• In this unit you will learn about :

• • The Romanian Alphabet

• • Greetings

• • Introductions

The Romanian Alphabet

The Romanian alphabet is based on the Latin alphabet and includes five additional letters: a, î, â, ş, and ț(these are not diacriticals, but separate letters). The Romanian alphabet is mostly phonetic (with one exception: the letters â and î, which both signify the same sound when used inside words and at the beginning and end of sentences). The sounds that are represented by letters are quite similar to those of Italian.

Phonetic Particularities:

• ce : sounds like „che” in chest
• ci : sounds like „chee” in cheek
• che : sounds like „ke” in keg
• chi : sounds like „kee” in keen

• ge : sounds like „je” in jet
• gi : sounds like „jea” in jeans
• ghe : sounds like „ge” in get
• ghi : sounds like „gea” in gear

Note:
1.Any Romanian word starting with “e” is pronounced with an English “y” sound at the beginning. Example: “este” is pronounced as yes-te
2.As a general rule, don't pronounce i at the end of a word i.e. vorbiți(speak), scuzați(sorry), faceți(do).
3. If you want to ask something in Romanian ,raise the tone of your voice on the last syllable of the sentence:
e.g. Vorbiti românește?(Do you speak Romanian?)
or
Ce mai faceți?(How are you?
4.In Romanian roughly equal weight is given to each part of the word, e.g. res-tau-rant, spi-tal, ca-fea,, te-le-fon,etc.
5. All Romanian words that are spelt like English words are pronounced differently, e.g. important, parking, taxi, computer

Greetings

Practice

A. 1.How would you greet:
a. Mr. Popescu, in the morning?
b. Mrs.Popescu, in the afternoon?
c. One of your Romanian colleagues, in the evening?
2. What would you say to each of them when taking your leave?
3. You are staying the night with some friends. It's late and you decide to go to bed. Which do you say:
Ce mai faceți?
La revedere!
Noapte bună!.
B. How do you greet at?
9 a.m………………
8.p.m………………
11 a.m……………
4 p.m……………
9 p.m……………
1 p..m……………
7 a.m……………
2 p.m……………
6 a.m……………
11. p.m ……………

Introductions

1.Read the following dialogue
-Buna! . Ma cheama Alexandru.Pe tine cum te cheamă (Hi! My name is Alexandru.What is your name?
-Mă cheamă Maria.(My name is Maria:)
- Îmi pare bine.(Nice to meet you)
-Și mie îmi pare bine(Nice to meet you, too).





Note 1..In the dialogue we noticed one way of presenting oneself:
(Mă cheamă Alexandru-My name is Alexandru) but there are two other ways
Eu sunt Alexandru (I am Alexandru)
and
Mă numesc Alexandru (They call me Alexandru)

2.In order to ask someone's name in Romanian we can say either:

2.Role-play this conversation with your deskmate, choosing one way of presenting yourself

A Glimpse of Romanian Culture:

Identification.

The term "Romania," which was first used in 1859 when the country's three provinces were united, symbolizes ancient Rome's influence on the nation's language and culture. Culturally, the three regions—Walachia, Moldavia, and Transylvania—are fairly similar. The Hungarian community in Transylvania is an exception, as it has its own language and traditions and considers itself to be Hungarian. The Roma (Gypsies), who live in small camps on the fringes of towns and cities around the country, are culturally unassimilated in many ways.

Geographical location

Romania borders Ukraine and Moldova to the north, Hungary to the northwest, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, and the Black Sea to the east. The total area of the land is 91,699 square miles (237,500 square kilometers). The Carpathian Mountains encircle the Transylvanian Plateau and divide it from the other two main regions: Moldavia in the northeast and Walachia in the south. Mount Moldoveanu, the tallest summit in the Transylvanian Alps, is located in the central area. Rolling plains define the eastern and southern regions. The Danube River runs over 600 miles across the country, marking the country's southern boundary with Serbia and Bulgaria and draining into the Black Sea in the east. It provides irrigation as well as hydroelectric electricity.

Demography

In 2000, the population was estimated to be 22,411,121. Ninety percent of the population is Romanian, 7% is Hungarian, and 2% is Roma. Germans, Ukrainians, and others make up the remaining. The Roma population is estimated to be between 400,000 and one million people, although because to their nomadic lifestyle, it is impossible to pinpoint. There was a considerable Jewish population before World War II, but about 400,000 Jews were exterminated during the Nazi years, and many of the survivors moved to Israel after the war. The Jewish population is now estimated to be less than 10,000 people. The population of Germany has likewise shrunk dramatically. Ceaușescu's regime charged citizens significant sums for permission to leave the country in the 1980s, a tactic that Germans despised. As Ceaușescu's regime fell in 1989, a great number of Germans have emigrated.
(https://www.everyculture.com/No-Sa/Romania.html)