Romanian Phonology
In the phonology of the Romanian language, the phoneme inventory consists of seven vowels, two or four semivowels (different views exist), and twenty consonants.
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In addition, as with other languages, other phonemes can occur occasionally in interjections or recent borrowings.
Notable features of Romanian include two unusual diphthongs /e̯a/ and /o̯a/ and the central vowel /ɨ/.
Vowels
There are seven monophthongs in Romanian:
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | i ⟨i⟩ | ɨ ⟨î/â⟩ | u ⟨u⟩ |
| Mid | e ⟨e⟩ | ə ⟨ă⟩ | o ⟨o⟩ |
| Open | a ⟨a⟩ |
The table below gives a series of word examples for each vowel.
| Vowel | Description | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| /a/ | Open central unrounded | apă /ˈapə/ ('water') balaur /baˈla.ur/ ('dragon') a cânta /kɨnˈta/ ('to sing') |
| /e/ | Mid front unrounded | erou /eˈrow/ ('hero') necaz /neˈkaz/ ('trouble') umple /ˈumple/ ('to fill') |
| /i/ | Close front unrounded | insulă /ˈinsulə/ ('island') salcie /ˈsalt͡ʃi.e/ ('willow') topi /toˈpi/ ('to melt') |
| /o/ | Mid back rounded | oraș /oˈraʃ/ ('city') copil /koˈpil/ ('child') acolo /aˈkolo/ ('there') |
| /u/ | Close back rounded | uda /uˈda/ ('to wet') aduc /aˈduk/ ('I bring') simplu /ˈsimplu/ ('simple') |
| /ə/ | Mid central unrounded | ăsta /ˈəsta/ ('this') păros /pəˈros/ ('hairy') albă /ˈalbə/ ('white [fem. sg.]') |
| /ɨ/ | Close central unrounded | înspre /ˈɨnspre/ ('toward') cârnat /kɨrˈnat/ ('sausage') coborî /koboˈrɨ/ ('to descend') |
Although most of these vowels are relatively straightforward and similar or identical to those in many other languages, the close central unrounded vowel /ɨ/ is uncommon as a phoneme and especially uncommon amongst Indo-European languages.
According to Sarlin (2014), /ə/ is phonetically open-mid somewhat retracted central [ɜ̠], rather than mid central.
Less frequent vowels
ö
In addition to the seven core vowels, in a number of words of foreign origin (predominantly French, but also German) the mid front rounded vowel /ø/ (rounded Romanian /e/; example word: bleu /blø/ 'light blue') and the mid central rounded vowel /ɵ/ (rounded Romanian /ə/; example word: chemin de fer /ʃɵˌmen dɵ ˈfer/ 'Chemin de Fer') have been preserved, without replacing them with any of the existing phonemes. The borrowed words have become part of the Romanian vocabulary and follow the usual inflexion rules, so that the new vowels, though less common, could be considered as part of the Romanian phoneme set. Many Romanian dictionaries[which?] use ⟨ö⟩ in their phonetic descriptions to represent both vowels.
Because they are not native phonemes, their pronunciation may fluctuate or they may even be replaced by the diphthong /e̯o/. In older French borrowings it has often been replaced by /e/, /o/, or /e̯o/, as in șofer /ʃoˈfer/ ('driver', from French chauffeur), masor /maˈsor/ ('masseur', from masseur), and sufleor /suˈfle̯or/ ('theater prompter', from souffleur).
ü
Similarly, borrowings from languages such as French and German sometimes contain the close front rounded vowel /y/: ecru /eˈkry/, tul /tyl/, führer /ˈfyrer/, /ˈfyrər/. The symbol used for it in phonetic notations in Romanian dictionaries is ⟨ü⟩. Educated speakers usually pronounce it /y/, but other realizations such as /ju/ also occur. Older words that originally had this sound have had it replaced with /ju/, /u/, or /i/. For instance, Turkish kül became ghiul /ɡjul/ ('large ring'), Turkish tütün became tutun /tuˈtun/ ('tobacco'), but tiutiun [tjuˈtjun] in the Moldavian dialect[citation needed], German Düse gave duză /ˈduzə/ ('nozzle') and French bureau became birou /biˈrow/ ('desk', 'office').
Diphthongs and triphthongs
According to Ioana Chițoran, Romanian has two diphthongs: /e̯a/ and /o̯a/. As a result of their origin (diphthongization of mid vowels under stress), they appear normally in stressed syllables and make morphological alternations with the mid vowels /e/ and /o/.
In addition to these, the semivowels /w/ and /j/ can be combined (either before, after, or both) with most vowels. One view considers that only /e̯a/ and /o̯a/ can follow an obstruent-liquid cluster such as in broască ('frog') and dreagă ('to mend') and form real diphthongs, whereas the rest are merely vowel–glide sequences. The traditional view (taught in schools) considers all of the above as diphthongs.
| Falling | |
|---|---|
| Diphthong | Examples |
| /aj/ | mai /maj/ ('May'), aisberg /ˈajsberɡ/ ('iceberg') |
| /aw/ | sau /saw/ ('or'), august /ˈawɡust/ ('August') |
| /ej/ | lei /lej/ ('lions'), trei /trej/ ('three') |
| /ew/ | greu /ɡrew/ ('heavy'), mereu /meˈrew/ ('always') |
| /ij/ | mii /mij/ ('thousands'), vii /vij/ ('you come') |
| /iw/ | fiu /fiw/ ('son'), scriu /skriw/ ('I write') |
| /oj/ | oi /oj/ ('sheep [pl.]'), noi /noj/ ('we') |
| /ow/ | ou /ow/ ('egg'), bou /bow/ ('ox') |
| /uj/ | pui /puj/ ('you put'), gălbui /ɡəlˈbuj/ ('yellowish') |
| /uw/ | continuu /konˈtinuw/ ('continuous') |
| /əj/ | răi /rəj/ ('bad [masc. pl.]'), văi /vəj/ ('valleys') |
| /əw/ | dulău /duˈləw/ ('mastiff'), rău /rəw/ ('bad [masc. sg.]') |
| /ɨj/ | câine /ˈkɨjne/ ('dog'), mâinile /ˈmɨjnile/ ('the hands') |
| /ɨw/ | râu /rɨw/ ('river'), brâu /brɨw/ ('girdle') |
| Rising | |
| Diphthong | Examples |
| /e̯a/ | beată /ˈbe̯atə/ ('drunk [fem.]'), mea /me̯a/ ('my [fem. sg.]') |
| /e̯o/ | Gheorghe /ˈɡe̯orɡe/ ('George'), ne-o ploua /ne̯oploˈwa/ ('it would rain on us'), vreo /vre̯o/ ('some; around [fem., masc. pl.]') |
| /e̯u/ | (mostly in word combinations) pe-un /pe̯un/ ('on a'), vreun /vre̯un/ ('some; around [masc. sg.]') |
| /ja/ | biată /ˈbjatə/ ('poor [f.]'), mi-a zis /mjaˈzis/ ('[he] told me') |
| /je/ | fier /fjer/ ('iron'), miere /ˈmjere/ ('honey') |
| /jo/ | iod /jod/ ('iodine'), chior /ˈkjor/ ('one-eyed') |
| /ju/ | iubit /juˈbit/ ('loved'), chiuvetă /kjuˈvetə/ ('sink') |
| /o̯a/ | găoace /ɡəˈo̯at͡ʃe/ ('shell'), foarte /ˈfo̯arte/ ('very') |
| /we/ | piuez /piˈwez/ ('I felt [a fabric]'), înșeuez /ɨnʃeˈwez/ ('I saddle') |
| /wa/ | băcăuan /bəkəˈwan/ ('inhabitant of Bacău'), ziua /ˈziwa/ ('the day') |
| /wə/ | două /ˈdowə/ ('two [fem.]'), plouă /ˈplowə/ ('it rains') |
| /wɨ/ | plouând /ploˈwɨnd/ ('raining'), ouând /oˈwɨnd/ ('laying [eggs]') |
| Triphthong | Examples |
|---|---|
| /e̯aj/ | socoteai /sokoˈte̯aj/ ('you were reckoning') |
| /e̯aw/ | beau /be̯aw/ ('I drink'), spuneau /spuˈne̯aw/ ('they were saying') |
| /e̯o̯a/ | pleoapă /ˈple̯o̯apə/ ('eyelid'), leoarcă /ˈle̯o̯arkə/ ('soaking wet') |
| /jaj/ | mi-ai dat /mjajˈdat/ ('you gave me'), ia-i /jaj/ ('take them') |
| /jaw/ | iau /jaw/ ('I take'), suiau /suˈjaw/ ('they were climbing') |
| /jej/ | iei /jej/ ('you take'), piei /pjej/ ('skins') |
| /jew/ | eu /jew/ ('I [myself]') |
| /joj/ | i-oi da /jojˈda/ ('I might give him'), picioică /piˈt͡ʃjoj.kə/ ('potato [regionalism]') |
| /jow/ | maiou /maˈjow/ ('undershirt') |
| /o̯aj/ | leoaică /leˈo̯ajkə/ ('lioness'), rusoaică /ruˈso̯ajkə/ ('Russian woman') |
| /waj/ | înșeuai /ɨnʃeˈwaj/ ('[you] were saddling') |
| /waw/ | înșeuau /ɨnʃeˈwaw/ ('[they] were saddling') |
| /wəj/ | rouăi /ˈrowəj/ ('of the dew') |
| /jo̯a/ | creioane /kreˈjo̯ane/ ('pencils'), aripioară /ariˈpjo̯arə/ ('winglet') |
As can be seen from the examples above, the diphthongs /e̯a/ and /o̯a/ contrast with /ja/ and /wa/ respectively, though there are no minimal pairs to contrast /o̯a/ and /wa/. Impressionistically, the two pairs sound very similar to native speakers. Because /o̯a/ does not appear in the final syllable of a prosodic word, there are no monosyllabic words with /o̯a/; exceptions might include voal ('veil') and doar ('only, just'), though Ioana Chițoran argues that these are best treated as containing glide-vowel sequences rather than diphthongs. In some regional pronunciations, the diphthong /o̯a/ tends to be pronounced as a single vowel /ɒ/.
Other triphthongs such as /juj/ and /o̯aw/ occur sporadically in interjections and uncommon words.
Diphthongs in borrowings
Borrowings from English have enlarged the set of ascending diphthongs to also include /jə/, /we/, /wi/, and /wo/, or have extended their previously limited use. Generally, these borrowings have retained their original spellings, but their pronunciation has been adapted to Romanian phonology. The table below gives some examples.
| Diphthong | Examples |
|---|---|
| /jə/ | yearling /ˈjərlinɡ/ 'one-year-old animal (colt)' |
| /we/ | western /ˈwestern/ 'Western (movie set in the American West)' |
| /wi/ | tweeter /ˈtwitər/ 'high-pitch loudspeaker' |
| /wo/ | walkman /ˈwokmen/ 'pocket-sized tape/CD player' |
Borrowings such as whisky and week-end are listed in some dictionaries as starting with the ascending diphthong /wi/, which corresponds to the original English pronunciation, but in others they appear with the descending diphthong /uj/.
Vowel alternations
Romanian has vowel alternation or apophony triggered by stress. A stressed syllable has an open vowel, or a diphthong ending in an open vowel, and an unstressed syllable has a mid vowel. Thus /e̯a/ alternates with /e/, /o̯a/ with /o/, and /a/ with /ə/.
This alternation developed from Romanian vowel breaking (diphthongization) and reduction (weakening). The Eastern Romance mid vowels /e o/ were broken in stressed syllables, giving the Romanian diphthongs /e̯a o̯a/, and the open vowel /a/ was reduced in unstressed syllables, giving the Romanian central vowel /ə/.
These sound changes created the stress-triggered vowel alternations in the table below. Here stressed syllables are marked with underlining (a):
| Stressed | Unstressed | IPA and recording | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| a — ə | carte | 'book' | cărticică | 'book' (diminutive) | ⓘ |
| casă | 'house' | căsuță | 'house' (diminutive) | ⓘ | |
| e̯a — e | beat | 'drunk' | bețiv | 'drunkard' | ⓘ |
| seară | 'evening' | înserat | 'dusk' | ⓘ | |
| o̯a — o | poartă | 'gate' | portar | 'gatekeeper' | ⓘ |
| coastă | 'rib' | costiță | 'rib' (diminutive) | ⓘ | |
This has since been morphologized and now shows up in verb conjugations and nominal inflection: oaste — oști, 'army' — 'armies'.
Consonants
Standard Romanian has twenty phonemic consonants, as listed in the table below.
| Labial | Dental | Alveolar | Post- alveolar | Velar | Glottal | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| central | sibilant | |||||||
| Nasal | m ⟨m⟩ | n ⟨n⟩ | ||||||
| Plosive/ Affricate | voiceless | p ⟨p⟩ | t ⟨t⟩ | t͡s ⟨ț⟩ | t͡ʃ ⟨c⟩ | k ⟨c/ch/k⟩ | ||
| voiced | b ⟨b⟩ | d ⟨d⟩ | d͡ʒ ⟨g⟩ | ɡ ⟨g/gh⟩ | ||||
| Fricative | voiceless | f ⟨f⟩ | s ⟨s⟩ | ʃ ⟨ș⟩ | h ⟨h⟩ | |||
| voiced | v ⟨v⟩ | z ⟨z⟩ | ʒ ⟨j⟩ | |||||
| Trill | r ⟨r⟩ | |||||||
| Approximant | l ⟨l⟩ | j ⟨i⟩ | w ⟨u⟩ | |||||
