The Aromanian Alphabet - Vowels, Consonants, Accented Letters & Numerals

Q: How many letters are in the Aromanian alphabet?

The Aromanian alphabet has 25 letters from the Latin script [1] . This includes 5 vowels (a, e, i, o, u) and 20 consonants, with the distinctive letter ç (c with cedilla).

Q: What makes the Aromanian alphabet unique?

The Aromanian alphabet has several distinctive features : • Uses ç (c with cedilla) to represent the "ch" sound • Employs grave accents (à, è, ì, ò, ù) to mark stress and pronunciation • The letter j is pronounced like "y" in English • Has a trilled "r" sound like other Romance languages

Q: Where is Aromanian spoken?

Aromanian is primarily spoken across the Balkans : • Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Greece, North Macedonia, Romania, and Serbia all report Aromanian-speaking communities [2] • Each region preserves local pronunciations and digraphs such as lj, nj, sh, tz, and zh • UNESCO tracks these communities in its Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger [3]

Q: Is Aromanian similar to Italian?

While both are Romance languages, Aromanian belongs to the Eastern/Balkan Romance branch and not to the Italo-Romance group. [2] It keeps its own vowel nasalization, grave-accented vowels, and digraphs, so the alphabet here reflects sounds that differ from Italian spelling.

Q: How do you pronounce Aromanian accented vowels?

Aromanian uses grave accents to indicate stress and open vowel sounds: • à - open "a" sound, stressed • è - open "e" sound (like "bet"), stressed • ì - stressed "i" sound (like "see") • ò - open "o" sound, stressed • ù - stressed "u" sound (like "food") These accents help distinguish word meanings and proper pronunciation !

Q: What is the cultural significance of Aromanian?

Aromanian has deep cultural importance : • Oral traditions and ballads rely on accented vowels and digraphs captured in this alphabet • Listed by UNESCO's Atlas as a language that needs safeguarding, encouraging documentation and teaching projects [3] • Maintains a strong Balkan Romance identity across dispersed communities [2]

Aromanian Alphabet at a Glance

Latin-script alphabet with 25 core letters plus accented vowels and digraphs ^[1]
Eastern Romance (Balkan Romance) language attested across Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Greece, North Macedonia, Romania, and Serbia ^[2]
Listed by Glottolog as a "shifting" language, reflecting reduced intergenerational transmission ^[2]
Also known natively as armãneashti / armãneascã ^[2]
Uses grave-accented vowels (à, è, ì, ò, ù) to mark stress and pronunciation
Monitored by UNESCO's Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger ^[3]

Aromanian Vowels (Uppercase)

[AH]

[AH-NASAL]

[UH]

[EH]

[EE]

[UH]

[OH]

[OO]

[AH]

Uppercase A - pronounced like "a" in "father".

[AH-NASAL]

Uppercase Ã - nasalized schwa sound.

[UH]

Uppercase Ă - schwa sound like "a" in "about".

[UH]

Uppercase - central vowel /ɨ/ sound.

[EH]

Uppercase E - pronounced like "e" in "let".

[EE]

Uppercase I - pronounced like "ee" in "see".

[UH]

Uppercase Î - central vowel /ɨ/ sound.

[OH]

Uppercase O - pronounced like "o" in "go".

[OO]

Uppercase U - pronounced like "oo" in "boot".

Aromanian Vowels (Lowercase)

[ah]

[ah-nasal]

[uh]

[eh]

[ee]

[uh]

[oh]

[oo]

[ah]

Lowercase a - pronounced like "a" in "father".

[ah-nasal]

Lowercase ã - nasalized schwa sound.

[uh]

Lowercase ă - schwa sound like "a" in "about".

[uh]

Lowercase â - central vowel /ɨ/ sound.

[eh]

Lowercase e - pronounced like "e" in "let".

[ee]

Lowercase i - pronounced like "ee" in "see".

[uh]

Lowercase î - central vowel /ɨ/ sound.

[oh]

Lowercase o - pronounced like "o" in "go".

[oo]

Lowercase u - pronounced like "oo" in "boot".

Aromanian Consonants (Uppercase)

[BEH]

[CHE]

[DEH]

[FEH]

[GHE]

[HACHE]

[JEH]

[KEH]

[LEH]

[EL-IOT]

[MEH]

[NEH]

[EN-IOT]

[PEH]

[KEH]

[REH]

[SEH]

[SHE]

[SHA]

[TEH]

[TSE]

[TZE]

[VEH]

[EKS]

[ZEH]

[ZHE]

Aromanian Consonants (Lowercase)

[beh]

[che]

[deh]

[feh]

[ghe]

[hache]

[jeh]

[keh]

[leh]

[el-iot]

[meh]

[neh]

[en-iot]

[peh]

[keh]

[reh]

[seh]

[she]

[sha]

[teh]

[tse]

[tze]

[veh]

[eks]

[zeh]

[zhe]

[AH]

[AH-NASAL]

[UH]

[BEH]

[CHE]

[DEH]

[EH]

[FEH]

[GHE]

[HACHE]

[EE]

[UH]

[JEH]

[KEH]

[LEH]

[MEH]

[NEH]

[OH]

[PEH]

[KEH]

[REH]

[SEH]

[SHE]

[TEH]

[TSE]

[OO]

[VEH]

[EKS]

[ZEH]

[a cu tildã]

[A CU TILDÃ]

[a cu circumflex]

[A CU CIRCUMFLEX]

[a cu breve]

[A CU BREVE]

[i cu circumflex]

[I CU CIRCUMFLEX]

[s cu sedilã]

[S CU SEDILÃ]

[t cu sedilã]

[T CU SEDILÃ]

[a cu tildã]

A with tilde - represents nasalized /ə̃/ sound in Aromanian.

[A CU TILDÃ]

Uppercase A with tilde - represents nasalized /ə̃/ sound in Aromanian.

[a cu circumflex]

A with circumflex - represents /ɨ/ sound in Aromanian.

[A CU CIRCUMFLEX]

Uppercase A with circumflex - represents /ɨ/ sound in Aromanian.

[a cu breve]

A with breve - represents schwa /ə/ sound in Aromanian.

[A CU BREVE]

Uppercase A with breve - represents schwa /ə/ sound in Aromanian.

[i cu circumflex]

I with circumflex - represents /ɨ/ sound in Aromanian.

[I CU CIRCUMFLEX]

Uppercase I with circumflex - represents /ɨ/ sound in Aromanian.

[s cu sedilã]

S with cedilla - represents /ʃ/ "sh" sound in Aromanian.

[S CU SEDILÃ]

Uppercase S with cedilla - represents /ʃ/ "sh" sound in Aromanian.

[t cu sedilã]

T with cedilla - represents /ts/ sound in Aromanian.

[T CU SEDILÃ]

Uppercase T with cedilla - represents /ts/ sound in Aromanian.

[ZE-ro]

[OO-noo]

[DOY]

[TREE]

[PA-troo]

[TEE-nee]

[SHA-she]

[SHAP-te]

[OP-too]

[NOO-ah]

[ZE-ro]

Number zero - pronounced "ZE-ro" in Aromanian.

[OO-noo]

Number one - pronounced "OO-noo" in Aromanian.

[DOY]

Number two - pronounced "DOY" in Aromanian.

[TREE]

Number three - pronounced "TREE" in Aromanian.

[PA-troo]

Number four - pronounced "PA-troo" in Aromanian.

[TEE-nee]

Number five - pronounced "TEE-nee" in Aromanian.

[SHA-she]

Number six - pronounced "SHA-she" in Aromanian.

[SHAP-te]

Number seven - pronounced "SHAP-te" in Aromanian.

[OP-too]

Number eight - pronounced "OP-too" in Aromanian.

[NOO-ah]

Number nine - pronounced "NOO-ah" in Aromanian.

[punctu]

[virghilã]

;

[punctu shi virghilã]

[doa puncte]

[semnu di ãntreare]

[semnu di strigare]

[apostrof]

[ghiulemeale]

[ghiulemeale dishcljisã]

[ghiulemeale-nchisã]

[cratimã]

–

[linie]

—

[linie lungã]

[linie di sub]

(

[parantezã dishcljisã]

)

[parantezã-nchisã]

[

[parantezã pãtratã dishcljisã]

]

[parantezã pãtratã-nchisã]

{

[acoladã dishcljisã]

}

[acoladã-nchisã]

[slash]

[backslash]

[linie verticã]

[arond]

[diesi]

€

[euro]

[procente]

[caret]

[shi]

[steauã]

[plus]

[egal]

[mai pitsi]

[mai mari]

[accent grav]

[tildã]

[ahn]

[uh]

â/î

[uh]

[sh]

[ts]

[ly]

[ny]

[zh]

[ahn]

Nasalized schwa - unique to Aromanian among Romance languages.

[uh]

Schwa sound - like "a" in English "about".

â/î

[uh]

Central vowel - similar to Romanian pronunciation.

[sh]

Sh sound - like "sh" in "ship".

[ts]

Ts sound - like "ts" in "cats".

[ly]

Palatal lateral - like "lli" in "million".

[ny]

Palatal nasal - like "ny" in "canyon".

[zh]

Zh sound - like "s" in "measure".

Expand All Collapse All

How many letters are in the Aromanian alphabet?

What makes the Aromanian alphabet unique?

Where is Aromanian spoken?

Is Aromanian similar to Italian?

How do you pronounce Aromanian accented vowels?

What is the cultural significance of Aromanian?

References:

[1] Unicode Consortium. "Basic Latin Unicode Block (U+0000-U+007F)". Retrieved from Unicode Basic Latin
[2] Glottolog 5.2. "Aromanian". Retrieved from Glottolog: Aromanian
[3] UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages. "Aromanian Language Status". Retrieved from UNESCO Languages Atlas