The polyglot liturgy: what language do you pray in, in Romanian

The short answer

You pray in four languages at once. Latin gave the foundation — Dumnezeu, cruce, rugăciune, preot —, Greek arrived dressed in Slavonic — liturghie, icoană, iad —, Slavic gave the altar steps — rai, veșnic, popă, clopot — and Hebrew closed the service through Greek and Slavonic: amin, aleluia. The Slavonic centuries laid them side by side, and between 1559/1560 and 1688 Romanian took the altar back.

CHAPTER 1 · THE LATIN LAYER

What remained of Rome

Four words with no middleman: from Latin, straight into Romanian. The first is the very name of God.

Dumnezeu

Lat. dom(i)ne deus

DEX: “Din lat. dom(i)ne deus”. Șăineanu unpacks the formula: DOMINE DEUS, i.e. “Doamne Dumnezeule!”. Our reading of the formula: a frozen vocative, an address turned into a name.

C01 · DEX '09, Șăineanu

cruce

Lat. crux, -cis

DEX: “Lat. crux, -cis”. MDA2 records it at TETRAEV. (1574), after DA: the cross was already in books when Coresi was setting up his presses.

C02 · DEX '09, MDA2

rugăciune

Lat. rogatio, -onis

DEX: “Lat. rogatio, -onis”. MDA2 records it in COD.VOR. 136/4: prayer stands in the oldest kept Romanian writing.

C03 · DEX '09, MDA2

preot

Lat. presbiterum ← Gk. presbyteros

We had been told Slavic — the dictionaries say Latin. DEX: “Lat. presbiterum”; Scriban carries the thread further, to Greek presbyteros, “elder”. The Slavic double, popă, stands in chapter 3, with its popular mark.

C04 · DEX '09, Scriban

4 words · 0 middlemen

A Roman votive altar with a Latin inscription, at Alba Iulia — A Roman votive altar from Apulum, with a Latin inscription: the letters in which the first layer of Romanian prayer was written. Photo: Codrin.B, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

CHAPTER 2 · THE GREEK-VIA-SLAVONIC LAYER

Greek dressed in Slavonic

Three Greek words that learned Romanian at the Slavonic school. The dictionaries give all three as “Din sl.” — Slavonic is the parent, Greek the grandparent.

liturghie

Sl. liturgija ← Gk. leitourgia

The title word gives itself away: DEX derives it “Din sl. liturgija (< gr. leitourghia)”. The service itself bears the stamp of the double channel.

C05 · DEX '09, DER

icoană

Sl. ikona ← Gk. eikon “image”

DEX: “Din sl. ikona”. Greek eikon, “image, likeness”, reached us through Slavonic mediation — a direct route from Greek would be another story, which the dictionaries reject.

C06 · DEX '09, DER, DCR2

iad

Sl. jadŭ ← Gk. Hades

DEX: “Din sl. jadu”. Șăineanu: Slav. adu, from Gk. HADES. Like icoană, hell passes through the Slavonic link — the old form ad still surfaces in texts.

C07 · DEX '09, Șăineanu

The building itself tells its story next door: biserică carries the name of the basilica. Continue on the neighbouring page →

The Last Judgment fresco on the outer wall of Voroneț Monastery — The Last Judgment on the wall of Voroneț Monastery: faces painted on the wall — the same word covers them and the wooden icons alike. Photo: Jocelyn Erskine-Kellie, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

CHAPTER 3 · THE SLAVIC LAYER

The altar steps

Slavic holds the altar steps: heaven, eternity, the priest's second name, and the voice of the bell.

rai

Sl. raj

DEX: “Din sl. raj”. Short and unambiguous: the Romanian heaven is Slavic.

C08 · DEX '09

veșnic · Veșnica pomenire

Sl. vĕčinŭ · cf. Memory eternal

DEX: veșnic “Din sl. vĕčinŭ” (old variant: vecinic). The chant “Veșnica pomenire” is sung at the memorial service, three times, after the printed order — and pomană comes from Sl. pomĕnŭ. The English call it Memory eternal, the Slavs Večna pamjat: the same remembrance, in three garments.

C09–C11 · DEX '09, Stavropoleos

clopot

Sl. klopotŭ “noise”

DEX: “Din sl. klopotŭ”. Scriban explains the mechanism: “s'a luat efectul pentru cauză” — the noise became the object that makes it. With a required reservation: the “bell” sense is not certain for Slavonic (DER, after Bulg. klopot).

C13 · DEX '09, Scriban, DER

The Slavic prayer turned into thanks has its own house: the story of bogdaproste. Continue on the neighbouring page →

A large bronze bell hanging in a belfry — A church bell: Slavic named it after the noise it makes, not after its shape. Photo: Madarasan Teodor, Wikimedia Commons, public domain

CHAPTER 4 · THE HEBREW-VIA-GREEK-AND-SLAVONIC LAYER

The end of the service comes from far away

The last words of the service travelled the longest road: from Hebrew, through Greek and Slavonic, into Romanian.

amin

Sl. aminŭ ← Gk. amin ← Hebr. amen

DEX: “Din sl. aminŭ (< gr. amin, ebr. amen)”. MDA2 records it in COD. VOR. 165/6: the amen stands in the oldest writings, beside prayer.

C14 · DEX '09, MDA2

aleluia

Sl. aleluija ← Gk. ← Hebr. hallelu Jah

Two roads, one shout. DEX: aleluia “Din sl. aleluija”; DER unpacks Hebrew hallelū Jah and shows the variant aliluia coming straight from Greek, while the form aleluia passed through Slavonic.

C15 · DEX '09, DER

The 3,000-year journey of Easter, from pesach to the spring table. Continue on the neighbouring page →

A Greek New Testament manuscript page, in small script — The New Testament in Greek, a minuscule manuscript: the middle link of the words that set out from Jerusalem. Photo: Unknown scribe, Wikimedia Commons, public domain

A Hebrew manuscript page, written right to left — A Hebrew manuscript: the far end of the road of amin and aleluia. Photo: Wellcome Collection, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0

CHAPTER 5 · THE HINGE

The Slavonic centuries

Stone spoke Romanian before the Bible did.

Church Slavonic was the language of the service and the chancery in medieval Wallachia and Moldavia: between the 14th and 16th centuries, nearly all charters, chronicles and service books were written in Slavonic, though people spoke Romanian in daily life. The way out was slow: the earliest Romanian deeds date from 1575–1590, the princely chanceries wrote only Romanian no earlier than about 1655–1660, and the metropolitan presses put out Slavonic books until 1731 in Moldavia and 1745 in Wallachia.

Brașov, 1559/1560
Coresi gives Romanian its first steady library: 10 Romanian books, among them Întrebare creștinească [1560], Tetraevanghel [1561] and Liturghierul [1570]. “The first book” has no place here: a Sibiu catechism of 1544 goes before it.
C22 · the year stays double until a print bibliography settles it
Câmpulung, 1635–1636
Stone speaks Romanian: the pisanie of the princely church, under Matei Basarab. The full reading of the stone has its own page.
C19 · the stone's page Continue on the neighbouring page →
Bucharest, 1688
The first whole Bible in Romanian, ordered and patronized by Șerban Cantacuzino, overseen by the logothete Constantin Brâncoveanu.
C23 · the translators' names stay off the page until a facsimile check

A Slavonic manuscript page with an ornamented initial — The Proglas, in Slavonic: the book that taught generations of scholars to write in a language the parishioners half-understood. Photo: Константин Философ., Wikimedia Commons, public domain

An old open Bible, with Romanian Cyrillic text in two columns — The Bucharest Bible, 1688: the first whole Bible in Romanian, open at the book of Solomon. Photo: Țetcu Mircea Rareș, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

An old photograph of the princely church of Câmpulung — The princely church of Câmpulung in a photograph by Carol Popp de Szathmari: the 1636 stones, set into the facade at the rebuilding of 1826–1832. Photo: Carol Popp de Szathmari, Wikimedia Commons, public domain

The church entrance, with old stones set into the masonry — The church entrance: the tablet above the door is the 1827 pisanie, the 1636 stones stand set into the facade, on either side. Photo: Ionutp, Wikimedia Commons, public domain

THE SERVICE TO HEAR

The liturgy

Seven lines stitched only from the passported words above. Start the service and follow the colours, touch a word for its passport, or dim three empires to hear the fourth.

line 1/7 · Latin 4 · Greek via Slavonic 3 · Slavic 4 · Hebrew via Greek and Slavonic 2

Clopotul bate: începe liturghia.

The bell rings, the service begins.

Preotul ridică crucea.

The priest raises the cross.

Rugăciunea noastră, Dumnezeule.

Our prayer, O God.

Icoana stă în fața altarului.

The icon before the altar.

Popa cântă de rai și de iad.

The priest sings of heaven and hell.

Veșnica pomenire.

Memory eternal.

Amin. Aleluia.

Amen. Alleluia.

Hear a single empire

The words' passports

Touch a coloured word in the service and its passport lights here.

Dumnezeu

Lat. dom(i)ne deus

DEX: “Din lat. dom(i)ne deus”. Șăineanu unpacks the formula: DOMINE DEUS, i.e. “Doamne Dumnezeule!”. Our reading of the formula: a frozen vocative, an address turned into a name.

C01 · DEX '09, Șăineanu · DEX

cruce

Lat. crux, -cis

DEX: “Lat. crux, -cis”. MDA2 records it at TETRAEV. (1574), after DA: the cross was already in books when Coresi was setting up his presses.

C02 · DEX '09, MDA2 · DEX

rugăciune

Lat. rogatio, -onis

DEX: “Lat. rogatio, -onis”. MDA2 records it in COD.VOR. 136/4: prayer stands in the oldest kept Romanian writing.

C03 · DEX '09, MDA2 · DEX

preot

Lat. presbiterum ← Gk. presbyteros

We had been told Slavic — the dictionaries say Latin. DEX: “Lat. presbiterum”; Scriban carries the thread further, to Greek presbyteros, “elder”. The Slavic double, popă, stands in chapter 3, with its popular mark.

C04 · DEX '09, Scriban · DEX

liturghie

Sl. liturgija ← Gk. leitourgia

The title word gives itself away: DEX derives it “Din sl. liturgija (< gr. leitourghia)”. The service itself bears the stamp of the double channel.

C05 · DEX '09, DER · DEX

icoană

Sl. ikona ← Gk. eikon “image”

DEX: “Din sl. ikona”. Greek eikon, “image, likeness”, reached us through Slavonic mediation — a direct route from Greek would be another story, which the dictionaries reject.

C06 · DEX '09, DER, DCR2 · DEX

iad

Sl. jadŭ ← Gk. Hades

DEX: “Din sl. jadu”. Șăineanu: Slav. adu, from Gk. HADES. Like icoană, hell passes through the Slavonic link — the old form ad still surfaces in texts.

C07 · DEX '09, Șăineanu · DEX

rai

Sl. raj

DEX: “Din sl. raj”. Short and unambiguous: the Romanian heaven is Slavic.

C08 · DEX '09 · DEX

veșnic · Veșnica pomenire

Sl. vĕčinŭ · cf. Memory eternal

DEX: veșnic “Din sl. vĕčinŭ” (old variant: vecinic). The chant “Veșnica pomenire” is sung at the memorial service, three times, after the printed order — and pomană comes from Sl. pomĕnŭ. The English call it Memory eternal, the Slavs Večna pamjat: the same remembrance, in three garments.

C09–C11 · DEX '09, Stavropoleos · DEX

popă

Sl. popŭ ← Lat. papa

DEX marks it (Pop.) and sends it to “Preot”; Șăineanu: Slav. POPŬ, from Lat. PAPA, “father”.

C12 · DEX

clopot

Sl. klopotŭ “noise”

DEX: “Din sl. klopotŭ”. Scriban explains the mechanism: “s'a luat efectul pentru cauză” — the noise became the object that makes it. With a required reservation: the “bell” sense is not certain for Slavonic (DER, after Bulg. klopot).

C13 · DEX '09, Scriban, DER · DEX

amin

Sl. aminŭ ← Gk. amin ← Hebr. amen

DEX: “Din sl. aminŭ (< gr. amin, ebr. amen)”. MDA2 records it in COD. VOR. 165/6: the amen stands in the oldest writings, beside prayer.

C14 · DEX '09, MDA2 · DEX

aleluia

Sl. aleluija ← Gk. ← Hebr. hallelu Jah

Two roads, one shout. DEX: aleluia “Din sl. aleluija”; DER unpacks Hebrew hallelū Jah and shows the variant aliluia coming straight from Greek, while the form aleluia passed through Slavonic.

C15 · DEX '09, DER · DEX

THE GAME

Unriddle the service

Eight rounds, two kinds: word → empire and chain → word. Each round teaches one row of the sources table.

Score 0/8

Round 1 · A

Which world does the cross come from?

See the verdict

Latin, with no middleman: Lat. crux, recorded in 1574.

C02

Round 2 · A

Which world does the icon come from?

See the verdict

Greek via Slavonic: Sl. ikona ← Gk. eikon. The Slavonic link is required.

C06

Round 3 · A

Which world does heaven come from?

See the verdict

Slavic, short and unambiguous: Sl. raj.

C08

Round 4 · A

Which world does the amen come from?

See the verdict

Hebrew, through Greek and Slavonic: Sl. aminŭ ← Gk. amin ← Hebr. amen.

C14

Round 5 · A

Which world does the priest come from?

See the verdict

Latin: Lat. presbiterum. The Slavic one is popa, not preot.

C04

Round 6 · A

Which world does hell come from?

See the verdict

Greek via Slavonic: Sl. jadŭ ← Gk. Hades. Like the icon, it passes through Slavonic.

C07

Round 7 · B

Which word hides in Sl. klopotŭ “noise”?

See the verdict

The bell: the effect for the cause — the noise became the object. The “bell” sense stays uncertain for Slavonic.

C13

Round 8 · B

Which word hides in Lat. rogatio?

See the verdict

Prayer: Lat. rogatio, recorded in the Voroneț Codex, 136/4.

C03

The numbers of the service

Two sums worked from the service and the stops above.

4 in one

four empires in a single service

FROM THE SERVICE DATA

≈ 129 years

between Coresi's presses, 1559/1560, and the whole Bible, 1688

FROM THE HINGE STOPS

Latin 4 · Greek via Slavonic 3 · Slavic 4 · Hebrew via Greek and Slavonic 2

Three sayings that do not hold

All three are about words, none about belief.

“Preot is Slavic.”

The dictionaries give it as Latin: Lat. presbiterum, from Gk. presbyteros. The Slavic one is the other priest, popa — Sl. popŭ, marked (Pop.) in DEX.

C04 · C12

“Icoană and iad come straight from Greek.”

DEX gives both as “Din sl.”: ikona and jadu pass through the Slavonic link. Greek is the grandparent, Slavonic the parent.

C06 · C07

“Church Romanian was always Romanian.”

For whole centuries, the service and the chancery were written in Slavonic. The way out runs through the Câmpulung stone, 1636, and the whole Bible, 1688.

C19 · C20 · C23

Sources

The dictionaries first, then the hinge stops, then the neighbours. Each etymology is checked directly in the dictionaries, with a link to the entry.

The claims table

ID	Claim	Source
C01	Dumnezeu < Lat. dom(i)ne deus, “Doamne Dumnezeule!”	DEX '09, Șăineanu DEX
C02	cruce < Lat. crux, recorded 1574	DEX '09, MDA2 DEX
C03	rugăciune < Lat. rogatio, COD.VOR. 136/4	DEX '09, MDA2 DEX
C04	preot < Lat. presbiterum (corrected from Slavic)	DEX '09, Scriban DEX
C05	liturghie < Sl. liturgija < Gk. leitourgia	DEX '09, DER DEX
C06	icoană < Sl. ikona < Gk. eikon	DEX '09, DER, DCR2 DEX
C07	iad < Sl. jadu < Gk. Hades	DEX '09, Șăineanu DEX
C08	rai < Sl. raj	DEX '09 DEX
C09	veșnic < Sl. vĕčinŭ	DEX '09 DEX
C10	“Veșnica pomenire”, cf. Memory eternal	Stavropoleos, Memory Eternal
C11	pomană < Sl. pomĕnŭ	DEX, Șăineanu, Scriban DEX
C12	popă < Sl. popŭ; (Pop.) vs neutral preot	DEX '09, Șăineanu DEX
C13	clopot < Sl. klopotŭ “noise”, with reservation	DEX '09, Scriban, DER DEX
C14	amin < Sl. aminŭ < Gk. < Hebr., COD.VOR. 165/6	DEX '09, MDA2 DEX
C15	aleluia via Slavonic; aliluia straight from Greek	DEX '09, DER DEX
C16–C18	biserică · Paște · bogdaproste: one sentence and a link	the neighbouring pages
C19	the Câmpulung pisanie, 1635–1636, in Romanian	the stone's page
C20–C21	Slavonic as the service language; deeds 1575–1590, chanceries 1655–1660	Church Slavonic in Romania
C22	Coresi, Brașov 1559/1560, 10 Romanian books	Coresi
C23	the Bucharest Bible, 1688, the first whole one	Bucharest Bible

Dictionaries

The hinge

The neighbours

Type: Fraunces, Newsreader and Atkinson Hyperlegible, under the SIL Open Font Licence.