TheTransylvanian varieties of Romanian (subdialectele / graiurile ardelene) are a group ofdialects of theRomanian language (Daco-Romanian). These varieties cover the historical region ofTransylvania, except several large areas along the edges towards the neighboring dialects.

The Transylvanian varieties are part of the northern group of Romanian dialects, along withMoldavian andBanat.

Among the Transylvanian varieties, theCrișana dialect is easier to distinguish, followed by theMaramureș dialect. Less distinct are two other dialectal areas, one in the northeast and another in the center and south.

Unlike the other Romanian dialects, those ofWallachia,Moldavia, andBanat, the Romanian ofTransylvania is broken up into many smaller and less distinct local speech varieties, making its dialectal classification more difficult. Classifications made until the late 19th century included a Transylvanian dialect,^[1] but as soon as detailed language facts became available, in the early 20th century, that view was abandoned. In 1908, Gustav Weigand used phonetic differences and reached the conclusion that the Romanian in Transylvania was a mosaic of transition varieties.^[2] Subsequent researchers agreed with his view.

Emil Petrovici suggested that dialectal fragmentation could be attributed to the fact that Transylvania has been inhabited for more time and so differentiated and split into small dialectal cells, which were determined by geography. However, Moldavia and Wallachia were relatively recently colonized, which led to a remarkable dialectal unity in both regions.^[3]

As a group, all Transylvanian varieties share a small number of common phonetic features:

• The stressed vowels[e,ə,o] open to[ɛ,ɜ,ɔ].
• After[s,z,t͡s] and, in some varieties also after[ʃ,ʒ,r], the following vocalic changes occur:[e] becomes[ə],[i] becomes[ɨ], and[e̯a] reduces to[a].
• The diphthong[ɨj] found in the Wallachian dialect is realised as the monophthong[ɨ]:[ˈkɨne,ˈmɨne,ˈpɨne] forcâne,mâne,pâne.
• Stressed vowels tend to be pronounced longer.
• The vowel[a] before a stressed syllable closes to[ə].
• In a series of verbs, the stress shifts to the root:[ˈblastəm,ɨnˈfəʃur,ˈstrəkur,ˈməsur] for standardblestèm,înfășèr,strecòr,măsòr.
• The vowel[u] is found in the full paradigm of the verbsa durmi,a adùrmi ("to sleep, to fall asleep", compare with standarda dormi,a adormi).

• Romanian phonology

• Vasile Ursan,"Despre configurația dialectală a dacoromânei actuale",Transilvania (new series), 2008, No. 1, pp. 77–85(in Romanian)
• Ilona Bădescu,"Dialectologie", teaching material for the University of Craiova.

• Culture of Transylvania
• Romanian language varieties and styles

• Articles with Romanian-language sources (ro)
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Pages with plain IPA