Issues Arhive - romanianlanguage.org

HUNGARIANS DO WANT TO REWRITE HISTORY

By Mihai Vinereanu| 2024-03-21T22:44:57+00:00 21 March 2024|

In the 19th century, a Hungarian baron Jόsef Kemény concocted an inscription, in a ‘Proto-Hungarian’ dialect, which was said to have been written on a statuette representing a winged sphinx, but no one saw it, because there was no such thing ever, being rendered only as a black-and-white drawing. The statuette would have been ‘discovered’ in Potaissa (present day Turda, Romania), dating from the 3rd century AD, during the last years of Roman occupation of Dacia. As early as the 19th century, a number of researchers already proved it to be a fake. However, the idea has recently been revived, so that at the end of December 2023 an article appeared in an English-language journal signed, this time, by a Hungarian professor settled in the USA. His name is Peter Z. Revesz, a professor at Nebraska University. Our professor ‘deciphers’ the inscription in question. On his part, the author of the present article gathers all the data available to him and proves that the effort of the American researcher was in vain.

ACHILLES’ ETHNIC ORIGIN

By Mihai Vinereanu| 2023-06-21T08:56:51+00:00 21 June 2023|

Most ancient Greek proper names either names of gods, humans or animals as well as toponyms and hydronyms cannot be explained by Greek language, but by other Indo-European language which is the Pelasgian language being in the same time the substrate language of Greek. Robert Beekes, the author of the most recent Greek Etymological Dictionary shows that almost half of ancient Greek words are loanwords from the substrate language, but he does not say what language was it, although is obvious that it is a centum Indo-European language, quite different form Greek. I mention that the author of these lines identified hundreds of words in Greek which have close cognates in modern Romanian which is the real descendent of Pelasgian language. Briefly, the Greek substrate language was no other than Pelasgian, an older form of Illyro-Thraco-Dacian. In this article, the author shows that the personal name Achilles along with a few other names cannot be explained form Greek perspective, but from a Pelasgian one.

Review of the Book “Cultural Hybridization in the Contemporary Novel” by Diana-Eugenia Panait-Ioncică

By Mihai Vinereanu| 2021-06-25T13:28:08+00:00 25 June 2021|

The book Cultural Hybridization in the Contemporary Novel is concerned with the issue of cultural hybridization, deemed by the author to be a key concept for defining the world in which we live. The author thinks cultural hybridization cannot be confined to the narrow approach taken by postcolonialism; she extends its significance and sees it as one of the pivotal concepts in contemporary English language literature. The idea at the core of the book is that of plural cultural identities, which combine a multitude of cultural elements. The authors analyzed in the book are Michael Ondaatje, Kazuo Ishiguro and Salman Rushdie. The identities that are shaped by the three authors’ relations to their culture of origin are hybrid identities, which cannot be termed as purely Oriental or Occidental, but are to be found between cultures and nationalities, being mixtures of the above.

Editorial

By Lucian-Mihai Marin| 2017-03-20T07:25:07+00:00 20 March 2017|

Romanians have never had to experience a void of Love. However, they ebbed and flowed through life trying to keep celebrating differences whenever circumventive reasons had them deny their own private spectrum of beneficial spirituality and emotions. Instead of sharing their true beneficial nature, they ended up being shared. Lesson learned - with a growing awareness of truly celebrating differences, they are now finally able to embrace their genetics, customize and capture their true Beauty and Uniqueness [...]

The Romanian sine ‘self’ – a linguistic perspective presented at the 20th Ecumenical Theological and Interdisciplinary Symposium Metropolitan College of New York

By Ana Radu Chelariu| 2017-03-20T07:18:34+00:00 6 October 2016|

Author: Ana R. Chelariu, MA, MLS If we take the idea expressed by G. H. Mead that language is at the heart of the constitution of the self, (1934) a short linguistic approach to the concept of self, soul, spirit may be due. In the Greek world the word Psyche as expressed in Homeric poems meant the dead or, described death, most likely associated with breath. Similar association between breath and soul is found also in the Romanian neuter noun suflet, ‘soul’, derived from the verb a sulfa, suflare ‘to breathe, breath’. Other languages associated the Soul with the Spirit, [...]

THE LANGUAGE OF THE SINAIA TABLETS’ INSCRIPTIONS (III)

By Mihai Vinereanu| 2017-03-20T07:19:31+00:00 6 October 2016|

This is the third and the last part of nn etymological dictionary of the Thraco-Dacian language. spoken in Central Europe including the Balkan region which is, in fact, the ancestor of Romanian language. This small etymological dictionary includes around 1000 words, group in about 340 semantic groups. One will find out that this language has a lot in common with Romanian language, Latin and Italic languages as well. The words analyzed here are from the Sinaia tablets discovered at Sinaia, Romania. In this part one will find the etymology of the adjectives and the closed classes parts of speech (adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions and interjections).

The Language of the Inscriptions of the Sinaia Tablets(II)

By Mihai Vinereanu| 2017-03-23T06:26:53+00:00 22 June 2016|

The following is the second part of The Language of the Inscriptions of the Sinaia Tablets (a relatively small etymological dictionary of Dacian language), namely the nouns (see Verbs in the previous issue of this Journal) identified on the Sinaia tablets discovered near the town of Sinaia, Romania. The language is closely related to Romanian, being in the same time the real mother language of Romanian. There were several attempts to decipher the texts of the tablets. I used here the one made by Eugen Nicolaescu.

CATO MAJOR/ CATO MARCIUS PORCIUS (234-149 BC) a witness of Getic writing’s ancientness

By Maria Crișan| 2017-03-20T06:58:34+00:00 22 June 2016|

Cato Maior is a prominent Roman writer and politician of the III-II centuries, BC. In his work Origines, today lost, but long quotations are preserved in De verborum significatu (On the Meaning of the Words) of Sextus Pompeius Festus and in the Medieval author Bonaventura Vulcanius De litteris et lingua Getarum sive Gothorum” (On Getic or Gothic Letters and Language) where he states that the Dacians have had a writing system before the foundation of Rome, 753 BC. The author shows also that Carolus Lundius, a Swedish writer of the 17th century mentions that the Getae (Dacians) received their alphabet from Giants, thousands of years before as is written on a huge rock found in the Archaeological Museum of Uppsala.

NOTES ON THE VALUES OF THE PREPOSITION “LA”(“AT/TO”) IN ROMANIAN

By cristina hant| 2016-04-09T20:15:03+00:00 18 December 2015|

In this study we aim at examining the behaviour of the preposition “la” (“at/to”) in the Romanian language. The starting point of our analysis is represented by the distinctions made by the modern grammar between lexical/semi-lexical/functional prepositions. “La” (“at/to”) has, in Romanian, homonym forms which illustrate all these subcategories. We will highlight the differences in grammatical functionality between the used contexts; our study is discussing the capacity of this preposition to become a group centre, the assigning of a thematic role, the grammatical restrictions imposed on the dominated term.

The Infinitive Built Prepositionally

By cristina hant| 2017-03-20T07:20:20+00:00 28 September 2015|

This paper aims at analyzing the role of the preposition when it is used together with non-finite forms of the verb. We will examine the following aspects: the mixed features of the infinitive (substantival and verbal), the types of prepositions which can be combined with the non-finite forms of the verb (lexical, semi-lexical and functional), the ability of the preposition to generate a prepositional syntactic group, the setting/non-setting of a thematic role, the syntactic positions held by the infinitive with preposition. If the rule says that the preposition has a case government, we ask ourselves what happens to it in the presence of non-finite forms of the verb. Therefore, one of the discussed topics is the obstruction of the case government/practising it under the substantival features of the non-finite forms.

My integration

By Elana Andrews| 2017-03-20T07:26:13+00:00 16 June 2015|

There seems to be a general consensus amongst the population that Romania is not good enough, that it is better to live in other places and that it will never catch up to the rest of Europe. I find it very sad to hear this view so often and it seems almost impossible to change it. I wish that the Romanian population could see in their country what I do – a stunning natural environment where, with hard work and perseverance anything is possible, just like in the rest of the world. I was born and grew up in Australia and my family are all still there, but I never felt connected to the land and its history or community. I had to travel over 15000 kilometres to find my place – Romania.

More on Cucuteni-Tripolye culture and the Indo-European homeland

By Ana Radu Chelariu| 2017-03-20T07:18:44+00:00 16 June 2015|

This paper presents Axel Kristinsson, (Reykjavik Academy, Island) new hypothesis on the Indo-European expansion from the Cucuteni Trypolie location, and its importance for the Romanian research. His background on studies of massive movement of populations from the history of Europe such as the Celtic, Germanic, Slavic, or of the Vikings migrations from the history of Europe, not to mention the populating of the Americas, may offer a better solution for solving the IE spread. Kristinsson offers two models of expansion, by colonizing, and by ‘expansion system’, models that could be applied and observed in relation to the colonization of Dacia. Even though Kristinsson considers that the comparative mythology should not be regarded as a valid source in the IE discussions, one should not ignore the few patterns that could be observed in most of the IE cultures. An interesting example is presented to sustain this argument.

Editorial

By limbaromana| 2015-06-20T18:50:13+00:00 16 June 2015|

“Question: ‘From how many parts did God made man?’ Answer: ‘From eight parts: the body from soil; bones from stones; blood from dew; eyes from sun; thoughts from clouds; breath from wind; intellect from moon; the gift of prophecy from the Holy Spirit.” From a Romanian questionnaire dating back to 1809

Editorial

By limbaromana| 2015-06-16T20:53:13+00:00 15 March 2015|

We value our lives, and the lives of others. And this is also a key element to living our lives powerfully. When we start valuing without judgment through meaning (whether ours or society's), our lives begin to morph into something completely different. When we value without agendas, we are free from the agendas of others. When we put what matters to us under the microscope of our conscious awareness, we can manifest matter (physical experience) which we choose by design, and not unconscious or programmed meaning or importance. When we move out of the programming, we can take action at a [...]

Woman as a nation’s symbol: the Romanian case

By Georgeta Fodor| 2017-03-20T07:26:06+00:00 15 March 2015|

Out of all the definitions scholars gave to the concept of a modern nation the one that best fits our approach refers to the nation as a “virtual community”. We understand “nation” as a mental construct based on a set of symbols. The present study will make reference to one of these icons, which is the female embodiment of a nation. The subject of our analysis is Romanian society during the XIXth Century. There are two objectives to be pursued: the first is to reveal the historical context in which Romanian artists felt the need to represent the nation in a woman’s body and, secondly, to see if this new national perspective in regard to women was a consequence of the changes registered in the general perception of women’s place and role in Romanian society.

The Most Prevalent Feminine Mythical Characters in Romanian Folklore

By Ana Radu Chelariu| 2017-03-20T07:26:09+00:00 15 March 2015|

The powerful mythical figure of Neolithic, the Great Goddess, survived in the Indo-European pantheon, with characteristics surfacing in almost all the feminine divinities of the classical mythologies. In the Romanian folklore one can recognize this pre-historic goddess in the character of Ileana Simziana, the most adorned fairy of the land. She is the heroine of numerous songs, carols, and fairy tales; the most beautiful of all fairies, their queen, so beautiful that ‘one could look at the sun but not at her’. Other feminine characters in Romanian folklore are the fairies, zâne, beautiful and kind, helping people. They are opposed by Iele (3rd plural personal pronoun iele) ‘they’, fairies that could turn very aggressive towards mankind; perhaps some of the demonic and chimerical depictions of the Neolithic Goddess, her relationship with death and destruction, have transpired into the characteristics of this group of fairies with negative powers.

Bucovina: Onomastics and History (II)

By Gheorghe Moldoveanu| 2017-03-20T07:17:24+00:00 15 March 2015|

The conference was delivered in the Council Hall of the Romanian Academy on May 24th 2001
The author of the present paper describes the evolution of Bucovina from the inclusion into the Habsburg Empire of this territory - once part of Moldavia - to the day. After some hesitations, this land annexed to Austria-Hungary, which had not previously had a name of its own, received a Slavic name eventually. This name had been used by the Moldavian Chancellery only in the documents written in the Slavic language, since proving that it was not a Romanian territory was a necessity back then. The same criterion was used when choosing Cernăuți as the capital of Bucovina; it is worth noting, however, that this is a Romanian name, since the Ukrainian one is Cernivtsi. The author also analyses the dramatic changes in the toponymy and anthroponymy of Bucovina, both during the Austrian-Hungarian occupation and especially after the northern part of this territory, included in the Cernăuți/Chernivtsi region and currently part of the Ukrainian Republic, became part of the Soviet Union.

Father Christmas – Romanian Moş Crăciun and his roots in the Indo-European mythology

By Ana Radu Chelariu| 2015-03-16T09:04:41+00:00 23 December 2014|

This paper discusses a few aspects of the Romanian Father Christmas – Moș Crăciun character in relation to the Indo-European pantheon, and proposes a different etymology of his name. A general custom in many European households was to bring inside the house on Christmas Eve an oak log known in English as the Yule log, in Romanian “butucul crăciunului”. This sacred log which was burning till spring, may have its roots in a solar cult of the most important god of the Indo-European mythology, the god of sun and fire, of thunder and lightning, be that Zeus, Jupiter, Diuspater, Wodan, Indra, Perkunas, more so Mithra, the powerful Sun god celebrating his birthday on December 25th whose cult was spread in Eastern Europe by soldiers from the Roman legions.

Editorial

By Lucian-Mihai Marin| 2015-03-16T09:04:49+00:00 23 December 2014|

Romanians have never had to experience a void of Love. However, they ebbed and flowed through life trying to keep celebrating differences whenever circumventive reasons had them deny their own private spectrum of beneficial spirituality and emotions. Instead of sharing their true beneficial nature, they ended up being shared. Lesson learned - with a growing awareness of truly celebrating differences, they are now finally able to embrace their genetics, customize and capture their true Beauty and Uniqueness. We are merely trying to spread the joy ! Lucian Mihai Marin - Founding Director

Bucovina: Onomastics and History(I)

By Gheorghe Moldoveanu| 2017-03-20T07:17:17+00:00 23 December 2014|

The conference was delivered in the Council Hall of the Romanian Academy on May 24th 2001
The author of the present paper describes the evolution of Bucovina from the inclusion into the Habsburg Empire of this territory - once part of Moldavia - to the day. After some hesitations, this land annexed to Austria-Hungary, which had not previously had a name of its own, received a Slavic name eventually. This name had been used by the Moldavian Chancellery only in the documents written in the Slavic language, since proving that it was not a Romanian territory was a necessity back then. The same criterion was used when choosing Cernăuți as the capital of Bucovina; it is worth noting, however, that this is a Romanian name, since the Ukrainian one is Cernivtsi. The author also analyses the dramatic changes in the toponymy and anthroponymy of Bucovina, both during the Austrian-Hungarian occupation and especially after the northern part of this territory, included in the Cernăuți/Chernivtsi region and currently part of the Ukrainian Republic, became part of the Soviet Union.

Words Defining the Notion of ‘WATER’ in Various Language Families of the World

By Emanoil Florin Ganciu| 2017-03-20T07:18:22+00:00 23 December 2014|

From the information shown bellow, one may conclude that a large number of the world languages share at least 8 (eight) different terms defining the notion of ‘water’ or from the same semantic field. There are, in general, at least several hundred words common to various world languages, besides those discussed in this article. I should stress that of them are found in Romanian as well. This mean that Romanian language seems to be a very old Indo-European language, not just another Romance language. The myth of Tower of Babel is wide spread in many cultures all around the world. I would like to mention here only the one of the Kaska Indians of North America: “before the Flood, there was a single center. All people lived in one country and spoke only one language”. Therefore, the myth of the Flood, as well as the one of the Tower of Babel, refer back to some real events which took place many thousands years ago and some peoples remember them even today.

The Etymology of the words țigan (gypsy) and (r)rom (romany)

By Lucian Cherata| 2017-03-20T07:16:43+00:00 23 December 2014|

The present paper analyses the etymology of the words țigan ‘Gypsy’ and (r)rom ‘Romany’. Previous approaches trace back the term țigan to the Greek word athingánōs, meaning ‘untouchable, pagan, impure,’ and (r)rom to the homonymous Persian term with the sense ‘man, husband, master of the house.’ I argue that, despite their long-established influence, these etymologies are misleading and partially inconsistent. I postulate instead that the two words are of Sanskrit origin. On this view, țigan goes back to the term at(i)-ingā-nin (‘a person who is on the move, a traveller, a nomad’). In Indian culture, nomadism and lack of purity were understood as two complementary dimensions of intangibility, a characteristic attributed to the so-called pariahs and the lower caste sudra. Due to close commercial and cultural relations between India and Byzantine Greece under the Seleucid dynasty, at(i)-ingā-nin may have entered the Greek language under the form athinganoi, with its original negative connotations enhanced by the local Christian context. As far as the word (r)rom and its variants dom and lom are concerned, a number of phonetically similar Sanskrit terms can be identified, all of which converge towards the meaning ‘lord, master of the house, husband.’ If we also take into account historical information related to the migration of the gypsy population from India, it is plausible to ascribe the term (r)rom a Sanskrit instead of a Persian origin.

The Theory of Statement in Romanian Language

By Cipriana–Elena Peica| 2015-03-16T09:05:23+00:00 23 December 2014|

This paper is intended as an overview of the Theory of Statement in a Romance language: Romanian. In this paper we will refer to the evolution of the Theory of Statement. In this respect, we will present the views of renowned authors and analyse the defining features of statement in the Romanian language, in order to shape an overall picture of the topic approached herein. We consider it important that, in the current linguistics, the basic unit subject to analysis is the statement, because this is an illustration of how modernisation of traditional grammar is achieved by borrowing technical terms that are designed to complement the shortcomings of previous terminology. Statement will be analysed both as a communicative unit and as a syntactic unit, concluding that statement may be accepted as syntactic unit in the communicative plane, although, since it is neither defined nor delimited in the relational plane, it cannot be considered a relational unit. As a syntactic unit, statement implies division, it has the status of an analysable whole, and we can talk about the internal organisation of a statement if it is created by articulating at least two components.

Introduction to The Etymological Dictionary of The Romanian Language

By Mihai Vinereanu| 2014-12-23T19:15:58+00:00 27 August 2014|

The Introduction investigates the origin of Romanian language from a new perspective. Due to the fact that most (86%) of the Romanian lexicon cannot be explained through Latin and it has no cognates in other Romance language, a new method of investigation was developed. From the other 14%, 2/3 belong to a common Indo-European heritage. Thus the Introduction (and the dictionary) shows that most of the Romanian lexicon originates from Thraco-Dacian, a language widely spoken in Balkan region and central and eastern Europe in ancient times. It compares the Romanian lexicon with other Indo-European languages and presents into details the phonological evolution of sounds from Proto-Indo-European to Romanian. The method works very well and solves the etymology of thousands of Romanian words left with unknown, uncertain or wrongly attributed etymology as discussed in the new Etymological Dictionary of Romanian. As a result one may say that Romanian is not a real Romance language as it was believed, but the daughter language of Thraco-Dacian with some Latin, Slavic or other lexical borrowings. The paper also reveals that Thraco-Dacian (and Illyrian) were closely related to Celtic and Italic languages and by analyzing the Romanian lexicon of Thraco-Dacian origin, it shows also that this language was a centum language, contrary to the general belief that it was a satem lanaguage. A beginnig of Romanization may have taken place, but not a Romanization proper. This hypothesis is supported by both linguistic and historical facts investigated in this paper.

Landmarks of the Style in the Romanian Psaltic Music in the XIXth Century. A Case Study

By Constanța Cristescu| 2017-03-20T07:26:20+00:00 26 August 2014|

The musicological byzantine literature of the nineteenth century is full of creative personalities who, revaluating the structures canonically established through the Chrisantic reform, became visible in the world of Psalter through the creative refinement and the special capacity of infinite variation of the rhetorical models adopted by the Orthodox Church.

Clay Toys

By Corina Firuță| 2017-03-20T07:26:24+00:00 26 August 2014|

The study of children’s games and toys by the Romanian researchers gained momentum in the second half of the 19th century with the studies of Petre Ispirescu and Alexandru Lambrior, followed by George Ion Pitio, Ion Muolea, Ovidiu Bârlea and Narcisa atiucã. They pleaded with convincing arguments for the idea that the game and toys are a materialization of the surrounding reality. In their games, children draw on everything that surrounds them; they copy their parents’ life and build “a miniature universe” of their own after the model of the adults’ world.

Some Etymological Considerations on the Romanian mântui to redeem.

By Ana Radu Chelariu| 2014-12-23T19:16:10+00:00 26 August 2014|

This paper discusses the etymology of the Romanian concept mântui ‘redeem’ considered a Hungarian loan. By comparing the explanation from Hungarian etymological dictionary and Hungarian religious documents employing the concept of Mântuitor the Redeemer, new options are observed particularly in the light of the more recent Indo-European language studies, giving leeway to other possible etymological solutions.

The Turkish Influence on the Romanian Language

By Emil Suciu| 2017-03-20T07:20:29+00:00 26 August 2014|

The Turkish language (called also Ottoman or Osmanli) has had, during almost five centuries, a considerable influence on Romanian, from the end of the 14th to the middle of the 19th century, and having some local, dialectal extensions in Dobrudja until nowadays. The Turkish linguistic influence on Romanian was the result of a historical context in which the Ottoman Empire extended its domination and suzerainty on the Romanian Principalities, and exercised a longstanding influence on their social, administrative and economic life until the second half of the 19th century. The Turkish linguistic influence on Romanian was the result of a historical context in which the Ottoman Empire extended its domination and suzerainty on the Romanian Principalities, and exercised a longstanding influence on their social, administrative and economic life until the second half of the 19th century.

Editorial

By Mihai Vinereanu| 2016-03-21T10:29:52+00:00 24 August 2014|

The goal of this journal is to address a number of little known aspects regarding the Romanian spirituality, language and culture. The linguistics articles will be presented from a new perspective, since the author along these lines proved that Romanian is not a real Romance language. Also archaeology, genetics and cultural anthropology will play a major role. The journal was created to inform the Romanians, as well as the foreign researchers (linguists, archaeologists and anthropologists) interested to learn more about Romanian language and culture. The journal is bi-lingual with articles in Romanian and English. The articles in English are mostly [...]