Romanian Phonology

This article discusses the Phonology of the Romanian Language . For other details on this language (history, grammar) the reader is referred to that article.

PHONEMES

The Phoneme inventory of Romanian consists of seven Vowel s, four Semivowel s, and twenty Consonant s. In addition, as with all languages, other phonemes can occur occasionally in interjections or recent borrowings.

Vowels

There are seven vowel Phoneme s in Romanian:

While most of the Romanian vowels are relatively straightforward and similar or identical to those in many other languages, vowel Close Central Unrounded Vowel might represent a problem especially for native English speakers. A practical way to understand the articulation of this vowel is as follows: First pronounce vowel as in "ease." Then, ''without changing the shape of your lips'', try to pronounce vowel as in "ooze." The vowel obtained is .

The table below gives a series of word examples for each vowel.

In addition to the seven core vowels, in a number of words of foreign origin (predominantly French) the Close-mid Front Rounded Vowel has been maintained without replacing it with any of the existing phonemes. These words have become part of the Romanian vocabulary and follow the usual inflexion rules, so that vowel /ø/ could be considered as part of the Romanian vowel set. Examples: ''bleu'' (light blue), ''pasteuriza'' (to pasteurize), ''loess'' (loess).

Also, recent borrowings from languages such as and Turkish , have had the sound replaced with diphthong or vowel .

Non-syllabic vowels

A particular variant of vowel , marked in IPA as , is found after consonants in word-final positions and rarely inside words. This phoneme is shorter and weaker than a normal vowel, and cannot support a syllable by itself. Its role is often to mark the plural of nouns and adjectives, or the second person of verbs in the indicative or subjunctive mood.

The following examples show that can occur after all consonants except and , which turn invariably into and respectively.

The non-syllabic can be sometimes found inside compound words like câţiva (''a few'') and '''oriunde''' (''wherever''), where the first morpheme happened to end in this . A word that contains this phoneme twice is '''cincizeci''' (''fifty'').

In old Romanian and still in some local pronunciations there is another example of such a non-syllabic, non-semivocalic phoneme, derived from , which could be marked as . It is found at the end of some words after consonants and semivowels, as in un urs pronounced (''a bear'') or '''îmi spui''' (''you tell me''). The disappearance of this phoneme must be attributed to the fact that, unlike , it didn't play any morphologic role. Possibly a trace of Latin endings containing (''-us'', ''-um'') this phoneme is related to vowel used to connect the definite article "l" to the stem of a noun or adjective, as in '''domn - domnul''' (''lord - the lord'', cf. Latin ''dominus'').

Diphthongs and triphthongs

Romanian makes use of many Diphthong s and Triphthong s. The semivowels included in these are not marked in writing, which represents a difficulty for those who learn the language. Traditionally Romanian lacks letters ''w'' and ''y'' which could have helped in distinguishing vowels from semivowels at least in some cases.

Descending diphthongs

Descending (falling) Diphthong s, which have the structure V-S ( Vowel - Semivowel ), are formed using one of the semivowels and . All combinations are possible except :

Ascending diphthongs

Ascending (rising) Diphthongs , which have the structure S-V (semivowel-vowel) use a set of as much as four semivowels: , , , and .

Diphthongs and , although similar and never occurring simultaneously, are different, as it is proved below. In the word

:subsuoară ''armpit'',

after pronouncing vowel the mouth opens perceptibly for semivowel . In some regional pronunciations the diphthong tends to be pronounced as a single vowel possibly under the influence of the same sound in Hungarian , but such shift does not happen to diphthong . The example below shows that semivowel and vowel are produced in a different manner:

:roua ''the dew''.

However, there is no minimal pair of words which would show that by switching the diphthong the meaning is changed.

That the semivowel is close to vowel is proved by words like cocoaşe (hunches), in which the two phonemes are only separated by the consonant , allowing comparison. When vowel is taken as reference, as in the word '''cucoane''' (ladies), a distinct vocalic shift ca be noticed.

Diphthongs in borrowings

Borrowings from English have extended the set of ascending diphthongs to also include , , , and . Generally, these borrowings have retained their original spellings, but their pronunciation has been adapted to the Romanian phonology. The table below gives some examples.

Borrowings such as whisky and '''week-end''' are listed in some dictionaries as starting with the ascending diphthong , which corresponds to the original English pronunciation, but in others they appear with the descending diphthong , closer to the actual way these words are pronounced by Romanian native speakers.

Triphthongs: S-V-S

There are numerous triphthongs in which the main vowel is clamped between two semivowels:

Other triphthongs can be built on the same S-V-S pattern, such as and , but they only occur sporadically in interjections and uncommon words.

Triphthongs: S-S-V

These triphthongs start with a glide through ''two'' semivowels.

Triphthong occurs in the word ea ''she'', or in certain areas as a replacement for diphthong .

Consonants

Standard Romanian has twenty consonants, as listed in the table below.

Besides the consonants in this table, a few consonants can have Allophone s, such as which is palatalized before Vowel s and , their Semivocalic counterparts or the non-syllabic ; becomes the velar before and ; and becomes velar or palatal depending on the following vowel.

The Romanian consonant set is almost the same as that in Italian , with a few exceptions: The Italian palatal consonants , and affricate are missing in standard Romanian, which in turn has the affricate and the glottal .

Here are some examples, with an approximate indication of how each consonant is pronounced, intended for English native speakers.

(1) Note that p in ''speak'' and p in ''peak'' are not the same sounds: The second is Aspirated . Romanian is not aspirated. The same holds for and .

(2) Consonants and are only similar to their English counterparts. While in English they are Alveolar , pronounced by touching the Alveolar Ridge with the tip of the tongue, in Romanian and other Romance languages they are Dental , obtained by touching the roof of the mouth just behind the teeth with the flat of the tongue. The same remark is valid for consonants , , and , although the difference is not as obvious.

(3) Consonant is an Alveolar Trill , informally also called "rolled r," present in a number of languages such as Italian , Spanish , or Russian . Romanian phonetics sources classify this sound as Dental . It is sometimes compared with the consonant in the middle of "get up" in informal American English (spelled "geddup" to mark the changed pronunciation); this phrase could be transcribed phonetically in Romanian as "gherap."

Other consonants

Although not a central part of the Romanian phoneme inventory, other consonants are often used in certain interjections:

The Dental Click (see also Click Consonant s) is used in an interjection similar to the English "tut-tut" (also spelled "tsk-tsk"), expressing concern, disappointment, disapproval, etc, and generally accompanied by frowning or a comparable facial expression. Usually two to four such clicks in a row make up the interjection; only one click is rare and more than four can be used for over-emphasis. The Romanian spelling is usually "ttt" or "ţţţ." Technically, the dental click is obtained by creating a cavity between a velar closure and the tongue touching the alveolar ridge in the same position as for consonant . When the tongue closure is released, the air from outside is sucked in and produces the click.

The same dental click is used in another interjection, the informal equivalent of "no" ("nu" in Romanian). Only one click is emitted, usually as an aswer to a yes/no question. Although there is rarely any accompanying sound, the usual spelling is "nt" or "nţ," in which the additional "n" has the role of showing either the fact that the click is pronounced stronger, or that the mouth shape before the click is approximately the same as for consonant .

An interjection that is reluctant to receiving a generally accepted written form is the one pronounced as , but with the mouth shut, and starting with a Glottal Stop . A possible spelling is "mhm," but in literature "îhî" is generally preferred, although phonetically it is different. This interjection is used as an approval, the answer "yes," or as a sign that the listener is following the story. Phonetically similar, but semantically different, is the English interjection "ahem."

Another interjection, meaning "no," could be explained as the pronunciation of with the mouth shut. Note that the stress pattern is opposite to the previous example, and that the two voicings start with Glottal Stop s, like the English "uh-oh." Possible spellings include: "î-î," "îm-îm," and "m-m."

Other interjections employing particular consonants are:

--- "Pfu," to express contempt or dissatisfaction, starting with the Voiceless Bilabial Fricative , sounding like (but being different from) the English "whew," which expresses relief after an effort or danger.

--- "Câh," to express disgust, ending in the Voiceless Velar Fricative , similar in meaning to English "ugh."

--- "Hm" or "hmm," to show that the speaker is thinking before giving an answer, or to convey the meaning of "let's see...," is pronounced with the mouth shut releasing the air flow through the nose, without a glottal stop. Depending on the intonation this interjection can take up other meanings as well.

--- "Brrr," to express shivering cold, is made up of a single consonant, the Bilabial Trill , whose IPA symbol is . The spelling with several letters r is misleading, as the tongue doesn't play an active role; the actual ''labial'' place of articulation is indicated by letter '''b'''.

PROSODY

Stress

Romanian has a Stress Accent , like almost all other Romance Languages (with the notable exception of French ). The position of the stress in a word is usually unpredictable, as it can fall on almost any syllable, making it an intrinsic property of the word. Except for one-syllable words, the stress must be learned with each word. In the examples below, the stress is indicated in the phonetic transcription by a small vertical line ''before'' the stressed syllable.

:frate ''brother'', copil ''child''

:strugure ''grape'', albastru ''blue'', călător ''voyager''

Stress is not normally marked in writing, except occasionally to distinguish between homographs, or in dictionaries for the entry words. When it is marked, the main vowel of the stressed syllable receives an accent (usually Acute , but sometimes Grave ), for example véselă - vesélă (''jovial'', fem. sg. - ''tableware''). If the accent must be placed on low-case letter "i," the dot is normally replaced by the accent: '''copíi - cópii''' (''children'' - ''copies'').

In verb conjugation, noun declension, and other word formation processes, stress shifts can occur. Verbs can have homographic forms only distinguished by stress, such as in "el suflă" which can mean "he blows" or "he blew" depending on whether the stress is on the first or the second syllable, respectively. Changing the grammatical category of a word can lead to similar word pairs, such as the verb "a albi" (''to whiten'') compared to the adjective "albi" (''white'', masc. pl.).

Rhythm

Languages such as English , Russian , and Arabic are called Stress-timed , meaning that Syllables are pronounced at a lower or higher rate so as to achieve a roughly equal time interval between Stressed syllables. Another category of languages are Syllable-timed , which means that each syllable takes about the same amount of time, regardless of the position of the stresses in the sentence. Romanian is one of the syllable-timed languages, along with other Romance languages ( French , Spanish , etc.), Telegu , Yoruba , and many others. (A third timing system is Mora Timing , exemplified by Classical Latin , Fijian , Finnish , Hawaiian , Japanese , and Old English .)

The distinction between these timing categories may sometimes seem unclear, and definitions vary. In addition, the time intervals between stresses/syllables/morae are in reality only approximately equal, with many exceptions and large deviations having been reported. However, while the actual time may be only approximately equal, the differences are perceptually identical.

In the case of Romanian, consonant clusters are often found both in the syllable Onset and Coda , which require physical time to be pronounced. The syllable timing rule is then overriden by slowing down the rhythm. Thus, it is seen that stress and syllable timing interact. The sample sentences below, each consisting of six syllables, are illustrative:

: Mama pune masa. -- ''Mom sets the table.''

: Mulţi puşti blonzi plîng prin curţi. -- ''Many blond kids cry in the courtyards.''

The total time length taken by each of these sentences is obviously different, and attempting to pronounce one of them with the same rhythm as the other results in unnatural utterances. Note that the second sentence features in several places the non-syllabic vowel which has the effect of lengthening the syllable time.

To a lesser extent, but still perceivably, the syllables are extended in time also on one hand by the presence of liquid and nasal consonants, and on the other by that of semivowels in diphthongs and triphthongs, such as shown in the examples below.

A simple way to evaluate the length of a word, and compare it to another, consists in pronouncing it repeatedly at a natural speech rate.

Intonation

A detailed description of the Intonation patterns must consider a wide range of elements, such as the focus of the sentence, the theme and the rheme, emotional aspects, etc. In this section only a few general traits of the Romanian intonation are discussed. Most importantly, intonation is essential in Question s, especially because, unlike English and other languages, Romanian does not distinguish grammatically declarative and interrogative sentences.

In non-emphatic yes/no questions the pitch rises at the end of the sentence until the last stressed syllable. If unstressed syllables follow, they often have a falling intonation, but this is not a rule.

:— Ai stins lumina? stins lu↗mi↘na (''Have you turned off the lights?'')

:— Da. (''I did.'')

In Transylvanian speech these yes/no questions have a very different intonation pattern, usually with a pitch peak at the beginning of the question: ↗stins lumi↘na

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

:— Vrei bere sau vin? ↗bere sau ↘vin (''Do you want beer or wine?'')

:— Bere. (''Beer.'')

Wh-questions start with a high pitch on the first word and then the pitch falls gradually toward the end of the sentence.

:— Cine a lăsat uşa deschisă? a lăsat uşa deschisă (''Who left the door open?'')

:— Mama. (''Mom did.'')

Repeat questions have a rising intonation.

:— A sunat Rodica adineauri. (''Rodica just called.'')

:— Cine a sunat? a su↗nat (''Who called?'')

:— Colega ta, Rodica. (''Your classmate, Rodica.'')

Tag questions are uttered with a rising intonation.

:— Ţi-e foame, nu-i aşa? foame, nu-i a↗şa (''You're hungry, aren't you?'')

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

:— După ce m-am întors... ce m-am în↗tors... (''After I came back...'')

Various other intonation patterns are used to express: requests, commands, surprise, suggestion, advice, and so on.

EXTERNAL LINKS

Very detailed Romanian grammar, with some notes on phonetics and morpho-phonology (PDF; 183 pages; 4.6 MB)

DEX online, a collection of Romanian language dictionaries; one-letter entries indicate the possible pronunciations

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Romanian Phonology