Romanian curses
Play: romanian curses
Two words appear in most of the
Romanian curses: "naiba" and
"dracu".
Both mean "devil" with the
difference that "naiba" is less
strong than "dracu".
The word "naiba"
has a Turkish etymology ("naibe") and reached Romanian
through the gypsy word "naibah". "Naiba" is more
a generic curse word than the proper name of the devil.
The word "dracul" has a Latin
etymology ("draco") and appears with similar forms in
Istro Romanian ("drac") or Aromanian ("dracu",
"darac"). In the spoken language, it is used the form with
the ending "u" instead of "ul": dracu'
instead of dracul.
Examples
Du-te dracului /
la dracu'! (Go to hell)
Du-te naibii / la
naiba! (Go to hell) – less strong than "Du-te
dracului / la dracu'!"
The words "naibii"
and "dracului" are considered the
dative forms of "naiba" and
"dracul". These dative forms are
usually preceded:
1) by a verb that requires the dative
(like "a da", "a
transmite", "a răspunde",
"a spune"):
Dă dracului / naibii
asta mai departe!
Spune dracului / naibii
mai repede!
2) by a normal verb (that does not
require the dative case)
Fă dracului / naibii
asta mai repede!
Ia dracului / naibii
asta de aici!
In this case, the forms "dracului"
and "naibii" cannot be replaced
by "la dracu' " or "la
naiba".
A structure like:
*Fă la dracu / la naiba
asta!
is not correct.
We can replace the dative forms
"dracului" and "naibii"
by "la dracu' " or "la
naiba" only when these words have a meaning of place. In
the structures:
Du-te dracului /
la dracu'! (Go to hell)
Du-te naibii / la
naiba! (Go to hell),
the words "dracului
/ naibii / la dracu' / la naiba" are referring to a kind
of place where the cursed person should go (i.e. to the hell). In
this situation the forms "la naiba"
and "la dracu" can replace the
dative forms "naibii" and
"dracului".
The forms "la
naiba / la dracu" can be used in any kind of questions
beginning with a relative adverb or pronoun: "ce"
(what), "când" (when),
"cum" (how), "unde"
(where), "care" (what)
etc. These words are generally inserted between the relative adverb
or pronoun and the verb.
Ce naiba vrei?
(What the hell do you want?)
Ce dracu' vrei?
(What the hell do you want?)
Unde naiba vrei
să mergi? (Where the hell do you wanna go?)
Unde dracu' vrei
să mergi? (Where the hell do you wanna go?)
Other Romanian curses imply the genital
organs: "pizdă" (female
organ) and "pulă" (male organ). The word "pulă"
has a Latin etymology (pulla) and "pizdă"
has a Slavic origin, having the same form in Slovenian, Czech, Polish
and Russian. Being feminine words, the possessive adjective should
agree with the noun in the feminine: "pula mea", "pizda mea".
Bibliography:
"Dicționarul
etimologic al limbii române" (Etymological Dictionary of
Romanian language), Alexandru Ciorănescu, București, 2005
Mona Moldoveanu Pologea, Ph.D. Linguist
ROLANG School
Managing Director
|