Please use this page to request inserting the Romanian IPA pronunciation of words, people's names, place names, book titles, etc., such as those needed in the lead section of articles on Romanian topics. See for example Bucharest, Amza Pellea, Harap Alb, Bucegi Mountains, Ardei umpluţi.

I can also help with other languages (English, French, Japanese), although with somewhat less confidence than in Romanian.

I may have problems with less known names. If you think that might be the case, you could help me by describing, in whatever way you can, how that name is supposed to be pronounced, or by directing me to a source, such as an audio or video recording (much can be found on YouTube), a dictionary, a written description etc.

Request samples:

Requests edit

  • Coronini (pronounced the "Italian way") and Pescari therein. Dahn (talk) 12:01, 1 September 2009 (UTC)
    Done. — AdiJapan 10:49, 2 September 2009 (UTC)

(a couple from the past, that I just thought of:)

  • Pantazi Ghica (which I think is both "Pantázi" and "Pantazí" - the first is only natural, the latter was used in one rather known poem mocking him) Dahn (talk) 21:50, 4 September 2009 (UTC)
    Done. I chose Pantázi. — AdiJapan 10:00, 7 September 2009 (UTC)
  • Another one from the past: Victor Rebengiuc. And, incidentally, Merry Christmas! Dahn (talk) 03:00, 24 December 2009 (UTC)
    Done. Thanks and the same to you! — AdiJapan 17:58, 24 December 2009 (UTC)
  • Dinu Nicodin - I just realized the risk of it sounding like a marketed drug :). And thanks. Dahn (talk) 10:04, 3 April 2010 (UTC)
    It still does with the IPA... No problem. — AdiJapan 13:51, 3 April 2010 (UTC)
    You're right, it does! Only it's more of a Romanian medicine now. :) Dahn (talk) 11:26, 22 April 2010 (UTC)
  • Incidentally, Ion Luca Caragiale - I'm working on a piece about his son Luca, and will just paste the relevant bit once you add it there. Two in one, likesay. Dahn (talk) 11:26, 22 April 2010 (UTC)
    Shot one bird. I guess the other is offline. — AdiJapan 16:39, 22 April 2010 (UTC)
    Oh, it's coming alright. Thank you! (I wonder how I missed it for so long, especially since I remember a Greek-speaking editor telling me he had no idea how to pronounce the name.) Dahn (talk) 11:59, 23 April 2010 (UTC)
  • Here's a tough one: Alexandru Robot. I think it's "Róbot", not "Robót" (or, let's say, I at least find this option non-ridiculous). However, I have never heard anyone pronounce it. Your call after all, if you even decide you want to tackle it. Dahn (talk) 12:18, 2 May 2010 (UTC)
    Half done. You're right, it's tough. It would be helpful if we knew at least why he (or whoever) chose that name. I could have gone with your suggestion (which sounds reasonable), but I thought it was better to strictly obey the verifiability policy, so I wrote the surname without a stress marker. If there is someone out there who knows how it's supposed to be stressed then let them add it. Anyway, let me know if you find any hint. — AdiJapan 17:24, 2 May 2010 (UTC)
    That's a very sensible compromise, until we get something on this. I will keep an eye out. Dahn (talk) 17:36, 2 May 2010 (UTC)
  • D. Iacobescu (Maybe not with for the "D." version, but for the less common "Dumitru" - readers can then "subtract".) Thanks. Dahn (talk) 15:48, 5 May 2010 (UTC)
    Done. You don't need to thank me each and every time... — AdiJapan 15:56, 5 May 2010 (UTC)
  • Tricky one: Benjamin Fondane. I mean we should perhaps have keys for both "Benjamin Fondane" and "Benjamin Fundoianu", but, even if I could wrap my head around IPA, I still don't know what format to use in the article. Feel free to tweak the lead as you see fit. Dahn (talk) 22:50, 8 June 2010 (UTC)
    Done. — AdiJapan 13:31, 9 June 2010 (UTC)

Thank you in advance. Tuscumbia (talk) 17:41, 20 August 2010 (UTC)

Done, and I'm very sorry I noticed your request so late. — AdiJapan 01:29, 19 November 2010 (UTC)
  • N. D. Cocea - perhaps on the full version Nicolae Dumitru Cocea, if you agree. Dahn (talk) 08:27, 22 February 2011 (UTC)
    Done. — AdiJapan 10:29, 22 February 2011 (UTC)
  • Urmuz. Good to be back. Dahn (talk) 06:30, 27 August 2011 (UTC)
    Done. It's been a while. — AdiJapan 14:45, 27 August 2011 (UTC)
  • Marcel Janco. Could we perhaps lead with German pron. "Martsel Ianco", then French "Marsel Jancó", and then Ro for "Marcel Hermann Iancu"? I'm also thinking that we could hide the "German pron.", "French pron." etc. bits from the template, and just have IPAs with clicks to the relevant page. It would be too burdensome on the lead otherwise. Also, in Hebrew it's something like Mahrseil Iancou, but that's perhaps just an approximation. Dahn (talk) 17:59, 9 September 2011 (UTC)
    Done. I tried a compromise towards a less burdensome length, but for clarity I kept the language names, otherwise it wouldn't be apparent what languages those pronunciations correspond to (without relying on the readers clicking anywhere). You can of course rearrange the info as you see fit. I have no knowledge of the Hebrew phonology, so I couldn't help with that one, sorry. — AdiJapan 14:27, 10 September 2011 (UTC)
    It's perfectly alright, I assure you. Concerning Hebrew: maybe someone'll add it at some point, but it's not a big deal, and it's not that different from German. Dahn (talk) 14:47, 10 September 2011 (UTC)
  • Ghenadie Petrescu Dahn (talk) 14:01, 25 October 2011 (UTC)
    Done. — AdiJapan 03:59, 26 October 2011 (UTC)
    Hm. I just realized that it could be indeed ghe-NADI-e (your version), but I tend to pronounce the name as ghe-NA-die. Am I wrong to do so? Dahn (talk) 06:49, 26 October 2011 (UTC)
    Well, my version is with the stress on NA, just like yours. In IPA the little accent thingie ˈ is placed before the stressed syllable. Compare with the stress in Petrescu. Or maybe you're not talking about the stress? I'm not sure what "ghe-NADI-e" means, phonetically. Two test questions: Do we agree that Ghenadie has four syllables, like medalie? If we do, then do we also agree that Ghenadie has the stress on the second syllable, again like medalie? If your answer is yes to both, than the current IPA is right. — AdiJapan 09:10, 26 October 2011 (UTC)
    Sorry, it's just me being confused and confusing others. I took the dot after "i" to mean a break between the syllables (didn't notice that there's no dot in "peˈtresku", doh. It's all clear to me now: we pronounce it the same, and the current IPA is right. Sorry for the false lead. Dahn (talk) 09:27, 26 October 2011 (UTC)
    No problem. The dot does in fact mean a break between syllables, but we use it only when the syllable break occurs between vowels (that is, the vowels are in hiatus), and we do this because otherwise readers might inadvertently turn one of the vowels into a semivowel. In principle we could transcribe [ɡeˈnadie], or we could mark all syllable breaks as in [ɡeˈna.di.e]. The dot is optional and we use it where it helps. — AdiJapan 10:22, 26 October 2011 (UTC)
  • Nichita Smochină Dahn (talk) 16:50, 17 November 2011 (UTC)
    Done. I assumed Smochină was pronounced just like the fruit name. — AdiJapan 01:47, 18 November 2011 (UTC)
    Me too... Dahn (talk) 17:20, 19 November 2011 (UTC)
  • Ion Theodorescu-Sion (given that it's alternatively rendered as "Teodorescu", I don't suppose the "h" ever marked any sound shift) Dahn (talk) 17:20, 19 November 2011 (UTC)
    Done. Yes, the h has no phonetic value there. On the other hand I'm not sure whether Sion has the stress at the end, as I think it does, and I couldn't find any audio recording to make sure. — AdiJapan 06:27, 20 November 2011 (UTC)
    The few times I have heard it, it was exclusively like the Ro version of "Zion", so, yes, stress on "on". Dahn (talk) 08:12, 20 November 2011 (UTC)

Question about Cioran edit

Hello! I want to thank you first for all the helpful work you've done transcribing Romanian names. I have a question: you transcribed Cioran as t​͡ʃjoˈran. I've always pronounced it as t​͡ʃoˈran, and I don't think that where I'm from (Oradea) I heard anyone pronounce it differently. Perhaps it's a feature of the local subdialect, or maybe the difference was just not noticeable to me. So would you then pronounce 'cioară' as ˈt​͡ʃjo̯arə? Are there any rules that I should know of? Thanks. Waardijner (talk) 00:15, 7 May 2010 (UTC)

This concerns everyone interested in the Romanian IPA rendering, so I copied your question at Wikipedia talk:IPA for Romanian and replied there. — AdiJapan 06:03, 7 May 2010 (UTC)

Pretty straightforward edit

Why should you bother with responding to every single query when the Romanian phonology is pretty straightforward and doesn't take that much time to learn it? --195.64.148.13 (talk) 12:33, 19 September 2011 (UTC)

First off, Romanian phonology is not straightforward at all. I suppose you meant Romanian orthography. But even with rather simple spelling rules, it happens quite a lot that especially people's names are exceptions to the rules. I often have to search for video and audio recordings to find out how those people pronounce their own names, or at least how other people pronounce them. — AdiJapan 15:20, 19 September 2011 (UTC)

Request and Question edit

Hello. I want to write a number of Romanian proper nouns in the Thai alphabet (to be used in the Thai version of Wikipedia), but currently I have the problems as follows:

  • Could you add the pronunciation for Drochia and Taraclia? I'm not sure if the sequence ia in these names represents a diphthong or two vowels in hiatus.
  • Do the a and the u as in Ceaușescu really belong to different syllables? Would it sound weird to native speakers if one pronounces them (or other sequences of two vowels in hiatus) as a diphthong?
  • I've found that the phonetic realization of the Romanian vowel /o/ is the mid vowel [o̞], but the Thai alphabet has no letter to represent that sound; it has only the letters for the close-mid /o/ and the open-mid /ɔ/ (they are not precisely at the same height as the cardinal vowels though); for example, /tōː/, /tɔ̀ː/, /lók/, /lɔ́k/, /pròːt/ and /plɔ̀ːt/. So, in order to transcribe the Romanian /o/, I have to choose between the Thai letter for (close-mid) /o/ and the one for /ɔ/. Do you think which one is closer to the Romanian /o/? --Potapt (talk) 16:37, 21 October 2018 (UTC)

Tools edit