Sapovici — The Outcome of Greek Loanwords into Present-Day Romanian

Author: Anca Mihaela Sapovici

Type: Peer-reviewed journal article

Topic: Greek lexical borrowing in Romanian, 16th–19th century

Summary

This article examines Greek loanwords in Romanian, focusing on expressive words that underwent stylistic depreciation due to extra-linguistic factors. The study is a first step toward a monographic analysis of Romanian words borrowed from Greek during three historical periods.

Three Periods of Greek Influence

**Old Greek (via Latin)** — inherited through Romance substrate
**Medieval Greek / Byzantine Greek** — during medieval Balkan contact
**Neo-Greek (Phanariot period)** — the dominant period of borrowing, 16th–19th century

Key Arguments

Greek loanwords arrived primarily during the **Phanariot period** (1711–1821), when Greek-speaking rulers governed Wallachia and Moldavia
Greek was a **language of prestige** in the Balkans, mediated through Church (Patriarchate of Constantinople), commerce, and administration
Many Greek officials were **polyglot intellectuals** educated at Constantinople university, western Italian universities (Rome, Padova, Bologna), spreading Greek culture into Romanian territories
The end of Phanariot rule did not end Greek influence — it continued until the late 19th century
**Turkish influence** ran parallel to Greek, and the two are often confused in Romanian linguistic consciousness

Named Entities

[[phanariot-period]] — Phanariot regime (1711–1821)
[[neo-greek]] — Neo-Greek language period
[[moldavia]] — Principality of Moldavia
[[wallachia]] — Principality of Wallachia
[[constantinople-patriarchate]] — Seat of Greek cultural authority
Stolnicul Constantin Cantacuzino, Radu Mihnea, Alexandru Iliaș — Greek-influenced rulers
Luca al Buzăului, Matei al Mirelor — Church figures
Grigore II Ghica, Constantin Mavrocordat — Phanariot rulers

Key Concepts

[[turkisms]] — Turkish loanwords, distinct from Greek but often confused with them
[[bilingualism-balkan]] — Greek-Romanian bilingualism in the Principalities
[[stylistic-depreciation]] — how Greek loanwords became marked as "low" or "vulgar" in modern Romanian

Sources Cited

Gheție, I. 1975. *Baza dialectală a românei literare*
Rezachevici, C. 2012. "Prefanariotismul" in *Byzantine Studies* 3
Kostas Kazazis on Turkisms in Balkan languages
Friedman, V.A. on Turkish in the Balkans

Status

Source article — compiled from processed text.

[[romanian-greek-bilingualism]]
[[index]]
[[sapovici-genealogia-soi]]
[[sapovici-soarta-imprumuturilor]]
[[phanariot-period]]
[[byzantine-greek-vocabulary]]