http://www.seelrc.org:8080/grammar/pdf/compgrammar_romanian.pdf
It's written for English speakers.
There are grammar files more languages in the directory: http://www.seelrc.org:8080/grammar/pdf/
In year 106, Dacia was finally conquered by the Roman legion from Campania, Italy. However, unlike the Spaniards, Gaols, etc., who relatively kept their culture under Roman rule, the Dacians were unable, and were heavily romanised. Maybe, most of the Dacian males died in the war. Maybe, they were demoralised and accepted their fate. In any case, after the Romans have left, we've lost our culture. There is little known about the culture of Dacia. Unlike other parts of Europe, we didn't just become citizens of Rome, we became Romans. That's why an inhabitant of România is a Român and speaks Limba Română. Probably, 99% of us are white, with dark hair and brown eyes since the Roman legion was from southern Italy. In Romanian, the difference between Roman and Romanian is half a syllable.
We speak a romance language. Many sources, including the linked document, claim that Romanian is the closest language to Latin. Grammatically, it’s virtually identical (there are a few exceptions). The reason for that is that it was not influenced by the Germanic tribes, and the region has been geographically isolated. It's also very conservative.
There are those who believe that Romanian was a Romance language from the start. At the same time, there are those who believe that it is a "made up" language because in the 19th century, Slavonic influences were removed.
Both camps are right. I agree that once we spoke Latin. Eventually, the Latin spoken has disintegrated into what we have today. I disagree that the language is "made up". That term is severely exaggerated. I prefer the term "artificially adjusted." The Russians and the Magyars have always wanted to colonise Romania. The best example is what happened in Moldova. Since it fell under the USSR, they tried to brainwash the inhabitants of Moldova to think that they were not Latin, not Romanian. They changed written Romanian from the Latin alphabet to the Cyrillic alphabet. Today, they speak Romanian with a Russian accent. It sounds Slavonic. Romanian on TV sounds like Italian.
In the 19th century, the authors of that time felt that we were losing our identity for the second time. So, they incorporated a lot of Italian and French words into the language. Today, 75%-85% of Romanian words come from Latin. The Slavonic words are not used anymore. They are archaic, kept in the dictionary for backwards compatibility reasons. When a child the childhood stories of Ion Creangă, he can look up Slavonic words in the dictionary. Granted, peasants in the middle of the Carpathian Mountains or in the border regions may still speak with Slavonic words. It’s very hard for urban people to understand them. The reason for that is that they have no education or very limited education: 4 grades. Even Slavonic words are badly pronounced.
I've read the Neacşu letter from 1521 (it's the oldest record of written Romanian). It is very easy to read. It is not Shakespearean. Whatever artificial changes it had in the 19th century, they weren’t that severe.
However, Romanian is artificially conservative. The Romanian Academy, a government mandated agency has despotic control over the language. When they publish a new dictionary, as they did this year, the very next day, TV stations, newspapers, government orders are written with the new spelling and grammar rules. School manuals change after one year. I disagree with that. I do not believe that 4-5 people in charge of the dictionary should have control over a language spoken by millions. As far as I know, they are not elected, at least not directly by the people.
I believe that in the near future, Romanian will be even closer to Italian. The Romanians are the largest legal and illegal minority in Italy. They go there because Italian and Romanian are mutually indelible. They are very close. I’ve been hearing “amor” (Latin) more than I’ve been hearing “iubesc” (Slavic) lately. However, I doubt that the Italians will accept our insanely complicated Classic Latin grammar rules. They were able to get rid of them and simplify the Italian language.
PS: I’m not a linguist. I found this forum via Google while I was searching about Romanian. I’ve spent more time outside of Romania. I don’t speak it correctly. I have limited grammar knowledge. But, Romanians are language Nazis. One receives remarks such as, “Where have you learnt 5th grade grammar, with the toilet cleaning lady?” Gladly, I was able to find that document. According to different articles, for an English speaker, it takes about 2.5-3 years to learn Romanian. Probably, because of that we don’t have a lot of immigrants. Being so close to Latin is not always a good thing. You’ll be able to have small talk after that time, not write a research paper. It takes about a year to learn Italian or French.
It's written for English speakers.
There are grammar files more languages in the directory: http://www.seelrc.org:8080/grammar/pdf/
In year 106, Dacia was finally conquered by the Roman legion from Campania, Italy. However, unlike the Spaniards, Gaols, etc., who relatively kept their culture under Roman rule, the Dacians were unable, and were heavily romanised. Maybe, most of the Dacian males died in the war. Maybe, they were demoralised and accepted their fate. In any case, after the Romans have left, we've lost our culture. There is little known about the culture of Dacia. Unlike other parts of Europe, we didn't just become citizens of Rome, we became Romans. That's why an inhabitant of România is a Român and speaks Limba Română. Probably, 99% of us are white, with dark hair and brown eyes since the Roman legion was from southern Italy. In Romanian, the difference between Roman and Romanian is half a syllable.
We speak a romance language. Many sources, including the linked document, claim that Romanian is the closest language to Latin. Grammatically, it’s virtually identical (there are a few exceptions). The reason for that is that it was not influenced by the Germanic tribes, and the region has been geographically isolated. It's also very conservative.
There are those who believe that Romanian was a Romance language from the start. At the same time, there are those who believe that it is a "made up" language because in the 19th century, Slavonic influences were removed.
Both camps are right. I agree that once we spoke Latin. Eventually, the Latin spoken has disintegrated into what we have today. I disagree that the language is "made up". That term is severely exaggerated. I prefer the term "artificially adjusted." The Russians and the Magyars have always wanted to colonise Romania. The best example is what happened in Moldova. Since it fell under the USSR, they tried to brainwash the inhabitants of Moldova to think that they were not Latin, not Romanian. They changed written Romanian from the Latin alphabet to the Cyrillic alphabet. Today, they speak Romanian with a Russian accent. It sounds Slavonic. Romanian on TV sounds like Italian.
In the 19th century, the authors of that time felt that we were losing our identity for the second time. So, they incorporated a lot of Italian and French words into the language. Today, 75%-85% of Romanian words come from Latin. The Slavonic words are not used anymore. They are archaic, kept in the dictionary for backwards compatibility reasons. When a child the childhood stories of Ion Creangă, he can look up Slavonic words in the dictionary. Granted, peasants in the middle of the Carpathian Mountains or in the border regions may still speak with Slavonic words. It’s very hard for urban people to understand them. The reason for that is that they have no education or very limited education: 4 grades. Even Slavonic words are badly pronounced.
I've read the Neacşu letter from 1521 (it's the oldest record of written Romanian). It is very easy to read. It is not Shakespearean. Whatever artificial changes it had in the 19th century, they weren’t that severe.
However, Romanian is artificially conservative. The Romanian Academy, a government mandated agency has despotic control over the language. When they publish a new dictionary, as they did this year, the very next day, TV stations, newspapers, government orders are written with the new spelling and grammar rules. School manuals change after one year. I disagree with that. I do not believe that 4-5 people in charge of the dictionary should have control over a language spoken by millions. As far as I know, they are not elected, at least not directly by the people.
I believe that in the near future, Romanian will be even closer to Italian. The Romanians are the largest legal and illegal minority in Italy. They go there because Italian and Romanian are mutually indelible. They are very close. I’ve been hearing “amor” (Latin) more than I’ve been hearing “iubesc” (Slavic) lately. However, I doubt that the Italians will accept our insanely complicated Classic Latin grammar rules. They were able to get rid of them and simplify the Italian language.
PS: I’m not a linguist. I found this forum via Google while I was searching about Romanian. I’ve spent more time outside of Romania. I don’t speak it correctly. I have limited grammar knowledge. But, Romanians are language Nazis. One receives remarks such as, “Where have you learnt 5th grade grammar, with the toilet cleaning lady?” Gladly, I was able to find that document. According to different articles, for an English speaker, it takes about 2.5-3 years to learn Romanian. Probably, because of that we don’t have a lot of immigrants. Being so close to Latin is not always a good thing. You’ll be able to have small talk after that time, not write a research paper. It takes about a year to learn Italian or French.