularised this language, was known for immigrants moving out of the community and hence passing on their language. This continued for some time till the 9th century, when old Romanian ethnic groups dispersed and travelled South. Considering people from all over Moesia, Pannonia, Dardania, et cetera we’re travelling all over the region, the Romanian language went through many folds.
But do we read about the history of its transformation anymore? It is necessary to understand how, although Romanian was popularised in modern times when the first grammar book was published in 1780, it came into being long before our imagination goes. Old Romanian languages spoken in movies, TV series, and references given in books might be interesting enough, and the ultimate reason why this ancient language managed to survive. But the culture it holds, the history it bears, and the literature it has written over the years are beyond comparison.
Five reasons why you should learn Old Romanian
- The music, art and abundant literature available in Romanian can help you become a valued part of their community. While travelling abroad, for vacation, business or residency purposes, learning the language gives you extra assistance.
- The Romanian language ranks 6th in popularly spoken languages all over Europe.
- With a rich history, closely related and intertwined with French, Italian and Latin mostly, it is a good way to remain enlightened and aware of language histories and its references in other dialects as well.
- Learning old Romanian can improve diversity needs in a company, make people feel inclusive and help them localise.
- It adds to cultural archives, learning Romanian would imply more people becoming aware of its history, opening up new work opportunities in Romania or Romanian-speaking countries.
Learning old Romanian can be fun, especially since its ancient historical significance carries a lot of cultural significance. However, if you have a project right at your hand with no trusted professional native translators, perhaps MoniSa Enterprise can guide you. Our elaborate services are available in Romanian and 240 plus other languages, including some of the rarely spoken ones.
Visit our website to know how our team of professionals can assist you!
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