The Romanian Alphabet and Pronunciation

1. The Romanian Alphabet

The Romanian alphabet is based on the Latin alphabet, with a few special letters. It contains 31 letters in total:

• A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, Ș, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z
• Special Letters: Ă, Â, Î, Ș, and Ț.

These special characters are essential in Romanian, and each one has a unique sound.

2. The Pronunciation of Each Letter

• A – Pronounced like the “a” in “father.”
• B – Similar to the “b” in “boy.”
• C – Before “e” or “i,” it is pronounced like “ch” in “church” (e.g., cer = “chair”). Otherwise, it sounds like “k” (e.g., casa = “house”).
• D – Similar to the “d” in “dog.”
• E – Pronounced like the “e” in “bed.”
• F – Similar to the “f” in “fun.”
• G – Before “e” or “i,” it is pronounced like “j” in “jam” (e.g., gen = “gene”). Otherwise, it sounds like “g” in “go” (e.g., găsit = “found”).
• H – Pronounced like the “h” in “hat.”
• I – Pronounced like the “ee” in “see.”
• J – Pronounced like the “s” in “measure” (e.g., jurnal = “journal”).
• K – Only used in foreign words, pronounced like the “k” in “kite.”
• L – Similar to the “l” in “love.”
• M – Like the “m” in “mother.”
• N – Like the “n” in “nice.”
• O – Similar to the “o” in “pot.”
• P – Like the “p” in “pen.”
• Q – Rare in Romanian, used in borrowed words, pronounced like the “k” in “queen.”
• R – A rolled or trilled “r” (similar to the Spanish “r”).
• S – Like the “s” in “see.”
• Ș – Pronounced like the “sh” in “shoe.”
• T – Like the “t” in “table.”
• Ț – Pronounced like the “ts” in “cats.”
• U – Pronounced like the “oo” in “moon.”
• V – Like the “v” in “van.”
• W – Rare in Romanian, used in borrowed words, pronounced like the “w” in “water.”
• X – Rare, used in borrowed words, pronounced like the “ks” in “box.”
• Y – Similar to the “i” in “machine,” used in foreign words.
• Z – Like the “z” in “zebra.”
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3. Unique Sounds in Romanian

• • Ă – This is a neutral, unstressed vowel sound, similar to the “a” in “sofa.”
  • Â / Î – Both these letters represent the same sound, which is unique to Romanian. It is a close, back, unrounded vowel, similar to the “i” in “bird” (but with the tongue positioned further back in the mouth).
  • Ș – Represents the “sh” sound as in the English word “shoe.”
  • Ț – Represents the “ts” sound as in “cats.”