Linguistic issues concerning the euro
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Several linguistic issues have arisen in relation to the spelling of the words euro and cent in the many languages of the member states of the European Union, as well as in relation to grammar and the formation of plurals.
The official ruling is quite strict, stating "Community law requires a single spelling of the word “euro” in the nominative singular case in all Community and national legislative provisions, taking into account the existence of different alphabets.", as well as "the name of the single currency (euro) is spelled identically in all language versions". Furthermore, all current and future member states of the eurozone are legally obliged to "observe these principles and guidelines" and to "take such measures as may be necessary to ensure their implementation"[1]
Consequently, the spelling as it appears (in capitals) on the banknotes, is "euro" in the Latin script and "ευρώ" in the Greek script. The proposed official spelling by the European Central Bank (ECB) in the Cyrillic script is "еуро".
The spelling "Eвро", currently used in Bulgaria, as well as "evro" and other actual in-use spellings in some countries using the euro, are in conflict with the current regulations and are therefore not supported by the ECB.
Like the name "euro", the form "cent" is officially required in all member countries to be used in legislation in both the singular and in the plural. The exceptions are Greece, which uses λεπτό (leptό, Singular), λεπτά (leptá, Plural) on its coins, and Finland, where sentti is used and which declines regularly (partitive singular senttiä with numbers). Immutable word formations have been encouraged by the European Commission in usage with official EU legislation (originally in order to ensure uniform presentation on the banknotes), but the "unofficial" practice concerning the mutability (or not) of the words differs between the member states and their languages. The subject has led to debate and controversy.
| € conventions | |
| Language | Usage |
|---|---|
| Bulgarian | 3,14 € |
| Catalan | 3,14 € |
| Cypriot | € 3.14 |
| Czech | 3,14 € |
| Danish | |
| Dutch[2] | € 3,14 |
| English | €3.14 |
| Esperanto | 3,14 € |
| Finnish | 3,14 € |
| French | 3,14 € |
| German | €3,14 (AT) |
| German | 3,14 € (DE) |
| Greek | 3,14 € |
| Hungarian | 3,14 € |
| Icelandic | |
| Irish | €3.14 |
| Italian | € 3,14 |
| Latvian | |
| Lithuanian | 3,14 € |
| Maltese | €3.14 |
| Norwegian | |
| Polish | 3,14 € |
| Portuguese | 3,14 € |
| Romanian | 3,14 € |
| Russian | 3,14 € |
| Serbian | 3,14 € |
| Slovak | 3,14 € |
| Slovenian | 3,14 € |
| Spanish | 3,14 € |
| Swedish | 3,14 € (FIN) |
| Ukrainian | 3,14 € |
[edit] Bulgarian
Bulgarian uses the Cyrillic alphabet. The current design of euro banknotes has the word euro written in both the Latin and Greek alphabets, and it is reasonable to expect that design will be modified to add a Cyrillic inscription. The same is true of euro coins, but if the Greek model is followed, the alternative spelling will go on the national (obverse) side. In popular Bulgarian usage the currency is referred to as евро /ˈɛv.ro/; (from Bulgarian Европа /ɛv.'ro.pa/, meaning Europe) the plural varies in spoken language – евро, евра /ɛv.ˈra/, еврота /ˈɛv.ro.ta/ – but the most widespread form is евро – without inflection in plural. The word for euro, though, has a normal form with the postpositive definite article – еврото (the euro).
The word for eurocent is евроцент /ˈɛv.ro.ʦɛnt/ and most probably that, or only цент /ʦɛnt/, will be used in future when the European currency is accepted in Bulgaria. In contrast to euro, the word for "cent" has a full inflection both in the definite and the plural form: евроцент (basic form), евроцентът (full definite article – postpositive), евроцентове (plural), 2 евроцента (numerative form – after numerals).
The ECB and the EU Commission have insisted that Bulgaria change the official name of the currency from ЕВРО to ЕУРО, claiming the currency should have a standard spelling across the EU. Bulgaria on the other hand stated that it want to take into account the different alphabet and the principle of phonetic orthography in the Bulgarian language.
The issue was decisively resolved in favour of Bulgaria at the 2007 EU Summit in Lisbon, allowing Bulgaria to use the Cyrillic spelling евро on all official EU documents.[3] Bulgarian is currently the only EU language written in the Cyrillic alphabet, but the spelling евро exists in some other Slavic languages, such as Russian, Macedonian and Serbian. Ukrainian uses both євро and евро and Belarusian еўра.
[edit] Catalan
In Catalan, the official plural is the same as its natural plural "euros". In Eastern Catalan, despite the fact that its natural and official pronunciation is euro /ˈɛu.ɾu/, euros /ˈɛu.ɾus/ many people pronounce it /ˈeu.ɾo/, /ˈeu.ɾos/ as in Spanish language. For the cent, the word "cèntim" (plural "cèntims") is used. The fraction of the peseta was also called cèntim, but it was withdrawn from circulation decades ago.
[edit] Croatian
The spelling euro is used in Croatia.
[edit] Czech
In Czech, the words euro and cent are spelt the same as in English. Occasionally the word eurocent is used instead of cent to distinguish the euro denomination versus its foreign counterparts, but the spelling is not in accordance with the word Europe in Czech (Evropa).
These words are pronounced as it is usual in Czech /ɛʊ.ɾɔ/, /ʦɛnt/. The plural is not the same for all numerals – for the numerals 2, 3 and 4 (and rarely 21, 22, 23, 24, 31 etc.) many use eura and centy. For the other numerals it is eur and centů, as it is usual in Czech grammar. Often these grammatically correct declensions are ignored and euro is used for every numeral.
In Czech euro is of neuter gender and inflected as město. Again, the term is sometimes used without being inflected.
[edit] Danish
The word euro is included in the 2002 version of Retskrivningsordbogen,[4] which is the authoritative source for the Danish language (according to Danish law). Two plurals are given, euro when used about an amount, and euroer when used about coins. Both cent and eurocent are mentioned, the plural and singular forms are identical.
[edit] Dutch
Plural: In Dutch, most abstract units of measurement are not pluralised, causing an amount such as € 5 to be pronounced as 5 euro, as was previously the case with the Dutch gulden and the Belgian franc. This coincides with EU legislation stating that euro and cent should be used as both singular and plural.[1] In Dutch, the words are however pluralised as euro's and centen when referring to individual coins or other non-abstract cases.
Like the euro, the gulden was divided into 100 cent. The Belgian franc was divided into 100 centiemen.
Pronunciation: The word euro is pronounced in different ways. Most commonly, it's pronounced as /ʏroː/, /ʏ/ being the standard way to pronounce the eu digraph before an r in Dutch (and the same sound as the /eu/ in Europa ("Europe")). Alternatively, some people say /œyroː/, using a pronunciation of the /eu/ common in Dutch words of Greek origin, as in euthanasie ("euthanasia").[citation needed]
Slang terms: In the Netherlands, slang terms that were previously applied to guilder coinage and banknotes are applied to euro currency. Examples in the Netherlands include stuiver for 5 cents, dubbeltje for 10 cents.[citation needed]
In Belgium, some Flemings refer to the 1, 2 and 5 cent coins as koper, which is the Dutch word for copper, the metal these coins are made of (compare nickel); in the Netherlands it is often called "kopergeld" – 'copper money'. Another nickname is ros which means redhead, referring to the colour of the coins.
Syntax: In the Dutch language, the euro sign is chiefly placed before the amount, from which it is often separated by a (thin) space.[5] This was also the case with the florin sign (ƒ).
[edit] English
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Official practice followed in English-language EU legislation is to use the words euro and cent as both singular and plural. [2] This practice originally arose out of legislation intended to ensure that the banknotes were uncluttered with a string of plurals. Because the s-less plurals had become "enshrined" in EU legislation, the Commission decided to retain those plurals in English in legislation even while allowing natural plurals in other languages, but the Directorate-General for Translation strongly recommends that in all material intended for the general public, the regular plurals, euros and cents, be used.
[edit] In Ireland
As the euro was being adopted in Ireland the Department for Finance decided to use the word euro as both the singular and plural forms of the currency, and because Irish broadcasters took their cue from the Department, the "legislative plurals" tend to also be used on the news and in much Irish advertising. This has had the effect of reinforcing the s-less plurals, although advertisements made in the UK for broadcast in Ireland tend to use the plurals euros and cents (see below).
While many in Ireland use the "legislative" plurals euro and cent, it is also the case that many people in Ireland continue to use the natural plurals euros and cents. (No census is likely to be made of the relative percentages.) At the time the s-less plurals were introduced, at least some people complained that the EU ought not attempt to "change English grammar". (This was a misunderstanding of the "legislative plural" policy. The Commission has made it clear that local conventions for plural formation should apply in most contexts and the "legislative plural" is expected only in a narrow range of contexts—that is, only in legislation. On the other hand, it remains the case that Irish broadcasters are not following the Commission's recommendations.) People who have become accustomed to what they hear on daily television and radio use the s-less plurals. These are also seen written on the notes and coins, though this is less likely to influence usage than broadcasting.
Any number of rationales were subsequently applied to explain why the s-less plural might be acceptable, but these are generally folk etymologies. Long-standing plurals in -s for currencies that have singular forms ending in -o, like pesos and escudos, are relevant when considering the plural of the euro currency. (Compare also the plural of the name of the marsupials known as Wallaroo.) While it is true that s-less plurals exist in English for some other currencies (such as the yen, won, rand and baht), this usage is not the reason that the s-less plural for the euro was introduced. When (as noted above) people initially complained that the EU had no business changing English grammar, they were certainly not taking these unusual plurals as "natural"; they expected 5 euros and balked at 5 euro.
Usage of both the legislative and natural plurals is widespread in Ireland.
[edit] Australia, Canada, UK, USA
Common usage in the rest of the English-speaking world is to use the natural plurals. The media in the UK prefer euros and cents as the plural forms. Broadcasts of currency exchange rates outside of the European Union tend to use the plural in -s, with NPR in the United States and CBC in Canada being two examples. The term euro-cent is sometimes used in countries (such as Australia, Canada, and the United States which also have "cent" as a currency subdivision), to distinguish them from their local coin. This usage, though unofficial, is perhaps understandable since the coins themselves have the words "EURO" and "CENT" displayed on the common side. The terms "eurodollar", which commonly refers to U.S. dollar deposits outside the United States, or "euro dollar" which is the spoken form of the EUR/USD currency pair in the foreign exchange markets, have occasionally been used, confusingly, to refer to the euro in other parts of the world, particularly non-EU countries such as Australia, Canada, and the United States.
[edit] Slang terms
In Ireland, the slang term quid has been transferred from the Irish pound to the euro, with widespread usage. The terms fiver and tenner (originally for 5 pound- and 10 pound-notes respectively) have carried over as reference to euro notes, and grand for a thousand of any currency is also commonly used. In the younger population the terms 'yo(s)' and 'yoyo(s)' are also said to be in common usage.[citation needed]
[edit] Finnish
The Finnish pronunciation for "euro" is [ˈeu.ro]. In Finnish, the form sentti is used for the cent. Finnish does not have irregular plurals, so euro and sentti are naturally regular and decline accordingly. With numerals, the partitive singulars euroa and senttiä are used, e.g., 10 euroa. This is abbreviated 10 €, where the € symbol takes the role of the word euroa (never *€10 or *10€). The colon notation (€:a) must not be used with the partitive of euro when the number is in nominative. In general, colon notation should be avoided and, for example, instead of €:n or €:a one should write euron or euroa.
Sentti is problematic in that its primary meaning is "centimeter". Thus, the officially recommended abbreviation of sentti is snt, although Finnish merchants generally use a decimal notation (for example 0,35 €).
Slang terms: In Helsinki slang, a slang word for euro is ege. This comes from huge, the Helsinki slang word for the now defunct Finnish markka.
[edit] French
In French, the official plural is the same as the natural plural euros. The Académie Française, which is regarded as an authority for the French language in France, stated this clearly [3], following French legislation in this regard. [4].
The term cent/cents [sɛnt]/[sɛnt] is official in France and Belgium, but is in competition (mainly in France) with centime/centimes (the French name for one one-hundredth of the former French or Belgian franc), in part to avoid confusion[citation needed] with the word cent [sɑ̃], meaning 'hundred'. However, the two words are pronounced differently, and a parallel situation in Canada (the French word for a hundredth of a Canadian dollar is "cent" [sɛnt]) has long existed without attracting attention. Before its use in relation to the euro, the word "cent" pronounced [sɛnt] was best known to European Francophones as a hundredth of a dollar (U.S., Canadian, etc.)
In France, the word centime, or centime d'euro, is far more common than cent. According to the Académie Française, "the hundredth of a euro is to be referred to as centime". [5]
French-speaking Belgians use more often cent than centime because centime was almost never used for Belgian francs and because of the American movies' influence.
Informal terms: In France, the informal term balles (appearing only in the plural and after a numeral) was commonly used (50 balles = 50 francs). Since the introduction of the euro the use of the term 'balles' has decreased. However, this term still means francs rather than euros, particularly in Switzerland, where it refers to the Swiss franc. Similarly, the slang term brique (ten thousand French francs) is not often heard any more.
[edit] German
Plural: In German, Euro and Cent are used as both singular and plural when following a numeral, as is the case with all units of measurement of masculine or neuter gender (e.g. Pfund, Kilo(gramm), Dollar, etc.). However, when talking about euros or cents in the sense of individual coins, the plurals Euros and Cents are used.
The only other marked case is the genitive singular, which is (des) Euros or, alternatively, des Euro.
Pronunciation: The beginning of the word Euro is pronounced in German with the diphthong [ɔɪ], which sounds similar to the 'oi' in the English word "oil".
The spelling of the word Cent is not well adapted to German spelling conventions because these strive to avoid ambiguous letter-sound correspondences. Initial letter C is often used in loanwords and pronounced in various ways depending on the language of origin (e.g. [s] in Centime, [ʧ] in Cello, [ʦ] in Celsius and [k] in Café). Most of these words are therefore eventually spelled phonetically (e.g. Kaffee, Kadmium, Zentimeter).
Latin words beginning with "ce" such as centum (hundred) are traditionally pronounced [ʦ] in German, and German words derived from these have therefore for a long time already been spelled with a Z, which is pronounced [ʦ] (as in Zentrum (centre), Zentimeter (centimetre), etc.). Equivalently, some German speakers pronounce the beginning of the word "Cent" [ʦ], but since they are familiar with the English pronunciation of the American unit cent, most people pronounce it [s].
As these are nouns, both Euro and Cent are capitalised in German.
Slang terms: In Austria and Germany, the euro has also been called Teuro, a play on the word teuer, meaning 'expensive'. The Deutsche mark by comparison was worth half as much as the euro (a ratio of approximately 2:1) and some grocers and restaurants are accused of taking advantage of the smaller numbers to increase their actual prices with the changeover.
In Germany, the nickname of Groschen (formerly used for the 0.10 mark coin) has been adopted for the 10 cent coin, as for the former 10 Pfennig. Sechser (actually a 6er, but for 0.05 mark or 5 cent) is still in rare use, too. Groschen as a slang word is not used in Austria, since that was the name of 0.01 Schilling, worth €0.0007.
In youth culture also the plural-only word Euronen is sometimes used; many people see this as a parody of technology or science fiction vocabulary, after a Star Trek internet parody introduced also the race of the Euronen (Euronians). Alternatively, Euronen is thought of as a bastardization of Neuronen, which means neurons.
In the eastern part of Austria the word Eumeln (meaning "twerps", also plural-only) is occasionally used. It combines the word euro with a typical Austrian-German ending (like the word Semmeln, Austrian for "bun" or "roll") and gives the word a more casual and familiar touch.
Also, Öre is occasionally used, from the Swedish currency.
In German Internet culture, the name Fragezeichen (question mark) is occasionally used in reference to the widespread problems with the euro sign which was often rendered as question mark. The term is most often written using the mock currency code FRZ.
[edit] Greek
In the Greek language the immutable word ευρώ ([e̞v.ˈɾoˑ]) is used as the currency's name. It was decided to use omega (ω) rather than omicron (ο) as the last letter of the word, partly because a noun ending with omicron would encourage mutability, and partly to stress the origin of the euro in the Greek word Ευρώπη (Europe) which is also spelled with omega and it is actually written on the euro notes in Greek as ΕΥΡΩ. Also, the spelling ΕΥΡΟ (resulting in a plural ΕΥΡΑ) on the notes could have confused other Europeans.
For the cent, the terms used are λεπτό, plural λεπτά (leptó, plural leptá), a name used for small denominations of various ancient and modern Greek currencies, including the drachma (which the euro replaced). It is also the word for 'minute'.
Although the official term "ευρώ" is indeclinable, some people in spoken Greek say "ευρά" (evra) in plural, mostly when making fun of money but not in serious conversation. Also, linguistically speaking, the word "euro" in Greek language functions as a prefix and prefixes don't take plural form. Since there is a word following it (ie. euro- currency)the plural should be put on the potentially present second word. Additionally, the 2 euro ("δύο ευρώ") coin is usually referred to as "δίευρο" (thievro) by Greeks.
In Cyprus, however, the cent will be called officially 'cent' both in singular and plural. This is the name used now for the 1/100th of the Cyprus pound chosen for its neutrality to both official languages of the Republic (82% of population are Greeks and 18% Turks).
[edit] Hungarian
In Hungarian the currency is named euró and cent (as in Hungarian no plural is used after numbers), the former with a long ó, as decided by the Research Institute for Linguistics of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, since Hungarian words cannot end in short o either in writing or in speech (except for one or two interjections), see these international words as examples: fotó, videó, sztereó. The spelling is also in accordance with the word "Europe" in Hungarian ("Európa"). The plural is not normally marked in Hungarian after numerals, but both names can take suffixes like euróval, euróért, euróból, etc. ("with a euro", "for a euro", "from a euro", etc.).
As of October 2004, Hungary is struggling, along with Lithuania, Latvia, and Slovenia, for the euro to be written in its official documents according to its own usage and spelling, in contrast with a 1998 EU decree which would call for a single name throughout the Union.
The Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe, signed in 2005, contains the following declaration from Hungary and Latvia:
50. Declaration by the Republic of Latvia and the Republic of Hungary on the spelling of the name of the single currency in the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe
Without prejudice to the unified spelling of the name of the single currency of the European Union referred to in the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe as displayed on the banknotes and on the coins, Latvia and Hungary declare that the spelling of the name of the single currency, including its derivatives as applied throughout the Latvian and Hungarian text of the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe, has no effect on the existing rules of the Latvian and the Hungarian languages.
[edit] Icelandic
In Icelandic the euro is called evra, derived from the Icelandic name of Europe, Evrópa. The plural is formed regularly: evrur. The cents are often called sent which is a neuter word and has the same form in the nominative singular. However, a more common usage is to refer to, say, 20 cent as 0,20 evrur.
[edit] Irish
In Irish, the English words euro and cent are used, as foreign borrowings without change in spelling or pronunciation, and immune to the natural rules of Irish mutation after numbers. The masculine noun eoró (plural eorónna) has been coined from the word Eoraip ('Europe'), and ceint (plural ceinteanna) has been in the lexicon since at least 1959. The words eoró and ceint are attested in printed literature, though the foreign borrowings tend to be more frequent, again due to a lack of coordinated language planning[citation needed].
[edit] Italian
In Italian the word euro is used, as both singular and plural. Rarely the word euri is used for plural. No slang replacement exists. However the issue of whether the correct plural form would be euri or euro remained open for a long time, predating the actual introduction of the currency and leaving a relative uncertainty among speakers. The Accademia della Crusca assigned to Severina Parodi, lexicographer, and to Luca Serianni, language historian, the task to give a response. They deliberated in favour of euri in 1999 with the motivation that "euro is a masculine noun". But the issue was then re-examined many times. Finally, the consensus of the Accademia was in favour of invariability and appeared, with an articulate rationale, on issue 23 (October 2001) of La Crusca per voi (Gli euro e le lingue, (Italian)). In the 306th session of the Senate of the Italian Republic, December 18, 2002, an amendment to the financial act was proposed to adopt euri as the plural form for public official deeds but was quickly rejected (See Amendment 62.5, (Italian)).
The word cent is in practical use always replaced by the word centesimo, which simply means "hundredth" (also see centime in French); its plural form is centesimi. Cent only appears on documents such as electricity and telephone bills; in any case it is rather perceived by native speakers as an abbreviation of "centesimo" (and in fact often followed by a period and pronounced [ʧent]) than as an autonomous proper name.
[edit] Latin
In general, according to Latin Wikipedia (Vicipædia) [6], the Latin word for euro is the same, euro in the nominative case. In plural, it is eurones in the nominative case.
Due to the inflective nature of the language, it uses the 3rd masculine declension in the five other cases used the language, they are as follows, in the vocative case, it is euro and the plural eurones, the accusative case, it is euronem and eurones, the genitive case, it is euronis and euronum, the dative case, it is euronī and euronibus, and finally in the ablative case, it is eurone and euronibus.
However, because it doesn't have the masculine ending, "-us", some users use the word euronus, and the plural euroni. In the other cases, it follows the 2nd masculine declension.
[edit] Latvian
In Latvian there are still at least two concurrent usages. The majority say and write 'eiro' (which somewhat resembles the West European euro, but has also taken its sound from Eiropa, the Latvian word for Europe). [6]
Purists insist that standardised usage is eira – a word that is declinable according to the normal and convenient Latvian pattern. Eirai clearly means for the euro, eirās means in euros, and so forth. In contrast, eiro, like all Latvian words ending in an '-o', is unable to take on inflections therefore it results in ambiguous phrases like "samainīt eiro", which can be interpreted in a variety of ways: to exchange into euros, to exchange euros [for something else], to exchange one euro – and this limits the fluency of communication.
The official usage of eira has been affirmed by Terminology Commission of the Latvian Academy of Sciences, with the argument that a potentially frequently used term needs to fit especially well in the structure of grammar. However, some media outlets and banks have preserved a habit of using eiro. Latvian language routinely adapts foreign words by adding declinable endings (like Ņujorka for New York, freska for fresco), although internationalisms ending in '-o' (like foto, auto) are common as well. (See also the article on the euro in the Latvian Wikipedia, and the section above about Hungarian.)
[edit] Lithuanian
In Lithuanian the euro and cent are called euras and centas (in common language usually eurocentas, to distinguish from the cents of the current Lithuanian currency, Litas), while plural forms are eurai and centai (eurocentai). The Lithuanian language routinely adapts foreign words by re-spelling them according to Lithuanian phonetic rules and adding standardised endings, resulting in words like kompiuteris or Tonis Bleiras. Lithuania is expected[attribution needed] to join the eurozone in 2010.
[edit] Maltese
In Maltese euro is spelt ewro (in every Maltese text that is not legal), as was announced in December 2005.[7] Ewro is spelled with w instead of u because it is derived from the Maltese word Ewropa (Europe), also written with w. Furthermore, the vowels e and u are not written next to each other in Maltese, except when they are pronounced as two syllables, which is not the case with Euro.[8] The plural is unchanged. The cent is known as the ċenteżmu, plural ċenteżmi, both abbreviated to ċ.
In Maltese 'ewro' always starts with a small letter e, except when it is found in the beginning of a sentence, and ewro is masculine singular.
[edit] Norwegian
In Norwegian there could be a problem concerning the spelling, since euro is masculine and would normally take a plural -ar ending in Nynorsk and -er in Bokmål. But since words for foreign currencies (like dollar and yen) normally do not have the endings -ar or -er in Norwegian the Norwegian Language Council reached a decision in 1996 that the proper conjugation of the word euro should be [9]
in Nynorsk:
- ein euro – euroen – euro – euroane
in Bokmål:
- en euro – euroen – euro – euroene
The declensions are respectively: The two first in Singular, and the two last in Plural, while the first of each category are indefinite, the last of each category are definite nouns. The word cent is an old loan word in Norwegian – and it is conjugated the same way:
in Nynorsk:
- ein cent – centen – cent – centane
in Bokmål:
- en cent – centen – cent – centene
The pronunciation of the two words in Norwegian are [ˈɛv.ɾu] and [sɛnt].
[edit] Polish
In Polish euro is spelled euro in both singular and plural, and pronounced /ˈɛw.rɔ/. On the other hand cent is declinable, being eurocent (/ɛuroʦɛnt/) in singular and eurocenty (/ɛuroˈʦɛn.tɨ/) or eurocentów (/ɛuroʦɛn.tuf/) in plural.
[edit] Portuguese
In Portuguese, euro passes as a Portuguese word and thus is used in the singular form, with euros as the common plural form. Cent, which does not conform to Portuguese word-forming rules, is commonly converted to cêntimo (singular) and cêntimos (plural).
The term cêntimo might have been adopted to distinguish it from the fractional value of the Portuguese escudo, which was called centavo.
Pronunciation for euro in Portuguese is still not standardized, either [ˈew.ɾɔ] or [ˈew.ɾu], with the former being more widespread in the south of the country, as the latter is in the north.
Some people also call them ouros (or the dialectal variation oiros) for the resemblance with that Portuguese word meaning "gold".
[edit] Romanian
In Romanian the euro and cent are called euro and cent (plural cenți). The official plural of euro is also euro, and this official form was readily adopted by speakers.
[edit] Russian
Russia occupies the largest territory in geographic Europe and is currently the largest holder of the euro currency outside the Eurozone. Russia currently borders on one Eurozone member - Finland, which supplies much of the euro inflow in Russia in trade exchange and tourism, especially to Saint Petersburg. In Russian, just like in the Bulgarian language, euro is spelled евро both in the singluar and the plural, while cent is цент (sg.) and центы (pl.), though there are many colloquial semi-ironic forms such as евры 'yevry' based on the similarity with the Russian word евреи "yevrei" (Jews), копейки for cents and others. The same form is used in the singular and the plural. Cents are sometimes transliterated as цент 'tsent' - singular, центы 'tsenty' - plural. Numerative form is цент for 1 cent (as well as amounts that end in 1 except for the ones ending in 11 - e.g. 51 цент but 11 центов), центa for 2 to 4 cents (as well as any other amounts ending in 2, 3 or 4, except for the ones ending in 12, 13, 14 - e.g. 54 центa but 12 центoв) and центoв for the rest - 88 центoв. Sometimes eвроцент (also romanized as 'yevrocent' or 'evrotsent') is used to distinguish euro-cents from the American cents.
[edit] Serbian
In Serbian the euro and cent are called Serbian Cyrillic: евро /ˈɛv.ro/ and Serbian Latin evro (pl. евра/evra) and цент/cent (pl. центи/centi). Evro is spelled with v instead of u because it is derived from the word Европа/Evropa (Europe), also written with v.
The c in cent is pronounced as /ʦ/ in accordance with pronunciations in the Serbian language.
In Serbia the Serbian Cyrillic alphabet is official script by the Constitution, the Serbian Latin alphabet is also in use.
[edit] Slovak
In Slovak the euro and cent are called euro and cent, the plural forms for amounts between 2 and 4 are 2 eurá/centy, and the plural forms for larger amounts are 5 eur/centov. Euro is spelled with u because it is derived from the word Európa (Europe).
[edit] Slovenian
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In Slovenian the euro and cent are called evro and cent, the dual form is 2 evra/centa and the plural forms are 3 evri/centi and 5 evrov/centov. Evro is spelled with v instead of u because it is derived from the word Evropa (Europe), also written with v.
However, the v in the word evro is not pronounced as v, but as w (see Slovenian phonology). The c in cent is pronounced as ʦ.
In laws and regulations, though, the word ‘evro’ is replaced with the word ‘euro’ in all grammatical cases in accordance with an agreement between Slovenia and the European Union. [10]
[edit] Spanish
In the Spanish language, the official plural is the same as its natural plural euros. For the cent, the word céntimo (plural céntimos) is used. The fraction of the peseta was also called céntimo, but it was out of circulation since decades before. The word "euro" is pronounced as "ewro" in the Spanish language.
[edit] Swedish
In Swedish writing, euro(s) as an amount of money is spelt euro (and cent is spelt cent) both in singular and plural. The currency "the euro" is spelt "euron" following Swedish grammar rules.
In Sweden, officially and used in TV and radio news, it is pronounced [ˈɛv.ɾu], similarly to how eu is pronounced in modern Swedish in neuro- or pseudo-. Some people pronounce it in a more English way [ˈjʊː.ɹo] (no "s" in plural). The latter usage is unpopular among purists, who believe English has too much influence on the Swedish language. In Sweden there are no widespread slang terms since the euro is a foreign currency.
In Finland, where Swedish is an official language abreast of Finnish, and the country has adopted the euro as currency. The same spelling is used (officially Swedish in Finland is spelt as in Sweden). The pronunciation, however, is [ˈɛu.ɾo], which has some similarities to Finnish pronunciation. The abbreviation is like 3,14 €, same as for Finnish. A common slang term in Finland is "ege", taken from the Finnish language.
[edit] Turkish
Turkey and Northern Cyprus continue to use New Turkish Lira as their official currency, but the euro is popularly used, particularly by individuals wanting to convert their savings into a more stable currency. The euro has colloquially been pronounced in the English fashion since its inception.
In response to criticism of widespread English pronunciation of euro, the Turkish Language Association officially introduced avro into Turkish ("av" being the first syllable of the Turkish word for Europe, Avrupa) in 1998. A concerted campaign by the Turkish Language Association has begun to blossom in recent years, with most sections of the Turkish media now using the new word. It has yet to enter widespread colloquial use, however. The word avro could cause problems in the event that Turkey becomes an EU member, and joins euro as the European Commission has refused to allow local variants, unless they are in a different script.
[edit] Ukrainian
The euro is becoming relatively widespread in the Ukraine although the country isn't currently bordering the Eurozone. In standard literary Ukrainian 'euro' is spelt євро ('yevro'), although Russian-influenced евро (pronounced 'yevro') is also possible and more common in large cities across the country, South-Eastern areas, and among Russophones. The same form is used in singular and plural cases. Cents are translated as цент ('tsent') - singular, центи ('tsenty') - plural. Like in the Russian language, there is some variation in cases. Numerative form is цент for 1 cent (as well as amounts that end in 1 except for the ones ending in 11 - e.g. 51 цент but 11 центів), центи for 2 to 4 cents (as well as any other amounts ending in 2, 3 or 4, except for the ones ending in 12, 13, 14 - e.g. 54 центи but 12 центів) and центів for the rest - 88 центів. Sometimes євроцент ('yevrocent') or евроцент ('evrotsent') is used to distinguish eurocents from American cents.
[edit] In artificial languages
In Esperanto, a constructed language, the currency is called "eŭro" [7], similar to the Esperanto word for the continent "Eŭropo." A cent is cendo, as is commonly used for subunits of all centimalized currency (cents, centimes, etc). The o ending in euro conveniently accords with the standard -o noun ending in Esperanto, but rather than sound out e and u separately, Esperanto speakers elected to use the diphthong eŭ making the Esperanto name of the currency not identical with what is written on the currency. Plurals are formed in accordance with Esperanto rules, eŭroj and cendoj. The words are also declined as any Esperanto noun (eŭro/eŭroj in the nominative, eŭron/eŭrojn in the accusative). Esperanto speakers are unlikely to call a cent cento, since cento means 100, rather than a hundredth. The alternative word would be centono, literally, "one-hundredth part".
[edit] Notes
- ^ CONVERGENCE REPORT - MAY 2007 (English). European Central Bank. Retrieved on 2008-01-02.
- ^ Euro: valutateken voor of achter het bedrag?, Nederlandse Taalunie, retrieved 21 december 2006.
- ^ http://www.reuters.com/article/companyNewsAndPR/idUSL1868684020071018
- ^ euro entry in Retskrivningsorbogen (Danish). Dansk Sprognævn. Retrieved on 2006-10-17.
- ^ Euro: valutateken voor of achter het bedrag?, Nederlandse Taalunie, retrieved 21 december 2006.
- ^ Euro – Vicipaedia
- ^ Eŭro - Vikipedio (HTML). Vikipedio (Esperanto Wikipedia). Retrieved on 2007-12-12.
[edit] External links
Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
- Evertype: Michael Everson: The euro and standardization
- Spelling of the words “euro” and “cent” in the official Community languages - to be used when drawing up Community Legislative acts
- Local Display Formats
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