Culture
Multicultural glossary
The short pocket version: Turkish, Tatar, Lipovan and marsh words you hear in the field. The legends hold the stories; this holds the vocabulary. It is not an academic dictionary.
Town and mahala
Geamie, mahala, minaret, türbe, ceai, bazar. In Constanța and Babadag you hear them without effort, if you listen.
Water
Liman, grind, japșă, braț, canal, lotcă, milă, storceac. In Tulcea and downriver, on the water, they are tools, not poetry.
Steppe and vineyard
Sarica, peony, thistles, limestone, a brook that runs dry. Măcin and the vineyard have their own lexicon; the archaeological glossary is another one, for walls.
People
Lipovan, Tatar, Turk, Greek, Armenian, Dobrogea Jew — community names, not nicknames. Use them as they use them, not as a guide's label.
Off-season
Our house word: after 15 September, the coast is town and promenade, not a bathing season. You will see it often. It is an editorial choice, not a law.