Romanian

Now in its second edition, Romanian: An Essential is a concise, user- friendly guide to modern Romanian. It takes the student through the essentials of the language, explaining each concept clearly and providing many examples of contemporary Romanian usage.

This fully revised second edition contains: • a chapter of each of the most common grammatical areas with Romanian and English examples • extensive examples of the more difficult areas of the grammar • a section with exercises to consolidate the learning and the answer key • a list of useful • an appendix listing useful websites for further information • a glossary of grammatical terms used in the book • a useful bibliographical list

Suitable for both classroom use and independent study, this book is ideal for beginner to intermediate students.

Ramona Gönczöl is a lecturer in at the School of Slavonic and East European Studies, University College London. She is co-author, with Dennis Deletant, of Colloquial Romanian, 4th edition, Routledge, 2012. Ramona’s research interests include language acquisition, learner experience, online learning, sociolinguistics, psycholinguistics, cultural identities and language contact. Routledge Essential

Essential Grammars describe clearly and succinctly the core rules of each language and are up-to-date and practical reference guides to the most important aspects of languages used by contemporary native speakers. They are designed for elementary to intermediate learners and present an accessible description of the language, focusing on the real patterns of use today.

Essential Grammars are a reference source for the learner and user of the language, irrespective of level, setting out the complexities of the language in short, readable sections that are clear and free from jargon.

Essential Grammars are ideal either for independent study or for students in schools, colleges, universities and adult classes of all types.

Essential Grammars are available for the following languages:

Norwegian Urdu Spanish Czech Serbian Chinese German Hindi Romanian Swedish Hungarian Korean Turkish English Danish Latvian Polish Thai Finnish Modern Hebrew Greek Dutch Catalan North Sámi Portuguese Vietnamese

For more information about this series, please visit: www.routledge.com/ Routledge-Essential-Grammars/book-series/SE0549 Romanian An Essential Grammar

Second edition

Ramona Gönczöl Second edition published 2021 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN and by Routledge 52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2021 Ramona Gönczöl The right of Ramona Gönczöl to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. First edition published by Routledge 2007 British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Gonczol-Davies, Ramona, 1973- author. Title: Romanian : an essential grammar / Ramona Gonczol. Description: Second edition. | Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge, 2021. | Series: Routledge essential grammars | “First edition published by Routledge 2007” | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2020037822 (print) | LCCN 2020037823 (ebook) | ISBN 9781138230552 (hardback) | ISBN 9781138230569 (paperback) | ISBN 9781315363776 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Romanian language—Textbooks for foreign speakers—English. | Romanian language—Grammar. Classification: LCC PC639.5.E5 G675 2021 (print) | LCC PC639.5.E5 (ebook) | DDC 459/.5—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020037822 LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020037823 ISBN: 978-1-138-23055-2 (hbk) ISBN: 978-1-138-23056-9 (pbk) ISBN: 978-1-315-36377-6 (ebk) Typeset in Times New Roman by Apex CoVantage, LLC To my Sebastian and Tommaso

Contents

Preface xiv Acknowledgements xv List of abbreviations xvi Concise glossary of grammatical terms xvii

Part 1 An essential grammar 1

Chapter 1 Sounds and letters 3

1.1 The 3 1.2 4 1.3 6 1.4 and triphthongs 9 1.4.1 Diphthongs 9 1.4.2 Vowels in hiatus 11 1.4.3 Triphthongs 12 1.5 Stress and intonation 13 1.5.1 Stress 13 1.5.2 Intonation 19 1.5.3 Sound changes 21

Chapter 2 25

2.1 Gender: masculine, feminine, neuter 25 2.1.1 Masculine nouns 25 2.1.2 Neuter nouns 27 2.1.3 Feminine nouns 29 2.2 Forming the feminine from a masculine 32 2.3 Number 35 vii Contents 2.3.1 Masculine nouns 35 2.3.2 Feminine nouns 37 2.3.3 Neuter nouns 41 2.4 The case 43 2.4.1 Nouns with an indefinite 44 2.4.2 Nouns with a definite article 44 2.4.3 The 46

Chapter 3 Articles 48

3.1 Indefinite article 48 3.1.1 Uses of the indefinite article 49 3.2 The definite article 50 3.2.1 Uses of the definite article 51 3.3 The demonstrative or adjectival article 53 3.3.1 Uses of the demonstrative article 53 3.4 The possessive article 54 3.4.1 Uses of the possessive article 55

Chapter 4 56

4.1 Descriptive adjectives 56 4.2 Comparison of adjectives 58 4.3 Agreement 60 4.4 Case 61 4.5 Position of adjectives 63 4.6 Other types of adjectives 64 4.6.1 Possessive adjectives 64 4.6.2 Demonstrative adjectives 66 4.6.3 Relative-interrogative adjectives 67 4.6.4 Negative adjectives 69 4.6.5 Indefinite adjectives 69

Chapter 5 Pronouns 74

5.1 Personal pronouns 74 5.1.1 Forms of the personal pronouns 74 5.1.2 Stressed forms 75 5.1.3 Unstressed dative and acussative forms 76 5.1.4 Dative pronouns expressing possession 77 viii 5.1.5 Dânsul, dânsa, dânşii, dânsele 79 Contents 5.2 Pronouns of politeness 80 5.2.1 Dumneavoastră, dumneata, dumnealui 80 5.3 Possessive pronouns 81 5.4 Demonstrative pronouns 81 5.4.1 Acesta (this) 81 5.4.2 Acela (that) 82 5.4.3 Același (the same one) 82 5.4.4 Celălalt (the other one) 82 5.5. Negative pronouns 82 5.5.1 Nimeni (nobody) 82 5.5.2 Nimic (nothing) 83 5.5.3 Niciunul (no one) 83 5.6 Indefinite pronouns 83 5.6.1 Unul (one) 83 5.6.2 Altul (another one) 84 5.6.3 Tot, toţi (all) 84 5.6.4 Mult, mulţi, puțin, puțini (much, many, little, few) 84 5.6.5 Atât, atâţia (that much, that many) 85 5.6.6 Vreunul (someone/anyone) 86 5.6.7 Oricine, cineva, altcineva (anyone, someone, someone else) 86 5.6.8 Oricare, careva, altcareva, fiecare (anyone, someone, someone else, each) 86 5.6.9 Orice, ceva, altceva (anything, something, something else) 87 5.6.10 Câtva, oricât (some, any) 87 5.7 Interrogative-relative pronouns 88 5.7.1 Cine (who) 88 5.7.2 Care (which) 89 5.7.3 Ce (what) 89 5.7.4 Cât (how much) 89 5.8 Emphatic pronouns 90 5.9 Reflexive pronouns 91

Chapter 6 Numerals 94

6.1 Cardinal numerals 94 6.2 Ordinal numerals 97

ix Contents Chapter 7 Verbs 99

7.1 Moods and tenses 99 7.1.1 Moods 99 7.1.2 Tenses 99 7.2 The indicative mood 99 7.2.1 The present tense 99 7.2.2 The past tenses 108 7.2.3 Future tenses 119 7.3 Presumptive 122 7.3.1 Present presumptive 122 7.3.2 Perfect presumptive 124 7.4 Subjunctive 125 7.4.1 Present subjunctive 125 7.4.2 Verbs ending in -ie 126 7.4.3 Irregular verbs 126 7.4.4 Uses 126 7.4.5 Past subjunctive 129 7.5 Conditional 130 7.5.1 Present conditional 130 7.5.2 Uses of the present conditional 130 7.5.3 Perfect conditional 131 7.5.4 Uses of perfect conditional 132 7.6 Imperative 133 7.6.1 Affirmative form 133 7.6.2 Affirmative imperative with personal pronouns 134 7.6.3 Negative form 135 7.6.4 Negative imperative with personal pronouns 135 7.7 Infinitive 136 7.8 Gerund 137 7.9 Participle 140 7.10 Supine 140 7.11 Passive voice 141 7.11.1 The past participle as an 142 7.12 Reflexive verbs 142 7.12.1 Accusative reflexive verbs 142 7.12.2 Dative reflexive verbs 143 7.12.3 Impersonal constructions with se 144 x 7.13 Impersonal, unipersonal and bipersonal 144 7.13.1 Impersonal verbs 144 Contents 7.13.2 Unipersonal and bipersonal verbs 145 7.14 Sequence of tenses 146 7.15 Verbal expressions 147

Chapter 8 149

8.1 Types 149 8.1.1 Formation 149 8.1.2 Adverbial 150 8.2 Comparison 150 8.2.1 The comparative degree of equality 151 8.2.2 The comparative degree of superiority 151 8.2.3 The comparative degree of inferiority 151 8.2.4 The superlative degree of superiority 151 8.2.5 The superlative degree of inferiority 152 8.2.6 The absolute superlative 152 8.3 Uses 152 8.4 Adverbs mai, și, tot, prea, chiar 154

Chapter 9 Prepositions 156

9.1 Simple prepositions 156 9.2 Prepositional phrases 157 9.3 Uses 157 9.4 Verbs followed by specific prepositions 159

Chapter 10 Conjunctions 162

10.1 Coordinating conjunctions 162 10.2 Subordinating conjunctions 164

Chapter 11 Interjections 168

11.1 Types 168

Chapter 12 Word formation 172

12.1 Suffixes 172 12.2 Prefixes 177 12.3 Compound words 178 xi Contents Part 2 Language functions 181

Chapter 13 Socialising 183

13.1 General greetings 183 13.1.1 Meeting someone 183 13.1.2 Taking leave 183 13.1.3 Greetings according to the time of day 184 13.1.4 Welcoming 184 13.1.5 Attracting attention 185 13.1.6 Warning 185 13.2 Seasonal greetings 185 13.3 Good wishes and congratulations 186 13.4 Introductions 187 13.5 Forms of address 187 13.5.1 Informal 187 13.5.2 Formal 188 13.5.3 Very formal 188 13.5.4 Titles 188 13.5.5 Family 189 13.6 Talking about one’s health 189 13.6.1 Conversationally 189 13.6.2 At the surgery 190 13.6.3 Doctor’s orders 190 13.7 Talking about the weather 191 13.8 Directions 191 13.8.1 Questions and answers 191 13.8.2 General conversation 192 13.9 Making excuses 192 13.10 At the dinner table 193

Chapter 14 Exchanging factual information 194

14.1 Identifying people 194 14.1.1 Identity 194 14.1.2 Ownership 194 14.1.3 Profession, occupation 195 14.2 Identifying things 195 14.2.1 Expressing the time 196 14.3 Asking for information 196 xii 14.4 Offering information 197 14.5 Reporting, narrating 197 Contents 14.6 Letter writing 199 14.6.1 Opening formulas 199 14.6.2 Closing formulas 199 14.6.3 Examples of letters 200

Chapter 15 Expressing opinions and attitudes 202

15.1 Agreement and disagreement 202 15.2 Remembering something or someone 203 15.3 Possibility and impossibility 204 15.4 Incomprehension and clarification 205 15.5 Certainty and uncertainty 206

Chapter 16 Judgement and evaluation 207

16.1 Expressing pleasure or liking 207 16.2 Expressing displeasure or dislike 208 16.3 Enquiring and expressing interest 208 16.4 Expressing surprise 209 16.5 Expressing hope 210 16.6 Expressing satisfaction and dissatisfaction 211 16.7 Expressing approval and disapproval 211 16.8 Expressing preference 212 16.9 Expressing gratitude, sympathy, appreciation 213 16.10 Expressing happiness and unhappiness 214 16.11 Apologising 214 16.12 Expressing disappointment, worry, fear 215 16.13 Expressing regret and indifference 216 16.14 Accusing 216

Appendix 1 Exercises 218 Appendix 2 Key to exercises 250 Appendix 3 List of verbs 260 Appendix 4 Internet links about Romania and the Republic of Moldova 268 Bibliography 271 Index 273

xiii Preface

This book is a basic tool for understanding and acquiring Romanian grammar. It is aimed at beginner and intermediate learners, but it is also useful for the more advanced learners, who will find it a practical and quick reference book they can use to refresh their memory on certain points. The book does not cover exhaustively all aspects of Romanian grammar, where more specialised publications are needed. The main target audience is the general language learner, who wants to under- stand the structure of the language, as well as the main phrases expressing a variety of language functions. The publication of the first edition followed the latest edition of the official Roma- nian Academy Grammar, which introduced a number of changes. Therefore, the chapter on follows the new position of the , introducing the 11 conjugation groups in place of the old four from previous editions. The main new elements introduced by the Romanian Academy are rep- resented in both editions. Moreover, this second edition has added a series of practical exercises with answer keys for a better grasp of the grammar, therefore making it a useful peda- gogical tool. It also has a more extensive chapter on Romanian stress and intona- tion; and changes; more and better examples than the previous edition; and an updated glossary of grammatical terms; a more comprehensive bibliographical list and an updated list of useful internet links about both Romania and Moldova, as well as the Romanian language. All comments from users are highly appreciated. London 2020

xiv Acknowledgements

My special thanks first go to my family, Sebastian and Tommaso. My special thanks also go to the following people: To my friend and colleague, Radu Voica, an eminent linguist and scholar, who has been a very supportive critical reader and has made invaluable comments on the manuscript. Radu has used the book in his teaching of Romanian language, thus being best placed to identify its strengths and weaknesses. He has also contributed significantly to the sections on Romanian stress and sound changes. To my friend and former student, Shaun Foley, an excellent Romanian speaker and linguist, who kindly proofread the book and made invaluable comments, especially regarding the format, the presentation and the exercises. To my friend and colleague, Nicoleta Meitert, who kindly proofread a large part of the Romanian language used in the book and made useful comments on several grammar points. Nicoleta is an excellent tutor of Romanian as a foreign language and a published author. To my friend and colleague, Daniela Ciupală, a very talented teacher of Romanian as a foreign language, who kindly proofread another large part of the Romanian language in the book and the exercises. To my long-standing friend and colleague, Oana Uță-Bărbulescu, who made invalu- able comments on some controversial points in Chapters 1, 2, 3, 5 and 7. To Professor Dennis Deletant, with whom I co-wrote Chapters 2, 3 and 5 in the first edition, and who has always inspired me. To my friends, Andrea Deletant, Monica Gross, Horea Danciu, Punky, Alina Popescu, Laura Șerban, Ioana Dorobanțu, Alina Simina, and Urszula Chowaniec, who made sure I stayed on the job. To our au pair, Uxia, without whom all this would not have been possible. To my publishers, who have shown a lot of understanding and assistance when most needed. To my students, to my many colleagues at SSEES-UCL and to all my friends, who xv are too many to list here, but who constantly inspire me. Last but not least, my thanks go to all the users of this book, who find it a useful addition to their learning toolbox. Abbreviations

A accusative coll. colloquial D dative def. definite f. feminine G genitive indef. indefinite inf. infinitive m. masculine n. neuter N nominative pl. prep. preposition reg. regional sg. singular subj. subjunctive V vocative

xvi Concise glossary of grammatical terms

Accusative Case marking the direct of a clause. There are certain prepo- sitions that belong to this case too. The object can be a noun, a pronoun or an adjective. Adjective that modifies a noun or a pronoun by describing it or identifying it. Categories such as possessive, demonstrative, relative, inter- rogative and negative forms and indefinite quantifiers are also called adjec- tives when they modify a noun. Part of speech that modifies a , an adverb or an adjective. Prototypi- cally, adverbs denote manner. Traditionally, the term is also used for other words, such as those denoting spatial or temporal locations. Case Inflected forms of a noun (NP), adjective, pronoun or article, express- ing the syntactic (and semantic) relation between the NP and the . The five Romanian cases are nominative, accusative, genitive, dative and vocative. Comparative Degree of comparison for descriptive adjectives and adverbs, expressing the sense of less or more. Conjugation Forms taken by verbs, denoting person, number, tense, mood, aspect or voice. Part of speech used to join words, phrases or clauses together. marking the indirect object that has the semantic role of recipient of an action (verb). Direct object A noun or pronoun denoting a being or thing that is directly affected by the action or state denoted by a transitive verb. It is the answer to the question whom or what? associated with the possessor in a possessive construction. Gerund Verbal form, similar to the -ing form in British English, that refers to an action in progress. Impersonal/non-finite moods Verbal forms that cannot stand alone as a clause or sentence. They typically have little or no inflections for categories like tense, number or person. The non-finite forms in Romanian are the infinitive, the xvii gerund, the participle and the supine. Concise Indirect object A noun or pronoun referring to someone or something that is glossary of indirectly affected by the action of a verb. It is the answer to the questions grammatical to whom, to what? It expresses the grammatical relation of a recipient with terms the verb in Romanian. Infinitive Basic verbal form, as indexed in a dictionary. Intransitive verb It does not have a direct object, in contrast with a transitive verb. Mood Category of verb divided into personal and impersonal moods. Each mood has a particular role to impose on the verb and is explained separately. marking the of a clause. Noun Part of speech denoting entities such as people, places, things or concepts. Numerals Express ordinal and cardinal numbers as well as percentages and fractions. Participle Verbal form used to construct the compound past or used as an adjective. Personal/finite moods Verbal forms that can stand alone as independent clauses or sentences. In Romanian these are the indicative, the subjunctive, the con- ditional, the presumptive and the imperative. Preposition Part of speech preceding a noun or a pronoun and denoting a rela- tionship with another constituent of the clause, such as between two nouns, or between a noun and a verb. They are case-specific. Pronoun Part of speech that replaces a noun or a . They are of sev- eral types: personal, demonstrative, negative, indefinite, emphatic and polite. Reflexive Refers to verbs and pronouns where the subject and the object are the same grammatical person. They are of two main types: dative reflexive pro- nouns (similar in form to the dative/indirect object pronouns) and accusative reflexive pronouns (similar in form to the accusative/direct object pronouns). Semantics Refers to meaning in language. Superlative Third degree of comparison for adjectives and adverbs, expressing the sense of the most or the least or very. Supine Verb form similar to the participle but accompanied by accusative preposi- tions and used after a noun. Syntax, syntactic Refers to the way in which words are put together to form phrases or clauses. Tense Forms of the verb indicating the moment of the action in relation to the time of the utterance or another point in time. Transitive verb Functions together with a direct object, in contrast with an intransitive verb. Verb Part of speech denoting actions states. Syntactically they function as pred- icates. In Romanian, verbs are characterised by tense, mood, person and xviii number, aspect and voice. Vocative Case used when addressing someone directly, calling or summoning. Part 1 An essential grammar

Chapter 1 Sounds and letters

1.1 The Romanian alphabet

Letter Romanian sound Approximate British English RP sound equivalent A atlas utter Ă ăla (that) allow  câine (dog) no equivalent (see 1.2) B bunică (grandmother) bag C cap (head) cup D drag (dear) dragon E elefant elephant F formă form G gras (fat) grass H haină (coat) hike I in (linen) in Î în (in) no equivalent (see 1.2) J joc (game) genre K kilogram kilogram L lac (lake) luck M mamă (mother) mother N nepot (nephew) nephew O oră (hour) organ P pas (pace) pass Q quinoa quinoa R rapid rapid (trilled r) S sare (salt) salt Ș șarpe (snake) sharp T tată (father) tough Ț țară (country) cats U ușă (door) ooze V verde (green) verse X xilofon mix 3 W whisky whisky Y yoga yoga Z zebră zebra 1 1.2 Vowels Sounds and letters A a

Similar to the Standard British English vowel in bud or come.

Ana macara acum Ann crane now

Ă ă

Similar to the Standard British English vowel sound in nurse or under.

ăsta cană mărime this (coll.) mug size

 â and Î î

These cannot be equated with any Standard British English vowel sound. Both letters represent the same sound. In writing  â is used if the sound appears any- where inside the word, whilst Î î is used if the word starts or ends with this sound. In the case of compound words, where the second word originally started with Î î, this will be preserved: bineînțeles(of course). A sound relatively close to this in English is eugh! (used when one finds something disgusting), but this is only an approximation. The Romanian sound represented by these two letters is uttered with the narrowest aperture of the mouth, in comparison to A (wide aperture) and Ă (medium aperture). The aperture represents the distance between the surface of the tongue and the palate.

în când (a) urî in when to hate

E e

Similar to the vowels in egg or pen.

eclipsă etern carte eclipse eternal book

NOTE: The only exceptions are the personal pronouns (eu, el, ea, ei, ele) and the forms of the verb a fi (to be) in the present and imperfect tenses that start with this letter (ești, este) and (eram, erai, era, eram, erați, erau), in which the e will be 4 pronounced as a soft e similar to the English yellow. I i Vowels

It can be pronounced in two distinct ways. The first is as a similar sound to the British English vowels in keen or seen but shorter in length.

in spin (a) iubi linen thorn to love

The second is as a very soft, almost silent, asyllabic sound. It palatalises the previous single consonant, mainly in masculine plural forms of nouns or second person singular forms of verbs in the present tense. It indicates how the preceding consonant is pronounced.

p cap – capi b arab – arabi leader(s) Arab(s) f pantof – pantofi v sclav – sclavi shoe(s) slave(s) ț colț – colți z englez – englezi fang(s) English men j coajă – coji m dorm – dormi peel(s) you sleep n american – americani l sol – soli American(s) messenger(s) r croitor – croitori tailor(s)

NOTE: However, if i appears after a cluster of consonants where the last one is l or r, it is pronounced as a full i.

cr+i sacri dr+i codri sacred woods tr+i metri fl+i afli metres you find out pl+i umpli bl+i umbli you fill up you walk rl+i urli str+i miniștri you howl ministers

O o

This is a round vowel, similar to the British English mock or soft.

om pom video man/being fruit tree video 5 1 U u Sounds and letters Similar to the British English put or soot. unde nu fum where no smoke

1.3 Consonants

P p

Similar to the British English consonant.

parc capac cap park lid head

B b

Similar to the British English consonant.

bou cabană arab ox cabin Arab

T t

Similar to the British English consonant, but more muted.

tare etaj atent hard floor careful

D d

Similar to the British English consonant, but more muted.

dar adevăr mod gift/but truth mode

C c

Similar to the British English consonants c or k (as in the words copper or king) when followed by a consonant or the vowels a, o, u, ă, â and î. 6 cameră ecou act Consonants room echo document

However, when followed by the vowels e and i, it is pronounced as in chess or cheese. A hard c followed by the vowels e and i is marked in writing by che and chi and pronounced as in Kent or kiss.

c+e cerere as in chess application c+i cină cheese dinner ch+e chelner Kent waiter ch+i chibrit kiss match

G g

Similar to the British English consonant g (as in grey) when followed by a con- sonant or the vowels a, o, u, ă, â and î.

gata gând grădină ready thought garden

However, when followed by the vowels e and i, it is pronounced as in generous or gym. A hard g followed by the vowels e and i is marked in writing by ghe and ghi and pronounced as in get or gear.

g+e generos as in generous generous g+i ginere gym son-in-law gh+e ghete get boots gh+i ghinion gear bad luck

Ț ț

Pronounced like ‘ts’ in cats, mats.

țap maț ață billy goat gut thread 7 1 F f Sounds and Similar to the British English consonant. letters

fată afară jaf girl outside robbery

V v

Similar to the British English consonant.

vară vecin vis summer neighbour dream

S s

Similar to the British English consonant.

soare vas casă sun boat house

Z z

Similar to the British English consonant.

zi ziar orez day newspaper rice

Ș ș

Similar to the British English sound in shell, shame.

șase șah caș six chess fresh cheese

J j

Similar to the British English sound in pleasure or genre.

joc ajutor curaj game help courage

8 H h Diphthongs and Similar to the British English sound in heap or heal. triphthongs

haină hartă pahar coat map glass

M m

Similar to the British English consonant.

mamă mașină om mother car being/man

N n

Similar to the British English consonant.

nume ban antic name coin ancient

L l

Similar to the British English consonant.

lac cal înalt lake horse tall

R r

Always trilled, more similar to the Italian consonant.

rus carte sur Russian book grey

1.4 Diphthongs and triphthongs

1.4.1 Diphthongs

They represent two vowels pronounced as a single syllable and a merged sound. 9 1 ea di-mi-nea- o-sea grea- Sounds and ță ș ță morning road sickness letters eo vreo-da-tă pleosc! vreo ever plonk! any ia iar-bă fia-ră bă-iat grass beast boy ie ieri mie-re fe-me-ie yesterday honey woman io Ior-da-ni-a io-du-ră cre-ion Jordan iodine pencil iu iu-te iu-ni-e pre-lu-diu fast/spicy June prelude oa școa-lă noap-te oa-meni school night people ua plo-ua ca-fea-ua zi-ua to rain the coffee the day uă ouă nouă două eggs nine two (f.) ai mai scai tram-vai May thorn tram ăi văi răi tăi valleys bad (m. pl.) your (pl.) âi câi-ne pâi-ne mâi-ne dog bread tomorrow ei lei ulei trei lions oil three ii co-pii fo-to-lii mu-mii children armchairs mummies

10 oi Diphthongs doi noi ploi and two we rains triphthongs ui pui cuib spui chickens nest you say au e-rau dau au-gust they were I give August ău rău tău său bad your (m. sg.) his (m. sg.) âu râu brâu mo-lâu river belt spineless eu me-reu leu greu constantly lion heavy iu știu fiu viu I know son alive ou bou ca-dou sti-lou ox present fountain pen

1.4.2 Vowels in hiatus

They appear in neighbouring syllables and are pronounced separately.

i-e fi-lo-so-fi-e psi-ho-lo-gi-e an-tro-po-lo-gi-e philosophy psychology anthropology i-a di-a-log di-a-mant (a) di-a-lo-ga dialogue diamond to converse with i-i ști-i-nță fi-in-ță mi-i-me science being thousandth i-o mi-o-pi-e di-op-tri-e di-o-dă short-sightedness diopter diode

11 1 e-a re-ac- i-e cre-a- i-e re-a-li-za-re Sounds and ț ț reaction creation realisation letters e-e ale-e pu-se-e mos-che-e alley fits mosque e-u e-u-ro-pean E-u-ro-pa e-u-fo-rie European Europe euphoria a-i a-ici ca-is ha-in here apricot tree mean a-u a-u-tor a-u-to-graf a-u-to-ga-ră author autograph bus station ă-i fă-i-nă stră-i-nă gă-i-nă floor foreign (f.) hen o-i vo-in-ță fo-i-ță tro-i-ță will thin leaf triptych u-u con-ti-nu-u am-bi-gu-u a-si-du-u continuous ambiguous relentless o-o al-co-ol zo-o-lo-gie co-o-pe-ra-re alcohol zoology cooperation

1.4.3 Triphthongs

They represent three consequent vowels pronounced as one syllable.

eau vreau a-pă-reau tă-ceau I want they were appearing they were silent eai stă-teai spu-neai pă-reai you were staying you were saying you were seeming oii en-gle-zoai-că tur-coai-că spa-nio-loai-că English woman Turkish woman Spanish woman iai tr -iai con-stru-iai su-iai 12 ă you were living you were building you were climbing iau Stress and miau iau tră-iau intonation miaow! I take they were living iei miei piei iei lambs skins you take ioa cre-ioa-ne i-ni-mioa-ră a-ri-pioa-ră pencils little heart little wing

1.5 Stress and intonation

1.5.1 Stress

Romanian, being a Neo- Romance language, has, in principle, inherited the rhyth- mical distribution of stress from Latin, but has lost other features. This makes stress assignment very difficult to predict in Modern Romanian. Here we will mark only the main stress. Stress can fall on any syllable of a word with two syllables or more. This being said, some rules for partially predicting stress can be mentioned:

1 Stress is more frequent on the last or the penultimate syllable of roots, stems or underived words:

ne-pot fru-mos în-treb pu-țin a-cum nephew beautiful I ask little now

îm-pă-rat în-țe-lept în-tre-bam fra-te so-ră emperor wise I was asking brother sister

as-pru zi-ce foar-te în-că pe-re-te harsh he/she says very yet wall

ce-ta-te fân-tâ-nă al-bas-tru fru-moa-să în-trea-bă fortress well blue beautiful s/he is asking

The examples here suggest that if final syllables are closed (end in a conso- nant), they are also stressed, while if they are open (end in a vowel) the stress is assigned to the penultimate syllable. However, there are numerous unpredictable exceptions which hinder us from formulating an absolute rule. Words such as: de-get tâ-năr pa-lid fa-cem mes-tea-căn fă-cu-sem finger young pale we do/make birch I had done 13 all end in a closed syllable but have penultimate stress, while words such as: 1 Sounds and mă-sea fu-gi a-cea ma-ca-ra co-tro-bă-ia letters molar s/he ran away that (f.) crane s/he was rummaging

end in a stressed open syllable.

2 A few disyllabic words, many three-syllable words, and most words con- sisting of four syllables or more are the result of derivation or inflection with affixes (prefixes and suffixes). Different stress rules apply depending on the part of speech and the affix type and function, including, but not limited to, the following: • Some nouns and adjectives are derived from verbs by means of the suffixes -or for masculine and -oare for feminine (similar to the English suffix -er). These suffixes are always stressed. The feminine one is disyllabic with penultimate stress. The derived forms will bear final stress if masculine and penultimate stress if feminine, no matter on which syllable the stress used to fall in the verbal stem: a mun-ci à mun-ci-tor à mun-ci-toa-re to work labourer (m.) labourer (f.)

a tre-ce à tre-că-tor à tre-că-toa-re to pass by passerby (m.) passerby (f.)

• In feminine nouns derived from masculine nouns by means of the suffixes -ă, -că and -iță, the stress is preserved on the same syllable as in the masculine form:

șef à șe-fă e-lev à e-le-vă boss pupil bă-nă-țeanà bă-nă-țean-că, ac-tor à ac-tri-ță Banatian actor As an exception, the pronunciation of the feminine of doc-tor (doctor) varies between doc-to-ri-ță and doc-to-ri-ță. • Some feminine nouns are derived from masculine nouns by means of the suffixes -oaică or -easă. These are both compulsorily stressed on their penultimate syllable and will therefore give derived forms with penultimate stress, regardless of the stress place in the masculine stems:

urs à ur-soai-căà en-glez à en-gle-zoai-că bear Englishman pre-ot à pre-o-tea-să cro-i-tor à cro-i-to-rea-să 14 priest tailor • A small number of masculine nouns exists that are derived from Stress and feminine nouns by means of the suffixes -an or -oi. These suffixes intonation are always stressed:

gâs-că à gâs-can vul-pe à vul-poi goose fox

• Plural suffixes of nouns and adjectives do not affect the position of stress, which is preserved as in the singular form: tram-vai à tram-vaie tren à tren-uri tram/s train/s fru-mos à fru-moși à fru-moa-se beautiful

• Most infinitive suffixes project stress on the last syllable of the infini- tive form: a iu-bi a cân-ta a ve-dea a u-rî to love to sing to see to hate Exception: infinitives ending in- e , which are stressed on the penultimate syllable: a mer-ge a fa-ce a pro-du-ce to go to do/make to produce

• All participles have final stress: mân-cat ple-cat lu-crat eaten gone worked vi-rat co-bo-rât di-fe-rit swerved descended differed fu-git iu-bit u-rât run loved hated că-zut fă-cut răs-puns fallen done/made answered

• In the present indicative, the theme suffixes -ez, -esc and -ăsc, of the 2nd, 6th and 7th conjugations are always stressed when present in the paradigm. When not, the final syllable of the root is stressed:

Conjugation 2, a lucra: lu-crez lu-crăm lu-crați to work Conjugation 6, a iubi: iu-besc iu-bim iu-biți to love

15 1 Conjugation 7, a urî: u-răsc u-răști u-râm Sounds and to hate letters • The 9th, 10th and 11th conjugations in the present indicative never stress the syllable that includes the ending, but always the previous one: Conjugation 9, a face: faci fa-ce fa-cem to do/make Conjugation 10, a merge: merg mergi mer-gem to go Conjugation 11, a frige: frig fri-ge fri-gem. to fry

• In the 1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 8th conjugations (present indicative), stress is final if the last syllable is closed (ends in a consonant) and penul- timate if the last syllable is open (ends in a vowel).

Conjugation 1, a pleca: ple-căm ple-cați but plea-că to leave a muia: mu-iem mu-iați but moa-ie to moisten a urla: ur-lăm ur-lați but ur-lă to holler Conjugation 3, a coborî: co-bo-râm co-bo-râți but co-boa-ră to descend a vârî: vâ-râm vâ-râți but vâ-ră. to thrust Conjugation 4, a diferi: di-fe-rim, di-fe-riți but di-fe-ră to differ a sui: su-im su-iți but su-ie. to climb Conjugation 5, a fugi: fu-gim fu-giți but fu-ge to run a auzi: a-u-zim a-u-ziți but a-u-de. to hear Conjugation 8, a vedea: ve-dem ve-deți but ve-de to see a apărea: a-pă-rem a-pă-reți but a-pa-re. to appear

There is a significant exception to the rule here, and it concerns the 1st and 4th conjugations. Some verbs assign stress to the leftmost position in all forms, apart from the first and second persons singular. 16 Conjugation 1, a număra: nu-măr, nu-meri, nu-mă-ră, nu-mă-răm, nu-mă-rați, Stress and to count nu-mă-ră. intonation Conjugation 4, a suferi: su-făr, su-feri, su-fe-ră, su-fe-rim, su-fe-riți, to suffer su-fe-ră.

NOTE: To qualify as ‘the leftmost position’ a syllable must NOT be a prefix (productive or historical). Prefixes do not alter the stress assign- ment pattern.

Conjugation 1, a întârzia: în-târ-zii, în-târ-zi-e, în-târ-zi-em, în-târ-zi-ați. to be late a continua: con-ti-nui, con-ti-nu-ă, con-ti-nu-ați, to continue con-ti-nu-ăm.

Conjugation 4, a acoperi: a-co-păr, a-co-pe-ri, a-co-pe-ră, a-co-pe-rim, to cover a-co-pe-riți.

• In the imperfect, the last syllable is always stressed in all conjugations:

a pleca: ple-cam, ple-cai, ple-ca, ple-cam, ple-cați, ple-cau. to leave

• In the simple past, conjugations 1 through 9 stress the last syllable in singular forms and the penultimate one in plural forms:

a pleca: ple-cai, ple-cași, ple-că but ple-ca-răm, ple-ca-răți, to leave ple-ca-ră.

Conjugations 10 and 11 stress the last syllable in the first and second persons singular, the penultimate syllable in third sg., first pl. and second pl., and the antepenultimate in third pl.:

Conjugation 10, a merge: mer-sei, mer-seși, mer-se, mer-se-răm, to go mer-se-răți, mer-se-ră. (Exception: a face: fă-cui, fă-cuși, fă-cu, fă-cu-răm, fă-cu-răți, fă-cu-ră.) to do

Conjugation 11, a frige: frip-sei, frip-seși, frip-se, frip-se-răm, frip-se-răți, to fry frip-se-ră.

• In the pluperfect, all conjugations stress the penultimate syllable in the singular and the antepenultimate in the plural:

Conjugation 1, a pleca: ple-ca-sem, ple-ca-seși, ple-ca-se, to leave ple-ca-se-răm, ple-ca-se-răți, ple-ca-se-ră. 17 Conjugation 2, a vira: vi-ra-sem, vi-ra-se i, vi-ra-se, 1 ș to swerve vi-ra-se-răm, vi-ra-se-răți, vi-ra-se-ră. Sounds and letters Conjugation 3, a coborî: co-bo-râ-sem, co-bo-râ-seși, co-bo-râ-se, to descend co-bo-râ-se-răm, co-bo-râ-se-răți, co-bo-râ-se-ră.

Conjugation 4, a diferi: di-fe-ri-sem, di-fe-ri-seși, di-fe-ri-se, to differ di-fe-ri-se-răm, di-fe-ri-se-răți, di-fe-ri-se-ră.

Conjugation 5, a fugi: fu-gi-sem, fu-gi-seși, fu-gi-se, to run fu-gi-se-răm, fu-gi-se-răți, fu-gi-se-ră.

Conjugation 6, a iubi: iu-bi-sem, iu-bi-seși, iu-bi-se, to love iu-bi-se-răm, iu-bi-se-răți, iu-bi-se-ră.

Conjugation 7, a urî: u-râ-sem, u-râ-seși, u-râ-se, to hate u-râ-se-răm, u-râ-se-răți, u-râ-se-ră.

Conjugation 8, a cădea: că-zu-sem, că-zu-seși, că-zu-se, to fall că-zu-se-răm, că-zu-se-răți, că-zu-se-ră.

Conjugation 9, a face: fă-cu-sem, fă-cu-seși, fă-cu-se, to do/make fă-cu-se-răm, fă-cu-se-răți, fă-cu-se-ră.

Conjugation 10, a merge: mer-se-sem, mer-se-seși, mer-se-se, to go mer-se-se-răm, mer-se-se-răți, mer-se-se-ră.

Conjugation 11, a frige: frip-se-sem, frip-se-seși, frip-se-se, to fry frip-se-se-răm, frip-se-se-răți, frip-se-se-ră.

3 Sometimes, the complex interactions between stress and morphology in Romanian (often in conjunction with the different origins of loan- words) give birth to pairs of words with the same spelling and pronun- ciation, whose meaning and/or function are distinguished solely by stress:

veselă (adj.) veselă (noun) happy dishes (washing-up) intră intră he enters (present tense) he entered (simple past tense).

4 Definite articles attached to the end of the noun or adjective that precedes them are never stressed, no matter whether they are mono- or disyllabic: co-pil, co-pi-lul , co-pi-lu-lui fru-mos, fru-mo-sul , fru-mo-su-lui .

18 5 Prefixes never attract main stress; therefore, they do not count for the rules Stress and of main stress assignment exposed earlier. This is obvious in examples intonation such as the present indicative paradigm of the verb:

a încuia (cf. a descuia): în-cui, în-cu-ie, în-cu-iem, în-cu-iați. to lock to unlock

6 Derivational suffixes are usually stressed on their leftmost syllable when open (end in a vowel) or on the ultimate syllable when closed (end in a consonant).

bun îm-bu-nă-tă-ți-re bu-nă-ta-te good improvement kindness prost pros-ti-e pros-ti-re stupid stupidity dupery greu gre-u-ta-te în-gre-u-na-re heavy weight heaviness

ar-gint ar-gin-tiu ar-gin-tar ar-gin-tă-ri-e silver silvery silversmith silverware

si-gur a-si-gu-ra-re si-gu-ran-ță sure assurance certainty

pia-tră pie-tros pie-trar îm-pie-tri-re stone rocky stone mason hardening

1.5.2 Intonation

Intonational patterns include a wide range of elements, such as the focus of the sentence, the theme and the rhyme, and emotional aspects of the utterance. Here we mention only a few general traits. The intonation is mainly essential in questions, particularly because Romanian does not clearly distinguish syntactically between declarative and interrogative sentences. Here are the main rules:

1 Non-emphatic yes/no questions have a rising contour. The target of the pitch is the last stressed syllable. If unstressed syllables follow, they often have a falling intonation, but this is not a strict rule. A închis fereastra? [a închis fe reas tra] ↗ ↘ 19 1 Has he closed the window? Sounds and Nu./Da. letters No./Yes.

2 In selection questions the tone rises at the first element of the selection and falls at the second.

Vreți ceai sau cafea? [vreți ↗ ceai sau ↘ cafea] Do you want tea or coffee? Cafea. Coffee.

3 Wh- questions have a falling contour. They start with a high pitch on the wh- word and then the pitch falls gradually toward the end of the sentence.

Cine a venit la petrecere? [↗cine↘ a venit la petrecere] Who came to the party? Sebastian. Sebastian did.

4 Repeat questions have a rising intonation.

A venit poșta mai devreme. The post arrived earlier.

Ce a venit? [ce a ve↗nit] What arrived?

Poșta. The post.

5 Tag questions are uttered with a rising intonation.

Le e sete, nu-i așa? [le e sete, nu-i a↗șa] They are thirsty, aren’t they?

6 Unfinished utterances have a rising intonation similar to that of yes/no questions, but the pitch rise is smaller.

20 După ce au ajuns . . . [după ce au a↗ juns . . .] Stress and After they arrived . . . intonation

Other intonation patterns:

1 In requests the intonation is falling.

Vreau o carte! [vreau o ↘ carte] I want a book

2 In commands it is also falling.

Stai pe scaun! [stai pe ↘ scaun] Sit down!

3 When expressing surprise the pitch is also falling.

Vai ce surpriză frumoasă! [vai ce surpriză ↘ frumoasă] What a nice surprise!

4 When making a suggestion the pitch is falling.

Ce zici de o cafea?[ce zici de ↘ o cafea] What do you say about a coffee?

5 When giving advice, the pitch is falling.

Mai bine mergi la doctor! [mai bine mergi ↘ la doctor] Better go to see a doctor!

1.5.3 Sound changes

In Modern Romanian, there are vowel and consonant changes that occur in a word when it is declined (nouns and adjectives) or conjugated (verbs). This is due to many factors, but in principle it appears because the sounds of the affixes (endings) may influence the sounds of the root or stem in an attempt to ease pronunciation. Root or stem modifications of this kind are frequent in Romanian and can be classified into vocalic and consonant changes. More than one change can occur in the same word. Most changes occur in nouns, followed by verbs and adjectives.

21 A few examples are listed here, with more examples under the relevant section in 1 various chapters throughout the book. Sounds and letters 1.5.3.1 Consonant changes

Consonant changes usually occur when consonants or groups of consonants are followed by e or i or â.

t àț

băiat à băieți (noun) caut àcauți (verb) inteligent àinteligenți (adj.) boy boys I search you search intelligent (m. sg.) (m. pl.)

s àș

urs àurși (noun) las àlași (verb) frumos àfrumoși (adj.) bear bears I let you let beautiful (m. sg.) (m. pl.)

stàșt

fotbalistà fotbaliști (noun) gustà guști (verb) vast àvaști (adj.) footballer footballers I taste you taste vast (m. sg.) (m. pl.) dàz bradà brazi (noun) cadà cazi (verb) verdeà verzi (adj.) fir tree fir trees I fall you fall green (m.f.n. sg.) (m.f.n. pl.)

scàșt

muscăà muște (noun) cresc àcrești (verb) englezescà englezești (adj.) fly flies I grow you grow English (m. sg.) (m. pl.) zàj obrazà obraji (noun) no verb viteaz àviteji (adj.) cheek cheeks brave (m. sg.) (m. pl.)

stràștr

ministruà miniștri (noun) no verb albastruà albaștri (adj.) minister ministers blue (m. sg.) (m. pl.)

1.5.3.2 Vowel changes

Vowel changes usually appear in the last vowel (usually stressed) of the stem and are generated by the presence of the vowels a, ă, e or i in the following syllable. They can also be caused by a change of the stressed syllable. 22 a àă Stress and intonation canăà căni (noun) cautăà căutăm (verb) no adjective mug mugs he seeks we seek a àe fată àfete (noun) cumpărà cumperi (verb) canadianà canadieni (adj.) girl girls I buy you buy Canadian (m. sg.) (m. pl.) e àa no noun vedeà să vadă(verb) no adjective he sees to see (subj. 3rd sg.)

ă àe măr àmere (noun) învăț àînveți (verb) proaspătà proaspeți (adj.) apple apples I learn you learn fresh (m. sg.) (m. pl.) â ài vânătăà vinete (noun) vând àvinzi (verb) tânăr àtineri (adj.) aubergine aubergines I sell you sell young (m. sg.) (m. pl.) ea àe gheatăàghete (noun) merge àsă meargă (verb) beată àbete (adj.) boot boots he goes (s/he) to go drunk (f. sg.) (f. pl.) eà ea no noun plecà pleacă (verb) negruàneagră (adj.) I leave s/he leaves black (m. sg.) (f. sg.) ia àie piatrăàpietre (noun) no verb italiană àitaliene (adj.) stone stones Italian (f. sg.) (f. pl.) ieà ia no noun iertà iartă (verb) fiertà fiartă (adj.) I forgive s/he forgives boiled (m. sg.) (f. sg.) oa ào culoareàculori (noun) scoatem àscot (verb) moale àmoi (adj.) colour colours we take out they take out soft (m.f.n. sg.) (m.f.n. pl.) o àoa poporàpopoare (noun) zboràsă zboare (verb) frumos àfrumoasă (adj.) nation nations I fly (he) to fly beautiful (m. sg.) (f. sg.) 23 i àe 1 Sounds and no noun vin à venim (verb) no adjective letters I come we come u ào no noun a jucaà joc (verb) no adjective to play I play

24 References

Academia Română (Ed.), Gramatica limbii române, vol. 1 and 2, Bucureşti, Editura Academiei Române, 1970. Academia Română (Ed.), Dicţionarul explicativ al limbii române, Bucureşti, Univer- sul enciclopedic, 2000. Academia Română (Ed.), Gramatica limbii române, vol. 1 and 2, Bucureşti, Editura Academiei Române, 2006. Avram, Mioara, Gramatica pentru toţi, Bucureşti, Humanitas, 1997. Bădescu, Alice, Gramatica limbii engleze, Bucureşti, Editura Ştiinţifică, 1963. Bantaş, Andrei, Dicţionar român-englez, englez-român, Bucureşti, Teora, 2000. Bejan, Dumitru, Gramatica limbii române, Compendiu, Cluj, Echinox, 2001. Ciorănescu, Alexandru, Dicționar etimologic român, Tenerife, Universidad de la Laguna, 1966. Dicționar invers la limbii române, București, Editura Niculescu, 2007. DOOM2, Dicționarul ortografic, ortoepic și morfologic al limbii române, București, Universul enciclopedic, 2005. Marcu, Florin, Marele dicționar de neologisme, București, Saeculum vizual, 2008. Pop, Liana, Moldovan, Victoria, Romanian Grammar, Cluj, Echinox, 1997. Seche, Mircea and Luiza, Dicționar de sinonime, București, Editura Litera Internațional, 2002. Uricaru, Lucia, Goga, Mircea, Verbe româneşti, Cluj, Echinox, 1997. Brâncuş, Grigore, Ionescu, Adriana, Saramandu, Manuela, Limba română, manual pentru studenţi străini, Bucureşti, Editura Universității, 2003. Cojocaru, Dana, You Can Speak Romanian, Bucureşti, Compania, 2003. Doca, Gheorghe, Learn Romanian, Bucureşti, Niculescu, 2004. Dorobăţ, Ana, Fotea, Mircea, Româna de bază, vol. 1 and 2, Iaşi, Institutul European, 1999. Geană, Ionuț, Limba română pentru străini C1-C2, București, Editura Universității, 2014. Gonczol, Ramona, Deletant, Dennis, Colloquial Romanian, London, Routledge, 2011. Kohn, Daniela, Puls-Manual de limba română A1-A2, București, Editura Polirom, 2010. Kohn, Daniela, Puls-Manual de limba română B1-B2, București, Editura Polirom, 2012. Meitert, Nicoleta, Learn Romanian with Nico, Self-Publishing, 2017. Moldovan, Victoria, Pop, Liana, Uricariu, Lucia, Nivel prag pentru învățarea limbii române ca limbă străină, București, Institutul limbii române, 2002. Moldoveanu-Pologea, Mona, Learn Romanian Manual, București, Rolang Publishing House, 2014. Platon, Elena, Vîlcu, Dina, Sonea, Ioana, Manual de limba română ca limbă străină RLS (A1-A2), Cluj, Editura Presa Universitară Clujeană, 2019. Vrăjitoru, Ana, Curs practic de limba română pentru străini, Iași, Vasiliana 98, 2003.