Moldovan language: Difference between revisions

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The '''Moldovan language''' ([[Latin alphabet]]: ''limba moldovenească'', [[Cyrillic alphabet]]: ''лимба молдовеняскэ'', sometimes translated into English as ''Moldavian'') is the official name of the state language of the [[Republic of Moldova]] as specified by its constitution, as well as of the disputed territory of [[Transnistria]].{{ref|pmr-gagauz}}. Opinions vary on the status of Moldovan as a language.

Title I, Article 13 of the Moldovan Constitution, names it the "national language" (limba de stat) of the country. In the [[unrecognized state]] of [[Transnistria]], it is co-official with [[Ukrainian language|Ukrainian]] and [[Russian language|Russian]]. The 1989 law on language of the [[Moldavian SSR]], which ishas not supercededbeen superseded in Moldova, asserts the existence of "linguisticallinguistic Moldo-Romanian identity".

Opinions vary on the status of Moldovan as a language. A significant number ofMost linguists consider [[standard language|standard]] Moldovan to be virtually identical to standard [[Romanian language|Romanian]]{{ref|linguists}}, an [[Eastern Romance languages|Eastern Romance language]], although a few Moldovan linguists dispute this{{ref|stati}}. There are, however, more differences between the colloquial spoken languages of Moldova and [[Romania]], most significantly due to the influence of [[Russian language|Russian]] in Moldova which was not present in Romania. The matter of whether or not Moldovan is a separate language is a hotly contested political issue within and beyond the [[Republic of Moldova]].

The number of Moldovan speakers depends on one's view of the status of Moldovan. If taken as a separate language, then 1.2 million people speak 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 28 million speakers.

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In [[Chişinău]], most strangers, even ethnic Moldovans, address one another in Russian, despite the fact that Moldovan is official language. {{ref|cyrillic}} In the autonomous regions of [[Gagauzia]] and [[Transnistria]], Russian predominates while Moldovan is spoken by a minority.

Unlike in the villages or towns, where a more conservative form of the language is observed, the spokencolloquial languagespeech of the larger cities is, to some extent, an amalgamation of Romanian and Russian, which has been called a "jargon" by some, although it could perhaps be called a [[creole]] since it is the native variety for some. Only some nationally-conscious members of the elite urban intelligentsia make any effort to purge Russian words from their everyday speech. In the countryside, Russian linguistic influences tend to be far fewer, excepting the regions of [[Gagauzia]] and [[Transnistria]]. Speakers of Moldovan tend to [[code-switching|code-switch]] their language with Russian.

In some cases, Russian words take on Romanian inflectional paradigms (examples after <!--El Noel{{ref|ElNoel}}, -->D. Dyer {{ref|DyerEx}}):

Among younger speakers, situational code switching is common, especially among people of Russian and Ukrainian heritage, and even moreso among the children of mixed marriages. It is also common in situations where one person's native language is Moldovan/Romanian and the other person's native language is Russian, for each person to speak in his native language even though the other person responds in the other language. This often results in some degree of intentional grammatical simplification (or "foreigner talk", as it is sometimes known due to intentional grammatical simplification often used when speaking to foreigners), and a higher frequency of borrowing words from the other language than in normal discourse.

Original: "''Maşina'' '''bucsu'''''ieşte''"<br />

Examples of bilingual [[code switching]] or other contact linguistic phenomena (what is occurring here is debatable); Romanian words in italics, Russian words in bold:

Translation: "The car is skidding"<br />

Explanation: "Bucsuieşte" is from the Russian root word ''буксовать'' (bucs-ova-ti), "to skid", and the Romanian inflectional suffix ''(i)-eşte'', the 3rd person singular present tense ending for a 4th conjugation verb.

Original: "''Pai,Pe imiIon parel-au ca va fi cam'' '''gruznosud''' ''sait calculezipe totuldoi de la inceputani''."<br />

Translation: "John was sentenced to two years"<br />

English: Well, I think it would be kind of hard to calculate everything from the start.<br/>

Explanation: "Sudit" is from the Russian verbal root ''суд'' (sud), "to judge" or "to sentence", and the Romanian inflectional suffix ''-t'', the passive participle ending.

Romanian: Pai, imi pare ca va fi cam greu sa calculezi totul de la inceput.<br/>

In other cases, sentences are patterned after Russian syntax:

Original: "'''Ugu''',La mine rochia''oricum,i am sa mai incercnouă''."<br />

EnglishTranslation: Yes, still, "I willhave trya again.new dress"<br />

Explanation: "La mine rochia" and the Russian "У меня ... платье" both mean literally "At me the dress", as opposed to the standard Romanian "Rochia mea", literally "my dress".

Romanian: Da, oricum, am sa mai incerc.<br/>

Original: "''La tine mama'''i bolnavă"<br />

Translation: "Your mom is sick"<br />

Explanation: "La tine mama" and "У тебя мать" both mean literally "At you the mother", as opposed to the standard Romanian "Mama ta", literally "your mother".

Original: "''La noi mama trăieşte în sat''"<br />

Translation: "Our mother lives out in the countryside"<br />

Explanation: "La noi mama" means literally "At us the mother", as opposed to the standard Romanian "mama noastră", literally "our mother".

Original: "''La mine fratele'i în armată''"<br />

Translation: "I have a brother in the military"<br />

Original: '''Prikin<nowiki>'</nowiki>''', ''ieri cand ma plimbam prin parc am intalnit o fata super draguta''.<br/>

Explanation: "La mine" and "У меня" both mean literally "At me...", as opposed to the standard Romanian "mea", literally "my".

English: Can you imagine that, while walking through the park yesterday, I met a very pretty girl.<br/>

Romanian: Iti inchipui, ieri cand ma plimbam prin parc am intalnit o fata super draguta.<br/>

Original: "''Ion lucrează şofer''"<br />

Translation: "Ion works as a driver"<br />

Explanation: In Romanian, there is no instrumental case, so the preposition ''ca'' (as) or the phrase ''în calitate de'' (in the capacity of) is used instead. In Russian, the instrumental case is marked by the suffix ''-ом''. Colloquial Moldovan extends the function of the nominative case to the function of instrumental case as well, thus eliminating the Romanian prepositional phrases. Unlike most Russian influence, this is beginning to appear in the literary language as well.

== Comparison with Romanian ==

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{|

! Moldova [[Image:FlagOfMoldova.png|30px]] || Romania [[Image:Flag of Romania.svg|25px]]|| English [[Image:Flag of the United Kingdom.svg|30px]]

|-------------------------------------------------------------------

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*{{note|Ukraine}} From the official website of the Ukrainian census: [http://www.ukrcensus.gov.ua/eng/]

*{{note|DyerEx}} Dyer 1999

== References ==

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*(2004). ''Europe Review 2003/2004''. Kogan Page.

* [[Grigore Ureche]], ''{{Unicode|Летописецул Цэрий Молдовей}}'' (''Letopiseţul Ţării Moldovei'')

* Dyer, Donald Leroy. SEEJ, Vol. 43, No. 1 (1999): pp85-98

==External links==