La mulți ani
/la ˌmult͡sʲ ˈanʲ/
The Romanian phrase for "happy name day" is La mulți ani.
La mulți ani is used to wish someone well on their name day, which is the feast day of the saint they are named after. In Romanian, this same phrase is also used to say "happy birthday".
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase La mulți ani literally translates to "To many years".
Which one should you use?
Unlike in English, where you would use different phrases for birthdays and name days, Romanian uses the single phrase La mulți ani for both occasions.
How do you pronounce it?
/la ˌmultsʲ ˈanʲ/
When do people say it?
In Romania, celebrating a name day is a common social custom and is often treated with similar importance to a birthday.
Did you know?
- The phrase La mulți ani is actually a linguistic calque of the Byzantine Greek expression εἰς ἔτη πολλά.
- Because many Romanians share the same saints' names, a single day might result in dozens of people in one village or office all receiving La mulți ani simultaneously.
- In some traditional Romanian communities, the name day is viewed as a spiritual anniversary of the saint's life rather than a celebration of the individual.
Examples in context
- La mulți ani de nume!Happy name day!
- La mulți ani, sper să ai o zi frumoasă.Happy name day, I hope you have a beautiful day.
Example conversation
Stefan greets Maria on her name day at the office.
- StefanBună, Maria! La mulți ani de ziua numelui!Hi, Maria! Happy name day!
- MariaMulțumesc mult, Stefan!Thank you very much, Stefan!
- StefanȚi-am adus o mică atenție.I brought you a small gift.
- MariaEști foarte drăguț, mersi!You are very sweet, thanks!
Sources
- Pronunciation from the Wiktionary entry la mulți ani.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries la, la mulți ani, CC BY-SA 4.0.
