SOUNDS OF THE ROMANIAN LANGUAGE

Voiced Sounds of the Romanian Language

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Romanian Language Phonetics

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The phonological structure of the Romanian language

This section is a translation of a section presenting the Romanian syllables from Toma Ion, Limba română, Ed. Niculescu, Bucureşti, 1994

" The phonological structure is determined by the types of possible combinations of the phonologic units in the Romanian language. Thus, a distinction is made between the vocalic segment (indispensable) and the consonantal segment.
The vocalic segment:

simple: syllable with one single vowel as nucleus. Sometimes the phenomenon of hiatus occurs, whenever two syllables from different vowels are enclosed.
complex: the complex vocalic segments are those named in phonetics diphthongs or triphthongs.

The consonantal segment:

simple: shaped as c-, where the position of c can be fulfilled by any consonant;
complex: shaped as cc-, ccc-, -c, -cc, -ccc
- cc-: in such groups can occur the majority of the consonant: bl, br, kl, kn, kr, kt, kv, dr, fl, fr, gl, gn, gr, gv, hl, žb, žg, žg', žm, žn, žv, ml, mr, pl, pn, pr, ps, sb, sk, sk', sč, sf, sg, sl, sm, sn, sp, st, sv, šk, šk', šf, šl, šm, šn, šp, št, šv, šč, tr, vl, vr, zg, sg', zm, zn, zv.
- ccc-: here can occur only the groups: spr, skr, str, štr, sfr, zdr, sgr
- -c: trivial.
- -cc: the majority of the consonant combinations are allowed in those positions: bd, bz, ks, kt, ft, gd, gn, žd, lb, lč, lk, ld, lf, lg, lğ, lm, lp, ls, lš, lt, lţ, lv, ly, mb, mf, mn, mp, mt, mţ, nz, nk, nk', nč, nd, nf, ng, nğ, nž, ns, nš, nt, nţ, nz, pč, ps, pt, rb, rč, rk, rd, rf, rğ, rg, rh, rl, rm, rn, rp, rs, rš, rt, rţ, rv, rz, sk, sm, st, šk, tm, sd, zn.
- -ccc: the positions can be engaged only with the groups kst, mpt, nks, nkt, stm.
"

We thank the external reviewers who have made many useful remarks and corrections.