Rumanian
Language Information
Rumanian, more correctly spelled Romanian, is, as its name suggests, one of the Romance languages. It is the only such language spoken in Eastern Europe, having descended from the Latin introduced by the Roman Emperor Trajan when he conquered the region in the 2nd century A.D. Rumanian is more archaic than the other Romance languages and has been influenced by the non-Romance languages spoken in nearby countries, especially Hungarian, Albanian, and the various Slavic languages. A variety of Rumanian is spoken in the Moldavian S.S.R of the Soviet Union, where it is known as Moldavian, but there it is written in the Cyrillic alphabet. Rumanian proper is spoken by about 20 million out of the 22 million inhabitants of Rumania.
- Language Family
- Indo-European
- Subgroup
- Romance
Rumanian Language Sample
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 1
Romanian (1993)
Toate ființele umane se nasc libere și egale în demnitate și în drepturi. Ele sunt înzestrate cu rațiune și conștiință și trebuie să se comporte unele față de altele în spiritul fraternității.English translation
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
Source: OHCHR translations of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights