"the uncles"

Translation: unchii

[Enchom]

If "unchi" means "uncle" then shouldn't it be "unchii" for "uncles" and "unchiii" for "the uncles"?

[potestasity]

No, "unchi" simply has the same singular and plural form.
There are no nouns in Romanian that follow the -i/-ii/-iii pattern. Most nouns that end in "-iii" in their plural articulated form, end in "-iu" in the singular unarticulated form (the only exception that comes to mind is "copil" - "copiii").

[efalc]

Great! Thanks for the question and the answer! I was just starting to wonder about this myself, but hadn't consciously picked up on that pattern yet :)

[olb38]

So much can be learn only in reading comments! Thank you all!!!

[PaulMinden]

for native speaker, what's the difference between NEA and UNCHI? multumesc!

[razvan.marin]

Unchi is uncle.

Nea followed by someone's first or last name is used address an older man in an informal way: nea Vasile. It could be your uncle, it could be your neighbor, or someone like the butcher etc. but you don't use it to address a teacher, an institution worker, a doctor unless you also know them personally.

[PaulMinden]

Thanks for another stellar explanation! Are you a teacher?

[razvan.marin]

No :) I do nothing like that. And I was disliked by my Romanian language teachers throughout school because I didn't like literature and writing essays. I like grammar and semantics though and I'm quite analytical myself so I enjoy explaining these things.

I have seen very interesting questions asked around here, things that we never really get to think about why we use them - they just make sense for us.

[potestasity]

Actually, the DEX lists one meaning of nene as a regional way for children to talk to/about their uncles.

"Nea" is a form derived from "nene".