History of the Romanian language

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The history of the Romanian language started in Roman provinces north of the Jireček Line in Classical antiquity. There are three main hypotheses around its exact territory: the autochthony thesis (it developed in left-Danube Dacia only), the discontinuation thesis (it developed in right-Danube provinces only), and the "as-well-as" thesis that supports the language development on both sides of the Danube.^[1] Between the 6th and 8th centuries AD, following the accumulated tendencies inherited from the vernacular Latin and, to a much smaller degree, the influences from an unidentified substratum, and in the context of a lessened power of the Roman central authority, the language evolved into Common Romanian. This proto-language then came into close contact with the Slavic languages and subsequently divided into Aromanian, Megleno-Romanian, Istro-Romanian, and Daco-Romanian.^[2][3] Because of limited attestations between the 6th and 16th centuries, entire stages from its history are reconstructed by researchers, often with proposed relative chronologies and loose limits.^[4]

Background

A number of

Little is known of the substratum language but it is generally assumed to be an Indo-European language related to

The largest semantic field (46 out the 89 considered certain to be of substratum) is formed by words describing nature: terrain, flora and fauna,[32] and about 30% of these words with Albanian cognate^{[note 2]} are connected to pastoral life.^[26] The proportion of words with Albanian cognates are found in the semantic fields of the physical world^{[note 3]} (4.8%), kinship^{[note 4]} (3.2%), agriculture and vegetation^{[note 5]} (2.8%), and animals^{[note 6]} (2.7%).^[33]

Schütz argues that a number of Romanian words which are traditionally supposed to have been derived from hypothetical Vulgar Latin terms^{[note 7]} are in fact Albanian loanwords. Even Romanian words of Latin^{[note 8]} or Slavic^{[note 9]} origin seem to have been borrowed through Albanian mediation. Parallel changes in the meaning of a number of Latin words in the Albanian and the Romanian languages^{[note 10]} can also be illustrated.^[26][34] A number of Albanian–Romanian calques^{[note 11]} exist.^[35]

The common morphological and syntactic features of Romanian with Albanian, Bulgarian, and other languages spoken in Southeastern Europe^{[note 12]} can be attributed to a common substratum.^[36] However, this hypothesis cannot be proven, because of modern scholars' limited knowledge of the native idioms spoken in the region.^[36] Accordingly, it is also possible that these common features are to be attributed to parallel developments in all languages.^[37] According to the linguist Rebecca Posner, it is not impossible that the existence of the close central unrounded vowel of Romanian – which is marked by the letters "î" or "â" – can also be traced back to the pre-Latin substratum, but she adds that "there is little evidence to support this hypothesis".^[38]

Romanization and Vulgar Latin

The integration of Southeastern European territories into the

Latin's literary register and its spoken vernacular, now known as "Classical Latin" and "Vulgar Latin" respectively, started to diverge by the time of the Roman conquest of Southeastern Europe.^[47] Accordingly, the Roman colonists introduced these popular forms when they settled in the newly conquered provinces.^[48] Inscriptions from the Roman period evidence that the Latin tongue of Southeastern Europe developed in line with the evolution of the language in the empire's other parts^[49] at least until the end of the 3rd century.^[50] Likewise, a number of inherited Romanian words testify to the fact that the Latin variety from which they emerged underwent the changes affecting the phonemes, lexicon, and other features of the Latin in the same period.^[51] For instance, the merger of the close e and open i vowels into a close "e" can be demonstrated^{[note 13]} through inherited Romanian words,^[52] and many items of Romanian vocabulary had its origin in popular terms^{[note 14]} instead of literary forms.^[53]

Trajan's Dacia to the north of the Lower Danube was abandoned in the early 270s.

Common Romanian

Main article: Common Romanian

Romanian linguist

sense perception^{[note 19]} (86.1%), quantity^{[note 20]} (82.3%), kinship^{[note 21]} (76.9%), and time^{[note 22]} (74.7%).^[33] More than 90% of the function words, 80% of the adverbs and 68% of the adjectives in the Romanian language were directly inherited from Latin.^[82]

Some Latin terms connected to an urbanized society survived by being adapted to rural environment, for example pământ from pavimentum,[83] and the vocabulary for navigation, higher religious organization, and education was considerably reduced.^[84] Inherited Romanian words for "road" also reveal that the life of the Romanians' ancestors became more rural after the collapse of Roman civilization.^[85] For instance, the Latin word for bridge pons developed into Romanian punte which refers to a tree trunk placed over a ditch or a ravine, while the Romanian word for road cale developed from Latin callis 'a narrow footpath, a track'.^[86] Grigore Nandriș emphasizes that Romanian "terms for «to move from one place to another»^{[note 23]} seem to be particularly numerous".^[87] Likewise, Romanian verbs referring to "going"^{[note 24]} developed from Latin verbs with a different meaning.^[87]

Based on a study of inherited Latin words and loanwords in the Romanian language, Nandriș, Schramm, Vékony and other scholars conclude that the Romanians stemmed from a population who inhabited the mountainous zones of Southeastern Europe and were primarily engaged in animal husbandry.^[86][24][88] For instance, Schramm emphasizes that "the Romanians inherited the word for «to plow» from Latin, but borrowed both the names of the parts of the plough [...] and the terminology of the intricacies of plowing techniques from Slavic" which suggests that their ancestors only preserved some very basic knowledge of cultivation of plants.^[89] However, as linguist Marius Sala says, the Slavic terms entered Romanian language by designating improved tools compared to the ones used by the Daco-Roman population, replacing the old words inherited from Latin.^[90] The old word for plough has been inherited in Aromanian as "arat" from the Latin "arātrum" while the improved tool took the Slavic name.^[91] Other scholars, including historian Victor Spinei, state that the great number of names of crops^{[note 25]} and agricultural techniques^{[note 26]} directly inherited from Latin indicates "a very long continuity of agricultural practices".^[92] Grigore Brâncuș adds to this list that the majority of pomiculture, numerous apicultural, and all the swineherding terms complete a view of a mixed farming society involved in both the growing of crops and the raising of livestock.^[93]

Like only a few other Romance languages, Romanian has preserved the Romanus

exonym and its variants^{[note 27]} stemmed from a reconstructed Germanic word *walhaz, by which the ancient Germans initially referred specifically to the Celts,^[73] then to the Romanized Celts, and finally to all Romance-speakers.^[95][98] It was adopted by the Slavs and from them the Greeks.^[76]

Historians have not reached a consensus on the date of the first historical event which can, without doubt, connect to Romanians. The Romanian historian Ioan-Aurel Pop makes mention of "written records" which refer to Romanians existing in the 8th and 9th centuries but does not name any of them.

Carpathians was recorded.^[100][107]

Slavic adstratum

See also:

Proto-Slavic, Slavic influence on Romanian, and Eastern Romance influence on Slavic languages

Dimitrie Gusti National Village Museum in Bucharest

)

Huge territories to the north of the Lower Danube were dominated by

bilingual communities with many Slavic speakers adopting Romanian,^[113][114] but their view have not been universally accepted.^[115]

The earliest stratum of Slavic loanwords – which is now represented by around 80 terms – was adopted in the Common Slavic period which ended around 850.[116] However, the majority of Romanian words of Slavic origin was only adopted after the metathesis of the Common Slavic *tort-formula – which was "a specific type of syllable whereby t stands for any consonant, o for either e or o, and r for both r and l"^[117] – had been completed.^[116] Old Church Slavonic terms also enriched the Romanians' religious vocabulary in this period.^[15][116] Proto-Romanian even adopted words of Latin^{[note 36]} or Greek^{[note 37]} origin through Slavic mediation in this period.^[118][119] Romanian and Istro-Romanian separated from the southern dialects in the 10th century, but retained a significant number of common Slavic loanwords.^[1] Each Eastern Romance language and its dialects adopted loanwords from the neighboring Slavic peoples thereafter.^[120] For instance, Ukrainian and Russian influenced the northern Romanian dialects, while Croatian influenced Istro-Romanian.^[120]

In addition to vocabulary, Slavic languages also had effects on Eastern Romance phonology and morphology,

The period between the 10th century, when the northern dialects of Common Romanian separate from the southern ones, up to the early known writings in Romanian in the 16th century, is known as the pre-literary stage of the language.^[126]

Characteristics of this period are the emergence of [ɨ] vowel, dropping of final [u],^[127] monophthongisation of ea diphthong from Common Romanian (ex: feată > fată),^[128] the influence of Old Church Slavonic,^[1] and the entry of Hungarian words in the vocabulary.^[129]

The Romanians' presence in the

While some Eastern Romance languages and dialects adopted a number of loanwords in the course of their development, others remained more conservative.[137] In this respect, the Wallachian dialect of Romanian is the most innovative of all Romanian dialects.^[138] Many linguists and historians – including Grigore Nandriș and Alexandru Madgearu – even propose that the preservation of inherited Latin words by the dialects spoken in Roman Dacia which were replaced by loanwords in other regions^{[note 43]} proves that these territories served as centres of "linguistic expansion".^[139][140] Likewise, the Maramureș dialect^{[note 44]} has also preserved words of Latin origin which disappeared from most other dialects.^[137] On the other hand, Aromanian, although it is now spoken in regions where its development could not start still uses a number of inherited Latin terms instead of the loanwords^{[note 45]} which were adopted by other Eastern Romance languages.^[141]

Development of Literary Romanian

The oldest surviving writing in Romanian that can be reliably dated is a letter sent by Lupu Neacșu from the then Dlăgopole, now Câmpulung, Wallachia, to Johannes Benkner of Brașov, Transylvania. From the events and people mentioned in the letter it can be inferred that it was written around the 29th or 30 June 1521. The Hurmuzaki Psalter (Psaltirea Hurmuzaki), dated from the same period, is a copy of an older, fifteenth-century translation of the Psalms.^[142] The first decades of the 16th century (from when the first writings in Romanian appear) and 1780, the date of publication the Transylvanian School’s grammar Elementa linguae daco-romanae sive valachicae define the boundaries of Literary Romanian's development.^[143] This period is also traditionally called Old Romanian.^[144]

The Polish chronicler

The first full texts in Romanian appeared in Moldavia starting from the first decades of the 16th century. Four manuscripts, Hurmuzaki Psalter (Psaltirea Hurmuzaki) from the first half of the century and considered by most researchers a translation of an older text possibly from the region of Maramureș, and the three others: Codicele Voronețean, Psaltirea Voronețeană, and Psaltirea Scheiană dated more likely from the second half of the 16th century, are known as Rhotacizing Texts (showing rhotacism of intervocalic /n/).^[143]

The Moldavian chronicles started with a translation into Old Church Slavonic from a Byzantine chronicle tracing world happenings from Creation to A.D. 1081, written by

"Wallachians and Transylvanians have the same speech as the Moldavians, but their pronunciation is slightly harsher, such as giur, which a Wallachian will pronounce jur, using a Polish ż or a French j. [...] They also have words that the Moldavians don't understand, but they don't use them in writing."

Cantemir's work is one of the earliest histories of the language, in which he notes, like Ureche before him, the evolution from Latin and notices the Greek, Turkish and Polish borrowings. Additionally, he introduces the idea that some words must have had Dacian roots. Cantemir also notes that while the idea of a Latin origin of the language was prevalent in his time, other scholars considered it to have derived from Italian.

In old sources, such as the works of chroniclers Grigore Ureche (1590–1647), Miron Costin (1633–1691), or those of the Prince and scholar Dimitrie Cantemir (1673–1723), the term Moldavian (moldovenească) can be found. According to Cantemir's Descriptio Moldaviae, the inhabitants of Wallachia and Transylvania spoke the same language as Moldavians, but they had a different pronunciation and used some words not understood by Moldovans. Costin and, in an unfinished book,

In Wallachia

Unlike Moldavia where historical literature developed somewhat early and linearly, each chronicler adding their style and story in a chronological order, in Wallachia the development was delayed and later fragmented into political factionalism. Older documents up to early 17th century, representing brief accounts of historical moments and figures, were recorded mostly in Old Church Slavonic or sometimes in Greek, with the notable exception of Neacșu's letter.^[161][162]

Boyar Stoica Ludescu (ca.1612-ca.1695) might have been the first to write a Wallachian chronicle in Romanian.^[163] He put together documents and attempts at chronicle writing made by predecessors, adding from his side a history of the second half of the 17th century in Wallachia, in a "savoury vulgar style":^[161]

Că adevăr cum nu se poate face din mărăcine struguri și din rug smochine, așa nu se poate face din neamul rău bun; ci din varza cea rea ce-i zic morococean, au ieșit fiiu-său și mai morococean el.

— Stoica Ludescu about the son of Radu Armașu Vărzaru.

His activity is followed by stolnic (High Stewart) Constantin Cantacuzino (1639-1716), a former student of University of Padua, who assisted with the publishing of the first complete Bible in Romanian, as well as being the author of History of Wallachia (1716), a book narrating events from the Roman colonisation until the conquest of Attila the Hun.^[164] Cantacuzino takes a different approach to the topic than the Moldavian chroniclers, asserting that modern Romanians descended directly from Roman aristocrats who he suggested assimilated the Dacians, forming a Daco-Roman nationality.^[165]

During the reign of Constantin Brâncoveanu, the prince's biography is recorded by courtier Radu Greceanu, praising the virtuous activities of the Romanian prince and demonstrating his legitimacy by connecting his family line to Byzantine Emperors and former Wallachian ruling family, the House of Basarab, as well as insisting on the divine right to rule. Like in Ludescu's case when a rival chronicle was written anonymously (but most likely by boyar Radu Popescu, affiliated to rival Băleni boyar faction), Greceanu's work was countered by another anonymous chronicler from an aristocratic family, arguing in favor of an elective monarchy.^[166]

Towards the end of the Old Romanian period and the beginning of Modern Romanian, during the influence of Enlightenment, the Wallachian literature in Romanian began to diversify, most notably through the members of Văcărescu family that will produce a number of poets and men and women of letters. The first one of them to be recognized by critics, Ienăchiță Văcărescu, also published a study on grammar titled "Observațiuni sau băgări dă seamă asupra regulelor și orânduelelor gramaticii românești".^[167]

In Transylvania and Banat

Comparable to the spread of Romanian language use for writing in Wallachia, the history of Romanian literature in Transylvania, Banat, and other regions where Romanians lived in the Kingdom of Hungary, was initially slow and characterized by unrelated entries before taking a more unified approach to Romanian language, culture, and political status, preceding the events of the 19th century.^[168]

The early Romanian scholars used the official languages of the Kingdom, yet the population was largely deprived of representants both in political and cultural higher echelon. A notable exception, Nicolaus Olahus, Archbishop of Esztergom (1553-1568) and correspondent of Erasmus, wrote about the Romanians of the kingdom in his Latin language description of his country "Hungaria", noting that the Romanian language in Wallachia, Moldavia, and Transylvania was originally the classical Latin of Roman colonists of Dacia.^[169]

The first books in Romanian appeared during the consolidation of

In the first decades of the following century the first chronicle in Transylvania was written by the Orthodox clergyman of Brașov, Protopop Vasile, also known as Vasile the Chronicler, in which he draws a historical sketch of St. Nicolai's church at Șchei in Brașov, and lists events from 1392 to 1633 concerning local history. His work was continued only in the 18th century by the archpriest of the same city, Radu Tempea, who described among other events the Romanian Orthodox-Catholic church union of 1697-1701.[169]

In Banat the first chronicle in Romanian was written only in the early 19th century by the Orthodox priest Nicolae Stoica. He recounted the history of the region from the origin of the world until 1825, emphasizing the events of Austro-Turkish War (1788–1791) which he witness.^[173]

The emblematic movement that characterized the development of Romanian writing in the Kingdom of Hungary is known as the Transylvanian School, represented mainly by Samuil Micu-Klein, Petru Maior, and Gheorghe Șincai, to whom some researchers add Ion Budai-Deleanu, Ioan Monorai, and Paul Iorgovici. The so-called "School", its members being associated with the public school in Romanian established in Blaj in 1754, promoted the ideas of ethnic purity, Latinity, and continuity of Romanians in Dacia,^[174] but also published a large number of writings (translations or own works) on religious and didactic topics. Among the latter should be mentioned Șincai's The Blaj Bible, and Maior's Protopopadichia ("The power of the archpriests").^[175] Significant for the history of the language is the interest shown in the topic of Romanian philology, individual books such as Maior's Orthographia Romana sive Latino-Valachica, una cum clavi, qua penetralia originationis vocum reserantur, together with shorter studies on etymology, orthography, and grammar will be reunited under one print in 1825 as:Lesicon románescu-látinescu-ungurescu-nemțescu quare de mai multi autori, in cursul' a trideci, si mai multoru ani s'au lucratu seu Lexicon Valachico-Latino-Hungarico-Germanici, simply known today as Buda Lexicon. Of the rich amount of books published by the members of the Transylvanian School, Samuil Micu-Klein's and Gheorghe Șincai's Elementa linguae daco-romanae sive valachicae (published in Vienna in 1780) proved to be the most influential. Within it the authors promoted the use of a Latin-based alphabet, and scientifically approached the study of Romanian grammar.^[176]

Modern Romanian

The period starting from 1780, from the publishing of Elementa linguae daco-romanae sive valachicae is categorised as Modern Romanian, and is characterised by the translation, publishing and printing of books using both Cyrillic and Latin orthography, until the full implementation of the current Romanian alphabet in 1881, and by the influence of Latino-romance languages, in particular French, on the Romanian lexis. This influence, together with the adoption of the Latin script and the work of two schools of thought (Transylvanian School's Latin oriented approach and I.H. Rădulescu's Italian oriented) is the context in which the terms Re-Latinisation, Re-Romanization or Westernization are discussed. The Latin model was applied to French loanwords such as objection to "objecție", or doublets of Latin inherited words are popularised as in dens/des, both from Latin densus - dens being a loanword from French, while des, with similar meaning, is inherited from Latin.^[177]

The initial period is characterised by uncoordinated attempts to simplify the ambiguous Cyrillic spellings of Romanian. This gradual and patchy process resulted in the introduction of new letters (ț - created by

Following

Gradually, the Russian language gained importance. The new code adopted in 1829 abolished the autonomous statute of Bessarabia, and halted the obligatory use of Moldavian in public pronouncements. In 1854, Russian was declared the only official language of the region, Moldavian being eliminated from schools in the second part of the century^[182]

According to the dates provided by the administration of Bessarabia, since 1828, official documents were published in Russian only, and around 1835 a 7-year term was established during which state institutions would accept acts in the Romanian language, after which the used language would be exclusively Russian.^[183][184]

Romanian was accepted as the language of instruction until 1842, afterwards being taught as a separate subject. Thus, at the seminary of Chișinău, the Romanian language was a compulsory subject, with 10 hours weekly, until 1863, when the Department of Romanian was closed. At the High School No.1 in Chișinău, students had the right to choose among Romanian, German, and Greek until 9 February 1866, when the State Counselor of the Russian Empire forbade teaching of the Romanian language, with the following justification: "the pupils know this language in the practical mode, and its teaching follows other goals".^[185]

Around 1871, the tsar published an ukase "On the suspension of teaching the Romanian language in the schools of Bessarabia," because "local speech is not taught in the Russian Empire".^{[citation needed]} Bessarabia became a regular guberniya and the Russification policy became a priority for the administration.^[186]

The linguistic situation in Bessarabia from 1812 to 1918 was the gradual development of

The period from 1812 to 1828 was one of neutral or functional bilingualism. Whereas Russian had official dominance, Romanian was not without influence, especially in the spheres of public administration, education (particularly religious education) and culture. In the years immediately following the annexation, loyalty to Romanian language and customs became important. The Theological Seminary (Seminarul Teologic) and Lancaster Schools were opened in 1813 and 1824 respectively, Romanian grammar books were published, and the printing press at Chișinău began producing religious books.^[187]

The period from 1828 to 1843 was one of partial diglossic bilingualism. During this time, use of Romanian was forbidden in the sphere of administration. This was carried out through negative means: Romanian was excluded from the civil code. Romanian continued to be used in education, but only as a separate subject. Bilingual manuals, such as the Russian-Romanian Bucoavne grammar of Iacob Ghinculov, were published to meet the new need for bilingualism. Religious books and Sunday sermons remained the only monolingual public outlet for Romanian. By 1843, the removal of Romanian from public administration was complete.^[187]

The period from 1843 to 1871 was one of assimilation. Romanian continued to be a school subject at the Liceul Regional (

The period from 1905 to 1917 was one of increasing linguistic conflict, with the re-awakening of Romanian national consciousness. In 1905 and 1906, the Bessarabian zemstva asked for the re-introduction of Romanian in schools as a "compulsory language", and the "liberty to teach in the mother language (Romanian language)". At the same time, the first Romanian language newspapers and journals began to appear: Basarabia (1906), Viața Basarabiei (1907), Moldovanul (1907), Luminătorul (1908), Cuvînt moldovenesc (1913), Glasul Basarabiei (1913). From 1913, the synod permitted that "the churches in Besserabia use the Romanian language".^[187]

The term "Moldovan language" (limbă moldovenească) was newly employed to create a state-sponsored

Internal history

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This section presents the sound changes that happened from Latin to Romanian. The order in which the sound changes are listed here is not necessarily chronological.

Up to Proto-Romanian

Vowels

In the Vulgar Latin period

Classical Latin had ten pure vowels (monophthongs), along with three diphthongs. By the 1st century AD, if not earlier, Latin diphthong ae became [ɛː], with the quality of short e but longer; and oe soon afterwards became [eː], merging with long ē. This left au. An early trend in the urban Latin of Rome, already during Cicero's time (c. 50 BC), merged it with ō, and a few common words reflect this in Romanian, e.g. coadă "tail" < cōda < Classical cauda; similarly ureche "ear" < ōricla < Classical auricula. But in general, the territories outside of Rome were unaffected by this change; /au/ remained everywhere for centuries afterward, and continues to this day in Romanian.^[188]

Long and short e, i, o, u differed in both quality and quantity, with the shorter versions lower and laxer (e.g. e [ɛ] vs. ē [eː]). Long and short a differed only in quantity. At a certain point, quantity ceased being phonemic, with all vowels long in stressed

open syllables

and short elsewhere. This automatically caused long and short a to merge, but the remaining vowels took two different paths:

• In the Sardinian scheme, long and short pairs of vowels simply merge, with the quality difference erased.
• In the
  Western Romance
  scheme, the quality difference remains, but original short i, u [ɪ], [ʊ] are lowered and merge with original long ē, ō [e], [o]. Subsequent to this, unstressed low-mid vowels are raised to become high-mid.

Romanian and other Eastern Romance languages follow a mixed scheme, with the back vowels o, u following the Sardinian scheme but the front vowels e, i following the Western Romance scheme. This produces a six-vowel system (contrast the Sardinian five-vowel system and Western Romance seven-vowel system).

Short and long back vowels merged, for example:

• Lat. mare > Rom. mare ('sea')
• Lat. pālum > *paru > Rom. par ('pole')
• Lat. focum > *focu > Rom. foc ('fire')
• Lat. pōmum > *pomu > Rom. pom ('fruit-bearing tree')
• Lat. multum > *multu > Rom. mult ('much')
• Lat. tū > Rom. tu ('you')

Latin short u seems to have been lowered to o when stressed and before m or b in some words:

• Lat. autumna (from autumnus) > *tomna > Rom. toamnă ('autumn')
• Lat. rubeum > *robi̯u > Rom. roib

Also, Latin long ō was changed to u in a few words:

• Lat. cohortem > *cōrtem > Rom. curte

Front vowels changed as follows:^[189]

• ē/oe and i became /e/.
• ī became /i/.
• e/ae became:
  • /ɛ/ in stressed syllables
  • /e/ in unstressed syllables
• Subsequent to this, stressed /ɛ/ diphthongized to /je/.

Examples:

Lat. pellem > *pɛlle > Rom. piele /pjele/ ('skin')

Lat. signum > *semnu > Rom. semn ('sign')

Lat. vīnum > *vinu > Rom. vin ('wine')

Romanian showed resistance to syncope, keeping the syllables from Latin in most cases (ex: piersică < persĭca), except for words where syncope occurred early, even before Latin arrived in Dacia (ex: cald < calĭdu). It also kept intervocalic stops and [g] (ex: deget < digitus).^[190]

Breaking of stressed open e

In Romanian, as in a number of other Romance languages, stressed /ɛ/ (including from original ae)

open syllables

(those followed by only a single consonant).

• Lat. pellem > *pɛlle > Rom. piele /pjele/ 'skin'

Frequently, the /j/ was later absorbed by a preceding consonant, by the operation of second palatalization.

• Lat. decem > *dɛce > *di̯ece > *dzece > Rom. zece 'ten'

The /e/ was later affected by other changes in certain circumstances, e.g. breaking to /e̯a/ or lowering to /a/:

• Lat. equa > *ɛpa > *i̯epa > Rom. iapă 'mare'
• Lat. terra > *tɛrra > *ti̯era > *țera > archaic țeară > Rom. țară 'land'
• Lat. testa > *tɛsta > *ti̯esta > *țesta > Rom. țeastă 'skull'

Breaking of e and o

The vowel o was broken (diphthongized) to oa before a non-high vowel:

• Lat. flōrem > Rom. floare 'flower'
• Lat. hōram > Rom. oară 'time' as in "a treia oară" 'the third time'

The vowel e was broken to ea in similar circumstances. The e was often absorbed by a preceding palatal sound:

• Lat. equa > *ɛpa > *i̯epa > *i̯eapa > Rom. iapă 'mare'
• Lat. terra > *tɛrra > *ti̯era > *țera > archaic țeară > Rom. țară 'land'
• Lat. testa > *tɛsta > *ti̯esta > *țesta > Rom. țeastă 'skull'

As a result, these diphthongs still alternate with the original monophthongs by occurring regularly before a, ă and e in the next syllable (with the exception that ea has reverted to e before another e, e.g. mensae > mease > mese 'tables', as explained in the next section).^[191]

Backing of e

The vowel e was changed to ă – and the diphthong ea was reduced to a – when preceded by a labial consonant and followed by a back vowel in the next syllable. In other words, it stayed e, when the following vowel was i or e. Furthermore, in front of these vowels, the diphthong ea changed back to e.

• Lat. pilus > peru > Rom. păr 'hair', but
• Lat. pilī > Rom. peri 'hairs'
• Lat. pira > peară > Rom. pară 'pear', but
• Lat. pirae > peare > Rom. pere 'pears'
• Lat. mēnsam > *mesa > measă > Rom. masă 'table', but
• Lat. mēnsae > mease > Rom. mese 'tables'
• Lat. vēndō > *vendu > *văndu > *vându > Rom. vând 'I sell', but
• Lat. vēndis > *vendī > *vendzi > vindzi > Rom. vinzi 'you sell'

This phonetic change is characteristic for standard Romanian, but it did not affect the dialect spoken in Țara Hațegului.

The consonant r also causes backing of e to ă: Lat. rēus > Rom. rău ‘bad’. Another source of ă is that a raises to ă in front of /i/ in the next syllable, e.g. mare ‘sea’, but mări ‘seas’.^[192]

Vowel reduction

Unstressed a became ă (except when at the beginning of the word) and unstressed o was reduced to u. Then ă became e after palatal consonants. Unstressed o was kept in some words due to analogy.

• Lat. capra > Rom. capră ‘goat’
• Lat. vīnea > *vinja > *viɲă (cf. Megleno-Romanian) > *viɲe (cf. Aromanian)^[193] > Rom. vie /ˈvije/ ‘vineyard’
• Lat. formōsus > *frumosu > Rom. frumos ‘beautiful’

Phonemicisation of ă, pre-nasal raising and emergence of /ɨ/

As the definite article -a emerged, it created new word forms with unstressed -/a/: casă /ˈkasə/ ‘house’ ~ casa /ˈkasa/ ‘the house.’ Furthermore, instances of stressed ă arose from original a before a /n/ or a consonant cluster beginning with /m/. Subsequently, ă under the same conditions (from original a as well as from e after it first evolved into i) developed into the vowel [ɨ] (currently spelt as î at word edges and â elsewhere), e.g. Lat. campus > Rom. câmp ‘field’, Lat. ventus > vintu (Aromanian) > Rom. vânt ‘wind’.^[194] This was part of a general process of pre-nasal raising, which also affected the other vowels: Lat. bene > Rom. bine ‘well’, Lat. nomen > Rom. nume ‘name’. Latin i also sometimes produces /ɨ/ before nasals: Lat. sinus > sân ‘breast’. Subsequently, deletion of /n/ in some words produces instances of phonemic /ɨ/: Lat. quantum > Rom. cât ‘how much’.

The same vowel also arises from i, e and ă in front of a cluster of /r/ and a following cosonant: Lat. virtutem > Rom. vârtute ‘virtue’, Lat. pergola > Rom. pârghie ‘lever’, Lat. tardivus > Rom. târziu ‘late’. The vowel also arises from i after /r/: Lat. ridet > Rom. râde ‘laughs’. Further instances of /ɨ/ arose with the introduction of Slavic and, later, Turkish loanwords.^[195]

Consonants

Labiovelars

In the Vulgar Latin period, the labiovelars ⟨qu gu⟩ /kʷ ɡʷ/ were reduced to simple velars /k ɡ/ before front vowels. These were subsequently palatalized to /tʃ dʒ/ by the second palatalization (see below):

• Lat. quaerere "to seek" > *kɛrere > Rom. cere 'ask'
• Lat. sanguis "blood" > *sange > Rom. sânge /ˈsɨndʒe/

The labiovelars originally remained before a, but were subsequently changed to labials /p b/, although in question words beginning with qu-, this was never changed to p- (presumably through analogy with words beginning que-, qui-, quo- in Latin):

• Lat. quattuor > *quattro > Rom. patru 'four'
• Lat. equa > *ɛpa > *i̯epa > Rom. iapă 'mare'
• Lat. lingua > Rom. limbă 'tongue'
• But Lat. quandō > *kando > kăndu (Aromanian) > Rom. când 'when'

Labialization of velars

Another important change is the labialization of velars before dentals, which includes the changes ct > pt, gn [ŋn] > mn, and x [ks] > ps. Later, ps assimilated to ss, then to s ~ ș in most words.

• Lat. factum > *faptu > Rom. fapt 'fact; deed'
• Lat. signum > *semnu > Rom. semn 'sign'
• Lat. coxa > *copsa > Rom. coapsă 'thigh', but:
• Lat. fraxinus > frapsinu (Aromanian) > Rom. frasin 'ash tree' (vs. Banat frapsăn, frapsine)
• Lat. laxō > *lapso > *lassu > Rom. las 'I let'

Final consonants

In both Romanian and Italian, virtually all final consonants were lost. As a consequence, there was a period in the history of Romanian in which all words ended with vowels. In addition, after a long vowel final -s produced a new final -i,^[

Lat. trēs > Rom. trei

'three', and Lat. stās > Rom. stai 'you stand'.

Palatalization

In Vulgar Latin, short /e/ and /i/ followed by another vowel were changed to a glide /j/. Later, /j/ palatalized preceding coronal and velar consonants, changing its quality.

• for /tj kj/, the outcomes in Romanian diverged as such:^[196]
  • /tj kj/ followed by /a/ and /o/ or /u/ in final position resulted in [t͡s]
    • Lat. puteus > *púti̯u > *putsu > Rom. puț 'well, pit',
    • Lat. socium > *sóti̯u > *sotsu > Rom. soț 'companion; husband'
  • /tj kj/ followed by /o/ or /u/ in non-final position resulted in [t͡ʃ]
    • Lat. rōgātiōnem > *rogati̯óne > *rogačone > Rom. rugăciune 'prayer'

• other consonants:
  • VLat. deosum > *di̯ósu > *djosu > Rom. jos 'down'
  • Lat. hordeum > *órdi̯u > ordzu > Rom. orz 'barley',
  • Lat. cāseus > *kasi̯u > Rom. caș 'fresh, unripened cheese'
  • Lat. vīnea > *vini̯a > *viɲe > standard Rom. vie /ˈvije/
  • Lat. mulierem > *muli̯ere > *muʎere > Rom. muiere /muˈjere/ 'woman'

The above palatalizations occurred in all of the Romance languages, although with slightly differing outcomes in different languages. Labial consonants, however, were unaffected by the above palatalizations. Instead, at a later time, the /j/ underwent metathesis:

• Lat. rubeum > *robi̯u > Rom. roib

Palatalization of cl and gl clusters

The Latin cluster cl was palatalized to /kʎ/, which later simplified to /k/. The same process affected latin gl:

• Vulgar Latin oricla > *urecʎa > *urecʎe (Aromanian ureaclje) > Rom. ureche 'ear'
• Vulgar Latin glacia > *gʎatsa > Rom. gheață 'ice'

l-rhotacism

At some point, Latin intervocalic l developed into r. From the evolution of certain words, it is clear that this happened after the above-mentioned palatalization, but before the simplification of double consonants (as ll did not rhotacize) and also before i-palatalization. Some examples:

• Lat. gelu > Rom. ger 'frost'
• Lat. salīre > Rom. a sări (sărire) 'to jump'

Second palatalization

The dental consonants t, d, s, l were palatalized again by a following i or i̯ (from the combination i̯e/i̯a < ɛ < stressed e):

• Lat. testa > *tɛsta > *ti̯esta > *țesta > Rom. țeastă 'skull'
• Lat. decem > *dɛce > *di̯ece > *dzece > Rom. zece 'ten'
• Lat. servum > *sɛrbu > *si̯erbu > Rom. șerb 'serf'
• Lat. sex > *sɛkse > *si̯asse > Rom. șase 'six'
• Lat. leporem > *lɛpore > *li̯ɛpure > *ʎɛpure (= Arom. ljepure) > Rom. iepure 'hare'
• Lat. dīcō > *dziku > Rom. zic 'I say'
• Lat. līnum > *ʎinu (= Arom. ljinu) > *ʎin > Rom. in 'flax'
• Lat. gallīna > *ɡalina > *ɡăʎină (= Arom. gãljinã) > Rom. găină 'hen'

The velar consonants /k ɡ/ (from Latin labiovelars qu gu) were palatalized to /tʃ dʒ/ before front vowels:

• Lat. quid > *ki > Rom. ce 'what'
• Lat. quīnque > Vulgar Latin *cīnque (Italian cinque) > Rom. cinci "five"
• Lat. quaerere "to seek" > *kɛrere > Rom. cere 'ask'
• Lat. *sanguem > *sange > Rom. sânge 'blood'

Modern changes

These are changes that did not happen in all Eastern Romance languages. Some occur in standard Romanian; some do not.

Spirantization

In southern dialects, and in the standard language, dz is lost as a phoneme, becoming z in all environments:

• dzic > zic ('I say')
• lucredzi > lucrezi ('you work')

The affricate /dʒ/ became j /ʒ/ only when hard (i.e. followed by a back vowel):

• gioc /dʒok/ > joc ('game'), but:
• deget /ˈdedʒet/ ('finger') did not change.

Lenition of resonants

Former palatal resonants /ʎ ɲ/ were both lenited (weakened) to /j/, which was subsequently lost next to /i/:

• Lat. leporem > *lɛpore > *li̯epure > *ʎepure > Rom. iepure 'hare'
• Lat. līnum > *ʎinu > *ʎin > Rom. in 'flax'
• Lat. gallīna > *ɡallina > *ɡalina > *ɡăʎină > Rom. găină 'hen'
• Lat. pellem, pellīs > *pɛlle, pɛlli > *pi̯ele, pi̯eli > *pi̯ele, pi̯eʎi > Rom. piele, piei 'skin, skins'
• Lat. vīnea > *vinja > *viɲă > *viɲe > Rom. vie /ˈvije/ 'vineyard'

Former intervocalic /l/ from Latin -ll- was lost entirely before /a/ by first vocalizing to /w/:

• Lat stēlla > *stela > archaic steală > colloquial steauă > standard Rom. stea 'star'
• Lat sella > *sɛlla > *si̯ela > *șela > *șeuă > Muntenian șea > standard Rom. șa 'saddle'

Former intervocalic /l/ from Latin -ll- was preserved before other vowels:

• Lat caballum > *cavallu > *caalu > Rom. cal 'horse'
• Lat callem > Rom. cale 'way'

Former intervocalic /v/ (from Latin -b-,-v-) was lost, perhaps first weakened to /w/:

• Lat būbalus > *buvalu > *buwaru > archaic buar, boar > standard Rom. bour 'aurochs'
• Lat vīvere > *vivere > *viwe > Muntenian vie > standard Rom. a via 'to live'

n-epenthesis

Relatively recently, stressed u preceded by n lengthens and nasalizes, producing a following n (epenthesis).

• Lat genuculus > *genuclus > western genuchi > Rom. genunchi 'knee'
• Lat manuplus > *manuclus > western mănuchi > Rom. mănunchi 'bouquet'
• Lat minutus > minut (Aromanian) > (Banat, Moldavia) mănunt > Rom. mărunt 'minute, small'
• the reverse process:
  • Lat ranunculus 'tadpole; crowfoot, buttercup' > *ranunclus > archaic rănunchi > Rom. rărunchi 'kidney; (dial.) buttercup' > dialectal răruchi

j-epenthesis

In some words, the semivowel /j/ was inserted between â and soft n:

• pâne > pâine ('bread')
• câne > câine ('dog')

It also explains the plural mână - mâini ('hand, hands'). This is also specific to southern dialects and the standard language; in other regions one may hear câne etc.

It may be compensatory lengthening^{[compensating for what? clarification needed]} followed by dissimilation: pâne > pââne > pâine. It has spread from the Oltenian dialect to literary Romanian. It has alternatively been explained as palatalization followed by metathesis: câne > *câni̯e > câine. Oltenian has câine; all other dialects have câni̯e.

Hardening

Backing of vowels after ș, ț and dz is specific to northern dialects. Because those consonants can be followed only by back vowels, any front vowel is changed to a back one:

• și > șî 'and'
• ține > țâni̯e 'holds'
• zic > dzâc 'I say'

It is similar to vowel backing after hard consonants in Russian (see Russian phonology § Front vowels).

See also

• Albanian–Eastern Romance linguistic parallels
• Legacy of the Roman Empire
• Old Romanian

Notes

1. ^ For instance, Romanian abur and Albanian avull ("steam, vapor") [1], (Orel 1998, p. 12.), Romanian grumaz ("neck") and Albanian gurmaz ("gullet") [2] (Orel 1998, pp. 127-128.), Romanian ceafă and Albanian qafë ("neck") [3] (Orel 1998, p. 353.), and Romanian vatră and Albanian vatër or votër ("hearth, fireplace") [4] (Orel 1998, pp. 495-496.).
2. ^ Including, Romanian bască and Albanian bashkë ("fleece") (Orel 1998, p. 19.), Romanian țap and Albanian cjap ("he-goat") [5] (Orel 1998, p. 47.), Romanian daș and Albanian dash ("ram") (Orel 1998, p. 57.), Romanian zară and Albanian dhallë or dhalltë ("buttermilk") (Orel 1998, p. 80.), Romanian gălbează and Albanian gëlbazë ("fasciolosis") [6] (Orel 1998, pp. 112-113.), and Romanian țark and Albanian thark ("enclosure for milking") (Orel 1998, p. 472.).
3. ^ Including, Romanian mal ("bank, shore") and Albanian mal ("mountain") [7] (Orel 1998, p. 243.; Schulte 2009, p. 252.), and Romanian pârâu and Albanian përrua or përrue ("brook, river-bed") [8] (Orel 1998, p. 323.; Schulte 2009, p. 252.).
4. ^ For instance, Romanian copil ("child") and Albanian kopil ("lad, chap, bastard") [9] (Orel 1998, p. 190.; Schulte 2009, p. 252.), and Romanian moș ("grandfather, old man") and Albanian moshë ("age") [10] (Orel 1998, p. 274.; Schulte 2009, p. 252.).
5. fir tree") [11]
   (Orel 1998, p. 34.; Schulte 2009, p. 252.).
6. ^ Including, Romanian căpușă and Albanian këpushë ("tick") [12] (Orel 1998, p. 179.; Schulte 2009, p. 252.), and Romanian mânz and Albanian mëz or mâz ("foal") [13] (Orel 1998, p. 265.; Schulte 2009, p. 252.).
7. ^ For instance, Schütz suggests that the Romanian word a spăla ("to rinse") was borrowed from Albanian shpëlaj ("to rinse") instead of originating from a hypotethical Vulgar Latin *expellavare (<*ex+per+lavare) [14] (Schütz 2002, pp. 16-17.).
8. ^ For instance, Romanian sat ("village") < Albanian fshat("village") < Latin fossātum ("ditch") (Schramm 1997, p. 312; Orel 1998, p. 104.).
9. ^ For instance, Romanian gata ("ready") < Albanian gatuaj or gatuej ("make ready") < Common Slavic *gotovati or *gotoviti ("make ready") (Schramm 1997, p. 320; Orel 1998, p. 111.).
10. ^ For instance, Romanian pădure and Albanian pyll ("forest") < Vulgar Latin *padūlem("forest") < Latin palūdem ("swamp") (Schramm 1997, p. 312; Orel 1998, p. 353.; Schütz 2002, p. 13.); Romanian drac and Albanian dreq ("devil") < dracō ("dragon") [15] (Schramm 1997, p. 312; Orel 1998, p. 353.); Romanian femeie ("women, wife") and Albanian fëmijë ("child, family, spouse") < Latin famīlia ("family") [16] (Orel 1998, p. 95.; Schütz 2002, pp. 12-13.).
11. ^ For instance, both the Albanian and Romanian terms for "first" derived from words with a meaning "before": Albanian parë from Albanian para,(Orel 1998, p. 311.) and Romanian întii from Latin āntāneus (Schramm 1997, p. 313.).
12. ^ For instance, the merger of dative and genitive cases, and the use of auxiliary verbs with a meaning "will, want" to form the future tense are listed among the features shared by these languages (Mišeska Tomić 2006, pp. 26-27.).
13. ^ For instance, Romanian măiestru < Vulgar Latin maester < Classical Latin magister 'master' (Vékony 2000, p. 180.)
14. ^ For instance, the Romanian word for horse, cal, stems from caballus 'nag' instead of the Classical Latin equus 'horse' (Alkire & Rosen 2010, pp=287-288.).
15. ^ For instance, Romanian freca, Dalmatian frekur from Latin fricare, in contrast to French frayer, Spanish and Portuguese fregar, and Italian fregare (Mihăescu 1993, p. 156.).
16. ^ Including the change of "s" at the end of words into "i" in Italian and Romanian words: Italian and Romanian trei from Latin tres, and Italian and Romanian noi from Latin nos (Nandriș 1951, p. 21.).
17. consonant clusters "ct", "cs" and "gn" into "pt", "ps" and "mn": Romanian opt and Dalmatian guapto from Latin octo, Romanian coapsă and Vegliot kopsa from Latin coxa, and Romanian cumnat and Ragusan
    comnut from Latin cognatus (Nandriș 1951, p. 21.).
18. ^ For instance, the development of the "gua" cluster into "ba" in both languages as it is demonstrated by Romanian limbă and Sardinian limba which developed from Latin lingua (Nandriș 1951, p. 21.).
19. ^ For instance, Romanian vedea, Aromanian, Megleno-Romanian ved, Istro-Romanian vedę < Latin videre 'to see'; Romanian asculta, Aromanian ascultu, Megleno-Romanian scult, Istro-Romanian scutå < Latin ascultare 'to listen'; Romanian dulce, Aromanian dulțe, Megleno-Romanian dulți, Istro-Romanian dul'če < Latin dulcis 'sweet' (Mihăescu 1993, pp. 227-228.).
20. ^ Including, Romanian and Megleno-Romanian mult, Aromanian multu, Istro-Romanian munt, mund < Latin multus 'much or many'; Romanian, Aromanian, Megleno-Romanian singur < Latin singulus 'single, only';(Mihăescu 1993, p. 184.) and Romanian, Aromanian, Megleno-Romanian patru < Latin quattour 'four' (Mišeska Tomić 2006, p. 663; Mallinson 1998, p. 404).
21. ^ For instance, Romanian and Aromanian frate, Megleno-Romanian frati and Istro-Romanian fråte from Latin frater 'brother', Romanian, Aromanian, and Megleno-Romanian soră or sor, and Istro-Romanian sora from Latin soror 'sister', and Romanian unchi from Latin avunculus 'uncle' (Mihăescu 1993, pp. 272-273.).
22. ^ Including Romanian and Megleno-Romanian timp < Latin tempus 'time', Romanian primăvară, Aromanian, Megleno-Romanian primăveară, Istro-Romanian primavera < Latin primavera; Romanian and Istro-Romanian zi, Aromanian dzî or dzuuă, and Megleno-Romanian zuuă < Latin dies 'day'; Romanian, Megleno-Romanian nou, Aromanian nou, nău, Istro-Romanian now, nou < Latin novus 'new' (Mihăescu 1993, pp. 183-184.).
23. ^ For instance, the Latin term for "to fold" plicare developed into Romanian a pleca 'to go; wander', and Romanian a se duce 'to go', but a duce 'to lead' comes from Latin ducere 'to lead'(Nandriș 1951, p. 12.).
24. ^ For instance, Romanian a lua ("to take the road") from Latin levare ("to lift") lua, Romanian a urla 'to howl, to go down in the valley' from Latin ululare 'to howl' urla, and Romanian a merge 'to go' from Latin mergere 'to dive' merge (Nandriș 1951, pp. 12-13.).
25. ^ For instance, Romanian grâu, Aromanian grănu, and Megleno-Romanian gron 'wheat' < Latin granum 'grain, seed'; Romanian secară, Aromanian and Megleno-Romanian sicară, Istro-Romanian secåre < Vulgar Latin secale 'rye'; Romanian and Istro-Romanian orz, Aromanian ordzu, Megleno-Romanian uarz < Latin hordeum 'barley'; and Romanian mei, Aromanian mel'u, Megleno-Romanian and Istro-Romanian mel' < Latin milium 'millet' (Mihăescu 1993, pp. 256-257.; Spinei 2009, p. 224).
26. ^ For instance, Romanian ara, Aromanian and Megleno-Romanian arare and Istro-Romanian arå < Latin arare 'to plow' (Mihăescu 1993, p. 261.; Spinei 2009, p. 224).
27. ^ Including Byzantine Greek βλάχοϛ, Hungarian oláh, and Polish wołoch (Mihăescu 1993, p. 155.).
28. ^ For instance, the (Schulte 2009, p. 244.).
29. ^ Including, perie ("brush"), colibă ("hut"), ogradă ("yard, court"), stâlp ("doorpost", "post", "pole"), zâvor ("latch, doorbolt"), prag ("door, gate"), and cămin ("fireplace") (Schulte 2009, pp. 252-254.).
30. ^ For instance, a propovădui ("to preach"), a posti ("to fast"), iad ("hell"), and duh ("ghost") (Schulte 2009, pp. 252-254.).
31. ^ For instance, a clădi and a zidi ("to build"), a tăvăli ("to turn"), a stropi ("to splash"), daltă ("chisel"), and ciocan ("hammer") (Schulte 2009, pp. 252-254.).
32. ^ Including, a opri ("to forbid"), a porunci ("to command"), stăpân ("master"), rob ("slave"), prieten ("friend") (Schulte 2009, pp. 252-253.).
33. ^ For instance, ovăz ("oats"), hârleț ("spade"), lopată ("shovel"), a sădi ("to sow"), a cosi ("to mow"), and brazdă ("furrow") (Schulte 2009, pp. 252-253.).
34. ^ Including, dragă ("dear"), slab ("weak"), boală ("sickness") (Hall 1974, pp. 91-92.).
35. ^ For instance, the Slavic loanword a iubi ("to love") and inherited a urî("to hate"), or the inherited nu ("not") and the borrowed da ("yes") (Schulte 2009, p. 244.).
36. ^ For instance, oțet 'vinegar', oțel 'steel', colinde 'Christmas carols' (Mihăescu 1993, p. 479.).
37. ^ Including, chilie 'cell', psaltire 'psalter', and călugăr 'monk' (Mallinson 1998, p. 414.).
38. ^ For instance, eu 'I' is pronounced as [yew] and ești 'you are' as [yest] (Petrucci 1999, p. 50.).
39. ^ For instance, gazdă ("host") [17], neam[18] ("people") (Schulte 2009, p. 255.).
40. ^ For instance, cismă ("boot") [19], and bumb ("button") [20] (Schulte 2009, p. 255.).
41. ^ For instance, a făgădui ("to promise") [21], and a tăgădui ("to deny") [22] (Schulte 2009, p. 255.).
42. ^ For instance, a locui ("to live") [23], and lacăt ("lock, padlock") [24] (Schulte 2009, p. 255.).
43. ^ For instance, the Latin word for snow nivem was preserved in Western Transylvania as nea, but was replaced by Slavic loanwords (omăt and zăpada) in other regions (Nandriș 1951, p. 18.).
44. ^ For instance, the Latin word for sand arena was preserved in Western Transylvania and Maramureș as arină, but was replaced by the Slavic loanword (nisip) in most other regions (Nandriș 1951, p. 18.).
45. ^ For instance, similar to the Western Transylvanian dialect of Romanian, (Nandriș 1951, p. 18.) Aromanian preserves Aromanian: neao for snow and Aromanian: arină for sand (Mišeska Tomić 2006 p. 665.). Furthermore, for instance, the Aromanian word for plow Aromanian: arat was directly inherited from Latin aratru in contrast with Romanian plug which is a Slavic loanword (Mihăescu 1993, p. 177.).

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External links

• The History of the Romanian Language