The Birth of Romanian Language: Slavic Shadows and Latin Roots

Romanian is the only Romance language spoken east of the Adriatic, surrounded by a sea of Slavic tongues. How did a Latin-based language survive centuries of migration, invasion, and political upheaval? In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the linguistic journey of Romanian, from the Roman conquest of Dacia through the Slavic migrations and the medieval period. They discuss the substratum of Dacian words, the superstratum of Slavic influence, and the fascinating process by which Romanian retained its Latin core while absorbing thousands of Slavic loanwords. Along the way, they touch on the first written evidence of Romanian, the role of the Church in preserving Latin script, and the 19th-century debate over orthography that shaped modern Romanian. Discover why the Carpathians acted as a linguistic refuge, and how a handful of words—like 'moș' (old man) and 'brad' (fir tree)—connect modern Romania to its ancient Dacian past.

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