| Population |
20,520,000 in Romania, 90% of the population (1986). Population total all countries 26,000,000 (1999 WA). |
| Region |
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), Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, USA, Uzbekistan, Yugoslavia. |
| Alternate names |
RUMANIAN, MOLDAVIAN, DACO-RUMANIAN |
| Dialects |
MOLDAVIAN, MUNTENIAN (WALACHIAN), TRANSYLVANIAN, BANAT, BAYASH. |
| Classification |
Indo-European, Italic, Romance, Eastern. |
| Comments |
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. The Bayash are Gypsies who have lost their language and now speak Romanian based on the Banat dialect with Romani and Hungarian influences. National language. Grammar. SVO. Deciduous forest. Mountain slope. Peasant agriculturalists, other. Christian. Bible 1688-1989. |
| Hungary |
| Language name |
ROMANIAN |
| Population |
100,000 in Hungary (1995 Iosif Bena). |
| Alternate names |
RUMANIAN, DACO-ROMANIAN, MOLDAVIAN |
| Dialects |
BAYASH ROMANIAN. |
| Comments |
The Bayash are ex-slave Roma who worked in houses, and were forbidden to speak Romani. The Bayash speak a very distinctive kind of Romanian. Substantial literature in Bayash. Radio programs. Bible 1688-1989. See main entry under Romania. |
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| Israel |
| Language name |
ROMANIAN |
| Population |
250,000 in Israel (1993 Statistical Abstract of Israel). |
| Comments |
Bilingualism in Hebrew. Elderly speakers use Hebrew as second language but prefer Romanian. Radio programs. Jewish. Bible 1688-1989. See main entry under Romania. |
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| Moldova |
| Language name |
ROMANIAN |
| Population |
2,664,000 in Moldova (1979 census). |
| Alternate names |
MOLDAVAN, ROUMANIAN, RUMANIAN |
| Dialects |
MOLDAVAN (MOLDOVIAN, MOLDOVEAN), MUNTENIAN (WALACHIAN, MUNTEAN), BANAT, BAYASH, CHRISHANA, MARAMURESH, OLTENIA-LESSER WALLACHIA (OLTEAN). |
| Comments |
Little dialect variation. The Bayash are Gypsies who speak a dialect based on Banat, but influenced by Romani and Hungarian. Many Gypsies in Moldova and southern Ukraine speak Moldavan as mother tongue. Called 'Moldavan' in Moldova. National language. Cyrillic script was replaced by Roman script in 1989. Christian. Bible 1688-1984. See main entry under Romania. |
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| Ukraine |
| Language name |
ROMANIAN |
| Population |
250,000 or fewer in Ukraine (1999). |
| Alternate names |
RUMANIAN, MOLDAVIAN, DACO-ROMANIAN |
| Comments |
Mountain slope. Bible 1688-1989. See main entry under Romania. |
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| Yugoslavia |
| Language name |
ROMANIAN |
| Population |
200,000 to 300,000 in Yugoslavia (1995 Iosif Bena). |
| Alternate names |
RUMANIAN, MOLDAVIAN, DACO-RUMANIAN |
| Comments |
Radio programs, TV. Bible 1688-1989. See main entry under Romania. |
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