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'{|style="clear:right" align=right cellpadding="10" |{{Eastern Romance languages}} |} '''Moldovan''' (also '''Moldavian'''; {{lang-ro|limba moldovenească}}), written in the [[Latin alphabet|Latin script]], is one of the names of the official language of the [[Moldova|Republic of Moldova]].<ref name="Constitution">{{ro icon}} [http://gov.md/content/ro/0000072.pdf Article 13, line 1 - of Constitution of Republic of Moldova]</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Kogan Page|2004|p=242}}<br>[http://ec.europa.eu/translation/language_aids/recognition/field_guide_main_languages_of_europe_en.pdf A Field Guide to the Main Languages of Europe - Spot that language and how to tell them apart], on the website of the [[European Commission]]</ref> The language spoken in Moldova is identical to [[Romanian language|Romanian]], sharing the same literary standard,<ref>James Minahan, ''Miniature empires: a historical dictionary of the newly independent states'', Greenwood Publishing Group, 1989, pp. 276<br>{{cite web|url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/mdtoc.html#md0027|title=The Library of Congress -- Moldova, Country Study|accessdate=2008-06-03}}<br>{{cite web|url=http://www.indiana.edu/~libslav/slavcatman/langcode.html|title=Encyclopedia Britannica (via indiana.edu)|accessdate=2008-06-03}}<br>{{cite web|url=http://www.law.nyu.edu/eecr/vol11num1_2/constitutionwatch/moldova.html|title=NYU LAW, A country-by-country update on constitutional politics in Eastern Europe and the ex-USSR|accessdate=2008-06-03}}<br>{{cite web|url=http://www.jmu.edu/orgs/romanian/moldova1.htm|title=The Sovietization of Moldova|accessdate=2008-06-03}}<br>{{cite web|url=http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=Moldova|title=Ethnologue.com, data on Moldova|accessdate=2008-06-03}}<br>{{cite web|url=http://www.ksg.harvard.edu/kokkalis/GSW5/anderson.pdf|format=PDF|title=Disillusionment with Democracy: Notes from the Field in Moldova|accessdate=2008-06-03}}<br>{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/european_languages/languages/moldovan.shtml|title=BBC on the Moldovan language}}<br>{{ru icon}}Л. И. Лухт, Б. П. Нарумов. Румынский язык // Языки мира. Романские языки. М., Academia, Институт языкознания РАН, 2001</ref> but for political reasons both names ''Moldovan'' and ''Romanian'' are used inside the country. Written in the [[Moldovan Cyrillic alphabet]]<ref>Derived from the [[Russian alphabet]] and developed in the [[Soviet Union]] since the 1930s, the modern Moldovan Cyrillic alphabet is different from the [[Romanian Cyrillic alphabet]] used in the [[Principality of Moldavia]] and by the other [[Romanian language|Moldovan/Wallachian]] language-speakers before 1857: Denis Deletant, Slavonic letters in Moldova, Wallachia & Transylvania from the tenth to the seventeenth centuries, Ed. Enciclopedicӑ, Bucharest 1991</ref>, Moldovan (''лимба молдовеняскэ'') is also the name of one of the three official languages of the breakaway territory of [[Transnistria]].<ref>[http://www.kspmr.idknet.com/eng/k_I.htm Article 12 of the Constitution of Pridnestrovskaia Moldavskaia Respublika]</ref> The [[Constitution of Moldova]] (Title I, Article 13) states that the Moldovan language is the official language of the country. In the [[Declaration of Independence of Moldova]], the state language is called [[Romanian language|Romanian]].<ref>{{ro icon}}[http://www.moldova-suverana.md/index.php?start_from=&ucat=7&subaction=showfull&id=1156426235&archive=1156767681& Declaraţia de independenţa a Republicii Moldova], [[Moldova Suverană]]</ref> The 1989 Language Law that proclaimed it the ''state language'' of Moldova, speaks in the preamble of a "Moldovan-Romanian linguistic identity". After political debate over the issue has inflamed again in the early 2000s, a group of Romanian linguists adopted a resolution stating that promotion of the notion of Moldovan language is an anti-scientific campaign.<ref>{{ro icon}} {{cite web |url=http://www.ziare.ro/articol.php?id=1193864896 |title=Ziare.ro - Linguists condemn "Moldovan language" |accessdate=2007-11-10 |format= |work=}}</ref> The "Moldavian speech" (''graiul moldovenesc'', in older sources ''limba moldovenească'') is the north-eastern [[Varieties of the Romanian language|variety of spoken Romanian]], spread approximately within the territory of the former [[Principality of Moldavia]] (now split between Moldova and [[Romania]]). The Moldavian variety is considered one of the five major spoken varieties of Romanian, all five being written identically. There is no particular linguistic break at the [[Prut River]], the border between Romania and Moldova. The standard alphabet is [[Romanian alphabet|Latin]] (currently official in the [[Republic of Moldova]]). Before 1989, also two versions of Cyrillic had been used: the [[Moldovan Cyrillic alphabet]] in 1940-89, and the historical [[Romanian Cyrillic alphabet]] until 1857. {{As of|2008}}, the former remains in use only in Transnistria. ==History and politics== [[Image:Stamp of Moldova 413.gif|thumb]] [[File:Stamp of Moldova md046st.jpg|thumb|The [[Romanian Literature Museum, Chişinău]]]] <!-- 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 [[glottonym]] ''Moldavian''/''Moldovan'' in Moldova and beyond, which is closely tied to the region's political status, with long periods of rule by [[Russia]] and the [[Soviet Union]] influencing the language's name and (when Cyrillic script was in use) [[orthography]]. From a linguistic perspective, this term is an alternative name for the [[Romanian language]] spoken in the [[Moldova|Republic of Moldova]] (see [[History of the Romanian language]]). The concept of the distinction of Moldovan from Romanian was explicitly stated only in the early 20th century, and accompanied the raising of national awareness among Moldovans, and the Soviet placing heavy emphasis on Moldavians vs Romanians as a reaction to this awareness.<ref>Library of the US Congress Country Study, Moldova - Language, Religion and Culture - Language: "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. (Romanian is a Romance language descended from Latin.) 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 in Moldova were subjected to Russianization 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) as a middle name." [http://memory.loc.gov/frd/cs/mdtoc.html ]</ref> Major recent developments include the passing to a Latin script from Cyrillic in 1989 and several changes in the statutory name of the 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 <code>mo</code> in [[ISO 639-1]] and code <code>mol</code> in [[ISO 639-2]] and [[ISO 639-3]]<ref>[[SIL International]]: [http://www.sil.org/iso639-3/documentation.asp?id=mol ISO 639 code sets: Documentation for ISO 639 identifier: mol]</ref> but these have been deprecated in November 2008, leaving <code>ro</code> and <code>ron</code> (639-2/T) and <code>rum</code> (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, the ISO 639-2 Registration Authority said in the motivation of the decision.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.loc.gov/standards/iso639-2/php/code_changes.php|title=Code Changes: ISO 639-2 Registration Authority|publisher=US [[Library of Congress]]|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}}</ref><ref>[http://www.alvestrand.no/pipermail/ietf-languages/2008-November/008635.html ISO 639 JAC decision re mo/mol]</ref> === Reversion to Latin script, and beyond === In 1989, the contemporary Romanian version of the Latin alphabet was made the [[official script]] of the Moldavian SSR. In the Declaration of Independence<ref>{{ro icon}} [http://www.europa.md/upload/File/alte_documente/Declaratia%20de%20Independenta%20a%20Republicii%20Moldova%202(1).doc Declararaţia de Independenţă a Republicii Moldova] (Declaration of Independence of the Republic of Moldova)</ref> of [[Moldova]] (27 August 1991), the official language was named "Romanian", but the 1994 constitution declared Moldovan the state language. When in 1992 the [[Romanian Academy]] changed the official orthography of Romanian language, the Institute of Linguistics at the [[Academy of Sciences of Moldova]] did not make the changes, and the official orthography continued as before until 2001 when the changes introduced by the Romanian Academy were adopted by the Moldovan Academy<ref>http://ro.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imagine:Asm_lbro3.jpg</ref>. A 1996 attempt by Moldovan president [[Mircea Snegur]] to change the official language to "Romanian" was dismissed by the Moldovan Parliament as promoting "Romanian expansionism". In 2003, a [[Moldovan-Romanian dictionary]] (''Dicţionar Moldovenesc-Românesc'' (2003), by [[Vasile Stati]]) was published. The 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 [[loanword]]s. In Moldova, the head of the [[Academy of Sciences of Moldova|Academy of Sciences]]' Institute of Linguistics, [[Ion Bărbuţă]], described the dictionary as "an absurdity, serving political purposes". Stati, however, accused both of promoting "Romanian colonialism". In the [[2004 Moldovan Census|2004 census]], 16.5% (558,508) out of the 3,383,332 people living in Moldova declared Romanian as their mother tongue, whereas 60% declared Moldovan. While 40% of all [[urban area|urban]] Romanian/Moldovan speakers declared Romanian as their mother tongue, in the countryside barely a seventh of the Romanian/Moldovan speakers indicated Romanian as their mother tongue.<ref name="Census 2004">National Bureau of Statistics of the Republic of Moldova: [http://www.statistica.md/recensamint.php?lang=ro Census 2004]</ref> In October 2009, [[Vlad Filat]], the new [[Prime Minister of Moldova]], announced that he intends to propose changes in the Constitution regarding the name of the language, replacing "Moldovan" with "Romanian".<ref>[http://ziua.net/display.php?data=2009-10-01&id=259450 Voronin denuntat ca militian la Bruxelles], ''Ziua'', October 1, 2009</ref> ==Linguistic aspects== There are, however, regional differences in the colloquial spoken language. The Moldovan dialect/variety is common in the [[Republic of Moldova]], as well as in [[Chernivtsi Oblast]] and [[Budjak]] region of [[Ukraine]], and in eight counties of [[Romania]], territories that once made up the medieval [[Principality of Moldavia]]. The difference between the language spoken in [[Chişinău]] and [[Iaşi]] and the language spoken for example in [[Bucharest]] could be roughly compared to that between Standard British and Scottish or American English.{{Citation needed|date=March 2008}} Others have argued that these differences might be found within any linguistic territory.{{Citation needed|date=March 2008}} According to a report issued by the Academy of science of the Republic of Moldova in 1994, the correct name of the language is Romanian. {{Citation needed|date=March 2007}}<!-- original Academy of Science citation is required, not a claim by a third party--> In Moldova's schools, the discipline about the state language is called "Romanian language", though former Moldovan president [[Vladimir Voronin]] asked for it to be changed into "Moldovan language".<ref>[http://social.moldova.org/news/professors-from-the-university-of-balti-protest-against-replacing-romanian-language-with-moldovan-language-81780-eng.html DECA-Press ''Professors from the University of Balti protest against replacing „Romanian language” with „Moldovan language”'']</ref> ==Controversy== {{Main|Controversy over national identity in Moldova}} {{See also|Moldovenism}} [[Image:Romania Graiuri.jpg|thumb|300px|Major varieties of the [[Romanian language]]]] [[Image:Md2002 kramar.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Demonstration in Chişinău, January 2002. The text on the inscription is "Romanian people -Romanian language"]] The matter of whether or not "Moldovan" is a separate language is a contested political issue within and beyond the Republic of Moldova. The 1989 Language Law of the [[Moldavian SSR]], which is still in force in Moldova (according to the Constitution,<ref>[http://www.parlament.md/law/constitution/t7/ Constitution of the Republic of Moldova, Title 7, Article 7]: ''"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 the existence of a "linguistic Moldo-[[Romanian language|Romanian]] identity".<ref>{{ro icon}} [[s:ro:Legea cu privire la funcţionarea limbilor vorbite pe teritoriul RSS Moldoveneşti|Legea cu privire la funcţionarea limbilor vorbite pe teritoriul RSS Moldoveneşti 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 maternal language."''</ref> Article 13 of the Moldovan Constitution, names it "the [[national language]] of the country" (the original uses the term ''limba de stat'', which literally means ''the language of the state'', or ''official language'', thus avoiding the term ''national'', whose sense is that of [[Nationality#Alternative usage|ethnicity]]). In the breakaway region of [[Transnistria]], it is co-official with [[Ukrainian language|Ukrainian]] and [[Russian language|Russian]]. Despite the official nomenclature, [[standard language|standard]] "Moldovan" is widely considered to be identical to the standard Romanian.<ref>Kogan Page 2004, p 291 ; IHT, 16 June 2000, p. 2 ; Dyer 1999, 2005</ref> 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: "... 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 2002, the Moldovan Minister of Justice, [[Ion Morei]], 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>[http://www.azi.md/news?ID=20643 Ion Morei: The Moldovan language is identical to the Romanian language], ''Moldova Azi'', 10 September 2002</ref> 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."<ref>{{ro icon}} [http://www.jurnal.md/articol.php?id=1708&editie=283 Din nou fără burse], ''Jurnal de Chişinău'', 25 May 2004</ref> 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".<ref>{{ro icon}} [http://mediafax.ro/articole-free/Voronin-acuza-Bucurestiul-de-intoleranta-fata-de--minoritatea-etnica-a-moldovenilor--din-Romania-624876-5.html Mediafax interview]</ref> In the [[2004 Moldovan Census|2004 census]], out of the 3,383,332 people living in Moldova, 60% chose Moldovan as their mother tongue, whereas only 16.5% chose Romanian. While 37% of all [[urban area|urban]] Romanian/Moldovan speakers chose Romanian as their mother tongue, in the countryside barely one in seven Romanian/Moldovan speakers indicated Romanian as his mother tongue.<ref name="Census 2004"/> When reporting on EU Council deliberations regarding an agreement between the European Community and Moldova, the Romanian rapporteur Jean Marin Marinescu included a recommendation not to make references to the Moldovan language.<ref>[http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//NONSGML+REPORT+A6-2007-0427+0+DOC+WORD+V0//EN]</ref> This led to speculation in the Romanian press that supposedly the EU banned the usage of the term "Moldovan language."<ref>{{ro icon}} [http://www.adevarul.ro/articole/orban-a-eliminat-limba-moldoveneasca-de-pe-site-ul-comisiei-europene/329489 "Orban a eliminat “limba moldovenească” de pe site-ul Comisiei Europene"]</ref> However, the European Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighbourhood Policy, [[Benita Ferrero-Waldner]], denied these allegations and stated 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 communautaire|acquis]], binding to all [[European Union member state|member states]]. <ref>[http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getAllAnswers.do?reference=E-2007-5014&language=EN Answer given by Mrs Ferrero-Waldner on behalf of the Commission], December 19, 2007</ref> ==Orthography== {{See also|Romanian alphabet|Moldovan Cyrillic alphabet}} The language was generally written in a [[Romanian Cyrillic alphabet]] (based on the [[Old Church Slavonic]] alphabet) before the 19th century. From then and until [[World War I]], both Old Cyrillic and Latin were used, at which point the Old Cyrillic alphabet fell out of use. In the [[interwar period]], Soviet authorities alternately used Latin or Cyrillic for writing the language, mirroring the political goals of the moment. Between 1940 and 1989, i.e. during the Soviet rule, the new [[Moldovan Cyrillic alphabet]] replaced Latin as the official alphabet in Moldova (then [[Moldavian SSR]]).<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=yiObBPPjXbYC&pg=PA95&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=0_0&sig=18KrKKRvIs7weBHod_lgv_llcc0 "Language policy in the Soviet Union"] Grenoble 2003, pp 89-93</ref> In 1989, Latin script was adopted again, along with the orthographic rules used in [[Romania]] at the time. ==See also== * [[Moldovan]] * [[Moldovenism]] * [[Varieties of the Romanian language]] ==Notes== {{reflist}} == References == * {{cite book|last=Dyer|first=Donald Leroy|title=The Romanian Dialect of Moldova: A Study in Language and Politics|location=Lewiston, NY|date=1999|isbn=0-7734-8037-4|publisher=E. Mellen}} * {{cite book|last=Dyer|first=Donald Leroy|location=New York|publisher=Columbia University Press (East European Monographs)|date=1996|isbn=0-88033-351-0|title=Studies in Moldovan : the history, culture, language and contemporary politics of the people of Moldova}} * {{cite book|last=Stati|first=V. N.|title=Dicţionar moldovenesc-românesc|location=Chişinău|publisher=Tipografia Centrală (Biblioteca Pro Moldova)|date=2003|isbn=9975-78-248-5}} * {{cite book|last=Dumbrava|first=V.|title=Sprachkonflikt und Sprachbewusstsein in der Republik Moldova: Eine empirische Studie in gemischtethnischen Familien (Sprache, Mehrsprachigkeit und sozialer Wandel)|location=Bern|publisher=[[Peter Lang (publishing company)|Peter Lang]]|date=2004|isbn=3-631-50728-3}} * {{cite book|last=King|first=Charles|title=The Moldovans: Romania, Russia and the Politics of Culture|publisher=[[Hoover Institution Press]]|date=2000|isbn=0-8179-9792-X|url=http://books.google.com/?id=ldBFWtuv8DQC&printsec=frontcover}} * {{cite book|last=Grenoble|first=Lenore A.|title=Language Policy in the Soviet Union|publisher=[[Springer Science and Business Media|Springer]]|date=2003|isbn=ISBN 1-4020-1298-5}} * {{cite book|title=Istoria României|publisher=Corint|date=2004|isbn=973-653-514-2|author=M. Bărbulescu, D. Deletant, K. Hitchins, S. Papacostea, P. Teodor}} * {{cite book|title=Europe Review 2003/2004|date=2004|publisher=[[Kogan Page]]}} * {{cite journal|last=Movileanu|first=N.|title=Din istoria Transnistriei (1924-1940)|work=Revista de istorie a Moldovei|date=1993|issue=#2}} * {{cite journal|last=Negru|first=E.|title=Introducerea si interzicerea grafiei latine in R.A.S.S.M|date=1999|work=Revista de istorie a Moldovei|issue=#3-4}} ==Further reading== * {{cite book|last=Ciscel|first=Matthew H.|title=The Language of the Moldovans: Romania, Russia, and Identity in an Ex-Soviet Republic|date=2007|isbn=0739114433|publisher=[[Rowman & Littlefield|Lexington Books]]|location=Lanham}} - About the identity of the contemporary Moldovans in the context of debates about the their language. ==External links== * [http://www.translators.md/Publications/ERusnac02_en.doc Translation of Russian loans and irregularities of the spoken language in the Republic of Moldova] by Eleonora Rusnac, President, Association of Professional Translators of Moldova. * [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=MD Ethnologue report for Moldova] * [http://www.asm.md/?option=content&task=view&id=134 Academy of Sciences of Moldova] * [http://www.contrafort.md/2002/90-91/338.html Conference presentation by Tamara Cărăuş, about identity issues in Moldova] {{ro icon}} {{Romance languages}} {{Romanian language}} [[Category:Moldovan linguistic and ethnic controversy|Language]] {{Link FA|ro}} [[am:ሞልዶቭኛ]] [[az:Moldov dili]] [[be:Малдаўская мова]] [[be-x-old:Малдаўская мова]] [[bg:Молдовски език]] [[ca:Moldau]] [[cs:Moldavština]] [[de:Moldauische Sprache]] [[el:Μολδαβική γλώσσα]] [[es:Idioma moldavo]] [[eo:Moldava lingvo]] [[eu:Moldaviera]] [[fr:Moldave]] [[ko:몰도바어]] [[hr:Moldavski jezik]] [[it:Lingua moldava]] [[ka:მოლდავური ენა]] [[ku:Zimanê moldawî]] [[lv:Moldāvu valoda]] [[lb:Moldawesch]] [[lt:Moldavų kalba]] [[hu:Moldáv nyelv]] [[mk:Молдавски јазик]] [[mo:Молдовеняскэ]] [[mr:मोल्दोव्हन भाषा]] [[ms:Bahasa Moldova]] [[nl:Moldavisch]] [[ja:モルドバ語]] [[no:Moldovsk]] [[pl:Język mołdawski]] [[pt:Língua moldávia]] [[ro:Limba moldovenească]] [[ru:Молдавский язык]] [[sq:Gjuha moldave]] [[scn:Lingua moldava]] [[simple:Moldovan language]] [[sk:Moldavčina]] [[sl:Moldavščina]] [[sr:Молдавски језик]] [[fi:Moldavian kieli]] [[sv:Moldaviska]] [[th:ภาษามอลโดวา]] [[tr:Moldovca]] [[uk:Молдавська мова]] [[ug:مولداۋىيە تىلى]] [[zh:摩爾多瓦語]]'