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{{Short description|Outdated name for the Romanian language in Moldova}} | |||
{{language | |||
{{Hatnote|Not to be confused with ], one of several dialects of the Romanian language.}} | |||
|name=Moldovan | |||
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}} | |||
|nativename=moldovenească,<br>молдовеняскэ{{ref|name}}, română | |||
{{Infobox language | |||
|familycolor=Indo-European | |||
| name = Moldovan | |||
|states=], ], ] | |||
| altname = | |||
|speakers=2,664,000 in ] (1979 census), 181,020 in ] (2001 census){{ref|ukraine}} | |||
| nativename = {{ubl|{{lang|ro|limba moldovenească}}|{{lang|ro-Cyrl|лимба молдовеняскэ}} (in Moldovan Cyrillic)}} | |||
|fam2=] | |||
| pronunciation = {{IPA|ro|ˈlimba moldoveˈne̯askə|}} | |||
|fam3=] | |||
| family = Indo-European | |||
|fam4=] | |||
| familycolor = Indo-European | |||
|fam5=] | |||
| |
| script = {{ubl|] (])}} | ||
| nation = ''{{flag|Transnistria}}'' | |||
|agency=] (Romanian language) | |||
| isoexception = none | |||
|iso1=mo|iso2=mol|iso3=mol|notice=nonotice}} | |||
| glotto = none | |||
| ietf = ro-MD | |||
| iso1 = mo | |||
| iso1comment = (deprecated) | |||
| iso2 = mol | |||
| iso2comment = (deprecated) | |||
| iso3comment = (deprecated) | |||
| iso3 = mol | |||
}} | |||
{{Eastern Romance languages}} | |||
'''Moldovan''' or '''Moldavian''' (]: {{lang|ro|limba moldovenească}}, ]: {{lang|ro-Cyrl|лимба молдовеняскэ}}) is one of the two local names for the ] in ].{{sfn|Kogan Page|2004}}<ref>{{cite web |last=Directorate-General for Translation of the European Commission |title=A Field Guide to the Main Languages of Europe – Spot That Language and How to Tell Them Apart |date=2008 |url=http://extranet.isti.ulb.ac.be/telecharge2.php?user=0&nomfic=willmott%2Fbac2_linguistics%2Fsection%201%20-%20%20history%20of%20linguistics%20indo-eur%20langs%20%20units%201%20and%202%2Ffield_guide_main_languages_of_europe_en.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151117032940/http://extranet.isti.ulb.ac.be/telecharge2.php?user=0&nomfic=willmott%2Fbac2_linguistics%2Fsection%201%20-%20%20history%20of%20linguistics%20indo-eur%20langs%20%20units%201%20and%202%2Ffield_guide_main_languages_of_europe_en.pdf |edition=3rd |access-date=7 April 2020 |archive-date=17 November 2015 |url-status=dead}}</ref> ''Moldovan'' was declared the official language of Moldova in Article 13 of the ] adopted in 1994,<ref name="Constitution">{{Cite web|url=http://gov.md/content/ro/0000072.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080226205217/http://gov.md/content/ro/0000072.pdf|url-status=dead|at=Article 13, line 1 |title=Constitution of the Republic of Moldova|archive-date=26 February 2008}}</ref> while the 1991 ] used the name ''Romanian''. In 2003, the ] adopted a law defining ''Moldovan'' and ''Romanian'' as ] for the same language.<ref name=":0">{{cite web|title=Politics of National Conception of Moldova|url=http://lex.justice.md/index.php?action=view&view=doc&lang=1&id=312846|access-date=10 March 2014|work=Law No. 546/12-19-2003|language=ro|archive-date=10 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140310213233/http://lex.justice.md/index.php?action=view&view=doc&lang=1&id=312846|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2013, the ] interpreted that Article 13 of the constitution is superseded by the Declaration of Independence,<ref name="const-court">{{cite news | title = Hotărâre Nr. 36 din 05.12.2013 privind interpretarea articolului 13 alin. (1) din Constituție în corelație cu Preambulul Constituției și Declarația de Independență a Republicii Moldova (Sesizările nr. 8b/2013 și 41b/2013) | publisher = Constitutional Court of Moldova | quote = 124. ... Prin urmare, Curtea consideră că prevederea conținută în Declarația de Independență referitoare la limba română ca limbă de stat a Republicii Moldova prevalează asupra prevederii referitoare la limba moldovenească conținute în articolul 13 al Constituției. | trans-quote = 124. ... Therefore, the Court considers that the provision contained in the Declaration of Independence regarding the Romanian language as the state language of the Republic of Moldova prevails over the provision regarding the Moldovan language contained in Article 13 of the Constitution. | language = ro | url = http://constcourt.md/download.php?file=cHVibGljL2NjZG9jL2hvdGFyaXJpL3JvLWhfMzZfMjAxM19yby5wZGY%3D | access-date = 20 December 2013 | archive-date = 5 March 2016 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160305051137/http://constcourt.md/download.php?file=cHVibGljL2NjZG9jL2hvdGFyaXJpL3JvLWhfMzZfMjAxM19yby5wZGY%3D | url-status = live }}</ref> thus giving official status to the name ''Romanian''.<ref name="foxnews">{{Cite news |date=2013-12-05 |title=Moldovan court rules official language is 'Romanian', replacing Soviet-flavored 'Moldovan' |work=] |agency=Associated Press |url=https://www.foxnews.com/world/moldovan-court-rules-official-language-is-romanian-replacing-soviet-flavored-moldovan/ |access-date=2013-12-07 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131209102718/http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/12/05/moldovan-court-rules-official-language-is-romanian-replacing-soviet-flavored |archive-date=2013-12-09}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.rferl.org/content/moldova-romanian-official-language/25191455.html| title=Chisinau Recognizes Romanian As Official Language| newspaper=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty| date=5 December 2013| access-date=11 March 2014| archive-date=23 September 2016| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160923021555/http://www.rferl.org/content/moldova-romanian-official-language/25191455.html| url-status=live}}</ref> The ] of ] continues to recognize "Moldavian" as one of its official languages, alongside ] and ].<ref name="constitMFA">{{cite web|url=https://mid.gospmr.org/en/constitution|title=CONSTITUTION OF THE PRIDNESTROVIAN MOLDAVIAN REPUBLIC|date=October 2014 |publisher=]|access-date=16 August 2024}}</ref> ] also continued until recently to make a distinction between ''Moldovan'' and ''Romanian'', with one village declaring its language to be ''Romanian'' and another declaring it to be ''Moldovan'', though Ukrainian officials have announced an intention to remove the legal status of ''Moldovan''.<ref name="ukr">{{cite news|url=https://www.digi24.ro/stiri/externe/ministerul-de-externe-bogdan-aurescu-cere-ucrainei-sa-recunoasca-oficial-inexistenta-limbii-moldovenesti-1568981|title=Ministerul de Externe: Bogdan Aurescu cere Ucrainei să recunoască oficial inexistența 'limbii moldovenești'|newspaper=]|date=19 June 2021|language=ro|access-date=13 September 2021|archive-date=7 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211107142950/https://www.digi24.ro/stiri/externe/ministerul-de-externe-bogdan-aurescu-cere-ucrainei-sa-recunoasca-oficial-inexistenta-limbii-moldovenesti-1568981|url-status=live}}</ref> On 16 November 2023, the ] of the Ukrainian government stated that it has initiated steps to abolish the Moldovan language and to replace it with Romanian.<ref>See ‘Official statement regarding the use in Ukraine of the term "Romanian language" instead of the term "Moldovan language"’, at https://mon.gov.ua/en/news/declaratie-oficiala-privind-utilizarea-in-ucraina-termenului-limba-romana-in-locul-termenului-limba-moldoveneasca </ref> On 13 January 2024, Ukrainian newspaper ''Dumska'' reported that the Ukrainian Ministry of Education and Science had announced all 16 schools in Odesa Oblast teaching "Moldovan" had dropped the term in favor of Romanian.<REF name="AutoK4-40"/> On 16 March 2023, the ] approved a law on referring to the ] as ''Romanian'' in all legislative texts and the ]. On 22 March, the ], ], promulgated the law.<ref name="romanian-law-prom">{{cite news | title = Președinta Maia Sandu a promulgat Legea care confirmă că limba de stat a Republicii Moldova este cea română | publisher = Presidency of the Republic of Moldova | quote = Astăzi am promulgat Legea care confirmă un adevăr istoric și incontestabil: limba de stat a Republicii Moldova este cea română. | trans-quote = Today I have promulgated the law that confirms a historical and indisputable truth: the state language of the Republic of Moldova is Romanian. | language = ro | url = https://presedinte.md/rom/comunicate-de-presa/presedinta-maia-sandu-a-promulgat-legea-care-confirma-ca-limba-de-stat-a-republicii-moldova-este-cea-romna}}</ref> | |||
The '''Moldovan language''' (''limba moldovenească'', sometimes translated into English as ''Moldavian'') is the official name of the state language of the ] as specified by its constitution, as well as of the disputed territory of ].{{ref|pmr-gagauz}}. | |||
The language of the Moldovans had for centuries been interchangeably identified by both terms, but during the time of the ], ''Moldovan'', or as it was called at the time, ''Moldavian'', was the only term officially recognized. Its resolution declared Moldavian a ] distinct from Romanian. | |||
The Moldovan Constitution, names Moldovan the "national language" (''limba de stat'') of the country. In the ] of ], it is co-official with ] and ]. The ] law on language of the ], which is still effective in Moldova according to the Constitution , asserts the real existence of "linguistical Moldo-Romanian identity". | |||
While a majority of Moldovans with higher education,<ref name="IPP">{{Cite web|url=http://www.ipp.md/public/files/Barometru/BOP_11.2012_prima_parte.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131214193454/http://www.ipp.md/public/files/Barometru/BOP_11.2012_prima_parte.pdf|url-status=dead|title=CBS AXA/IPP nov. 2012|archive-date=14 December 2013}}</ref> as well as a majority of inhabitants of the capital city of ],<ref name="NationalityLanguage2004">{{cite web|format=XLS|url=http://www.statistica.md/public/files/Recensamint/Recensamintul_populatiei/vol_1/8_Nation_Limba_vorbita__materna_ro.xls|title=Population by main nationalities, mother tongue and language usually spoken, 2004|work=National Bureau of Statistics of the Republic of Moldova|access-date=14 July 2016|archive-date=14 November 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131114010949/http://www.statistica.md/public/files/Recensamint/Recensamintul_populatiei/vol_1/8_Nation_Limba_vorbita__materna_ro.xls|url-status=live}}</ref> call their language ''Romanian'', most rural residents indicated ''Moldovan'' as their native language in the ].<ref name="NationalityLanguage2004" /> In schools in Moldova, the term "Romanian language" has been used since independence.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|date=2004-10-04|title=Ministerul Educatiei a Republicii Moldova : Acte Normative și Publicații : Acte normative și legislative : Domeniul învațămîntului preuniversitar|url=http://www.edu.md/?lng=ro&MenuItem=6&SubMenu0=1&SubMenu1=2&article=inv_preuniversitar/reg_ex_absolvire_gimnaziu|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928105636/http://www.edu.md/?lng=ro&MenuItem=6&SubMenu0=1&SubMenu1=2&article=inv_preuniversitar/reg_ex_absolvire_gimnaziu|archive-date=2007-09-28|access-date=2021-08-24|website=www.edu.md|language=ro}}</ref> | |||
Opinions vary on the status of Moldovan as a language. Most linguists consider ] Moldovan to be identical to standard ]{{ref|linguists}}, an ], although one Moldovan linguist disputes this{{ref|stati}}. There are, however, more differences between the colloquial spoken languages of Moldova and ], most significantly due to the influence of ] in Moldova which was not present in Romania. The matter of whether or not Moldovan is a separate language is a contested political issue within and beyond the ]. | |||
The ] spoken in Moldova is the ], which is spread approximately within the territory of the former ] (now split between ], Moldova and ]). Moldavian is considered one of the five major spoken varieties of Romanian. However, all five are written identically, and Moldova and Romania share the same ].<ref>* {{cite book |first=James |last=Minahan |title=Miniature Empires: A Historical Dictionary of the Newly Independent States |publisher=Greenwood |year=1989 |page=276}} | |||
The number of Moldovan speakers depends on one's view of the status of Moldovan. If Moldovan is taken to mean Romanian spoken in Romania and Moldova and by the Romanian/Moldovan diaspora, then there may be as many as 29 million speakers. | |||
* {{cite web|publisher=Library of Congress|location=Washington, DC|title=Moldova, Country Study|url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/mdtoc.html#md0027|access-date=3 June 2008|archive-date=5 August 2012|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120805060125/http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/mdtoc.html%23md0027|url-status=live}} | |||
* ''Encyclopædia Britannia'' (online ed.), quoted in {{cite web|title=Descriptive Cataloging: Romanian Language Codes – Moldavian or Romanian?|work=Slavic Cataloging Manual|publisher=Indiana University|url=http://www.indiana.edu/~libslav/slavcatman/langcode.html|access-date=3 June 2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303173827/http://www.indiana.edu/~libslav/slavcatman/langcode.html|archive-date=2016-03-03}} | |||
* {{cite web|title=A country-by-country update on constitutional politics in Eastern Europe and the ex-USSR|url=http://www.law.nyu.edu/eecr/vol11num1_2/constitutionwatch/moldova.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071113224009/http://www.law.nyu.edu/eecr/vol11num1_2/constitutionwatch/moldova.html|archive-date=13 November 2007|access-date=3 June 2008|work=NYU LAW|volume=11|issue=1–2}} | |||
* {{cite web|title=The Sovietization of Moldova|url=http://www.jmu.edu/orgs/romanian/moldova1.htm|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080327035249/http://www.jmu.edu/orgs/romanian/moldova1.htm|archive-date=27 March 2008|access-date=3 June 2008}} | |||
* {{cite web |website=Ethnologue |title=Moldova |url=https://www.ethnologue.com/country/MD/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080409200226/http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=Moldova |archive-date=9 April 2008 |access-date=3 June 2008 }} | |||
* {{cite web|title=Disillusionment with Democracy: Notes from the Field in Moldova|url=http://www.ksg.harvard.edu/kokkalis/GSW5/anderson.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060913025352/http://www.ksg.harvard.edu/kokkalis/GSW5/anderson.pdf|archive-date=13 September 2006|access-date=3 June 2008}} | |||
* {{cite web |title=Languages across Europe: Moldovan |publisher=BBC |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/european_languages/languages/moldovan.shtml |access-date=23 December 2019 |archive-date=7 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211107131903/https://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/european_languages/languages/moldovan.shtml |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{in lang|ru}} L. I. Lukht, B. P. Narumov. "{{lang|ru|Румынский язык}}" . {{lang|ru|Языки мира}} . {{lang|ru|Романские языки}} . М., Academia, ], 2001.{{clarify inline|reason=Adapted from foreign citation style, unclear what the nature of the source is – journal article maybe? If so what is the article title and what is the journal?|{{subst:DATE}}|date=March 2023}}</ref> | |||
The standard alphabet used in Moldova is equivalent to the ], which uses the ]. Until 1918, varieties of the ] were used. The ] (derived from the ] and standardised in the Soviet Union) was used in 1924–1932 and 1938–1989 and remains in use in Transnistria.<ref>Denis Deletant, ''Slavonic Letters in Moldova, Wallachia & Transylvania from the Tenth to the Seventeenth Centuries'', Ed. Enciclopedicӑ, Bucharest, 1991.</ref> | |||
"Moldovan" (''graiul moldovenesc'', in older sources ''limba moldovenească'') can also refer to the speech of the historical region of ] in Romania, one of the northern varieties or ] of colloquial Romanian. | |||
== History and politics == | |||
"Moldovan language" is '''in fact''' '''indentical''' with ], renamed as a "language" for political reasons by the government. Although similar theories have been fielded for other languages, this proposal is now believed to have been made to serve political purposes only, and nobody has provided any evidence so-far towards the idea that Moldovan and Romanian are not from common linguistic stock. | |||
{{main|Moldovenism}} | |||
] | |||
] | |||
<!-- DO NOT ADD quotes that: (1) do not fit into this section of the article (2) have highly dubious references (3) are taken out of context from a reference and used with a different point than in the original reference --> | |||
The history of the Moldovan language refers to the historical evolution of the ] ''Moldavian''/''Moldovan'' in Moldova and beyond. It is closely tied to the region's political status, as during long periods of rule by ] and the ], officials emphasized the language's name as part of separating the Moldovans from those people who began to identify as Romanian in a different nation-building process. Cyrillic script was in use. From a linguistic perspective, ''Moldovan'' is an alternative name for the varieties of the ] spoken in the ] (see ]). | |||
==History and politics== | |||
Before 1918, during the period between the wars, and after the ], scholars did not have consensus that Moldovans and the Romanians formed a single ethnic group.{{sfn|King|2000|pp=57–59}} The Moldovan peasants had grown up in a different political entity and missed the years of creating a pan-Romanian national political consciousness. They identified as Moldovans speaking the language "Moldovan". This caused reactions from pan-Romanian nationalists.{{sfn|King|1999|p=120}} The concept of the distinction of Moldovan from Romanian was explicitly stated only in the early 20th century. It accompanied the raising of national awareness among Moldovans, with the Soviets emphasizing distinctions between Moldavians and Romanians.<ref name="Fedor">{{cite book |editor-last1=Fedor |editor-first1=Helen |title=Belarus and Moldova: Country Studies |date=1995 |publisher=Federal Research Division, Library of Congress |location=Washington DC |pages=121–122 |url=https://www.loc.gov/resource/frdcstdy.belarusmoldovaco00fedo_0/?sp=155 |access-date=4 June 2020 |language=en |quote=Stalin justified the creation of the Moldavian SSR by claiming that a distinct "Moldavian" language was an indicator that "Moldavians" were a separate nationality from the Romanians in Romania. In order to give greater credence to this claim, in 1940 Stalin imposed the Cyrillic alphabet on "Moldavian" to make it look more like Russian and less like Romanian; archaic Romanian words of Slavic origin were imposed on "Moldavian"; Russian loanwords and phrases were added to "Moldavian"; and a new theory was advanced that "Moldavian" was at least partially Slavic in origin. In 1949 Moldavian citizens were publicly reprimanded in a journal for daring to express themselves in literary Romanian. The Soviet government continued this type of behavior for decades. Proper names were subjected to Russianization (see Glossary) as well. Russian endings were added to purely Romanian names, and individuals were referred to in the Russian manner by using a patronymic (based on one's father's first name) together with a first name. |archive-date=8 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308190618/https://www.loc.gov/resource/frdcstdy.belarusmoldovaco00fedo_0/?sp=155 |url-status=live }}</ref> ''Moldavian'' has also been recorded by the 1960s' ''Romanian Linguistic Atlas'' as the answer to the question "What do you speak?" in parts of ] (] and ] counties).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Arvinte |first1=Vasile |title=Român, românesc, România |date=1983 |publisher=Editura Științifică și Enciclopedică |location=București |page=50}}</ref> | |||
===Before 1812=== | |||
References to a "Moldavian language" can be found in works as early as ]'s "The Chronicles of the land of Moldavia", where it is noted that in actuality one language prevailed over the territory of ], ] as well as ]. | |||
Major developments since the fall of the Soviet Union include resuming use of a Latin script rather than Cyrillic letters in 1989, and several changes in the statutory name of the official language used in Moldova. At one point of particular confusion about identity in the 1990s, all references to geography in the name of the language were dropped, and it was officially known simply as ''{{lang|ro|limba de stat}}'' — 'the state language'. | |||
The Moldavian scientist ] presented a theory in ] (] ]): that the Moldavians spoke the same language as Wallachians and ]ns. Cantemir also introduced the idea that some Romanian words had ] roots. | |||
Moldovan was assigned the code <code>mo</code> in ] and code <code>mol</code> in ] and ].<ref>]: {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121011195553/http://www.sil.org/iso639-3/documentation.asp?id=mol |date=11 October 2012 }}</ref> Since November 2008, these have been deprecated, leaving <code>ro</code> and <code>ron</code> (639-2/T) and <code>rum</code> (639-2/B), the language identifiers {{as of | 2013 | lc = on}} to be used for the variant of the Romanian language also known as Moldavian and Moldovan in English, the ISO 639-2 Registration Authority said in explaining the decision.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.loc.gov/standards/iso639-2/php/code_changes.php |title=Code Changes: ISO 639-2 Registration Authority |publisher=US ] |quote=The identifiers mo and mol are deprecated, leaving ro and ron (639-2/T) and rum (639-2/B) the current language identifiers to be used for the variant of the Romanian language also known as Moldavian and Moldovan in English and ''moldave'' in French. The identifiers mo and mol will not be assigned to different items, and recordings using these identifiers will not be invalid |access-date=29 December 2017 |archive-date=28 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190428235442/http://www.loc.gov/standards/iso639-2/php/code_changes.php |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.alvestrand.no/pipermail/ietf-languages/2008-November/008635.html |title=ISO 639 JAC decision re mo/mol |date=3 November 2008 |publisher=www.alvestrand.no |access-date=26 February 2011 |archive-date=7 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110607074517/http://www.alvestrand.no/pipermail/ietf-languages/2008-November/008635.html |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
===Russification of the language in imperial Russian Bessarabia=== | |||
In 1989, the contemporary Romanian version of the ] was adopted as the ] of the ].<ref name="lege-rssm">{{in lang|ro}} ] (Law regarding the usage of languages spoken on the territory of the Republic of Moldova): "Moldavian SSR supports the desire of the Moldovans that live across the borders of the Republic, and considering the really existing linguistical Moldo-Romanian identity – of the Romanians that live on the territory of the USSR, of doing their studies and satisfying their cultural needs in their mother tongue."</ref> | |||
In the first years of Russian occupation (after 1812), because 95% of the population were Romanians who only knew their mother tongue, Romanian was admitted as an official language in the institutions of ], used along with ]. | |||
=== <span class="anchor" id="Reversion to Latin script, and beyond"></span>Since independence === | |||
Gradually the Russian language gained importance. According to the dates offered by the Department for ruling the Bessarabia from ], the papers from bureau were published only in Russian, and around 1835 it is established a term of 7 years time in which the state institutions would still accept acts in Romanian language.{{ref|Heitamnn}} | |||
The Declaration of Independence<ref>{{cite web|format=DOC|url=http://www.europa.md/upload/File/alte_documente/Declaratia%20de%20Independenta%20a%20Republicii%20Moldova%202(1).doc|title=Declaratia de Independenta a Republicii Moldova|trans-title=Moldovan Declaration of Independence|language=ro|publisher=europa.md|date=27 August 1991|url-status=unfit|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090305220335/http://www.europa.md/upload/File/alte_documente/Declaratia%20de%20Independenta%20a%20Republicii%20Moldova%202(1).doc|archive-date=5 March 2009}}</ref> of ] (27 August 1991) named the official language as "Romanian". The 1994 constitution, passed under a Communist government, declared "Moldovan" as the state language. | |||
Romanian was admitted as language of teaching only until ], after that being taught as a separate subject. Thus, at the ] of ], the Romanian language was found on the list of compulsory subjects, with 10 hours weekly, until ], when the Department of Romanian was closed. At High School No.1 in ] the pupils had the right to choose between Romanian, ], and ] until ] ], when the State Counselor of the Russian Empire forbade teaching of the Romanian language, giving the justification: "the pupils know this language in the practical mode, and its teaching follows other goals".{{ref|Heitamnn}} | |||
When in 1993 the ] changed the official orthography of the Romanian language, the Institute of Linguistics at the ] did not initially make these changes, which however have since been adopted.{{source needed|date=March 2021}} | |||
Around ], the tsar published an '']'' "On the suspension of teaching the Romanian language in the schools from Bessarabia," because "in the Russian Empire local speeches are not taught". {{ref|Heitamnn}} | |||
In 1996, the Moldovan president ] attempted to change the official ] back to ''Romanian''; the Moldovan Parliament, dominated by the Democratic Agrarian Party and various far left forces, dismissed the proposal as promoting "Romanian expansionism". | |||
===Artificial evolution of Romanian to ''Moldovan''=== | |||
In 2003, a ] ({{lang|ro|Dicționar Moldovenesc–Românesc}} (2003)) by ] was published aiming to prove that there existed two distinct languages. Reacting to this, linguists of the ] in Romania declared that all the Moldovan words are also Romanian words, although some of its contents are disputed as being Russian ]s. In Moldova, the head of the ]' Institute of Linguistics, Ion Bărbuță, described the dictionary as "an absurdity, serving political purposes". Stati, however, accused both of promoting "Romanian colonialism". At that point, a group of Romanian linguists adopted a resolution stating that promotion of the notion of a distinct Moldovan language is an anti-scientific campaign.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ziare.ro/articol.php?id=1193864896 |website=Ziare.ro |title=Linguists condemn "Moldovan language" |access-date=10 November 2007 |language=ro |archive-date=4 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200804012158/http://www.ziare.ro/articol.php?id=1193864896 |url-status=dead }}</ref> | |||
The linguistic situation in ] from ] to ] was the gradual development of ]. ] continued to develop as the official language of priviledge, whereas ] remained the principal vernacular. The evolution of this linguistic situation, and the development of ''Moldovan'', can be divided into five phases. {{ref|Lidia}} | |||
In 2003, the ] adopted a law defining ''Moldovan'' and ''Romanian'' as designations for the same language (]).<ref name=":0" /> | |||
====Phase one: 1812 to 1828==== | |||
The period from ] to ] was on of neutral or functional bilingualism. Whereas Russian has official dominance, Romanian is not without influence, especially in the spheres of public administration, education (particularly religious education) and culture. In the years that immediately follow the annexation, loyalty to the Romanian language and customs becomes important. The Theological Seminary (''Seminarul Teologic'') and Lancaster Schools are opened in 1813 and 1824 respectively, Romanian grammar books are published, and the printing press at ] begins to produce religious books.{{ref|Lidia}} | |||
In the ], 16.5% (558,508) of the 3,383,332 people living in Moldova declared Romanian as their native language, whereas 60% declared Moldovan. Most of the latter responses were from rural populations. While the majority of the population in the capital city of ] gave their language as "Romanian", in the countryside more than six-sevenths of the Romanian/Moldovan speakers indicated "Moldovan" as their native language, reflecting historic conservatism.<ref name="Census 2004">{{cite web|url=http://www.statistica.md/pageview.php?l=en&idc=263&id=2208|title=2004 Population Census|work=National Bureau of Statistics of the Republic of Moldova|access-date=14 July 2016|archive-date=13 November 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121113163934/http://www.statistica.md/pageview.php?l=en&id=2208&idc=263|url-status=live}}</ref> Currently, 2,184,065 people or 80.2% of those covered by the 2014 census on the right bank of the Dniester or Moldova (proper, without the Transnistrian separatist region) identified Moldovan or Romanian as their native language, of which 1,544,726 (55.1%) declared Moldovan and 639.339 (22.8%) declared it Romanian.<ref>"Rezultatele Recensământului Populației și al Locuințelor 2014", at https://statistica.gov.md/ro/recensamantul-populatiei-si-al-locuintelor-2014-122.html</ref> According to the 2014 census, 2,720,377 answered to the question on "language usually used for communication". 2,138,964 people or 78.63% of the inhabitants of Moldova (proper, without the Transnistrian separatist region) have Moldovan/Romanian as first language, of which 1,486,570 (53%) declared it Moldovan and 652,394 (23.3%) declared it Romanian.<ref>"Rezultatele Recensământului Populației și al Locuințelor 2014", at https://statistica.gov.md/ro/recensamantul-populatiei-si-al-locuintelor-2014-122.html</ref> | |||
====Phase two: 1828 to 1843==== | |||
The period from ] to ] is one of partial ''diglossic'' ]. During this time, use of Romanian was forbidden in the sphere of administration. This was carried out by negative means: Romanian was imply excluded from the ]. Romanian continued to be used in education, but only as a separate subject. Bilingual manuals, such as the Russian-Romanian ''Bucoavne'' grammar of Iacob Ghinculov, were publishedto meet the new need for bilingualism. Religious books and Sunday ]s remained the only monolingual public outlet for Romanian. By ], the removal of Romanian from public administration was complete.{{ref|Lidia}} | |||
In the Republic of Moldova, “more than half of the self-proclaimed Moldovans (53.5%) said that they saw no difference” between the Romanian and Moldovan languages according to a survey conducted by Pal Kolsto and Hans Olav Melberg in 1998.<ref>Pal Kolsto with Hans Olav Melberg, “Integration, Alienation, and Conflict in Estonia and Moldova,” in Pal Kolsto (ed.), National Integration and Violent Conflict in Post-Soviet Societies (Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.), p. 34. The article discusses the data of the survey. The data also includes Transnistria, the mostly Russian-speaking area of eastern Moldova. See Kolsto, p. 35.</ref> Opinion polling from the Chernivtsi oblast indicated that a significant majority of the self-identified Moldovans thought that there was no difference between the Moldovan language and the Romanian language in that part of Ukraine.<ref>Ion Popescu and Constantin Ungureanu, ''Romanii dn Ucraina - intre trecut si viitor'', vol. 1 (''Romanii din Regiunea Cernauti''), Cernauti, 2005.</ref> According to Alla Skvortsova, an ethnic Russian researcher from the Republic of Moldova, "Our survey found that while 94.4 percent of the Romanians living in Moldova consider Moldovan and Romanian to be the same language, only half of the Moldovans (53.2 percent) share this view".<ref>Alla Skvortsova, "The Cultural and Social Makeup of Moldova: A Bipolar or Dispersed Society?", in Pal Kolsto (ed.), ''National Integration and Violent Conflict in Post-Soviet Societies'' (Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.), p. 168.</ref> | |||
====Phase three: 1843 to 1871==== | |||
The period from ] to ] was one of assimilation. Romanian continued to be a taught subject for some time — until ] at the Liceul Regional (]), until ] at the Seminarul Teologic (Theological Seminary) and until ] at regional schools — until the teaching of the language was forbidden by law.{{ref|Lidia}} | |||
In schools in Moldova, the term ''Romanian language'' has been used since independence.<ref name=":1" /> | |||
====Phase four: 1871 to 1905==== | |||
The period from ] to ] was one of official ] in Russian. All public use of Romanian was phased out, and substituted with Russian. Romanian continued to be used as the colloquial language of home and family. This was the era of the highest level of assimilation in the ]. In ], the priest Pavel Lebedev ordered that all church documents be written in Russian, and, in ], the press at Chişinău was closed by order of the holy ].{{ref|Lidia}} | |||
In December 2007, ] ] asked for the term to be changed to ''Moldovan language'', but due to public pressure against that choice, the term was not changed.<ref>{{cite web|date=18 December 2007|title=Professors from the University of Balti protest against replacing 'Romanian language' with 'Moldovan language'|url=http://www.moldova.org/professors-from-the-university-of-balti-protest-against-replacing-romanian-language-with-moldovan-language-81780-eng/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20151016045349/http://www.moldova.org/professors-from-the-university-of-balti-protest-against-replacing-romanian-language-with-moldovan-language-81780-eng/|archive-date=16 October 2015|access-date=16 October 2015|work=DECA-Press|publisher=moldova.org}}</ref> | |||
====Phase five: 1905 to 1917==== | |||
The period from ] to ] was one of increasing linguistic conflict, with the re-awakening of Romanian national consciousness. In 1905 and 1906, the Bessarabian '']'' asked for the re-introduction of Romanian in schools as a "compulsory language", and the "liberty to teach in the mother language (Romanian langauge)". At the same time, the first Romanian-language newspapers and journals began to appear: ''Basarabia'' (1906), ''Viaţa Basarabiei'' (1907), ''Moldovanul'' (1907), ''Luminătorul'' (1908), ''Cuvînt moldovenesc'' (1913), ''Glasul Basarabiei'' (1913). From 1913, the synod permitted that "the churches in Besserabia use the Romanian language".{{ref|Lidia}} | |||
In December 2013, the ] ruled that the Declaration of Independence takes precedence over the Constitution and that the state language should be called Romanian.<ref name="const-court" /><ref name="foxnews"/> | |||
The term ''Moldovan language'' ("limbă moldovenească") was newly employed to create a state-sponsored '']'' to distinguish it from Romanian Romanian. Thus, Şt. Margeală, in 1827, states that the aim of his book is to "offer the 800,000 Romanians who live in Besserabia,...as well as to the millions of Romanians from the other part of Prut, the possibility of knowing the Russian language, and also for the Russians who want to study the Romanian language". In 1865 Ioan Doncev, editing his Romanian primer and grammar, affirmed that Moldovan is ''valaho-româno'', or Romanian. However, after this date, the label ''Romanian language'' appears only sporadically in the correspondance of the educational authorities. Gradually, ''Moldovan'' became the sole label for the language: a situation that proved useful to those who wished for a cultural separation of Bessarabia from Romania. Although referring to another historical period, Kl. Heitmann stated that the "theory of two languages — Romanian and Moldovan — was served both in Moscow as well as in Chişinău to combat the nationalistic veleities of the Republic of Moldova, being, in fact, an action against Romanian nationalism".(Heitmann, 1965). The objective of the Russian glotopolitics in Besserabia was the ''dialectization'' of the Romanian language. A. Arţimovici, official of the Education Department based in ], wrote a letter, dated ] ], to the Minister of Public Instructions stating: "I have the opinion that it will be hard to stop the Romanian population of Besserabia using the language of the neighbouring principalities, where the concentrated Romanian population may develop the language based on its Latin elements, not good for Slavic language. The government's directions pertaining to this case aim to make a new dialect in Besserabia, mor closely based on Slavic language, will be, as it will be seen, of no use: we cannot direct the teachers to teach a language that will soon be dead in Moldova and Wallachia...parents will not want their children to learn a different language to the one they currently speak". Although some clerks, like Arţimovici, realised that the creation of a dialect apart from the Romanian spoken in the United Principalities could never be truly effective, most of them "with the aim of fulfilling governmental policy, tendentiously called the majority language ''Moldovan'', even in the context where ''Romanian'' had always been used previously".{{ref|Lidia}} | |||
By March 2017, the presidential website under ] had changed the Romanian language option to ''Moldovan'',<ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=2017-03-02|title=Președinția Republicii Moldova|url=http://www.presedinte.md/rom/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170302033610/http://www.presedinte.md/rom/|archive-date=2017-03-02|access-date=2020-12-24|website=presedinte.md}}</ref> which was described to be "in accordance with the constitution" by said president. The change was reverted on 24 December 2020, the day Maia Sandu assumed office.<ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=2020-12-24|title=Președinția Republicii Moldova|url=http://www.presedinte.md/rom|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201224154543/http://www.presedinte.md/rom|archive-date=2020-12-24|access-date=2020-12-24|website=presedinte.md}}</ref> | |||
=== Beginnings of the Moldovan language=== | |||
In June 2021, during a meeting between the ] ] and the ] ], the former asked Ukraine to recognize the nonexistence of the Moldovan language to improve the situation of the ]. Kuleba responded to this saying that they were trying to do the paperwork for this as soon as possible.<ref name="ukr" /> On 30 November 2022, during another meeting between Aurescu and Kuleba, Aurescu reiterated this request.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.stiripesurse.ro/romania-solicitare-ferma-pentru-ucraina-kievul-sa-nu-recunoasca-limba-moldoveneasca_2680810.html|title=FOTO România, solicitare fermă pentru Ucraina: Kievul să nu recunoască 'limba moldovenească'|newspaper=Știri pe surse|date=30 November 2022|language=ro|access-date=3 December 2022|archive-date=3 December 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221203092010/https://www.stiripesurse.ro/romania-solicitare-ferma-pentru-ucraina-kievul-sa-nu-recunoasca-limba-moldoveneasca_2680810.html|url-status=live}}</ref> This happened again during a phone call between the two ministers on 12 April 2023, after Moldova had legally changed its official language to Romanian.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.publika.md/bogdan-aurescu-vrea-ca-ucraina-sa-renunte-la-sintagma-limba-moldoveneasca-cum-au-reactionat-autoritatile-ucrainene_3136016.html|title=Bogdan Aurescu vrea ca Ucraina să renunțe la sintagma "limba moldovenească". Cum au reacționat autoritățile ucrainene|publisher=]|date=13 April 2023|language=ro}}</ref> | |||
] | |||
On 2 March 2023, the Moldovan parliament voted to replace the phrases "Moldovan language", "state language" and "official language" in Moldovan legislation with the phrase "Romanian language". The change was presented not as a constitutional change, but only a technical one, as it would implement the 2013 decision of the Constitutional Court of Moldova. This change was supported by the ruling ] and was strongly opposed by the ].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Video Îmbrânceli și scandal în Parlamentul de la Chișinău / "Limba moldovenească" dispare din toate legile Republicii Moldova |url=https://www.hotnews.ro/stiri-esential-26117106-video-imbranceli-scandal-parlamentul-chisinau-limba-moldoveneasca-dispare-din-toate-legile-republicii-moldova.htm |website=HotNews.ro |date=2 March 2023 |language=ro |access-date=2 March 2023 |archive-date=2 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230302164012/https://www.hotnews.ro/stiri-esential-26117106-video-imbranceli-scandal-parlamentul-chisinau-limba-moldoveneasca-dispare-din-toate-legile-republicii-moldova.htm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2 March 2023 |title=Decizie cu scântei: "limba moldovenească" va fi înlocuită cu "limba română" în legislație |url=https://moldova.europalibera.org/a/decizie-cu-sc%C3%A2ntei-limba-moldoveneasc%C4%83-va-fi-%C3%AEnlocuit%C4%83-cu-limba-rom%C3%A2n%C4%83-%C3%AEn-legisla%C8%9Bie-/32296458.html |website=Europa Liberăb Moldova |language=ro |access-date=17 March 2023 |archive-date=7 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230307174510/https://moldova.europalibera.org/a/decizie-cu-sc%C3%A2ntei-limba-moldoveneasc%C4%83-va-fi-%C3%AEnlocuit%C4%83-cu-limba-rom%C3%A2n%C4%83-%C3%AEn-legisla%C8%9Bie-/32296458.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The ] also supported this decision.<ref>{{Cite news |date=28 February 2023 |title='Ar pune capăt infinitelor discuții inutile'. AȘM susține inițiativa deputaților PAS pentru substituirea în textul legilor R. Moldova a sintagmei 'limba moldovenească' cu sintagma 'limba română' |language=ro |work=Ziarul de Gardă |url=https://www.zdg.md/stiri/stiri-sociale/ar-pune-capat-infinitelor-discutii-inutile-asm-sustine-initiativa-deputatilor-pas-pentru-substituirea-in-textul-legilor-r-moldova-a-sintagmei-limba-moldoveneasca/ |access-date=2 March 2023 |archive-date=2 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230302165046/https://www.zdg.md/stiri/stiri-sociale/ar-pune-capat-infinitelor-discutii-inutile-asm-sustine-initiativa-deputatilor-pas-pentru-substituirea-in-textul-legilor-r-moldova-a-sintagmei-limba-moldoveneasca/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The bill was approved on its second and final reading on 16 March.<ref>{{Cite news |last= |first= |date=17 March 2023 |title=Moldovan Parliament Approves Final Reading of Romanian Language Bill |language=en |work=RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty |url=https://www.rferl.org/a/moldova-parliament-approves-final-reading-romanian-language-bill/32321571.html |access-date=2023-03-18 |archive-date=17 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230317223413/https://www.rferl.org/a/moldova-parliament-approves-final-reading-romanian-language-bill/32321571.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=16 March 2023 |title=Sintagma "limba română" va fi introdusă în toate legile Republicii Moldova |url=https://www.moldpres.md/news/2023/03/16/23002127 |access-date=2023-03-18 |website=Moldpres |language=ro |archive-date=17 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230317090100/https://www.moldpres.md/news/2023/03/16/23002127 |url-status=live }}</ref> This attracted criticism from Russia. ], the spokeswoman for the ], claimed that "the Romanian language should be renamed to Moldovan, and not the opposite".<ref>{{Cite news |date=18 March 2023 |title=Maria Zaharova, supărată foc: Limba română trebuie redenumită în "limba moldovenească" şi nu viceversa |url=https://www.hotnews.ro/stiri-international-26148202-maria-zaharova-suparata-foc-limba-romana-trebuie-redenumita-limba-moldoveneasca-nu-viceversa.htm |website=HotNews.ro |language=ro}}</ref> Romanian foreign minister Aurescu replied to this by saying, "This so-called Moldovan language does not exist, it is an artificial construct, which was created by the Soviet Union and has later been used by Russia for disinformation purposes".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Rubica |first=Andreea |date=20 March 2023 |title=Aurescu: Limba moldovenească nu există. Este o construcție artificială creată de Uniunea Sovietică |language=ro |work=adevarul.ro |url=https://adevarul.ro/politica/aurescu-limba-moldoveneasca-nu-exista-este-o-2251715.html |access-date=2023-03-22}}</ref> To this, Zakharova replied back by saying, "Sr. Bogdan Aurescu never existed either, but in the end he was created. Now it is possible to call him an artificial construct."<ref>{{Cite news |date=22 March 2023 |title=Maria Zaharova îl atacă pe Bogdan Aurescu în scandalul "limbii moldoveneşti": "Nici ministrul român nu a existat niciodată" |language=ro |work=Digi24.ro |url=https://www.digi24.ro/stiri/actualitate/maria-zaharova-il-ataca-pe-bogdan-aurescu-in-scandalul-limbii-moldovenesti-nici-ministrul-roman-nu-a-existat-niciodata-2290315 |access-date=2023-03-22}}</ref> The president of Moldova, Maia Sandu, promulgated the law on 22 March.<ref name="romanian-law-prom"/> It was published on the ''{{ill|Monitorul Oficial al Republicii Moldova|ro}}'' ("Official Bulletin of the Republic of Moldova"), a state publication where all promulgated laws are published, on 24 March, thus entering into force.<ref>{{Cite news |date=24 March 2023 |title=Legea prin care sintagma "limba moldovenească" a fost înlocuită cu "limba română" în legislația națională, inclusiv în Constituție, a intrat în vigoare |language=ro |work=Ziarul National |url=https://www.ziarulnational.md/legea-prin-care-sintagma-limba-moldoveneasca-a-fost-inlocuita-cu-limba-romana-in-legislatia-nationala-inclusiv-in-constitutie-a-intrat-in-vigoare/ |access-date=2023-03-24}}</ref> On 30 March, the changes appeared on the Constitution of Moldova.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://protv.md/actualitate/modificat-si-in-constitutie-limba-de-stat-a-republicii-moldova-este-limba-romana-foto---2648619.html|title=Modificat și în Constituție: "Limba de stat a Republicii Moldova este limba română" - FOTO|publisher=]|date=30 March 2023|language=ro}}</ref> | |||
The territory of ] which forms most of the present-day Republic of Moldova, historically the eastern part of the principality of ], was annexed from the ] by ] in ] and remained a Russian territory until the ] of ]. In ], Bessarabia united with ]. | |||
On 13 April, Romanian Foreign Minister ] requested the Ukrainian Foreign Minister ] to relinquish the recognition of the Moldovan language in Ukraine.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gridina |first=Marina |date=2023-04-13 |title=Aurescu asked Kuleba to give up the phrase "Moldovan language" in Ukraine |url=https://moldovalive.md/aurescu-asked-kuleba-to-give-up-the-phrase-moldovan-language-in-ukraine/ |access-date=2023-04-18 |website=Moldova |language=en-US}}</ref> However, as of June 2023, Ukraine still continues to make Moldovan-language schoolbooks.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://m.dcnews.ro/ucraina-sfideaza-comunitatea-romaneasca-si-tipareste-manuale-de-limba-si-literatura-moldoveneasca-in-ciuda-solicitarilor-bucurestiului-si-chisinaului_919345.html | title=Ucraina sfidează comunitatea românească și tipărește manuale de limba și literatura "moldovenească", în ciuda solicitărilor Bucureștiului și Chișinăului | date=12 June 2023 }}</ref> | |||
With the creation in ] of the ] within the ], the ] authorities declared the variety spoken by the majority of Moldavians to be "Moldavian language", allegedly for the purpose of giving the region its own identity separate from Romania. {{ref|ASSRM}} The ] which had been used for writing the language for the past 80 years was changed to a version of the ] derived from the Russian variant. To justify this, the government noted that up until just 80 years prior, the language was usually written in Cyrillic. (See: ]) | |||
On 18 August, ] ] and ] ] had a meeting in Bucharest. Among the things that were discussed was the issue of the Romanian minority in Ukraine. Ciolacu said that Romania sought for the Romanians in Ukraine to have exactly the same rights as the ] and also for the removal of the Moldovan language from Ukrainian legislation.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.hotnews.ro/stiri-esential-26469154-premierul-ucrainean-denis-smihal-intalneste-bucuresti-marcel-ciolacu-temele-abordate.htm|title=VIDEO Premierul Ucrainei, la București / Marcel Ciolacu: Am stabilit dublarea tranzitului de cereale prin România / Dorim pentru românii din Ucraina exact aceleași drepturi de care se bucură ucrainenii din România|newspaper=HotNews|date=18 August 2023|language=ro}}</ref> | |||
As a result of the transfers of the territory and the accompanying migration of the population, including ] and encouraged migration from the rest of the USSR, by the mid-20th century Bessarabia acquired large communities of Russian speakers, among the Moldovan natives. Also, during Soviet rule, Moldovan speakers were encouraged to learn the ] as a prerequisite for access to higher education, social status and political power. All this contributed to proliferation of Russian loanwords in spoken Moldovan. | |||
Starting from 1 September 2023, the high school in the village of ] ({{lang|ro|Borisăuca}}) in ], where Ukrainian Romanians study, replaced the term "Moldovan language" with "Romanian language" in its curriculum.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.stiripesurse.ro/ucrainenii-incep-sa-admita-ca-limba-moldoveneasca-nu-exista_3042093.html|title=Ucrainenii încep să admită că Limba moldovenească nu există|first=Radu|last=Pop|newspaper=Știri pe surse|date=27 August 2023|language=ro}}</ref> | |||
=== Romanizators and Originalists === | |||
On 10 October, during a meeting between Ciolacu and ] ], Ciolacu once again requested that the Ukrainian authorities stop recognizing the existence of the Moldovan language. On the same day, during a meeting with Romanian journalists, Zelenskyy was asked if Ukraine would stop recognising the Moldovan language. He responded by saying that he did not see this as a global problem and that it was not an urgent issue for a country at war but that the Ukrainian government would meet in a week or two and that a solution to the issue "I'm sure everyone will be happy" with would be found.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.digi24.ro/stiri/externe/zelenski-intrebat-daca-ucraina-este-pregatita-sa-recunoasca-ca-nu-exista-limba-moldoveneasca-guvernele-vor-gasi-solutii-2537211|title=VIDEO Zelenski, despre legea minorităților și limba moldovenească: Această problemă nu e presantă pentru mine. Guvernele vor găsi soluții|newspaper=Digi24|date=10 October 2023|language=ro}}</ref> | |||
At these times there were discussions between the supporters ("Romanizators" or "Romanists") and opponents ("Originalists") of the convergence of Moldavian and Romanian languages. | |||
On 18 October, Ukrainian authorities promised to "resolve the issue of artificial separation between the Romanian and "Moldovan" languages by implementing appropriate practical measures with due consideration of all legal aspects."<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-10-18 |title=Спільна заява прем'єр-міністрів України та Румунії за результатами першого засідання урядів двох країн |url=https://www.kmu.gov.ua/news/spilna-zaiava-premier-ministriv-ukrainy-ta-rumunii-za-rezultatamy-pershoho-zasidannia-uriadiv-dvokh-krain |website=Кабінет Міністрів України |language=uk}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-10-19 |title=Bucharest Says Kyiv Recognizes Romanian As Official Language of Romanian Minority |url=https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-romania-language-minority/32644995.html |website=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty}}</ref> Former Moldovan president ], as well as the ], have criticised this decision.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://newsmaker.md/ro/dodon-si-renastere-indignati-ca-ucraina-nu-mai-recunoaste-existenta-limbii-moldovenesti-au-refuzat-identitatea-moldovenilor/ | title=Dodon și "Renaștere", indignați că Ucraina nu mai recunoaște existența "limbii moldovenești": "Au refuzat identitatea moldovenilor" | date=19 October 2023 }}</ref> According to an expert on Ukrainian affairs interviewed by the Romanian newspaper '']'', "Marcel Ciolacu's visit to Ukraine marked the end of a diplomatic effort by the Republic of Moldova and Romania in the face of Kyiv but, at the same time, it marks only the beginning of a difficult, lasting process within the Ukrainian state." Thus, the Moldovan language would not have been derecognised by Ukraine on 18 October, this was only in process.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.libertatea.ro/stiri/document-oficial-ce-nu-au-spus-guvernele-romaniei-si-al-ucrainei-schimbarea-limbii-moldovenesti-in-limba-romana-e-abia-in-faza-de-se-inainteaza-propuneri-4720952|title=DOCUMENT OFICIAL. Ce nu au spus guvernele României și Ucrainei: schimbarea "limbii moldovenești" în "limba română" e abia în faza de "se înaintează propuneri"|first=Marin|last=Gherman|newspaper=]|date=16 November 2023|language=ro}}</ref> | |||
In particular, Originalists strove to base the literary Moldavian language on local dialects. Neologisms were created to cover technical areas that had no native Moldavian equivalent. As a result, the textbooks, e.g., in ] or ] were barely readable to the uninitiated. | |||
On 16 November, the Ministry of Education and Science of the Ukrainian government stated that it has initiated steps to abolish the Moldovan language and to replace it with Romanian.<ref>See ‘Official statement regarding the use in Ukraine of the term "Romanian language" instead of the term "Moldovan language"’, at https://mon.gov.ua/en/news/declaratie-oficiala-privind-utilizarea-in-ucraina-termenului-limba-romana-in-locul-termenului-limba-moldoveneasca </ref> The Ukrainian Ministry of Education stated: {{blockquote|‘The Government of Ukraine adopted a decision regarding the use of the term "Romanian language" instead of the term "Moldovan language" in Ukraine. Currently, work is underway to bring the current legislation of Ukraine in line with this decision, which includes many internal regulatory legal acts. Separately, we note that all further acts of the government will be adopted considering the agreements. And all civil servants who allow violations of the government's decision will be subject to disciplinary action. The facts reported in the media regarding the printed textbooks refer to the copies approved for printing in May this year. The main edition of these textbooks was printed in the summer before the decision was made not to use the term "Moldovan language". Today, the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine has stopped any additional printing of these textbooks. And also develops a mechanism for replacing previously printed copies with textbooks in the Romanian language.'<ref>{{cite web |title=Official statement on the use of the "Romanian language" term instead of the "Moldovan language" in Ukraine |url=https://www.kmu.gov.ua/en/news/ofitsiina-zaiava-shchodo-vykorystannia-v-ukraini-poniattia-rumunska-mova-zamist-poniattia-moldovska-mova |website=www.kmu.gov.ua |publisher=Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine |access-date=29 June 2024 |language=en |date=16 November 2023}}</ref><ref name="AutoK4-40">{{cite news|url=https://dumskaya.net/news/poslednie-moldavskie-shkoly-odesskoy-oblasti-per-181559/ua/|title=Останні молдавські школи Одеської області перейменували рідну мову на румунську: це відкриває низку можливостей для учнів|newspaper=Dumska|date=13 January 2024|language=uk}}</ref>}} | |||
In ] Moldovan communists received a directive from the Communist Party of Ukraine to switch Moldovan writing to the ]. This was part of the massive campaign in the USSR of latinization of the alphabets of lesser nationalities, based on the theory of Soviet linguist ] postulating the convergence to a single world language, expected to be a means of communication in the future classless society (]). This directive was passively sabotaged by the "originalist" majority, until ] (] of the Ukrainian Communist Party) and some Moldovan communists visited ], who reportedly insisted on faster latinization with the ultimate goal of the convergence of Moldavian and Romanian cultures, hinting at the possibility that in future Moldova and Romania would be reunited. Nevertheless, the resistance to Romanization persisted, and after 1933 a number of prominent "originalists" were repressed, their books destroyed, and their neologisms banned. | |||
On 13 January 2024, Ukrainian newspaper ''Dumska'' reported that the Ukrainian Ministry of Education and Science had announced all 16 schools in Odesa Oblast teaching "Moldovan" had dropped the term in favor of Romanian.<REF name="AutoK4-40"/> However, Anatol Popescu, president of the Bessarabia National–Cultural Association, reported that in the Romanian school of {{ill|Utkonosivka|ro|Erdec-Burnu, Ismail|uk|Утконосівка}} ({{lang|ro|Erdec-Burnu}}), the term had been replaced with "language of the national minority" instead, protesting against this and against other issues that had been reported regarding the school's intended renaming and reorganization into a high school.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.ziarulnational.md/noi-probleme-la-o-scoala-romaneasca-din-ucraina-limba-moldoveneasca-a-fost-inlocuita-cu-limba-minoritatii-nationale-nu-cu-romana/|title=Noi probleme la o școală românească din Ucraina. "Limba moldovenească" a fost înlocuită cu "limba minorității naționale", nu cu româna|newspaper=Ziarul Național|date=30 January 2024|language=ro}}</ref> | |||
After the infamous February-March (1937) ] ] ], which escalated the ], both Romanizators and Originalists were declared "imperialist spies": Originalists, because they sabotaged the Latinization, and Romanizators, because they were "agents of ] Romania" ("Боярская Румыния"). | |||
== Controversy == | |||
In February ] the Moldavian communists issued a declaration transferring Moldavian writing to the Cyrillic alphabet once again, which in August 1939 was made into the law of the republic. The motivation was that the Latinization was used by "]-nationalist elements" to "distantance the Moldavian populace from the Ukrainian and Russian ones, with the ultimate goal of the separation of Soviet Moldavia from the USSR". | |||
{{Main|Controversy over national identity in Moldova}} | |||
{{See also|Moldovenism}} | |||
], January 2002. The text on the inscription is "Romanian people—Romanian language".]] | |||
The matter of whether or not Moldovan is a separate language continues to be contested politically within and beyond the Republic of Moldova. The 1989 Language Law of the ], which is still in effect in Moldova, according to the Constitution,<ref>. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060208223502/http://www.parlament.md/law/constitution/t7/ |date=8 February 2006 }}: "The law of 1 September 1989 regarding the usage of languages spoken on the territory of the Republic of Moldova remains valid, excepting the points where it contradicts this constitution."</ref> asserts a "linguistic Moldo-Romanian identity".<ref name="lege-rssm"/> Article 13 of the Moldovan Constitution used to name it "the national language of the country" (the original uses the phrase {{lang|ro|limba de stat}}, which literally means 'the language of the state') until 2023. In March 2023 the Parliament of Moldova has approved a law on referring to the national language as Romanian in all legislative texts and the constitution following the 2013 decision of the Constitutional Court of Moldova that gives primacy to the text of the 1991 Declaration of Independence of Moldova that calls the national language Romanian.<ref name="const-court"/> The law was approved by the parliament on 16 March, and the President of Moldova promulgated the law on 22 March.<ref name="romanian-law-prom"/> | |||
===Moldavian in Soviet Moldova === | |||
In the breakaway region of ], Moldovan is declared an official language, together with ] and ].<ref name="constitMFA" /> | |||
In June ], twenty-two years after the union with Romania, the ] annexed Bessarabia. A year later, in ], Romania invaded the Soviet Union as part of ] and retook Bessarabia, along with the territory between Dnestr and ] rivers. These territories were taken back by the Soviet Union 3 years later in ], and remained under Soviet administration until the ] in ]. | |||
] Moldovan is widely considered to be identical to standard Romanian.<ref>Kogan 2004, p. 291; IHT{{clarify|date=March 2013}}, 16 June 2000, p. 2; Dyer 1999, 2005.</ref> Writing about "essential differences", ], supporter of ], is obliged to concentrate almost exclusively on lexical rather than grammatical differences. Whatever language distinctions may once have existed, these have been decreasing rather than increasing. King wrote in 2000 that "in the main, Moldovan in its standard form was more Romanian by the 1980s than at any point in its history".<ref>{{harvnb|King|2000}}.</ref> | |||
In 1956, during the ] of the victims of Stalinist repression, a special report was issued about the state of the Moldavian language, which stated, in part, that the discussions of 1920-30s between the two tendencies were mostly non-scientific, since in the republic there were very few linguists, and that the grammar and the basic lexicon of literary Romanian and Moldovan languages are identical, while differences are secondary and nonessential. Once again, the planned convergence of the Romanian and Moldovan languages was approved, bearing in mind the political situation in the ]. | |||
In 2002, the Moldovan ] ] said that Romanian and Moldovan were the same language and that the Constitution of Moldova should be amended to reflect this—not by substituting ''Romanian'' for the word ''Moldovan'', but by adding that "Romanian and Moldovan are the same language".<ref>{{Cite news |date=10 September 2002 |title=Ion Morei: limba moldoveneasca este identica cu cea romana |trans-title=Ion Morei: The Moldovan language is identical to the Romanian language |work=Moldova Azi |url=http://www.azi.md/news?ID=20643 |url-status=dead |access-date=2 December 2005 |archive-date=24 October 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081024104525/http://www.azi.md/news?ID=20643 }}</ref> The education minister ] said: "I have stated more than once that the notion of a Moldovan language and a Romanian language reflects the same linguistic phenomenon in essence."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Lozinschi |first=Raisa |date=25 May 2004 |title=Din nou fără burse |language=ro |work=Jurnal de Chișinău |url=http://www.jurnal.md/articol.php?id=1708&editie=283 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070311131712/http://www.jurnal.md/articol.php?id=1708&editie=283 |archive-date=11 March 2007}}</ref> The president of Moldova ] acknowledged that the two languages are identical, but said that Moldovans should have the right to call their language "Moldovan".<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.mediafax.ro/ |title=Ştiri de ultima ora si ultimele ştiri |website=Mediafax |access-date=16 March 2021 |archive-date=7 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211107163052/https://www.mediafax.ro/ |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
=== Reversion to Latin script, and beyond === | |||
In ], the contemporary Romanian version of the Latin alphabet was made the ] of the Moldavian SSR. | |||
In the ], of the citizens living in Moldova, 60% identified Moldovan as their native language; 16.5% chose Romanian. While 37% of all ] Romanian/Moldovan speakers identified Romanian as their native language, in the countryside 86% of the Romanian/Moldovan speakers indicated Moldovan, a historic holdover.<ref name="Census 2004"/> Independent studies found a Moldovan linguistic identity asserted in particular by the rural population and post-Soviet political class.<ref>{{harvnb|Ciscel|2008|p=104}}.</ref> In a survey conducted in four villages near the border with Romania, when asked about their native language the interviewees identified the following: Moldovan 53%, Romanian 44%, and Russian 3%.<ref>{{harvnb|Arambașa|2008|pp=358, 364}}.</ref> | |||
After the independence of ] in ], "Romanian" was declared the official language, but the 1994 constitution changed the name of the language to "Moldovan". | |||
In November 2007, when reporting on EU Council deliberations regarding an agreement between the European Community and Moldova, the Romanian reporter Jean Marin Marinescu included a recommendation to avoid formal references to the "Moldovan language".<ref>{{cite web |format=DOC |first=Marian-Jean |last=Marinescu |url=http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-%2F%2FEP%2F%2FNONSGML+REPORT+A6-2007-0427+0+DOC+WORD+V0%2F%2FEN |title=Report on the proposal for a Council decision concerning the conclusion of the Agreement between the European Community and Republic of Moldova on the readmission of persons residing without authorisation |publisher=European Parliament Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs |date=7 November 2007 |access-date=14 July 2016 |archive-date=24 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924202422/http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-%2F%2FEP%2F%2FNONSGML+REPORT+A6-2007-0427+0+DOC+WORD+V0%2F%2FEN |url-status=live }}</ref> The Romanian press speculated that the ] banned the usage of the phrase "Moldovan language".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Vulpe |first=Marius |date=2007-10-20 |title=Orban a eliminat "limba moldovenească" de pe site-ul Comisiei Europene |language=ro |work=Adevarul |url=http://www.adevarul.ro/articole/orban-a-eliminat-limba-moldoveneasca-de-pe-site-ul-comisiei-europene/329489 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071202010520/http://www.adevarul.ro/articole/orban-a-eliminat-limba-moldoveneasca-de-pe-site-ul-comisiei-europene/329489 |archive-date=2 December 2007}}</ref> However, the European Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighbourhood Policy, ], denied these allegations. She said that the Moldovan language is referred to in the 1998 Cooperation Agreement between the ] and ], and hence it is considered a part of the ], binding on all ].<ref> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210228100914/https://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getAllAnswers.do?reference=E-2007-5014&language=EN |date=28 February 2021 }}, 19 December 2007.</ref> | |||
When in ] the Romanian Academy changed the official orthography of Romania, the Institute of Linguistics at the ASM did not make the same changes, and the official orthography continued as before (for more detail, see below). | |||
== Orthography == | |||
A ] attempt by Moldovan president ] to change the official language to "Romanian" was dismissed by the Moldovan Parliament as promoting Romanian expansionism. | |||
{{See also|Romanian alphabet|Moldovan Cyrillic alphabet}} | |||
], the capital of ], in 2012. The phrase in ] is ''{{lang|ro|Bine ați venit!}}'']] | |||
The language was generally written in a ] (based on the ] alphabet) before the 19th century. Both Cyrillic and, rarely, Latin, were used until after ]; after Bessarabia was included in Romania in 1918, the Cyrillic alphabet was officially forbidden in the region. In the ], Soviet authorities in the ] alternately used Latin or Cyrillic for writing the language, mirroring the political goals of the moment. Between 1940 and 1989, i.e., during Soviet rule, the new ] replaced Latin as the official alphabet in Moldova (then ]).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Grenoble |first=Lenore A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yiObBPPjXbYC&pg=PA95 |title=Language Policy in the Soviet Union |date=2003 |publisher=Kluwer Academic Publishers |isbn=0-306-48083-2 |location=Dordrecht |pages=89–93 |access-date=24 September 2016 |archive-date=19 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230319185850/https://books.google.com/books?id=yiObBPPjXbYC&pg=PA95&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=0_0&sig=18KrKKRvIs7weBHod_lgv_llcc0 |url-status=live }}</ref> In 1989, the Latin script was once again adopted in Moldova by Law 3462 of 31 August 1989, which provided rules for transliterating Cyrillic to Latin, along with the orthographic rules used in ] at the time. Transnistria, however, uses the Cyrillic alphabet.<ref name="constitMFA"/> | |||
In ], the government of Moldova gave the Russian language the same privileges as Moldovan, since after Soviet rule and the massive Russian and Ukrainian settlement it invited, a significant proportion of the population were mother-tongue speakers of Russian. It was declared to be a mandatory foreign language in schools. This created a wave of indignation among the Moldovan-speaking majority of the population, and rallies against this decision were organized in ] and other major cities. They were largely attended by students and youths {{fact}}. Just as the population of Russian-speakers in the Baltic States has been declining over the past 15 years, so as that of Moldova. | |||
Though not immediately adopting these, the Academy of Sciences of Moldova acknowledged both the Romanian Academy's decision of 1993 and the orthographic reform of 2005.<ref> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220411073527/http://akademos.asm.md/files/Modificari%20in%20ortografia%20limbii%20romane.pdf |date=11 April 2022 }} Modificări în ortografia limbii române, nr. 1(16), martie 2010</ref> In 2000, the Moldovan Academy recommended adopting the spelling rules used in Romania,<ref>The new edition of ''Dicționarul ortografic al limbii române (ortoepic, morfologic, cu norme de punctuație)'' – introduced by the ] and recommended for publishing following a conference on 15 November 2000 – applies the decision of the General Meeting of the ] from 17 February 1993, regarding the return to "â" and "sunt" in the orthography of the Romanian language. (])</ref> and in 2010 launched a schedule for the transition to the new rules that was completed in 2011 (regarding its publications).<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.allmoldova.md/ro/int/interview/gheorghe-duca-060410.html |title=Gheorghe Duca: Trebuie schimbată atitudinea de sorginte proletară față de savanți și în genere față de intelectuali |date=4 June 2010 |access-date=3 January 2011 |language=ro |publisher=Allmoldova |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722170555/http://www.allmoldova.md/ro/int/interview/gheorghe-duca-060410.html |archive-date=22 July 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> However, these changes were not implemented by Moldova's Ministry of Education, so the old orthographic conventions were maintained in the education sector such as in school textbooks. | |||
In ], a Romanian-Moldovan dictionary (Stati 2003) was published. The linguists of the ] in Romania declared that all the Moldovan words are also Romanian words, although some of its contents are disputed as being neologism resulting from Russification. In Moldova, the head of the ]' Institute of Linguistics, ], described the dictionary as "an absurdity, serving political purposes". Stati, however, accused both of promoting "Romanian colonialism". | |||
On 17 October 2016, ] ] signed Order No. 872 on the application of the revised spelling rules as adopted by the Moldovan Academy of Sciences, coming into force on the day of signing.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://mecc.gov.md/ro/content/normele-ortografice-ale-scrierii-lui-si-sunt-grafia-limbii-romane-obligatorii-institutiile |title=Normele ortografice ale scrierii lui "â" și "sunt" în grafia limbii române – obligatorii în instituțiile de învățământ |trans-title=The orthographic norms of "â" and "sunt" in the Romanian language - mandatory in educational institutions |language=ro |website=Moldovan Ministry of Education, Culture and Research |date=18 October 2016 |access-date=25 September 2018 |archive-date=8 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211108094130/https://mecc.gov.md/ro/content/normele-ortografice-ale-scrierii-lui-si-sunt-grafia-limbii-romane-obligatorii-institutiile |url-status=live }}</ref> Since then the spelling used by institutions subordinated to the Ministry of Education is in line with the spelling norms used in Romania since 1993. This order, however, has no application to other government institutions, nor has Law 3462 been amended to reflect these changes; thus, those institutions continue to use the old spelling. | |||
On the ] census, about two thirds of the Romanian-Moldovans, which are the majority population in the Republic of Moldova, declared their mother tongue to be "Romanian", and one third "Moldovan", which is, according to the press, why the release of the official census results was delayed. | |||
== See also == | |||
{{Portal|Moldova|Romania|Language|Linguistics|Politics}} | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
* The ] | |||
== |
== References == | ||
=== Citations === | |||
{{Reflist|30em}} | |||
=== Bibliography === | |||
The main debate surrounding the status of Moldovan is its status in relation to Romanian, specifically, whether it is a dialect of Romanian (or vice-versa), a separate language, or whether "Romanian" and "Moldovan" are in fact two different names for the same thing. This situation is roughly analogous to the situation of ], ] and ] languages or ] and ]. | |||
{{refbegin|30em}} | |||
* {{Cite journal |last=Arambașa |first=Mihaela Narcisa |year=2008 |title=Everyday Life on the Eastern Border of the EU – Between Romanianism and Moldovanism in the Border Area of the Republic of Moldova and Romania |journal=South-East Europe Review |volume=11 |issue=3 |pages=355–369 |doi=10.5771/1435-2869-2008-3-355 |jstor=43293277 |doi-access=free}} | |||
* {{Cite book |last=Ciscel |first=Matthew H. |title=Multilingualism in Post-Soviet Countries |publisher=Multilingual Matters |year=2008 |editor-last=Pavlenko |editor-first=Aneta |location=Bristol |pages=99–121 |chapter=Uneasy Compromise: Language and Education in Moldova}} | |||
* {{Cite book |last=Dyer |first=Donald Leroy |title=The Romanian Dialect of Moldova: A Study in Language and Politics |publisher=E. Mellen |year=1999 |isbn=0-7734-8037-4 |location=Lewiston, NY}} | |||
* {{Cite book |last=Dyer |first=Donald Leroy |title=Studies in Moldovan: The History, Culture, Language and Contemporary Politics of the People of Moldova |publisher=Columbia University Press |year=1996 |isbn=0-88033-351-0 |location=New York}} | |||
* {{Cite book |last=Dumbrava |first=V. |title=Sprachkonflikt und Sprachbewusstsein in der Republik Moldova: Eine empirische Studie in gemischtethnischen Familien |publisher=Peter Lang |year=2004 |isbn=3-631-50728-3 |location=Bern |language=de}} | |||
* {{Cite journal |last=King |first=Charles |year=1999 |title=The Ambivalence of Authenticity, or How the Moldovan Language Was Made |journal=Slavic Review |volume=58 |issue=1 |pages=117–142 |doi=10.2307/2672992 |jstor=2672992|s2cid=147578687 }} | |||
* {{Cite book |last=King |first=Charles |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ldBFWtuv8DQC |title=The Moldovans: Romania, Russia and the Politics of Culture |publisher=Hoover Institution Press |year=2000 |isbn=0-8179-9792-X |location=Stanford, California}} | |||
* {{Cite book |last=Grenoble |first=Lenore A. |title=Language Policy in the Soviet Union |publisher=Kluwer Academic Publishers |year=2003 |isbn=1-4020-1298-5 |location=Dordrecht}} | |||
* {{Cite book |title=Istoria României |last1=Bărbulescu |first1=Mihai |last2=Deletant |first2=Dennis |author-link2=Dennis Deletant |last3=Hitchins |first3=Keith |author-link3=Keith Hitchins |last4=Papacostea |first4=Șerban |author-link4=Șerban Papacostea |last5=Teodor |first5=Pompiliu |publisher=Corint |year=2004 |isbn=973-653-514-2 |location=București |language=ro}} | |||
* {{Cite book |title=Europe Review 2003/2004: The Economic and Business Report |edition=15th |date=2004 |location=London |publisher=Kogan Page |url={{GBurl|3R85byyUHeUC}} |ref={{sfnref|Kogan Page|2004}} }} | |||
* {{Cite journal |last=Movileanu |first=N. |year=1993 |title=Din istoria Transnistriei (1924–1940) |journal=Revista de istorie a Moldovei |language=ro |issue=#2}} | |||
* {{Cite journal |last=Negru |first=E. |year=1999 |title=Introducerea si interzicerea grafiei latine in R.A.S.S.M. |journal=Revista de istorie a Moldovei |language=ro |issue=#3–4}} | |||
* {{Cite book |last=Stati |first=V. N. |title=Dicționar moldovenesc-românesc |publisher=Tipografia Centrală (Biblioteca Pro Moldova) |year=2003 |isbn=9975-78-248-5 |location=Chișinău |language=ro}} | |||
* {{Cite journal |last=Zabarah |first=Dareg A. |year=2010 |title=The Linguistic Gordian Knot in Moldova: Repeating the Yugoslav Experience? |journal=Srpski Jezik |volume=15 |issue=1–2 |pages=187–210}} | |||
{{refend}} | |||
== Further reading == | |||
This debate is not scientific, however, since ] as a science considers all divisions of languages and dialects as arbitrary groupings of ]s.{{ref|arbitrary}} There is a ] in ]; the only sharp break at the ] is the official name of the language, not how it is spoken. | |||
{{refbegin}} | |||
* {{cite book |last=Ciscel |first=Matthew H.| title=The Language of the Moldovans: Romania, Russia, and Identity in an Ex-Soviet Republic |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-7391-1443-8 |publisher=] |location=Lanham}} – About the identity of the contemporary Moldovans in the context of debates about their language. | |||
{{refend}} | |||
== External links == | |||
However, in practice, it is sometimes necessary for linguists to designate separate "dialects" and "languages", despite the fact that there are no widely agreed-upon criteria for doing so. The ] classifies Moldovan as a Romanian dialect, and states that the official and primary language of Moldova is Romanian{{ref|ethnologue}}. | |||
{{commons category|Moldovan language}} | |||
{{refbegin}} | |||
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* , thesis, 2006, Louisiana State University | |||
* , Association of Professional Translators of Moldova | |||
* {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090303043316/http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=MD |date=3 March 2009 }}, ''Ethnologue'' report | |||
* {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171011062259/http://www.asm.md/?option=content&task=view&id=134 |date=11 October 2017 }} | |||
* {{cite journal |last1=Cărăuș |first1=Tamara |title=Republica Moldova: identităţi false, adevărate sau naţionale? |trans-title=Republic of Moldova: False, true or national identities? |url=http://www.contrafort.md/2002/90-91/338.html |website=Contrafort |location=Chişinău, Moldova |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060212220657/http://www.contrafort.md/2002/90-91/338.html |archive-date=12 February 2006 |language=ro |date=April–May 2002 }} {{in lang|ro}} | |||
{{refend}} | |||
{{Moldova topics}} | |||
The spoken language in most of Moldova is part of the Moldavian dialect of Romanian, also spoken in Eastern Romania{{fact}}. | |||
{{Languages of Moldova}} | |||
{{Romanian language}} | |||
{{Authority control}} | |||
== Official view == | |||
] | |||
The ] of the Republic of ] refers to the country's language as ''Moldovan'' rather than ''Romanian'', although "'''Romanian'''" was the official language between ] and ]. In practice, however, it is often referred to as "Romanian" or "the language of the state". | |||
In schools, the language is called Romanian, and textbooks from Romania are used significantly in the Moldovan education system.{{ref|textbook1}}{{ref|textbook2}}{{ref|textbook3}}{{ref|textbook4}} The ] calls the language ''Romanian'' {{ref|ASM}}. Additionally, several government departments call the language Romanian, and their websites are offered in Romanian, Russian and often English, but not "Moldovan". These include the Ministry of Education , the Ministry of Justice , the Ministry of Transport and Roads , the Ministry of Internal Affairs , the Office of Statistics and the Department of Migration . | |||
There is a growing international recognition that Moldovan language is in fact Romanian. {{fact}} In particular, in factsheets by US Department of State and in documents of some other countries Romanian is listed as the official language of Moldova.{{ref|statedept}} | |||
In 2002, the Moldovan Minister of Justice, ], said that Romanian and Moldovan are the same language and that the Constitution of Moldova should be amended, not necessarily by changing the word ''Moldovan'' into ''Romanian'', but by adding that "Romanian and Moldovan are the same language"{{ref|morei}}. Education Minister Valentin Beniuc said "I have stated more than once that the notion of a Moldovan language and a Romanian language reflects the same lingustic phenomenon in essence."{{ref|beniuc-mlecico}}. Additionally, Tatiana Mlecico continually referred to the language as Romanian during a press conference when she was the chief of the Department of Interethnic Relations.{{ref|beniuc-mlecico}}. | |||
According to newspaper reports about the most recent Moldovan cenus, about 40% of all respondents declared their language to be Romanian.{{ref|gardianul}}. | |||
== Alphabet and spelling== | |||
Cyrillic was replaced by Latin as the official alphabet for the Moldovan language in 1989. According to a 1997 AEEG study-trip, nearly all urban Moldovans can read the Latin alphabet, although many over 30 are more comfortable writing in Cyrillic, as it was compulsorily script of their education. It also notes that the countryside, many people over 30 — especially peasants — prefer Cyrillic, but may write in the Latin alphabet, though with difficulty. {{ref|cyrillic}} | |||
The Romanian characters â and î are both written as î in Moldovan. Although â and î sound identical in speech, the Romanian justification for using these two characters is to bring Romanian closer orthographically to other Romance languages, and that etymologically, â and î are separate. In the Moldovan language, only the word "română" (Romanian) and "România" (Romania) are written with â, officially. Only very rarely are "română" and derivatives are written using "î", and most people from either country will consider it to be incorrect usage. | |||
Romanian ''sunt'' is written as ''sînt'' in Moldovan. Although it is actually pronounced ''sînt'' in both languages, the Romanian justification for writing ''sunt'' is that it is etymologically correct and that it brings Romanian closer orthographically to other Romance languages. | |||
Before the ], Romanian used the same orthography as Moldovan (with just the character î and sînt). The decision to change the orthography to the â/î/sunt format was made by the ] in 1993. | |||
In both countries, the official versions are not always respected. For example, some Romanian newspapers use the "î"/"sînt" spelling ('']'' among others), while many Moldovan newspapers use "î/â/sunt" spelling. (''Flux'', ''Accente'', ''Ziarul de Garda'', ''Timpul'', etc). | |||
== Comparison with Romanian == | |||
The sample below taken from the ]s of ] and ] proves that a formal text in Romanian and Moldovan may be identical. The colloquial languages show more difference, which varies over the area. | |||
{| | |||
! Moldova ] || Romania ]|| English ] | |||
|------------------------------------------------------------------- | |||
| style="padding-right: 1em; vertical-align: top" | TITLUL I: Principii Generale | |||
| style="padding-right: 1em; vertical-align: top" | TITLUL I: Principii Generale | |||
| style="vertical-align: top" | FIRST TITLE: General Principles | |||
|------------------------------------------------------------ | |||
| style="padding-right: 1em; vertical-align: top" | Articolul 1 | |||
Statul Republica Moldova | |||
| style="padding-right: 1em; vertical-align: top" | Articolul 1 | |||
Statul român | |||
| style="vertical-align: top" | Article 1 (Romanian/Republic of Moldova State) | |||
|------------------------------------------------------------ | |||
| style="padding-right: 1em; vertical-align: top" | (1) Republica Moldova este un stat suveran şi independent, unitar şi indivizibil. | |||
| style="padding-right: 1em; vertical-align: top" | (1) România este stat naţional, suveran şi independent, unitar şi indivizibil. | |||
| style="vertical-align: top" | (1) Romania/Republic of Moldova is a national, independent, united, and indivisible state. | |||
|------------------------------------------------------------ | |||
| style="padding-right: 1em; vertical-align: top" | (2) Forma de guvernămînt a statului este republica. | |||
| style="padding-right: 1em; vertical-align: top" | (2) Forma de guvernământ a statului român este republica. | |||
| style="vertical-align: top" | (2) The form of government of the state is republican. | |||
|------------------------------------------------------------ | |||
| style="padding-right: 1em; vertical-align: top" | (3) Republica Moldova este un stat de drept, democratic, în care demnitatea omului, drepturile şi libertăţile ... | |||
| style="padding-right: 1em; vertical-align: top" | (3) România este stat de drept, democratic şi social, în care demnitatea omului, drepturile şi libertăţile ... | |||
| style="vertical-align: top" | Romania/Republic of Moldova is a state of law, democratic and social, in which the human dignity, rights and liberties... | |||
|------------------------------------------------------------ | |||
| style="padding-right: 1em; vertical-align: top" | | |||
| style="padding-right: 1em; vertical-align: top" | | |||
| style="vertical-align: top" | Links to the official page of Constitution for both countries | |||
|} | |||
==Notes== | |||
*{{note|name}} The Cyrillic script has not been in official use in the Republic of Moldova since independence 1989, but is official in Transnistria, and is still used by smaller groups elsewhere. | |||
*{{note|ethnologue}} | |||
*{{note|stati2}} , Vremea | |||
*{{note|textbook1}} World Bank, ''Reviews of National Policies for Education: Moldova'', p. 51 | |||
*{{note|textbook2}} (in Romanian) | |||
*{{note|textbook3}} (in Romanian) | |||
*{{note|textbook4}}, from ''Viaţa Liberă'' a Galaţi-based weekly (in Romanian) | |||
*{{note|morei}} , ''Moldova Azi'', 10 September 2002 | |||
*{{note|beniuc-mlecico}} , ''Jurnal de Chişinău'', 25 May 2004 | |||
*{{note|ASM}} website | |||
*{{note|cyrillic}} by Diana Nissler | |||
*{{note|ASSRM}} Grenoble 2003, pp 89-93 | |||
*{{note|linguists}} Kogan Page 2004, p 291 ; IHT, 16 June 2000, p. 2 ; Dyer 1999 , 2005 | |||
*{{note|stati}} Stati 2003 | |||
*{{note|arbitrary}} Simpson 2003 | |||
*{{note|pmr-gagauz}} Kogan Page 2004, p 242 | |||
*{{note|Ukraine}} From the official website of the Ukrainian census: | |||
*{{note|DyerEx}} Dyer 1999 | |||
*{{note|gardianul}} Gardianul - 3 noiembrie 2004: | |||
*{{note|Heitmann}} Heitmann, K., 1989, Moldauisch. In Holtus, G., Metzeltin, M. and Schmitt, C. (eds), Lexicon der Romanschinen Linguistik, Tübingen, vol 3. 508-21. | |||
*{{note|Lidia}} Colesnic-Codreanca, Lidia. ''Limba Românã în Basarabia. Studiu sociolingvistic pe baza materialelor de arhivă (1812–1918)'' ("The Romanian language in Bessarabia (1812–1918): A sociolinguistic study based on archival materials"). Chişinãu:Editorial Museum, 2003. | |||
== References == | |||
* Grenoble, Lenore A (2003) ''Language Policy in the Soviet Union'', ], ISBN 1402012985 | |||
* Dyer, D. (1999). ''The Romanian Dialect of Moldova: A Study in Language and Politics''. Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen Press. (ISBN 0773480374) | |||
* Dyer, Donald Leroy, ed. ''Studies in Moldovan''. New York: Columbia University Press (East European Monographs), 1996. (ISBN 0880333510) | |||
* Stati, V.N. ''Dicţionar moldovenesc-românesc''. Chişinău: Tipografia Centrală (Biblioteca Pro Moldova), 2003. (ISBN 9975782485) | |||
* Ильяшенко, Татьяна Павловна. ''Языковые контакты : на материале славиано-молдав, отношений''. Moscow: "Наука" , 1970. (LCCN 78510414) | |||
* Bruchis, M. (1982). ''One Step Back, Two Steps Forward''. New York: Columbia University Press (East European Monographs). (ISBN 0880330023) | |||
* Bruchis, M. (1984). ''Nations, Nationalities, Peoples''. New York: Columbia University Press (East European Monographs). (ISBN 0880330570) | |||
* Bruchis, M. (1988). ''USSR Language and Realities''. New York: Columbia University Press (East European Monographs). (ISBN 088033147X) | |||
* Dumbrava, V. (2004). ''Sprachkonflikt Und Sprachbewusstsein In Der Republik Moldova: Eine Empirische Studie In Gemischtethnischen Familien (Sprache, Mehrsprachigkeit Und Sozialer Wandel)''. Bern: Peter Lang Publishing. (ISBN 3631507283) | |||
*Movileanu N. Din istoria Transnistriei (1924-1940), ''Revista de istorie a Moldovei'', 1993, #2. | |||
*Negru E. Introducerea si interzicerea grafiei latine in R.A.S.S.M, 1999, ''Revista de istorie a Moldovei'', #3-4. | |||
*(2004). ''Europe Review 2003/2004''. Kogan Page. | |||
* ], ''Letopiseţul Ţării Moldovei'' | |||
* Dyer, Donald Leroy. SEEJ, Vol. 43, No. 1 (1999): pp85-98 | |||
==External links== | |||
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Latest revision as of 13:31, 27 November 2024
Outdated name for the Romanian language in Moldova Not to be confused with Moldavian dialect, one of several dialects of the Romanian language.
Moldovan | |
---|---|
| |
Pronunciation | [ˈlimba moldoveˈne̯askə] |
Language family | Indo-European |
Writing system | |
Official status | |
Official language in | Transnistria |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-1 | mo (deprecated) |
ISO 639-2 | mol (deprecated) |
ISO 639-3 | mol (deprecated) |
Glottolog | None |
IETF | ro-MD |
Eastern Romance languages |
---|
Vulgar Latin language Substratum Thraco-Roman culture |
Romanian |
|
Aromanian |
Megleno-Romanian |
Istro-Romanian |
Moldovan or Moldavian (Latin alphabet: limba moldovenească, Moldovan Cyrillic alphabet: лимба молдовеняскэ) is one of the two local names for the Romanian language in Moldova. Moldovan was declared the official language of Moldova in Article 13 of the constitution adopted in 1994, while the 1991 Declaration of Independence of Moldova used the name Romanian. In 2003, the Moldovan parliament adopted a law defining Moldovan and Romanian as glottonyms for the same language. In 2013, the Constitutional Court of Moldova interpreted that Article 13 of the constitution is superseded by the Declaration of Independence, thus giving official status to the name Romanian. The breakaway region of Transnistria continues to recognize "Moldavian" as one of its official languages, alongside Russian and Ukrainian. Ukraine also continued until recently to make a distinction between Moldovan and Romanian, with one village declaring its language to be Romanian and another declaring it to be Moldovan, though Ukrainian officials have announced an intention to remove the legal status of Moldovan. On 16 November 2023, the Ministry of Education and Science of the Ukrainian government stated that it has initiated steps to abolish the Moldovan language and to replace it with Romanian. On 13 January 2024, Ukrainian newspaper Dumska reported that the Ukrainian Ministry of Education and Science had announced all 16 schools in Odesa Oblast teaching "Moldovan" had dropped the term in favor of Romanian. On 16 March 2023, the Moldovan Parliament approved a law on referring to the national language as Romanian in all legislative texts and the constitution. On 22 March, the president of Moldova, Maia Sandu, promulgated the law.
The language of the Moldovans had for centuries been interchangeably identified by both terms, but during the time of the Soviet Union, Moldovan, or as it was called at the time, Moldavian, was the only term officially recognized. Its resolution declared Moldavian a Romance language distinct from Romanian.
While a majority of Moldovans with higher education, as well as a majority of inhabitants of the capital city of Chișinău, call their language Romanian, most rural residents indicated Moldovan as their native language in the 2004 census. In schools in Moldova, the term "Romanian language" has been used since independence.
The variety of Romanian spoken in Moldova is the Moldavian subdialect, which is spread approximately within the territory of the former Principality of Moldavia (now split between Romania, Moldova and Ukraine). Moldavian is considered one of the five major spoken varieties of Romanian. However, all five are written identically, and Moldova and Romania share the same literary language.
The standard alphabet used in Moldova is equivalent to the Romanian alphabet, which uses the Latin script. Until 1918, varieties of the Romanian Cyrillic alphabet were used. The Moldovan Cyrillic alphabet (derived from the Russian alphabet and standardised in the Soviet Union) was used in 1924–1932 and 1938–1989 and remains in use in Transnistria.
History and politics
Main article: MoldovenismThe history of the Moldovan language refers to the historical evolution of the glottonym Moldavian/Moldovan in Moldova and beyond. It is closely tied to the region's political status, as during long periods of rule by Russia and the Soviet Union, officials emphasized the language's name as part of separating the Moldovans from those people who began to identify as Romanian in a different nation-building process. Cyrillic script was in use. From a linguistic perspective, Moldovan is an alternative name for the varieties of the Romanian language spoken in the Republic of Moldova (see History of the Romanian language).
Before 1918, during the period between the wars, and after the union of Bessarabia with Romania, scholars did not have consensus that Moldovans and the Romanians formed a single ethnic group. The Moldovan peasants had grown up in a different political entity and missed the years of creating a pan-Romanian national political consciousness. They identified as Moldovans speaking the language "Moldovan". This caused reactions from pan-Romanian nationalists. The concept of the distinction of Moldovan from Romanian was explicitly stated only in the early 20th century. It accompanied the raising of national awareness among Moldovans, with the Soviets emphasizing distinctions between Moldavians and Romanians. Moldavian has also been recorded by the 1960s' Romanian Linguistic Atlas as the answer to the question "What do you speak?" in parts of Western Moldavia (Galați and Iași counties).
Major developments since the fall of the Soviet Union include resuming use of a Latin script rather than Cyrillic letters in 1989, and several changes in the statutory name of the official language used in Moldova. At one point of particular confusion about identity in the 1990s, all references to geography in the name of the language were dropped, and it was officially known simply as limba de stat — 'the state language'.
Moldovan was assigned the code mo
in ISO 639-1 and code mol
in ISO 639-2 and ISO 639-3. Since November 2008, these have been deprecated, leaving ro
and ron
(639-2/T) and rum
(639-2/B), the language identifiers as of 2013 to be used for the variant of the Romanian language also known as Moldavian and Moldovan in English, the ISO 639-2 Registration Authority said in explaining the decision.
In 1989, the contemporary Romanian version of the Latin alphabet was adopted as the official script of the Moldavian SSR.
Since independence
The Declaration of Independence of Moldova (27 August 1991) named the official language as "Romanian". The 1994 constitution, passed under a Communist government, declared "Moldovan" as the state language.
When in 1993 the Romanian Academy changed the official orthography of the Romanian language, the Institute of Linguistics at the Academy of Sciences of Moldova did not initially make these changes, which however have since been adopted.
In 1996, the Moldovan president Mircea Snegur attempted to change the official name of the language back to Romanian; the Moldovan Parliament, dominated by the Democratic Agrarian Party and various far left forces, dismissed the proposal as promoting "Romanian expansionism".
In 2003, a Moldovan–Romanian dictionary (Dicționar Moldovenesc–Românesc (2003)) by Vasile Stati was published aiming to prove that there existed two distinct languages. Reacting to this, linguists of the Romanian Academy in Romania declared that all the Moldovan words are also Romanian words, although some of its contents are disputed as being Russian loanwords. In Moldova, the head of the Academy of Sciences' Institute of Linguistics, Ion Bărbuță, described the dictionary as "an absurdity, serving political purposes". Stati, however, accused both of promoting "Romanian colonialism". At that point, a group of Romanian linguists adopted a resolution stating that promotion of the notion of a distinct Moldovan language is an anti-scientific campaign.
In 2003, the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova adopted a law defining Moldovan and Romanian as designations for the same language (glottonyms).
In the 2004 census, 16.5% (558,508) of the 3,383,332 people living in Moldova declared Romanian as their native language, whereas 60% declared Moldovan. Most of the latter responses were from rural populations. While the majority of the population in the capital city of Chișinău gave their language as "Romanian", in the countryside more than six-sevenths of the Romanian/Moldovan speakers indicated "Moldovan" as their native language, reflecting historic conservatism. Currently, 2,184,065 people or 80.2% of those covered by the 2014 census on the right bank of the Dniester or Moldova (proper, without the Transnistrian separatist region) identified Moldovan or Romanian as their native language, of which 1,544,726 (55.1%) declared Moldovan and 639.339 (22.8%) declared it Romanian. According to the 2014 census, 2,720,377 answered to the question on "language usually used for communication". 2,138,964 people or 78.63% of the inhabitants of Moldova (proper, without the Transnistrian separatist region) have Moldovan/Romanian as first language, of which 1,486,570 (53%) declared it Moldovan and 652,394 (23.3%) declared it Romanian.
In the Republic of Moldova, “more than half of the self-proclaimed Moldovans (53.5%) said that they saw no difference” between the Romanian and Moldovan languages according to a survey conducted by Pal Kolsto and Hans Olav Melberg in 1998. Opinion polling from the Chernivtsi oblast indicated that a significant majority of the self-identified Moldovans thought that there was no difference between the Moldovan language and the Romanian language in that part of Ukraine. According to Alla Skvortsova, an ethnic Russian researcher from the Republic of Moldova, "Our survey found that while 94.4 percent of the Romanians living in Moldova consider Moldovan and Romanian to be the same language, only half of the Moldovans (53.2 percent) share this view".
In schools in Moldova, the term Romanian language has been used since independence.
In December 2007, Moldovan president Vladimir Voronin asked for the term to be changed to Moldovan language, but due to public pressure against that choice, the term was not changed.
In December 2013, the Constitutional Court of Moldova ruled that the Declaration of Independence takes precedence over the Constitution and that the state language should be called Romanian.
By March 2017, the presidential website under Igor Dodon had changed the Romanian language option to Moldovan, which was described to be "in accordance with the constitution" by said president. The change was reverted on 24 December 2020, the day Maia Sandu assumed office.
In June 2021, during a meeting between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Romania Bogdan Aurescu and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba, the former asked Ukraine to recognize the nonexistence of the Moldovan language to improve the situation of the Romanians in Ukraine. Kuleba responded to this saying that they were trying to do the paperwork for this as soon as possible. On 30 November 2022, during another meeting between Aurescu and Kuleba, Aurescu reiterated this request. This happened again during a phone call between the two ministers on 12 April 2023, after Moldova had legally changed its official language to Romanian.
On 2 March 2023, the Moldovan parliament voted to replace the phrases "Moldovan language", "state language" and "official language" in Moldovan legislation with the phrase "Romanian language". The change was presented not as a constitutional change, but only a technical one, as it would implement the 2013 decision of the Constitutional Court of Moldova. This change was supported by the ruling Party of Action and Solidarity and was strongly opposed by the Bloc of Communists and Socialists. The Academy of Sciences of Moldova also supported this decision. The bill was approved on its second and final reading on 16 March. This attracted criticism from Russia. Maria Zakharova, the spokeswoman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, claimed that "the Romanian language should be renamed to Moldovan, and not the opposite". Romanian foreign minister Aurescu replied to this by saying, "This so-called Moldovan language does not exist, it is an artificial construct, which was created by the Soviet Union and has later been used by Russia for disinformation purposes". To this, Zakharova replied back by saying, "Sr. Bogdan Aurescu never existed either, but in the end he was created. Now it is possible to call him an artificial construct." The president of Moldova, Maia Sandu, promulgated the law on 22 March. It was published on the Monitorul Oficial al Republicii Moldova [ro] ("Official Bulletin of the Republic of Moldova"), a state publication where all promulgated laws are published, on 24 March, thus entering into force. On 30 March, the changes appeared on the Constitution of Moldova.
On 13 April, Romanian Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu requested the Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba to relinquish the recognition of the Moldovan language in Ukraine. However, as of June 2023, Ukraine still continues to make Moldovan-language schoolbooks.
On 18 August, Prime Minister of Romania Marcel Ciolacu and Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal had a meeting in Bucharest. Among the things that were discussed was the issue of the Romanian minority in Ukraine. Ciolacu said that Romania sought for the Romanians in Ukraine to have exactly the same rights as the Ukrainians in Romania and also for the removal of the Moldovan language from Ukrainian legislation.
Starting from 1 September 2023, the high school in the village of Borysivka (Borisăuca) in Odesa Oblast, where Ukrainian Romanians study, replaced the term "Moldovan language" with "Romanian language" in its curriculum.
On 10 October, during a meeting between Ciolacu and President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ciolacu once again requested that the Ukrainian authorities stop recognizing the existence of the Moldovan language. On the same day, during a meeting with Romanian journalists, Zelenskyy was asked if Ukraine would stop recognising the Moldovan language. He responded by saying that he did not see this as a global problem and that it was not an urgent issue for a country at war but that the Ukrainian government would meet in a week or two and that a solution to the issue "I'm sure everyone will be happy" with would be found.
On 18 October, Ukrainian authorities promised to "resolve the issue of artificial separation between the Romanian and "Moldovan" languages by implementing appropriate practical measures with due consideration of all legal aspects." Former Moldovan president Igor Dodon, as well as the Revival Party, have criticised this decision. According to an expert on Ukrainian affairs interviewed by the Romanian newspaper Libertatea, "Marcel Ciolacu's visit to Ukraine marked the end of a diplomatic effort by the Republic of Moldova and Romania in the face of Kyiv but, at the same time, it marks only the beginning of a difficult, lasting process within the Ukrainian state." Thus, the Moldovan language would not have been derecognised by Ukraine on 18 October, this was only in process.
On 16 November, the Ministry of Education and Science of the Ukrainian government stated that it has initiated steps to abolish the Moldovan language and to replace it with Romanian. The Ukrainian Ministry of Education stated:
‘The Government of Ukraine adopted a decision regarding the use of the term "Romanian language" instead of the term "Moldovan language" in Ukraine. Currently, work is underway to bring the current legislation of Ukraine in line with this decision, which includes many internal regulatory legal acts. Separately, we note that all further acts of the government will be adopted considering the agreements. And all civil servants who allow violations of the government's decision will be subject to disciplinary action. The facts reported in the media regarding the printed textbooks refer to the copies approved for printing in May this year. The main edition of these textbooks was printed in the summer before the decision was made not to use the term "Moldovan language". Today, the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine has stopped any additional printing of these textbooks. And also develops a mechanism for replacing previously printed copies with textbooks in the Romanian language.'
On 13 January 2024, Ukrainian newspaper Dumska reported that the Ukrainian Ministry of Education and Science had announced all 16 schools in Odesa Oblast teaching "Moldovan" had dropped the term in favor of Romanian. However, Anatol Popescu, president of the Bessarabia National–Cultural Association, reported that in the Romanian school of Utkonosivka [ro; uk] (Erdec-Burnu), the term had been replaced with "language of the national minority" instead, protesting against this and against other issues that had been reported regarding the school's intended renaming and reorganization into a high school.
Controversy
Main article: Controversy over national identity in Moldova See also: MoldovenismThe matter of whether or not Moldovan is a separate language continues to be contested politically within and beyond the Republic of Moldova. The 1989 Language Law of the Moldavian SSR, which is still in effect in Moldova, according to the Constitution, asserts a "linguistic Moldo-Romanian identity". Article 13 of the Moldovan Constitution used to name it "the national language of the country" (the original uses the phrase limba de stat, which literally means 'the language of the state') until 2023. In March 2023 the Parliament of Moldova has approved a law on referring to the national language as Romanian in all legislative texts and the constitution following the 2013 decision of the Constitutional Court of Moldova that gives primacy to the text of the 1991 Declaration of Independence of Moldova that calls the national language Romanian. The law was approved by the parliament on 16 March, and the President of Moldova promulgated the law on 22 March.
In the breakaway region of Transnistria, Moldovan is declared an official language, together with Ukrainian and Russian.
Standard Moldovan is widely considered to be identical to standard Romanian. Writing about "essential differences", Vasile Stati, supporter of Moldovenism, is obliged to concentrate almost exclusively on lexical rather than grammatical differences. Whatever language distinctions may once have existed, these have been decreasing rather than increasing. King wrote in 2000 that "in the main, Moldovan in its standard form was more Romanian by the 1980s than at any point in its history".
In 2002, the Moldovan Minister of Justice Ion Morei said that Romanian and Moldovan were the same language and that the Constitution of Moldova should be amended to reflect this—not by substituting Romanian for the word Moldovan, but by adding that "Romanian and Moldovan are the same language". The education minister Valentin Beniuc said: "I have stated more than once that the notion of a Moldovan language and a Romanian language reflects the same linguistic phenomenon in essence." The president of Moldova Vladimir Voronin acknowledged that the two languages are identical, but said that Moldovans should have the right to call their language "Moldovan".
In the 2004 census, of the citizens living in Moldova, 60% identified Moldovan as their native language; 16.5% chose Romanian. While 37% of all urban Romanian/Moldovan speakers identified Romanian as their native language, in the countryside 86% of the Romanian/Moldovan speakers indicated Moldovan, a historic holdover. Independent studies found a Moldovan linguistic identity asserted in particular by the rural population and post-Soviet political class. In a survey conducted in four villages near the border with Romania, when asked about their native language the interviewees identified the following: Moldovan 53%, Romanian 44%, and Russian 3%.
In November 2007, when reporting on EU Council deliberations regarding an agreement between the European Community and Moldova, the Romanian reporter Jean Marin Marinescu included a recommendation to avoid formal references to the "Moldovan language". The Romanian press speculated that the EU banned the usage of the phrase "Moldovan language". However, the European Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighbourhood Policy, Benita Ferrero-Waldner, denied these allegations. She said that the Moldovan language is referred to in the 1998 Cooperation Agreement between the EU and Moldova, and hence it is considered a part of the acquis, binding on all member states.
Orthography
See also: Romanian alphabet and Moldovan Cyrillic alphabetThe language was generally written in a Romanian Cyrillic alphabet (based on the Old Church Slavonic alphabet) before the 19th century. Both Cyrillic and, rarely, Latin, were used until after World War I; after Bessarabia was included in Romania in 1918, the Cyrillic alphabet was officially forbidden in the region. In the interwar period, Soviet authorities in the Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic alternately used Latin or Cyrillic for writing the language, mirroring the political goals of the moment. Between 1940 and 1989, i.e., during Soviet rule, the new Moldovan Cyrillic alphabet replaced Latin as the official alphabet in Moldova (then Moldavian SSR). In 1989, the Latin script was once again adopted in Moldova by Law 3462 of 31 August 1989, which provided rules for transliterating Cyrillic to Latin, along with the orthographic rules used in Romania at the time. Transnistria, however, uses the Cyrillic alphabet.
Though not immediately adopting these, the Academy of Sciences of Moldova acknowledged both the Romanian Academy's decision of 1993 and the orthographic reform of 2005. In 2000, the Moldovan Academy recommended adopting the spelling rules used in Romania, and in 2010 launched a schedule for the transition to the new rules that was completed in 2011 (regarding its publications). However, these changes were not implemented by Moldova's Ministry of Education, so the old orthographic conventions were maintained in the education sector such as in school textbooks.
On 17 October 2016, Minister of Education Corina Fusu signed Order No. 872 on the application of the revised spelling rules as adopted by the Moldovan Academy of Sciences, coming into force on the day of signing. Since then the spelling used by institutions subordinated to the Ministry of Education is in line with the spelling norms used in Romania since 1993. This order, however, has no application to other government institutions, nor has Law 3462 been amended to reflect these changes; thus, those institutions continue to use the old spelling.
See also
- Eastern Romance substratum
- Legacy of the Roman Empire
- Moldova–Romania relations
- Thraco-Roman
- The Balkan language area
References
Citations
- Kogan Page 2004.
- Directorate-General for Translation of the European Commission (2008). "A Field Guide to the Main Languages of Europe – Spot That Language and How to Tell Them Apart" (PDF) (3rd ed.). Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 November 2015. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
- "Constitution of the Republic of Moldova" (PDF). Article 13, line 1. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 February 2008.
- ^ "Politics of National Conception of Moldova". Law No. 546/12-19-2003 (in Romanian). Archived from the original on 10 March 2014. Retrieved 10 March 2014.
- ^ "Hotărâre Nr. 36 din 05.12.2013 privind interpretarea articolului 13 alin. (1) din Constituție în corelație cu Preambulul Constituției și Declarația de Independență a Republicii Moldova (Sesizările nr. 8b/2013 și 41b/2013)" (in Romanian). Constitutional Court of Moldova. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 20 December 2013.
124. ... Prin urmare, Curtea consideră că prevederea conținută în Declarația de Independență referitoare la limba română ca limbă de stat a Republicii Moldova prevalează asupra prevederii referitoare la limba moldovenească conținute în articolul 13 al Constituției.
[124. ... Therefore, the Court considers that the provision contained in the Declaration of Independence regarding the Romanian language as the state language of the Republic of Moldova prevails over the provision regarding the Moldovan language contained in Article 13 of the Constitution.] - ^ "Moldovan court rules official language is 'Romanian', replacing Soviet-flavored 'Moldovan'". Fox News. Associated Press. 5 December 2013. Archived from the original on 9 December 2013. Retrieved 7 December 2013.
- "Chisinau Recognizes Romanian As Official Language". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 5 December 2013. Archived from the original on 23 September 2016. Retrieved 11 March 2014.
- ^ "CONSTITUTION OF THE PRIDNESTROVIAN MOLDAVIAN REPUBLIC". Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Transnistria. October 2014. Retrieved 16 August 2024.
- ^ "Ministerul de Externe: Bogdan Aurescu cere Ucrainei să recunoască oficial inexistența 'limbii moldovenești'". Digi24 (in Romanian). 19 June 2021. Archived from the original on 7 November 2021. Retrieved 13 September 2021.
- See ‘Official statement regarding the use in Ukraine of the term "Romanian language" instead of the term "Moldovan language"’, at https://mon.gov.ua/en/news/declaratie-oficiala-privind-utilizarea-in-ucraina-termenului-limba-romana-in-locul-termenului-limba-moldoveneasca
- ^ "Останні молдавські школи Одеської області перейменували рідну мову на румунську: це відкриває низку можливостей для учнів". Dumska (in Ukrainian). 13 January 2024.
- ^ "Președinta Maia Sandu a promulgat Legea care confirmă că limba de stat a Republicii Moldova este cea română" (in Romanian). Presidency of the Republic of Moldova.
Astăzi am promulgat Legea care confirmă un adevăr istoric și incontestabil: limba de stat a Republicii Moldova este cea română.
[Today I have promulgated the law that confirms a historical and indisputable truth: the state language of the Republic of Moldova is Romanian.] - "CBS AXA/IPP nov. 2012" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 December 2013.
- ^ "Population by main nationalities, mother tongue and language usually spoken, 2004" (XLS). National Bureau of Statistics of the Republic of Moldova. Archived from the original on 14 November 2013. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
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- Denis Deletant, Slavonic Letters in Moldova, Wallachia & Transylvania from the Tenth to the Seventeenth Centuries, Ed. Enciclopedicӑ, Bucharest, 1991.
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Stalin justified the creation of the Moldavian SSR by claiming that a distinct "Moldavian" language was an indicator that "Moldavians" were a separate nationality from the Romanians in Romania. In order to give greater credence to this claim, in 1940 Stalin imposed the Cyrillic alphabet on "Moldavian" to make it look more like Russian and less like Romanian; archaic Romanian words of Slavic origin were imposed on "Moldavian"; Russian loanwords and phrases were added to "Moldavian"; and a new theory was advanced that "Moldavian" was at least partially Slavic in origin. In 1949 Moldavian citizens were publicly reprimanded in a journal for daring to express themselves in literary Romanian. The Soviet government continued this type of behavior for decades. Proper names were subjected to Russianization (see Glossary) as well. Russian endings were added to purely Romanian names, and individuals were referred to in the Russian manner by using a patronymic (based on one's father's first name) together with a first name.
- Arvinte, Vasile (1983). Român, românesc, România. București: Editura Științifică și Enciclopedică. p. 50.
- SIL International: ISO 639 code sets: Documentation for ISO 639 identifier: mol Archived 11 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine
- "Code Changes: ISO 639-2 Registration Authority". US Library of Congress. Archived from the original on 28 April 2019. Retrieved 29 December 2017.
The identifiers mo and mol are deprecated, leaving ro and ron (639-2/T) and rum (639-2/B) the current language identifiers to be used for the variant of the Romanian language also known as Moldavian and Moldovan in English and moldave in French. The identifiers mo and mol will not be assigned to different items, and recordings using these identifiers will not be invalid
- "ISO 639 JAC decision re mo/mol". www.alvestrand.no. 3 November 2008. Archived from the original on 7 June 2011. Retrieved 26 February 2011.
- ^ (in Romanian) Legea cu privire la funcționarea limbilor vorbite pe teritoriul RSS Moldovenești nr. 3465-XI din 01.09.89 Vestile nr. 9/217, 1989 (Law regarding the usage of languages spoken on the territory of the Republic of Moldova): "Moldavian SSR supports the desire of the Moldovans that live across the borders of the Republic, and considering the really existing linguistical Moldo-Romanian identity – of the Romanians that live on the territory of the USSR, of doing their studies and satisfying their cultural needs in their mother tongue."
- "Declaratia de Independenta a Republicii Moldova" [Moldovan Declaration of Independence] (in Romanian). europa.md. 27 August 1991. Archived from the original on 5 March 2009.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - "Linguists condemn "Moldovan language"". Ziare.ro (in Romanian). Archived from the original on 4 August 2020. Retrieved 10 November 2007.
- ^ "2004 Population Census". National Bureau of Statistics of the Republic of Moldova. Archived from the original on 13 November 2012. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
- "Rezultatele Recensământului Populației și al Locuințelor 2014", at https://statistica.gov.md/ro/recensamantul-populatiei-si-al-locuintelor-2014-122.html
- "Rezultatele Recensământului Populației și al Locuințelor 2014", at https://statistica.gov.md/ro/recensamantul-populatiei-si-al-locuintelor-2014-122.html
- Pal Kolsto with Hans Olav Melberg, “Integration, Alienation, and Conflict in Estonia and Moldova,” in Pal Kolsto (ed.), National Integration and Violent Conflict in Post-Soviet Societies (Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.), p. 34. The article discusses the data of the survey. The data also includes Transnistria, the mostly Russian-speaking area of eastern Moldova. See Kolsto, p. 35.
- Ion Popescu and Constantin Ungureanu, Romanii dn Ucraina - intre trecut si viitor, vol. 1 (Romanii din Regiunea Cernauti), Cernauti, 2005.
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- "VIDEO Premierul Ucrainei, la București / Marcel Ciolacu: Am stabilit dublarea tranzitului de cereale prin România / Dorim pentru românii din Ucraina exact aceleași drepturi de care se bucură ucrainenii din România". HotNews (in Romanian). 18 August 2023.
- Pop, Radu (27 August 2023). "Ucrainenii încep să admită că Limba moldovenească nu există". Știri pe surse (in Romanian).
- "VIDEO Zelenski, despre legea minorităților și limba moldovenească: Această problemă nu e presantă pentru mine. Guvernele vor găsi soluții". Digi24 (in Romanian). 10 October 2023.
- "Спільна заява прем'єр-міністрів України та Румунії за результатами першого засідання урядів двох країн". Кабінет Міністрів України (in Ukrainian). 18 October 2023.
- "Bucharest Says Kyiv Recognizes Romanian As Official Language of Romanian Minority". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 19 October 2023.
- "Dodon și "Renaștere", indignați că Ucraina nu mai recunoaște existența "limbii moldovenești": "Au refuzat identitatea moldovenilor"". 19 October 2023.
- Gherman, Marin (16 November 2023). "DOCUMENT OFICIAL. Ce nu au spus guvernele României și Ucrainei: schimbarea "limbii moldovenești" în "limba română" e abia în faza de "se înaintează propuneri"". Libertatea (in Romanian).
- See ‘Official statement regarding the use in Ukraine of the term "Romanian language" instead of the term "Moldovan language"’, at https://mon.gov.ua/en/news/declaratie-oficiala-privind-utilizarea-in-ucraina-termenului-limba-romana-in-locul-termenului-limba-moldoveneasca
- "Official statement on the use of the "Romanian language" term instead of the "Moldovan language" in Ukraine". www.kmu.gov.ua. Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. 16 November 2023. Retrieved 29 June 2024.
- "Noi probleme la o școală românească din Ucraina. "Limba moldovenească" a fost înlocuită cu "limba minorității naționale", nu cu româna". Ziarul Național (in Romanian). 30 January 2024.
- Constitution of the Republic of Moldova, Title 7, Article 7. Archived 8 February 2006 at the Wayback Machine: "The law of 1 September 1989 regarding the usage of languages spoken on the territory of the Republic of Moldova remains valid, excepting the points where it contradicts this constitution."
- Kogan 2004, p. 291; IHT, 16 June 2000, p. 2; Dyer 1999, 2005.
- King 2000.
- "Ion Morei: limba moldoveneasca este identica cu cea romana" [Ion Morei: The Moldovan language is identical to the Romanian language]. Moldova Azi. 10 September 2002. Archived from the original on 24 October 2008. Retrieved 2 December 2005.
- Lozinschi, Raisa (25 May 2004). "Din nou fără burse". Jurnal de Chișinău (in Romanian). Archived from the original on 11 March 2007.
- "Ştiri de ultima ora si ultimele ştiri". Mediafax. Archived from the original on 7 November 2021. Retrieved 16 March 2021.
- Ciscel 2008, p. 104.
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- Answer given by Mrs Ferrero-Waldner on behalf of the Commission Archived 28 February 2021 at the Wayback Machine, 19 December 2007.
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- "La solicitarea Consiliului Științific al Institutului de Filologie al Academiei de Științe a Moldovei din 24 noiembrie 2009 și în conformitate cu Hotărârea Adunării Generale a Academiei Române din 17 februarie 1993, privind revenirea la â și sunt în grafia limbii române, Consiliul Suprem pentru Știință și Dezvoltare Tehnologică, întrunit în ziua de 25 decembrie 2009, a hotărât să se adreseze Parlamentului Republicii Moldova cu rugămintea de a lua o hotărâre în problema revenirii în grafia limbii române la utilizarea lui â în interiorul cuvintelor, a formei sunt (suntem, sunteți) și la normele ortografice cuprinse în Dicționarul ortografic, ortoepic și morfologic al limbii române (DOOM, ediția a II-a, București, 2005)." Archived 11 April 2022 at the Wayback Machine Modificări în ortografia limbii române, nr. 1(16), martie 2010
- The new edition of Dicționarul ortografic al limbii române (ortoepic, morfologic, cu norme de punctuație) – introduced by the Academy of Sciences of Moldova and recommended for publishing following a conference on 15 November 2000 – applies the decision of the General Meeting of the Romanian Academy from 17 February 1993, regarding the return to "â" and "sunt" in the orthography of the Romanian language. (Introduction, Institute of Linguistics of the Academy of Sciences of Moldova)
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Bibliography
- Arambașa, Mihaela Narcisa (2008). "Everyday Life on the Eastern Border of the EU – Between Romanianism and Moldovanism in the Border Area of the Republic of Moldova and Romania". South-East Europe Review. 11 (3): 355–369. doi:10.5771/1435-2869-2008-3-355. JSTOR 43293277.
- Ciscel, Matthew H. (2008). "Uneasy Compromise: Language and Education in Moldova". In Pavlenko, Aneta (ed.). Multilingualism in Post-Soviet Countries. Bristol: Multilingual Matters. pp. 99–121.
- Dyer, Donald Leroy (1999). The Romanian Dialect of Moldova: A Study in Language and Politics. Lewiston, NY: E. Mellen. ISBN 0-7734-8037-4.
- Dyer, Donald Leroy (1996). Studies in Moldovan: The History, Culture, Language and Contemporary Politics of the People of Moldova. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-88033-351-0.
- Dumbrava, V. (2004). Sprachkonflikt und Sprachbewusstsein in der Republik Moldova: Eine empirische Studie in gemischtethnischen Familien (in German). Bern: Peter Lang. ISBN 3-631-50728-3.
- King, Charles (1999). "The Ambivalence of Authenticity, or How the Moldovan Language Was Made". Slavic Review. 58 (1): 117–142. doi:10.2307/2672992. JSTOR 2672992. S2CID 147578687.
- King, Charles (2000). The Moldovans: Romania, Russia and the Politics of Culture. Stanford, California: Hoover Institution Press. ISBN 0-8179-9792-X.
- Grenoble, Lenore A. (2003). Language Policy in the Soviet Union. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers. ISBN 1-4020-1298-5.
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- Movileanu, N. (1993). "Din istoria Transnistriei (1924–1940)". Revista de istorie a Moldovei (in Romanian) (#2).
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Further reading
- Ciscel, Matthew H. (2007). The Language of the Moldovans: Romania, Russia, and Identity in an Ex-Soviet Republic. Lanham: Lexington Books. ISBN 978-0-7391-1443-8. – About the identity of the contemporary Moldovans in the context of debates about their language.
External links
- Chase Faucheux, "Language classification and manipulation in Romania and Moldova", thesis, 2006, Louisiana State University
- Eleonora Rusnac, "Translation of Russian loans and irregularities of the spoken language in the Republic of Moldova", Association of Professional Translators of Moldova
- "Moldova" Archived 3 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine, Ethnologue report
- Academy of Sciences of Moldova Archived 11 October 2017 at the Wayback Machine
- Cărăuș, Tamara (April–May 2002). "Republica Moldova: identităţi false, adevărate sau naţionale?" [Republic of Moldova: False, true or national identities?]. Contrafort (in Romanian). Chişinău, Moldova. Archived from the original on 12 February 2006. (in Romanian)
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