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What I love the most about the Romanian spoken in the Transylvania region (roughly the western part of the country) is that we're currently developing a question marker!
In standard Romanian, the only way to tell whether a sentence is a question is from the speaker's inflection (and, in writing, from the question mark). In Transylvanian Romanian, if I may call it that, questions start with the word "oare".
This word normally means something like "is it really so?", but it's perceived as a bit archaic in any other part of the country. In any old text, it's clear that this word was first and foremost a marker of doubt. However, in the Transylvania region, it has become a way to express polite requests and questions.
-> Formal register
Example: Could you tell me what the time is?
"Îmi puteți spune cât e ora?" [Standard Romanian, formal register]
"Oare îmi puteți spune cât e ora?" [Transylvanian Romanian, formal register]
-> Informal register
Example: Do you wanna go to the movies?
"Vrei să mergem la film?" [Standard, informal]
"Oare vrei să mergem la film?" [Transylvanian, informal]
To people outside this region, these sentences sound a bit odd because they seem as if the speaker is casting doubt upon the listener's ability to tell the time, or their desire to go to the movies. However, the way this word "oare" is used in Transylvania, it has lost its previous use (of marking doubt) entirely, now being a way to express indirect requests, suggestions, invitations, and, increasingly, any type of question whatsoever.
It is my personal prediction that this word will lose all of its previous meaning and it will be used only as a question marker. I expect that it will become the main way questions are expressed in Transylvanian Romanian, and, who knows, maybe in the farther future, it may be adopted into standard Romanian as the question marker.
This phenomenon, wherein a word completely loses its meaning over time and it gradually becomes a means of expressing grammatical information is called "grammaticalisation" and I find it utterly fascinating. Other examples from Romanian and other Romance languages include the verb "to have" as an auxiliary verb to express the past tense (Romanian: "eu am" = "I have"; but "am mâncat" = "I ate"; similarly, French: "j'ai" = "I have"; but "j'ai mangé" = "I ate"). In both these cases, the word "to have" as an auxiliary verb lost all of its original meaning (of expressing possession), instead becoming a past tense marker. A similarly transparent example of grammaticalisation in English would be "will" as an auxiliary verb. Centuries ago, "I will" meant "I want". However, when one says "I will go", the word "will" no longer means "to want", but it is instead a future marker.
"Grămătic" sună ca și când e un slur împotriva lingviștilor lmao
Romanian: the wind doesn't "blow", it "beats". Somewhat violent imagery for a mild event.
English: the thunder "claps", violent event described in an underwhelming way
of course, I must provide an actual example of Romanian idioms non-Romanians have told me sound very violent to them. the most recent example I have is our common phrase for ”the sun is shining” or ”the wind is blowing”. Yes, we do have literal translations of those, too (”strălucește soarele”, ”suflă vântul”) but they are more poetic and not the typical usage. The most common usage, indeed, is ”bate soarele” and ”bate vântul” (”the sun beats”, ”the wind beats”).
I can see why somebody whose native language isnt Romanian would consider these violent hahahhahaha. English: the sun shines ✨✨ and the wind blows 💨💨. Gentle imagery. Romanian: the sun BEATS you and the wind ALSO BEATS you fjgjkhhjhg. But to me it makes absolute perfect sense cause after all, you physically feel the heat on your skin, and you physically feel the wind especially when it s powerful etc.
we also use the verb ”a bate” with every other current-related and light-related actions too. ”în bătaia farurilor” = ”in the beating of the headlights” = ”in the headlights beam”. ”Nu bat până acolo” (very colloquial) = ”I dont beat until there” = ”I dont see that far” etc
looking up the dictionary entry for this verb has given me a very vast range of usage (some of which exists in English too, like beating heart, beating drums, but also stuff like ”a bate din palme” = ”to beat ones palms” = to clap, or ”a bate din aripi” = ”to beat ones wings” = to flap ones wings, etc etc etc). so it just seems a very very common verb that has broadened its meaning to include any repetitive motion and any touch whatsoever, even metaphorical
meow meow meow meow meow moew meow meow meow miau miau miau miau miau miau miau
what are your favorite words in romanian?
Honestly very hard question and I've been thinking about it for a while but to no avail. I guess I'll try to think of some favourite words per category
The Romanian equivalent of "to be caught in the crossfire" is "a fi între ciocan și nicovală" (to be between the hammer and the anvil) and I think that's extremely evocative.
