The name Romania comes from the word Roman. Wikivoyage phrasebook romanian says that the language is more like Italian than French. I recognize plurals formed by adding the letter i as used in the Italian language.
But I speak French so I recognize lots of Romanian words as being similar to French. For example, the Romanian word for thank you is mersi, like the French word merci. So to me, the Romanian language is more like French than Italian.
Where can you start to learn? It's easy to start for free on Duolingo. The system has several features which I like. Pictures are matched with everyday words. A simple grammar guide and list of phrases starts each set of exercises.
Two words for you, several of which sound similar to French.
English (alphabetically) - Romanian
are (they are) - sunt (like the french nous sommes in we are and elles sont in they are)
cocoa - cacao (proounced cack - ow as in howl or owl. The English word has the letter o twice, but the Romanian has the letter a twice)
honey - miere (me air ay or me air er, like the French word miel)
I - eu (pronounced yo)
thanks - mersi (like the French merci)
the - la (as in French)
two - doi (notice the letters d and o like the English word duo)
unt - butter (notice the letters u and t in the Romanian and the English)
You - tu, voi (the same as the French tu, and similar to the French vous, which also has the letters v and o)
we - noi (similar to the French nous which has the letters n and o)
Romanian (alphabetically) - English
butter - unt
cacao - cocoa
doil - two (like the English word duo)
eu (pronounced yo) - I
la - the
mersi - thanks
miere - honey
noi - we (like the French word nous)
sunt - are
tu - you
voi - you
Numbers[edit]
- 1
- unu (OO-noo)
- 2
- doi (doy)
- 3
- trei (tray)
- 4
- patru (PAH-troo)
- 5
- cinci (cheench)
- 6
- șase (SHAH-seh)
- 7
- șapte (SHAHP-teh)
- 8
- opt (ohpt)
- 9
- nouă (NOH-uh)
- 10
- zece (ZEH-cheh)
Useful Websites
duolingo
wikivoyage Romania phrasebook
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