Linguistic issues concerning the euro

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" [cite web
title = CONVERGENCE REPORT - MAY 2007
publisher = European Central Bank
url = http://www.ecb.eu/pub/pdf/conrep/cr200705en.pdf
accessdate = 2008-01-02 |format=PDF]

Consequently, the spelling as it appears on the banknotes, is "EURO" in the Latin script and "ΕΥΡΩ" in the Greek script. The Cyrillic spelling "ЕВРО" will most likely first appear on the banknotes in 2010.

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, e.g. "The currency will be denominated in euro and cent".

The exception is Greece, which uses " _el. λεπτό" (leptό, Singular), " _el. λεπτά" (leptá, Plural) on the national face of its coins. Immutable word formations have been encouraged by the European Commission in use 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.

However, the Directorate-General for Translation, the EU's translation service, recommends that in English language texts the regular plurals 'euros' and 'cents' should be used in non-legal documents "intended for the general public". [European Commission, Directorate General for Translation: [http://ec.europa.eu/translation/writing/style_guides/english/style_guide_en.pdf English Style Guide] section 20.7 "However, in all other texts, especially documents intended for the general public, use the regular plurals euros and cents."]

Arabic

In the Arab world the Euro is usually referred to as يورو (IPA|ˈjuːru), which is an adaptation of the English pronunciation of the currency's name. In most cases this term is used both for the singular and the plural form, although the term يوروات (IPA|juːruˈwaːt) is occasionally used for the plural form. The name for Europe in Arabic is أوروبّا (IPA|ʔuːˈrubba).

Asturian

In Asturian, there has been a controversy about the spelling of the word. The official academic dictionary uses the spelling "euru" [ [http://academiadelallingua.com/diccionariu/index.php?cod=24154 Academia de la Llingua Asturiana, "Diccionariu de la Llingua Asturiana"] ] , respecting the Asturian tendency to write nouns with a final "-u". However, considering that the international use is "euro" and that there is a tendency in Asturian to write some short forms with a final "-o" (like "euro" from "Europa"), other linguists, like Ramón d'Andrés, defend the spelling "euro" [ [http://www.asturies.com/paxina.php?fpaxina=bilordios0218 Ramón d'Andrés, "Euru, euro"] ] .

Bulgarian

Bulgarian uses the Cyrillic alphabet. The current design of euro banknotes has the word "euro" written in both the Latin and Greek alphabets. 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 /IPA|ˈɛv.ro/; (from Bulgarian Европа /IPA|ɛv.'ro.pa/, meaning "Europe") the plural varies in spoken language – евро, евра /IPA|ɛv.ˈra/, еврота /IPA|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 /IPA|ˈɛv.ro.ʦɛnt/ and most probably that, or only цент /IPA|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 word stotinki (стотинки), singular stotinka (стотинка), the name of the subunit of the current Bulgarian currency can be used in place of cent, as it has become a synomym of the word “coins” in colloquial Bulgarian; just like “cent” (from Latin centum), its etymology is from a word meaning hundred – “sto” (сто). Stotinki is used widely in the Bulgarian diaspora in Europe to refer to subunits of currencies other than the Bulgarian lev

Initially, the ECB and the EU Commission insisted that Bulgaria change the name it uses for the currency from ЕВРО to ЕУРО, claiming the currency should have an official and standard spelling across the EU. Bulgaria on the other hand stated that it wants to take into account the different alphabet and the principle of phonetic orthography in the Bulgarian language. [ [http://www.sofiaecho.com/article/to-the-editor-oyro-yuro-or-evro/id_18641/catid_27 letter to the editor | The Sofia Echo] ]

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. [ [http://www.reuters.com/article/companyNewsAndPR/idUSL1868684020071018 Bulgaria wins victory in evro battle | Reuters ] ] [ [http://www.sofiaecho.com/article/evro-dispute-over--portuguese-foreign-minister/id_25576/catid_66 “Evro” dispute over – Portuguese foreign minister | The Sofia Echo] ]

As of 13 December 2007, all EU institutions – including the ECB – use ЕВРО as the official Bulgarian transliteration of the single European currency.

Catalan

In Catalan (spoken in Andorra, Balearic Islands, Catalonia and Valencian Community) the official plural is the same as its regular plural "euros". In Eastern Catalan, despite the fact that its regular and official pronunciation is IPA|/ˈɛwɾu/ in Catalonia, and IPA|/ˈɛwɾo/ in the Balearic Islands, many people pronounce it IPA|/ˈewɾo/ as in Valencian. For the cent, the word "cèntim" IPA|/ˈsɛntim/ (plural "cèntims") is used. The fraction of the peseta was also called "cèntim", but it was withdrawn from circulation decades ago.

Croatian

The spelling "euro" is used in Croatia.

Czech

In Czech, the words "euro" and "cent" are spelt the same as in English and pronounced per Czech phonology IPA|/ɛʊ.ɾɔ/, IPA|/ʦɛnt/. Occasionally the word "eurocent" is used instead of "cent" to distinguish the euro denomination versus its foreign counterparts. The spelling differs from the Czech word for Europe ("Evropa"); however "euro-" has become a standard prefix for all things relating to EU ("Evropská unie"). Sometimes German-like pronunciation /IPA|ɔɪɾɔ/ appears jokingly.

The Czech declension uses the different form of plural for various numerals: for 21, 31 etc. uses singular "euro" and "cent", for 2, 3 and 4 (and 22, 23, 24, 32, 33, 34 etc.) it is plain nominative "eura" and "centy", while for numbers above 5 genitive (a vestige of partitive) "eur" and "centů". For "euro", these grammatically correct declensions are often ignored and non-declinated "euro" is used for every value.

In Czech "euro" is of neuter gender and inflected as "město", while "cent" is masculine and inflected as "hrad".

Danish

The word "euro" is included in the 2002 version of Retskrivningsordbogen, [cite web
title = "euro" entry in Retskrivningsorbogen
publisher = Dansk Sprognævn
language = Danish
url = http://www.dsn.dk/cgi-bin/ordbog/ronet?S.x=0&S.y=0&M=1&P=cent
accessdate = 2006-10-17 ] 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.

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. In Dutch, the words are however pluralised as "euro's" and "centen" when referring to individual coins or in 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 commonly pronounced as /IPA|ʏːro/; /IPA|ʏː/ being the standard way to pronounce the eu digraph before an r in Dutch (such as /eu/ in "Europa" ("Europe")).

Slang terms: In the Netherlands, slang terms that were previously applied to guilder coinage and banknotes are sometimes applied to euro currency. Examples in the Netherlands include "stuiver" for 5 cents, "dubbeltje" for 10 cents. Fact|date=February 2007

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). Another nickname is "ros" which means redhead, referring to the colour of the coins.

Syntax: In Dutch language print, the euro sign (€) is chiefly placed before the amount, from which it is often separated by a (thin) space. This was also the case with the florin sign (ƒ).

English

Official practice followed in English-language EU legislation is to use the words "euro" and "cent" as both singular and plural. 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 regular plurals in other languages. The Directorate-General for Translation recommends that in all material intended for the general public, the regular plurals, "euros" and "cents", be used. The European Commission Directorate-General for Translation's "English Style Guide" (A handbook for authors and translators in the European Commission) states: "Like ‘pound’, ‘dollar’ or any other currency name in English, the word ‘euro’ is written in lower case with no initial capital and, where appropriate, takes the plural ‘s’ (as does ‘cent’): This book costs ten euros and fifty cents." [For example, see European Commission, Directorate General for Translation: English Style Guide section 20.8 "The euro. Like 'pound', 'dollar' or any other currency name in English, the word 'euro' is written in lower case with no initial capital and, where appropriate, takes the plural 's' (as does 'cent')." [http://ec.europa.eu/translation/writing/style_guides/english/style_guide_en.pdf European Commission Directorate-General for Translation - English Style Guide] .]

In Ireland

As the euro was being adopted in Ireland the Department of Finance decided to use the word "euro" as both the singular and plural forms of the currency, [cite web
title = "An open letter to the Minister for Finance"
publisher = Michael Everson, 2002-03-22
url = http://www.evertype.com/standards/euro/open-letter.pdf
accessdate = 2008-02-28 |format=PDF] [ [http://evertype.com/standards/euro/mccreevy.html Charlie McCreevy: Response to the Open Letter to the Minister, 2002-04-17] ] 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 regular 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 [ [http://evertype.com/standards/euro/kevin.html Kevin Myers, "An Irishman's Diary" in "The Irish Times" 2002-07-24] ] 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 the Euro.) 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.

Use of both the legislative and regular plurals is widespread in Ireland.

In Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the USA

Common usage in the rest of the English-speaking world, where the euro is not the local currency, is to use the regular 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.

lang 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 and £10 notes respectively) have carried over as reference to euro notes, and "grand" for a thousand of any currency is also commonly used.

Esperanto

In Esperanto, the currency is called "eŭro" [cite web |url=http://eo.wikipedia.org/wiki/E%C5%ADro |title=Eŭro - Vikipedio |accessdate=2007-12-12 |format=HTML |work=Vikipedio (Esperanto Wikipedia) ] , 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".

Faroese

In Faroese the euro is called evra, a feminine noun derived from the Faroese name of Europe, "Evropa"; this makes Faroese (with Icelandic) one of only two European languages in which the word for the euro is feminine. 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.

Finnish

The Finnish pronunciation for "euro" is IPA| [ˈeu.ro] . In Finnish, the form "sentti" is used for the cent — 'c' is not used in Finnish, and nativized Finnish words cannot end in consonants like '-nt', therefore a vowel 'i' is added. Finnish does not have irregular declinations, so "euro" and "sentti" are 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".

Plurals (e.g. "kymmenet eurot" "tens of euros") exist, but they are not used with singular numbers (e.g. "kymmenen euroa" "ten euro").

"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".

French

In French the official plural is the same as the regular plural "euros".The Académie Française, which is regarded as an authority for the French language in France, stated this clearly [http://www.academie-francaise.fr/langue/questions.html#euro] , following French legislation in this regard. [http://www.culture.gouv.fr/culture/dglf/cogeter/2-12-97-euro.htm] .

The term "cent"/"cents" IPA| [sɛnt] /IPA| [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 confusionFact|date=March 2007 with the word "cent" IPA| [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" IPA| [sɛnt] ) has long existed without attracting attention. Before its use in relation to the euro, the word "cent" pronounced IPA| [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". [http://www.academie-francaise.fr/actualites/actu_2001.asp#centime]

French-speaking Belgians use more often "cent" than "centime" becauseFact|date=May 2008 "centime" coins for the Belgian franc (worth, on 1 January 1999 about three U.S. cents) rarely circulated (only a 50 centime coin was still being issued) and becauseFact|date=May 2008 of the influence of English, which is more commonly used in Belgium than in France as a result of Belgium's language diversity.

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. "Meter", "Dollar", "Kilo [gramm] ", 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 IPA| [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", IPA| [ʧ] in "Cello", IPA| [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 IPA| [ʦ] in German, and German words derived from these have therefore for a long time already been spelled with a "Z", which is pronounced IPA| [ʦ] (as in "Zentrum" (centre), "Zentimeter" (centimetre), etc.). Equivalently, some German speakers pronounce the beginning of the word "Cent" IPA| [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 have been accused of taking advantage of the smaller numbers to increase their actual prices with the changeover.

In youth and Internet culture the fake plural "Euronen" is sometimes used; This form's origin is unknown but it bears resemblance to "Dublonen" (Dubloons) and has a retro ring to it.

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. Fact|date=July 2008

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.

Greek

In the Greek language the immutable word "ευρώ" (IPA| [evˈro] ) 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 ("Eurōpē", 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, who might read it as a string of Latin letters: "eypo".

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). The word means 'minute' (literally "thin"), the same as the unit of measurement of time or of angle.

Although the official term "ευρώ" is indeclinable, some people in spoken Greek say "ευρά" (evrá) in the plural, mostly when making fun of money but not in serious conversation. Sometimes Greeks say "ευρώπουλα" ("evrópoula", "little euros"), also in jest. Linguistically speaking, the word "euro" in Greek language functions as a prefix and prefixes don't take a 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 often referred to as "δίευρο" ("díevro") by Greeks.

In Cyprus, however, the cent is officially called 'cent' both in singular and plural. This is the name formerly used 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).

Hebrew

Israel is not part of the EU and does not use the Euro as a legal tender. However, when the Euro coins and banknotes were introduced in Europe, the question of the proper spelling and pronunciation of the currency's name in Hebrew was a subject of controversy. Currently two forms are used in Hebrew: אֵירוֹ (IPA| [ˈeʁo] , derived from אֵירוֹפָּה (IPA|eˈʁopa = Europe), and יוּרוֹ (IPA|ˈjuʁo) derived from the English pronunciation of the currency's name. Both forms are used for the singular and plural alike. The former form was adopted by the Bank of Israel according to the Academy of the Hebrew Language's recommendation. The latter is used by some Hebrew newspapers, most notably Haaretz, and is more widespread in popular usage.

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.

This may be moot, however, as that treaty was not ratified by the member states.

Icelandic

In Icelandic the euro is called evra, a feminine noun derived from the Icelandic name of Europe, "Evrópa"; this makes Icelandic (with Faroese) one of only two European languages in which the word for the euro is feminine. 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 write, say, 20 cents as "0,20 evrur".

Irish

In Irish, the English words "euro" and "cent" are used, as foreign borrowings without change in spelling or pronunciation, and immune to the regular 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. [cite web
author = Michael Everson
title = "Euro" or "eora"? "Cent" or "ceint"? The new currency and Ireland"
publisher = First published in Irish in "An Aimsir Óg 2001", vol 2. Baile Átha Cliath: Coiscéim. ISSN 1393-9351
url = http://evertype.com/standards/euro/euro-eora-en.pdf
accessdate = 2008-02-28 |format=PDF]

Italian

In Italian the word "euro" is used, as both singular and plural. Its correct pronunciation is /'ɛuro/, although northern Italians use /'euro/ instead. Rarely the word "euri" is used for plural. 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" ( [http://forum.accademiadellacrusca.it/forum_8/interventi/3231.shtml Gli euro e le lingue] , it icon). The rationale was based on the fact that abbreviated words originating from a longer word (for example "auto" form "automobile" (car) or "moto" from "motocicletta" (motorbike)) do not have a plural form, as well as the fact that the word "Euro" is considered an abbreviation of the word "Europa" (Europe). 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 [http://www.senato.it/service/PDF/PDFServer?tipo=BGT&id=48687 Amendment 62.5] , it icon).

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 IPA| [ʧent] ) than as an autonomous proper name.

Latin

In general, according to Latin Wikipedia (Vicipædia) [ [http://la.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euro Euro – Vicipaedia] ] , the Living 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 takes the 3rd masculine declension in the five other cases used in the language. They are as follows: in the vocative case, it is "euro" and the plural "eurones"; in the accusative case, it is "euronem" and "eurones"; in the genitive case, it is "euronis" and "euronum"; in the dative case, it is "euronī" and" euronibus", and finally, in the ablative case, it is "eurone" and "euronibus".

However, because it does not have the masculine ending, "-us", term euronus, plural euroni, which declines as a 2nd-declension masculine noun, has been used by some speakers.

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"). [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4578806.stm]

Purists insist that [http://www.vvk.lv/index.php?sadala=236&id=792 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 [http://www.lza.lv/ 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.)

Leonese

In Leonese Language, recognized language into the former Kingdom of León (Spain), the word for "euro" is "euru", beeing the plural "euros".

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 expectedWho|date=November 2007 to join the eurozone in 2010.

Maltese

In Maltese euro is spelt "ewro" (in every Maltese text that is not legal), as was announced in December 2005. [http://www.maltamedia.com/news/2005/eu/article_8364.shtml] 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". [http://www.kunsilltalmalti.gov.mt/filebank/documents/reportonthenamesoftheeuropeancurrency.pdf] 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.

Mirandese

In Mirandese (co-official language spoken in the northeast Portugal region of Miranda do Douro) adopted the prefix "ou" already used in words like "European" ("Ouropeu"). The singular form is "Ouro" (/ˈow.ɾu/) and the plural form is "Ouros" (/ˈow.ɾuʃ/). "Ouro" is also the Mirandese word for 'gold' such as in Portuguese. [http://terrademiranda.pt/dic/O.pdf Mirandese-Portuguese Dictionary - Amadeu Ferreira and José Pedro Cardona Ferreira]

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 [http://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diskusjon:Linguistiske_sp%C3%B8rsm%C3%A5l_knyttet_til_euro]

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 IPA| [ˈɛv.ɾu] and IPA| [sɛnt] .

Polish

In Polish euro is spelled "euro" in both singular and plural, and pronounced IPA|/ˈɛw.rɔ/. On the other hand "cent" is declinable, being "eurocent" (IPA|/ɛuroʦɛnt/) in singular and "eurocenty" (IPA|/ɛuroˈʦɛn.tɨ/) or "eurocentów" (IPA|/ɛuroʦɛn.tuf/) in plural.

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 [IPA|ˈew.ɾɔ] or [IPA|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".Fact|date=January 2008

Romanian

In Romanian the euro and cent are called "euro" and "cent" (plural "latinx|cenți"). The official plural of "euro" is also "euro", and this official form was readily adopted by speakers.

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' (there's no plural form for "euro" in Russian), 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.

erbian

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 IPA|/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.

lovak

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). The c in cent is pronounced as ʦ.

lovene

In Slovene 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 Slovene phonology). The "c" in "cent" is pronounced as IPA|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. [http://www.ecb.int/ecb/legal/pdf/en_con_2006_29_f_sign.pdf]

panish

In the Spanish language, the official plural is the same as its regular plural "euros". For the cent, the word "céntimo" (plural "céntimos") is used. The fraction of the peseta was also called "céntimo", but no céntimo coins had been issued since 1980, and had since been demonetized.The word "euro" is pronounced as IPA|/ˈeu.ɾo/ in the Spanish language.

wedish

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 IPA| [ˈɛv.ɾu] , similarly to how "eu" is pronounced in modern Swedish in "neuro-" or "pseudo-" (but not "Europa" "Europe"). Many people pronounce it in a more English way IPA| [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, the euro is the official currency, and Swedish is an official language alongside Finnish. The same spelling as in Sweden is used (officially Swedish in Finland is spelt as in Sweden). The pronunciation, however, is IPA| [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.

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.

Ukrainian

The euro is becoming relatively widespread in Ukraine although the country doesn't currently border the Eurozone. In standard literary Ukrainian 'euro' is spelt евро ('evro'), although Russian-influenced євро (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.

Notes

External links

* [http://evertype.com/standards/euro/ Evertype: Michael Everson: The euro and standardization]
* [http://ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/euro/faqs/spelling_en.pdf Spelling of the words “euro” and “cent” in the official Community languages - to be used when drawing up Community Legislative acts]
* [http://www.thefinancials.com/vortex/CurrencyFormats.html Local Display Formats]