Moldovan language: Difference between revisions

| script = {{ubl|[[Moldovan Cyrillic alphabet|Moldovan Cyrillic]] ([[Transnistria]])|[[Romanian alphabet|Latin alphabet]] ([[Ukraine]])}}

| minority = {{flag|Ukraine}}

'''Moldovan''' or '''Moldavian''' (Romanian: {{Lang|ro|limba moldovenească}}, [[Moldovan Cyrillic alphabet]]: {{Lang|ro-cyrl|лимба молдовеняскэ}}) is one of the two local names for the [[Romanian language]] in [[Moldova]].<ref>{{harvnb|Kogan Page|2004|p=242}}.</ref><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 [[Constitution of Moldova|constitution]] 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 [[Declaration of Independence of Moldova]] used the name ''Romanian''. In 2003, the [[Moldovan parliament]] adopted a law defining ''Moldovan'' and ''Romanian'' as [[Linguonym|glottonyms]] 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 In 2013, the [[Constitutional Court of Moldova]] interpreted that Article&nbsp;13 of the constitution is superseded by the Declaration of Independence,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.&nbsp;... 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.&nbsp;... 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=[[Fox News]] |agency=Associated Press |url=http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/12/05/moldovan-court-rules-official-language-is-romanian-replacing-soviet-flavored/ |access-date=2013-12-07 |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 [[List of states with limited recognition|breakaway region]] of [[Transnistria]] continues to recognize "Moldovan" as one of its official languages, alongside [[Russian language|Russian]] and [[Ukrainian language|Ukrainian]].<ref name="idknet1">{{cite web|date=24 December 1995|title=Article 12 of the Constitution of Pridnestrovskaia Moldavskaia Respublika|url=http://www.kspmr.idknet.com/eng/k_I.htm|access-date=14 July 2016|work=kspmr.idknet.com|archive-date=8 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180808234002/http://www.kspmr.idknet.com/eng/k_I.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> [[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''.<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=[[Digi24]]|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, 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> 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 [[Parliament of Moldova|Moldovan Parliament]] approved a law on referring to the [[national language]] as ''Romanian'' in all legislative texts and the [[Constitution of Moldova (1994)|constitution]]. On 22 March, the [[president of Moldova]], [[Maia Sandu]], 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>

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. It should be noted that, out of 1,200 individuals who were surveyed, 761 had a “Moldovan” self-awareness and forty-one had a “Romanian” self-awareness. 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 Moldovan and Romanian 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>.