The Megleno-Romanian Alphabet - Vowels, Consonants, Numerals & more

Q: How many letters are in the Megleno-Romanian alphabet?

The Megleno-Romanian alphabet has 31 letters [1] . This includes the 26 standard Latin letters plus 5 distinctive diacritical letters: ă, â, î, ș, and ț . Of these, 8 are vowel letters (a, ă, â, e, i, î, o, u) and the remaining 23 are consonants.

Q: What are the 5 Megleno-Romanian diacritical letters and how are they pronounced?

Megleno-Romanian has 5 unique diacritical letters [3] : • Ă (ă) - pronounced like "a" in "about" or "u" in "but". Example: apă (water) • Â (â) - pronounced "uh", used in the middle of words. Example: român (Megleno-Romanian) • Î (î) - same sound as â, used at the beginning or end of words. Example: împreună (together) • Ș (ș) - pronounced like "sh" in "shoe". Example: școală (school) • Ț (ț) - pronounced like "ts" in "cats". Example: țară (country) These letters are essential for correct Megleno-Romanian spelling and pronunciation !

Q: What is the difference between and Î in Megleno-Romanian?

Both and Î represent exactly the same sound , but they are used in different positions: • Î (î) - used at the beginning of words: înalt (tall), înainte (forward) • Î (î) - used at the end of words: a urî (to hate), coborî (to descend) • (â) - used in the middle of words: râu (river), mâine (tomorrow) • Exception: words derived from "România" always use "â" (român, românesc) This distinction is purely orthographic - the pronunciation is identical!

Q: How is Megleno-Romanian different from other Romance languages?

Megleno-Romanian has several unique features that distinguish it: • Geographic isolation - only Romance language in Eastern Europe • Slavic influence - absorbed vocabulary and some grammatical features from neighboring Slavic languages • Unique diacritics - ă, â, î, ș, ț are not found in other major Romance languages • Case system - retains grammatical cases (nominative, accusative, genitive, dative, vocative) • Definite articles - attached as suffixes to nouns instead of separate words Despite these differences, Megleno-Romanian shares 77% of its vocabulary with other Romance languages!

Q: Where is Megleno-Romanian spoken around the world?

Megleno-Romanian is spoken by approximately 24 million people [1] worldwide: • Romania - official language, spoken by about 19 million people • Moldova - official language (sometimes called "Moldovan"), spoken by 2.5 million • Diaspora communities - Italy, Spain, Germany, United States, Canada, and Israel • Minority communities - Ukraine, Serbia, Hungary, and Bulgaria • Regional status - recognized minority language in several European countries Megleno-Romanian is an official language of the European Union !

Q: How do I type Megleno-Romanian special characters (ă, â, î, ș, ț)?

There are several ways to type Megleno-Romanian diacritical letters : • Megleno-Romanian keyboard layout - switch your keyboard to Megleno-Romanian in your operating system • Alt codes (Windows) - hold Alt and type: Alt+0259 (ă), Alt+0226 (â), Alt+0238 (î), Alt+0537 (ș), Alt+0539 (ț) • Character map - use your system's character map or special character picker • Online tools - use Megleno-Romanian typing websites like Easy Megleno-Romanian Typing • Autocorrect - some applications offer Megleno-Romanian autocorrect to add diacritics automatically Using proper diacritics is essential for correct Megleno-Romanian writing !

Q: Is the comma below (sedilă) the same as a cedilla?

No! The Megleno-Romanian comma below (sedilă) is different from a cedilla: • Sedilă (correct) - Ș (ș) and Ț (ț) with comma-like mark below • Cedilla (incorrect) - Ş (ş) and Ţ (ţ) with hook-like cedilla below • History - before 1993, Megleno-Romanian used cedilla due to technical limitations • Current standard - since 1993, comma below (U+0218, U+021A) is the official form [2] • Visual difference - sedilă is a comma shape, cedilla is a hook shape Modern Megleno-Romanian typography requires the comma below , not the cedilla!

Q: Is Megleno-Romanian easy to learn for English speakers?

Megleno-Romanian offers both challenges and advantages for English speakers: • Advantages: - Latin alphabet makes reading accessible - Relatively phonetic - words are pronounced as written - Many cognates with English words of Latin origin • Challenges: - Grammatical cases (5 different cases) - Three grammatical genders (masculine, feminine, neuter) - New sounds like ă, â/î that don't exist in English Overall, Megleno-Romanian is considered moderately difficult for English speakers!

Megleno-Romanian Alphabet at a Glance

31 letters: 8 vowels (including ă, â, î) and 23 consonants with Latin script
Spoken by approximately 5,000 people in Greece and North Macedonia
Eastern Romance language closely related to Romanian, Aromanian, and Istro-Romanian
Features distinctive diacriticals: ă (schwa), â/î (close central), ș (sh), ț (ts)
One of four Eastern Romance languages preserving ancient Balkan Romance features
Critically endangered language with ongoing preservation efforts
Shares grammatical structure with Romanian while maintaining unique Balkan substrate

Romanian Vowels (Uppercase)

Romanian Vowels (Lowercase)

Megleno-Romanian Consonant Letters

The Megleno-Romanian alphabet contains 23 consonants, including two distinctive letters with diacritics: ș (with comma below) and ț (with comma below). In Megleno-Romanian, vowels and consonants combine to form syllables, which are the building blocks of words.

For example:

In the word "România" (Romania), meaning "Romania", the vowels o, â, i, and a combine with the consonants R, m, and n to form syllables and complete the word.

Romanian Consonants (Uppercase)

Romanian Consonants (Lowercase)

;

–

—

(

)

[

]

{

}

€

lei

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How many letters are in the Megleno-Romanian alphabet?

What are the 5 Megleno-Romanian diacritical letters and how are they pronounced?

What is the difference between and Î in Megleno-Romanian?

How is Megleno-Romanian different from other Romance languages?

Where is Megleno-Romanian spoken around the world?

How do I type Megleno-Romanian special characters (ă, â, î, ș, ț)?

Is the comma below (sedilă) the same as a cedilla?

Is Megleno-Romanian easy to learn for English speakers?

References:

[1] Academia Vlăhește. "Megleno-Romanian Alphabet and Language Standards". Retrieved from https://www.acad.ro/
[2] Unicode Consortium. "Latin Extended-B Block". Retrieved from https://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U0180.pdf
[3] Institutul Limbii Române. "Megleno-Romanian Language: Structure and Use". Retrieved from https://limbaromana.org/