Christmas and New Year's greetings
The phrase "Sărbători
fericite" ("Happy Holidays") is used as a
generic greeting for the winter holidays.
Play: Christmas greetings
Christmas greetings
-
English |
Romanian |
Christmas |
Crăciun (plural: Crăciunuri) |
Merry Christmas! |
Crăciun fericit! |
Christmas Eve |
Ajunul Crăciunului |
"Crăciun"
is considered a neuter word in Romanian.
Christmas is the Feast
of the Nativity and is celebrated on December 25th.
On Christmas, the most
common greeting is:
"Crăciun
fericit!" ("Merry Christmas!")
The word etymology is
one of the most discussed etymologies of Romanian language.
Some controversial
etymologies have been proposed for this word: lat. "creatio,-onis",
lat. "calationem" or lat. "incarnationem".
The same word appears
in other languages that have been in contact with the Romanian
language: Kračon (Bulgarian), Kračun (Serbian), Koročjun
(Russian).
"Crăciun" can also
be a family name in Romanian.
The Romanian name for Santa
Claus is "Moș Crăciun" ("moș" means "old
man").
"Christmas Eve"
is "Ajunul Crăciunului" and refers to the evening or the
entire day that precedes the Christmas (i.e. 24th of December).
New Year's greetings
-
English |
Romanian |
New Year |
Anul Nou |
New Year's Eve |
Ajunul Anului Nou |
Happy New Year |
Un An Nou Fericit / La mulți ani |
The phrase
"La mulți ani" is used in the month of January when we
meet our friends/colleagues for the first time in the new year. "La
mulți ani!" is also used for "Happy Birthday!".
Bibliography:
Ciorănescu, Alexandru,
"Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române", editura
Saeculum I.O., 2005, București
Mona Moldoveanu Pologea, Ph.D. Linguist
ROLANG School Managing Director |