Romanian is the official language of Romania, but other languages, particularly Hungarian are also frequently spoken in Romania. Most of modern Romania speaks English, so you’re unlikely to encounter a language barrier, but older people in rural areas are much less likely to speak English in our experiences of spending a lot of time in such a community. Other European languages are also widely understood in Romania. The Roma people of Romania (and Europe) speak Romani.
Inscriptions at “The Merry Cemetery” in Transylvania, in Romanian.
Is Romanian a Romance Language?
Romanian is indeed a Romance language, descended from Latin. As such, it has much in common with Italian, French and Spanish, and all of the Romance Languages.
Something that stood out to us as we travelled around Romania was the presence of Romulus and Remus statues in many cities, showing roots.
The Romanian language also takes influences from its neighbours and their Slavic tongues. Neighbouring Bulgaria, Ukraine, Macedonia and Serbia are all Slavic-speaking countries.
Next door Hungary, speaks Hungarian, a Uralic (non-Indo-European) language influences elements of Romanian language. In parts of Romania Hungarian is still widely spoken due to border shifts throughout history.
We’ve even seen people in traditional Hungarian dress in parts of Romania.
Romania’s location on the eastern edge of southern Europe makes the country something of a gateway to the East. Romania has been a crossroads between Western Europe, the Slavic regions, non-Indo-European Hungary, and Turkey, a trans-continental country joining Europe with Asia.
Romania also has largest population in Europe of nomadic Roma people (formerly known as gypsies or gipsies) adding to the diversity and complexity of language and culture in Romania. It is thought that the Roma people originally migrated from India. Romani is an Indio-Aryan language with grammar and vocabulary related to Sanskrit. Romani has been spoken exclusively spoken in Europe since the Middle Ages.
This diversity and fascinating history within Romania are standout features of your Romania vacation and it was one of the reasons we loved our time in Romania so much.
Alyson is a British medical scientist who jumped ship to chase dreams. A former Chief Biomedical Scientist in London hospitals, she started in website creation and travel writing in 2011.
Alyson is a full-time blogger and travel writer, a published author, and owns several websites. World Travel Family is the biggest.
A lifetime of wanderlust and over 6 years of full-time travel, plus a separate 12 month gap year, has given Alyson and the family some travel expert smarts to share with you on this world travel site.
Today Alyson still travels extensively to update this site and continue her mission to visit every country, but she's often at home on her farm in Australia.
