Learn Romanian: Labirintul este ba întunecos, ba luminos. - The labyrinth is now dark, now bright.

The structure ba [X], ba [Y] is a pair of correlative conjunctions used to show rapid alternation or a constantly shifting state. While 'now dark, now bright' is a poetic but accurate English equivalent, you can also translate it as 'sometimes dark, sometimes bright' or 'one moment dark, the next bright'.

I've seen ba used to mean 'no' or to contradict someone. Is this the same word?

Yes! On its own, ba (often in phrases like ba da or ba nu) is used to contradict a previous statement. However, when repeated in the ba..., ba... pattern, it loses that contradictory meaning entirely and becomes a structural tool to show alternating states.

Why do the adjectives întunecos and luminos use this specific ending?

They are agreeing with labirintul (the labyrinth), which is a neuter noun. In Romanian, neuter nouns behave like masculine nouns in the singular. Therefore, these adjectives take the standard masculine/neuter singular suffix -os. If the subject were a feminine noun like pădurea (the forest), they would change to întunecoasă and luminoasă.

In this sentence, ba..., ba... links adjectives. Can it link other parts of speech?

Absolutely. It is highly flexible and frequently links verbs to show alternating actions, such as ba râde, ba plânge (one moment they are laughing, the next crying). It can also link adverbs, pronouns, or nouns to describe any kind of back-and-forth situation.