P1.4 How to pronounce two Romanian vowels together - part 2
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This is the second part of the Romanian vowels combined pronunciation lesson. We assume that you have already studied the part 1.
In this lesson you will learn how to pronounce:
- vowels: "i+a"
- vowels: "i+e"
- vowels: "i+i"
- vowels: "i+o"
- vowels: "i+u" with the stress on "i"
- vowels: "i+u" with the stress on "u"
How to say the vowels "i" and "a" together
| English | Romanian translation |
Audio | Phonetic Transcription |
|---|---|---|---|
grass | iarbă | | |
stone | piatră | | |
clearing (area without trees) | poiană | |
How do you pronounce "ie" vowels together in Romanian in the same syllable?
| English | Romanian translation |
Audio | Phonetic Transcription |
|---|---|---|---|
Rabbit | Iepure | | |
Nails (a spike-shaped metal fastener) | Cuie | | |
Honey | Miere | | |
Lost | Pierdut | | |
Brain | Creier | | |
Coat rack | Cuier | | |
Yesterday | Ieri | |
How do you pronounce the occurrence of the vowel "i" twice in a Romanian word?
| English | Romanian translation |
Audio | Phonetic Transcription |
|---|---|---|---|
Thousands | Mii | | |
Sons | Fii | | |
The firemen | Pompierii | |
How to pronounce the vowels "i" and "o" together in Romanian
| English | Romanian translation |
Audio | Phonetic Transcription |
|---|---|---|---|
Ionuț (a Romanian first name) | Ionuț | | |
to whine to whimper to mew | miorlăi | | |
jonathan (an apple type) | ionatan | |
The "io" combination pronounced in the same syllable with the stress on the "o" is quite rare in Romanian. Based on our research this type of pronunciation of "io" can only occur at the beginning of a word.Besides the examples above, there are only a handful of other words that are pronounced like this.
It is important to understand that there are many other words in Romanian where the vowels "i" and "o" are one after the other, however they are pronounced separately (hiatus) e.g. :Ion (another Romanian first name), violet, marionetă,vioară etc.
Combined pronunciation of "iu" where the stress falls on the "i"
| English | Romanian translation |
Audio | Phonetic Transcription |
|---|---|---|---|
Son | Fiu | | |
[I] know | Știu | | |
glazier | geamgiu | | |
Ashy | Cenușiu | | |
Brownish | Maroniu | |
There are two ways of pronouncing "iu" in Romanian: in some words "iu" the stress is on "i" while on others "iu" the stress is on "u". There is no rule around when one stress occurs over the other. You will just have to learn the words by heart with their pronunciation.
Combined pronunciation of "iu" where the stress falls on the "u"
| English | Romanian translation |
Audio | Phonetic Transcription |
|---|---|---|---|
I love you | Te iubesc | | |
June | Iunie | | |
July | Iulie | |
2 comments
<ii> within the word
Hello. Thanks for this useful website! Would you explain me if there is any difference in pronunciation of <ii> inside the word, like in Viişoara or Viile? Thanks!
How to pronounce double i in Romanian in the middle of an word
It's a very good question of Romanian pronunciation.
The double i is called a Hiatus.
The Romanian pronunciation of a double i in the middle of an Romanian word, indeed it is different than the pronunciation of the double i at the end of the word.
Both i letters are well heard, there is no glide or semivowel meaning that both i sounds are clearly pronounced. (unlike the ii at the end of an Romanian word)
Viile is pronounced Vee - ee -le /vi'i.le/ (a name of a Roamnian village)
Ființă /fiˈin.ʦə/ (being)
Copiilor /koˈpi.i.lor/ (to the children, or of the children)
For the double i at the end of an word I guess you have checked the dedicated lesson on the pronunciation of letter i in Romanian (https://www.learnro.com/pronunciation-i-romanian)
I hope this helps.
I'll try to add some videos and audios including exercises, as I find it interesting to add this kind of completion to the above Romanian lesson.
I just need to finalise a fe other lessons that I've started, I'm working now on the lesson linked with Mi-e https://www.learnro.com/mi-e-noun-romanian-guide which is taking me longer than I initially thought, since I need to do a lot of research. I'm happy to do it, it is just that it's taking me quite some time, as this kind of info is in no Romanian grammar or language learning book, on when and how to use Mi-e as an expression. I enjoy the challenge though :)
Happy to help and great question!
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