xii

Letter Sounds like Example (Letter

English name)

a b!!d nas (nose) (a)

ă better casă (house) (euh)
â a cross between când (when) â
rude and reed
b h ag bun (good) (be)
c S�ot bec (light bulb) (ce)
d gog dinte (tooth) (de)
e l�t lemn (wood) (e)
f fog fată (girl) (fe)
g garden grădină (garden) (ge)
h heap hartă (map) (ha)
sick mic (smalt) (ee)
î a cross between în (in) î
rude and reed
j plea�ure joc (game) (zhe)
k kilogram kilometru (kilometre) (ka)
1 leg lege (law) (le)
m mother modern (modern) (me)
n night nod (knot) (ne)
o cQrk pom (tree) (o)
p sI!ot pat (bed) (pe)
q !l,uick quaker (quaker) (kju)
r rapid, but trilled, repede (fast) (re)
as in Scots
s �alt sare (salt) (se)
Ş shame şa (saddle) (she)
t slop timp (time) (te)
ţ ca� ţară (country) (tse)
u moon cu (with) (u)
v yisit valoare (value) (ve)
w �hite whisky (whisky) (dublu ve)
x mix xilofon (xylophone) (iks)
y )'.et Yale (lock) (igrek)
z ?;ebra zonă (zone) (ze)

K, q, w and y occur only in borrowed words and proper nouns,

e.g. kilometru, quaker, whisky, Yale. Â is equivalent to î.
______ xiii

The following combinations of letters also exist in Romanian:

ce, ci, che, ehi, ge, gi, ghe, ghi. They and the sounds they repre­
sent are covered below.

Pronunciation, intonation and stress

Your best guide to Romanian pronunciation is the cassette accom­
panying this textbook where you will hear the language used by
native speakers. The tips given here can offer only an approxima­
tion of the sounds of Romanian.
Intonation is basically similar to that of English.
There is no written accent or sign for stress in Romanian orthog­
raphy and there is no rigid rule as to the position of a stressed
syllable in a word. However, the stressed syllable is always constant
in the various forms of the noun ( i.e. it does not change when the
definite artic1e is suffixed ) .

Vowels
The letter a is similar to the Standard English vowel sound in 'bud'
and 'come':
ac needle nas nose
avem we have pat bed

Ă differs in quality from a, being a less open sound. It is similar

to the Standard English vowel sound in 'hearse ', 'nurse' and 'terse':
casă house mamă mother
fată girl tată father
Except in a few instances ă does not occur in a stressed syllable.

E is similar to the Standard English vowel sound in 'dead', 'let'

and 'red':
bec light-bulb lemn wood
carte book semn sign
xiv

The letter i can represent three sounds:

1. Most often it resembles English 'ee' in such words as 'keep'
or 'seen':
lin gently pin pine tree
mic small senin bright
2. At the end of a word, when unstressed and not accompanied
by another vowel, i has the value of a scarcely audible 'y':
ani years grădini gardens
bani money străzi streets
( However, an unstressed final i that is preceded by a conso­
nant plus l or r is pronounced as a full vowel - that is, as in
1 . above:
socri parents­ sufli you blow
in-Iaw
3. When combined with other vowels, i may also denote a se mi­
vowel with a value similar to English 'y' in 'yes'. This occurs
only in combinations with other vowels:
iarbă grass iarnă winter
iau 1 take

o is articulated with rounded lips and with the tongue raised higher
than the position for the Standard English vowel sound in 'mock'
and 'soft':
om person somn sleep
pom tree

U resembles the Standard English vowel sound in 'put' and 'soot':

cu with nu no
fum smoke sub under

 and Πcannot be equated with any English vowel sound. They

are pronounced midway between 'ee' in English 'keep' and '00' in
English 'moon' . They can be practised by pronouncing ă and then
raising the centre of the tongue even higher:
În in lână wool
mână hand
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The letter â was also used to denote the sound Î until, in 1953, an
orthographic reform in Romania recommended it be renounced in
favour of Î. In 1993, though, â was reintroduced. Thus cînd became
când, VÎnt became vânt, etc. At the beginning and end of a word,
and in compound words formed with În, Î remains, e.g. În, Început,
neÎnceput (but note Încât). Both practices are, however, stiH to be
found.

Consonants
B, f, v, m, s, and zare like English 'b', 'f', 'v', 'm', 's' and 'z' in
'bag', 'fog', 'value', 'modern', 'save' and 'zone':
bun good modern modern
fată girl sare salt
valoare value zonă zone

P, t, d and n are crisper than their English counterparts. P, t and

d and n are pronounced with the tip of the tongue touching the
back of the upper teeth:
pat bed timp time
dinte tooth nod knot

K, q, w and y are pronounced as in English. In Romanian they are

met only in words of foreign origin.

C has the value of 'k', as in English 'kind', when it is followed by

a, ă, o, u and â:
când when cal horse
cum how cot elbow
However, when followed by i or e it has the value of 'ch', as in
English 'choice':
ce what mici small
cine who pleci you leave
(When the 'k' of the English 'kind', is needed before i and e, then
ch is used:
chelner waiter chibrit match)
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G has the value of 'g' as in English 'gol' when it is followed by a,

ă, o, u and â:
gând thought gară station
gură mouth gol naked
However, when followed by i or e it sounds like 'g' in English
'giant':
ger frost ginere son-in-law

Gh is only used before i and e where it has the value of 'g' as in

English 'gol':
ghinion misfortune ghete boots

H is pronounced like English 'h' in 'heap' and 'behind':

hartă map hotel hotel

J is pronounced like the 's' in 'pleasure'

joc game jefui to rob

L is pronounced like English '1' preceding a vowel as in 'long' and

'leg':
limbă tongue, lege law
language

R resembles the trilled 'r' characteristic of Scottish English:

radio radio repede quickly

Ş is pronounced like 'sh' in 'shell':

şase six aştepta to wait

Ţ is prounced like 'ts' in 'cats' :

ţară country ceaţă fog

X is pronounced like 'x' in 'mix':

explica to explain Alexandru Alexander

However, in certain words, it is pronounced like the 'gs' in 'eggs':
exemplu example exact exact