Romania

Extensive List of Languages of Romania: Spoken and Extinct Languages

:: List of Languages ::

Bulgarian [bul] 6,747 in Romania (2002 census). Romanian Banat. The Palityan dialect is also in Bulgaria and Hungary. Dialects: Palityan (Palitiani, Bogomil). Classification: Indo-European, Slavic, South, Eastern.

Crimean Turkish [crh] 21,482 in Romania (2002 census). Eastern Romania. Alternate names: Crimean Tatar. Dialects: Northern Crimean (Crimean Nogai, Steppe Crimean), Central Crimean, Southern Crimean. Classification: Altaic, Turkic, Southern.

Gagauz [gag] Alternate names: Gagauzi. Dialects: Bulgar Gagauz, Maritime Gagauz. Classification: Altaic, Turkic, Southern, Turkish.

German, Standard [deu] 45,129 in Romania (2002 census). Transylvania. Dialects: Transylvania. Classification: Indo-European, Germanic, West, High German, German, Middle German, East Middle German.

Greek [ell] 4,146 in Romania (2002 census). Classification: Indo-European, Greek, Attic.

Hungarian [hun] 1,447,544 in Romania (2002 census). Trans-Carpathian provinces. Alternate names: Magyar. Classification: Uralic, Finno-Ugric, Ugric, Hungarian.

Polish [pol] 2,755 in Romania (2002 census). Alternate names: Polski. Classification: Indo-European, Slavic, West, Lechitic.

Romani, Balkan [rmn] Black sea region. Dialects: Ursári (Usari). Classification: Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Indo-Aryan, Central zone, Romani, Balkan.

Romani, Carpathian [rmc] One dialect is in Transylvania. Dialects: Galician, Transylvanian. Classification: Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Indo-Aryan, Central zone, Romani, Northern.

Romani, Vlax [rmy] 241,617 in Romania (2002 census). 6,000,000 to 11,000,000 all Gypsies in the world (1987 Ian Hancock). Population total all countries: 1,497,846. Also spoken in Albania, Argentina, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Colombia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Mexico, Moldova, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia (Europe), Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Ukraine, United Kingdom, USA. Alternate names: Gypsy, Tsigene, Romanese, Vlax Romany, Danubian. Dialects: Sedentary Romania, Kalderash (Kelderashícko, Coppersmith), Ukraine-Moldavia, Eastern, Churari (Churarícko, Sievemakers), Lovari (Lovarícko), Machvano (Machvanmcko), North Albanian, South Albanian, Serbo-Bosnian, Zagundzi, Sedentary Bulgaria, Ghagar, Grekurja (Greco). Vlax developed from the Romani spoken when they were slaves in Romania for 500 years. There were migrations out of Romania from the mid-14th to mid-19th centuries. Those who left earlier have less Romanian influence in their dialects. Kalderash, Ursari, Churari are occupational ethnonyms; Machvano is a geographical one. Other names are Argintari ‘silversmith’ and Lingurari ‘spoonmakers’. Machvano and Serbian Kalderash have a south Slavic superstratum; Russian Kalderash is influenced by east Slavic, mainly Russian; Lovari is influenced by Hungarian; Grekurja is probably Turkish influenced and is distinct from the Greek Romani dialect of Balkan Romani. All 20 or more Vlax dialects are inherently intelligible; the differences are mainly lexical and sociolinguistic (I. Hancock). Classification: Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Indo-Aryan, Central zone, Romani, Vlax.

Romanian [ron] 19,741,356 in Romania (2002 census). Population total all countries: 23,498,367. Moldavian is in Moldova to the northeast, and Muntenian in Muntenia, or Wallachia in the southeast, other dialects in the north and west, including much of Transylvania. Also spoken in Australia, Azerbaijan, Canada, Finland, Hungary, Israel, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia (Europe), Serbia and Montenegro, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, USA, Uzbekistan. Alternate names: Rumanian, Moldavian, Daco-Rumanian. Dialects: Moldavian, Muntenian (Walachian), Transylvanian, Banat, Bayash. Little dialect variation. The Bayash are Gypsies who speak a dialect based on Banat, but influenced by Romani and Hungarian. Romanian has 77% lexical similarity with Italian, 75% with French, 74% with Sardinian, 73% with Catalan, 72% with Portuguese and Rheto-Romance, 71% with Spanish. Classification: Indo-European, Italic, Romance, Eastern.

Romanian Sign Language [rms] Classification: Deaf sign language.

Romanian, Macedo [rup] 28,000 in Romania (official). Southeastern Romania, especially Dobrudja (75%), but also in major cities such as Bucharest and Constanta, and other places. Alternate names: Aromanian. Classification: Indo-European, Italic, Romance, Eastern.

Serbian [srp] 27,001 in Romania (2002 census). Classification: Indo-European, Slavic, South, Western.

Turkish [tur] 28,714 in Romania (2002 census). Along the Danube in southeast Romania. Alternate names: Osmanli. Dialects: Danubian. Classification: Altaic, Turkic, Southern, Turkish.

:: Reference ::

Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (ed.), 2005. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Fifteenth edition. Dallas, Tex.: SIL International. Online version: http://www.ethnologue.com/