One of the interesting things about studying the Romanian language is the number of lexical doublets, meaning that quite often two similar words are used, one from a Latin root and one from a non-Latin (usually Slavic) root. English has many of these, including lord and master, venison and deer, fire and flame or sheep and ewe. If you are familiar with other Romance languages … Continue reading Lexical Doublets
I’m sure many of you have been following along with the events unfolding in Egypt, incredibly reminiscent of Romania’s own 1989 revolution. My hat is definitely off to Al-Jazeera‘s live coverage (in English) as it has been phenomenal. The center of Egypt’s protests is in “Tahrir Square”, also known as “Midan” (sometimes Maidan) Tahrir, which translates to Liberation (Tahrir) Square (Maidan). I recognized this word … Continue reading Word of the Day: Maidanez
Whew folks, I am insanely busy this week with lots of “behind the scenes” stuff, including adding the finishing touches to the new book. I’ll definitely be writing a full post when everything is set and ready to go. As you can see from the photo, last night I participated in another edition of the Scena Deschisa, reciting a few “poems” I wrote in Romanian … Continue reading A Sense of Humor
The other day I heard a friend of mine use this word and I had to smile. Clearly this word looks like the American vulgar term for a coward and it is almost pronounced the same – but not quite. In fact, you’re not really bilingual in Romanian and English until you can say these two words correctly. Sometimes spelled pusi, in Romanian it is … Continue reading Word of the Day: Pusy
The other day I was talking to my mother and a phrase rose unbidden in my mind – “spor la treaba“. I didn’t actually say it though because while I know what it means I didn’t have a way to translate it. Spor la treaba (sometimes spor la lucru) is just a generic phrase Romanians say to one another when beginning to work. I think … Continue reading Word of the Day: Spor
All Things Romania 