"un păianjen, doi păianjeni"

Translation:a spider, two spiders

November 18, 2016

In the audio, păianjen and păianjeni sound the exact same. Is the audio wrong or is this how they are actually pronounced?

Like most Romanian words that end with an i, it's a very soft i sound. It is in the audio if you listen carefully.

They sound the same to me too, but I'm thinking that N at the end of the plural might be palatalized.

That is correct.

Thanks, either my computer speakers or my ears are never good enough to pick up these niceties.

The palatalised 'n' in the plural causes the quality of the preceding vowel to be raised or tensed, as well.

'One spider, two spiders' is considered wrong, but duo offers 'one' and 'a' for 'un' in its drop drop down list