John White December 2010 Planning Our Language

Planning Our Language: Moldovas Language IdentitySince 1812 the area of what is the Republic of Moldova has been subject to heavy language planning first from Imperial Russia, then internal nationalist movements, Soviet Russia, and once again internal nationalist movements. Moldova today is a multi-nation state heavily influenced by culture and language pulls from the East and from the West. The majority of its residents speak a dialect of Romanian but a strong influential minority speaks Russian. This paper first looks at the historical influences leading up to the 1989 Language Laws that established Moldovan as the official language, but gives significant minority status to Russian. It follows the shifts in allegiance displayed by the official legal documents of 1991 Declaration of Independence, what it means for breakaway Transnistria, and the 1994 Constitution. Then this paper looks at the chosen national anthems after 1991 and that despite celebrating its multi-lingual heritage, the anthem demonstrates the constructed nation that Moldova really is. This construction is confirmed by the former left-wing president, Vladimir Voronin (2001-2008), Moldovan citizens, as well as the 2003 Romanian-Moldovan dictionary. Finally, this paper shows the cautious shift of the pro-Western alliance of 2009-present to acknowledge the state language is Romanian.

The primary terms that demonstrate this papers thesis are corpus planning and status planning. The former term explains how the vocabulary of a language is expanded by borrowing from a larger neighbor. In this case, numerous Russian loan words demonstrate this. The latter term concerns the elevation of the language to public official usage. According to Fishman, this elevation takes place when it is implemented in the arenas of material statuses, reward, and pursuits particularly in the work-place or marketplace, in government offices and operations, and in the institutions and processes of literacy (Fishman 336). After the eastern territory of Bessarabia (roughly present day Moldova excluding Transnistria) was annexed to the Russian empire in 1812, the local language was at first ignored and then banned from public usage. In the mid 19th century Karl Marx wrote, The Romanian language is a kind of Oriental Italian. The indigenous population of Moldo-Wallachia call themselves Romanians; their neighbors call them Vlachs or Valachs (Brezianu & Spanu14). During the 19th century and before, the alphabet was a Latin-Cyrillic hybrid unique to the region. The first liberation movements around the turn of the 19th-20th century rallied around the Romanian language and Latin alphabet in order to separate themselves from their Russian imperial legacy. Between 1918-1940 Moldova was fully a part of Romanian borders and language. When the country was occupied by the Soviet Union in 1940, the loan words became more frequent, deliberate, as well as introducing the Cyrillic language. Russian became the administration language and Linguists advanced a new theory of the origins of the Moldavian language, that it was at least partially Slavic in origin (Leivat). This was a deliberate move on the part of the Soviet Union to separate Moldovans from their neighbors to the west. At the same time, across the whole USSR in 1938 the teaching of Russian as a second language was decreed for all minorities; scripts that had been Arabic or Latin were replaced with Cyrillic; and Russian loanwords were required for new intellectual and technical concepts (Haugen 12).As a result of Gorbachovs Glastnost policies in the 1980s, A literary debating society bearing the name of Moldovan poet and clergyman Alexie Mateevici (18881917)the author of a celebrated ode to the Romanian language (Limba noastra, i.e., Our Language)was founded in Chisinau in 1988. (Brezianu & Spanu 14). Through this society, an independent political organization Moldovan Popular Front, and a smuggled in periodical published in the Romanian alphabet, a mass movement began that resulted in the Great National Assembly and the Language Law of August 1989 (Brezianu & Spanu 14). The Laws announced that Moldovan will be written in the Latin script, and the government acknowledged it as stemming from a Moldo-Romanian linguistic identity.

By making it an official state language of government and education and returning it to a non-Slavic alphabet, shows the fully interconnected nature of status planning and corpus planning. For a language to be used in school and by government (status planning) it requires a writing system, a spelling system,in short, the dictionaries, grammars, and style manuals (all corpus planning) (Fishman 339). Fishman remarks that Moldovas post-Soviet adjustment would be easier if there hadnt been such rigid forcing [of] a uniformly Russian-Cyrillic system by the Soviet Union (Fishman 340).

As will be shown in the case of the breakaway zone of Transnistria, this alphabet shift lies at the crux of the territorys split which allows much more Russian influence on Moldova today. For this paper, this split demonstrates the constructed nature of Moldova and that it is championed by the government for political purposes. In Moldova as a whole there are 70% ethnic Romanians and 15% ethnic Slavs, where as the Russian language is still the language of private business and access to a wider community. In Transnistria, only 30% are ethnic Romanians and the remaining are Russian or slavophone derived languages. Transnistria never was part of Bessarabia or Romania, and only was attached to eastern Bessarabians in 1940 with the invented Moldovan SSR which was created as a buffer between Romania and Ukraine. This Russian-Moldovan split is the point of contestation for Transnistria.

There is a second split between Moldova and Romania. The language is really Romanian with an accent also spoken by people within Romanias borders. These various pulls demonstrate the precarious nature of Moldovas linguistic identity. The Russian population looks east and controls Moldovas reliance on Russian energy and trade, whereas to the west Romania is trying to appropriate Moldovas historical population into its own sphere and deny the Moldovan language. Moldovans are not interested in becoming Romanian, but through Romania, Moldovans have the possibility of getting a European Union passport.

As a result of the Great National Assembly, the Sep 1, 1989 Law on the Usage of Languages in the Moldovan SSR acknowledges that the identity Moldovan-Romanian language actually exists and that Romanians live in the USSR, to make studies and the Moldavian SSR supports the aspiration of Moldavans living abroad and that they have a right to meet [their] cultural needs in their native language. Furthermore, the preamble states that the Moldavian SSR [permits the] conditions within its territory [of] the use and development of Russian as the language of communication between USSR nations and peoples of other languages nationalities living in the country. Title I Article 1, elaborates the state language is the language Moldovan, who works on the Latin alphabet . The Language Law also grants translations when necessary of official state documents for non-Moldovan speaking citizens, i.e. Russians, Gaugazians, Ukrainians, and Bulgarians.

The Declaration of Independence was signed Aug 27, 1991 on the two year anniversary of the protests that spawned the Language Laws. It confirmed the Language Laws declaration of Romanian as official language and the reintroduction of the Latin alphabet, 31 August 1989. The Declaration even said that Romanian was declared the official language in 1989, which it wasnt. What the Laws did say was that the Moldovan SSR acknowledged Romanians were living in the USSR and there existed an identitatea lingvistic moldo-romn. (Moldo-Romanian linguistic identity authors translation). With this overstatement of Romanias influence on Moldovan territory, its not surprising that Russophone speakers were concerned that Moldova would try to align itself with Romania as had happened between 1918-1940. Further looking at the Declaration of Independence, one of the justifications to be independent from the Soviet Union was the voiding of the August 1939 Molotov- Ribbentrop Pact and its consequences for Bessarabia. The Declaration acknowledged the existence of Moldovans in Transnistria and thereby claims rights to part of the historical and ethnic territory of our people; The Declaration also points out how the population of Bessarabia, Northern Bucovina and Herta as well as that of the Moldavian ASSR (Transnistria), formed on 12 October 1924, where not consulted when dismantled from Romania and then attached to Transnistria under the 2 August 1940 "USSR Law on the formation of the Moldavian SSR, This 1940 union was the first time Bessarabia was joined with the people on the Eastern bank of the Dniester River (Transnistria) since the Middle Ages when they shared a territory governed by Kievan Rus. Moldova uses the voiding of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact as justification for their independence from the Soviet Union.

The separatists of Transnistria claim this same voiding as reason they should separate from Moldova. By declaring the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact null and void. The same declaration also denounced the forming of the MSSR and its boundaries as being illegal. (Pridnestrovie UN). They insist that since the Pact was the only thing which had previously joined Pridnestrovie with Moldova, the country's declaration of independence implicitly ruled out any claim it might have to Pridnestrovian territory under international law. (Pridnestrovie Moldova). Transnistria declared themselves a separate autonomous region in 1990 as a result of the return to Latin of the Moldovan language. Spokesmen for Transnistria said the Roman alphabet was inauthentic .They also feared that Moldova would attach itself back to Romania to whom they shared neither history nor language. Moldova eventually turned down Romanias invitation for annexation (as it had been between 1918-1940) and began promoting their own unique multi-nation identity which included the territory of Transnistria.

Yet in 1991, Moldovas future seemed uncertain. Their flag and anthem rallied around Romania. Moldova adopted the National Anthem, Awaken, Romania! ("Deteapt-te, romne") which was originally written in 1848 for the uprisings at the time, and then was the national anthem of the short lived 1917-1918 Moldovan Democratic Republic. (WIKI - MDR). The songs tone is defiant and echoes a call to arms. When that anthem became the National Anthem of Romania in 1994, Moldova changed their anthem to Our Language (Limba noastr). Its 1917 author Alexie Mateevici had been the name of the literary society in 1988. Rather than a militant call, Our Language is a thrilled celebration of the unnamed language which is described as a burning flame, the greenest leaf, more than holy where it is wept and sung perpetually/ in the homesteads of our folks. (WIKI Limba Noastra). Mateevici was a Bessarabian that saw his region as historically unique but felt Moldovas future should be with Romania and Romanian language(WIKI Mateevici). One must question the intent of a nations intelligentsia that chooses a particular ethnically charged song to become the anthem of a multi-ethnic state where the anthem disenfranchises 30% of the population. The majority of these disenfranchised are Russophones. Russophones have much of the countrys wealth and run Transnistria, and Transnistria produced one third of Moldovas industrial output and more than half of its consumer goods (Danelsons 10).

The July 1994 Constitution is available in both Russian and Moldovan. Article 13, National Language, Use of Other Languages states (1) The (5) , . 13 , (1) , official language of Moldova is the Moldovan language, based on the Latin charts. The government documents drop both Romanian and Moldo-Romanian, yet keep Latin. (2) , , (2) The State recognizes and protects the right to preserve, develop and use the Russian language and other languages spoken in the country. (3) .(3) The State promotes the learning of languages of international communication. Although it appears the government has taken a more neutral stance, Moldovan has been elevated as separate from Romanian and on an equal field with Russian. Perhaps the biggest evidence to date of the status planning is in Article 35, The Right to education. The guarantees to protect each (2) .person's right to choose the language of education and training. and the (3) study [of] the state language is provided in educational institutions at all levels. The Language Laws of September 1, 1989 are not altered, however. Article VII affirms they are valid to the extent not inconsistent with this Constitution.

When the Communists won the elections in 2001, president Vladimir Voronin began a campaign for Moldovas unique identity. Early during this controversy, in 2002 a Moldovan Pop group O-zone (famous worldwide for the Nu ma Nu ma song), released a song, Nu m las de limb noastr (I do not give up our language). Our language also being the language referred to in the national anthem of the same name. The song refers to the language as forever holy and beautiful with its high, magical pronounciation and ends the final verse, de lmba noastra cea romana (our language, Romanian) (O-Zone) (translated by Katherine0825). President Voronin essentially holds the same view that our language is Romanian, but he maintains the right to call it Moldovan. He says, The Moldovan Republic's Constitution says that the country's national language is Moldovan, not Romanian. Yes, they are identical. But historically its called Moldovan, and its going to stay that way (Vitu and Lobjakas). His crusade continues on through the decade. In January 2008 he was giving a speech at the European Commission and when he was only provided with a Romanian interpreter, the little makeshift booth housing the interpreter initially sported a sign saying English -- moldovenesc. Before the long wait for the press conference was over, however, the sign had disappeared. European Commission officials had apparently been advised that it offended the sensitivities of EU member Romania. When the she came out of her booth, she told RFE/RL she was Romanian. (Vitu and Lobjakas).

At a conference in Munich, the Romanian Foreign Minister Adrian Cioroianu addressed President Voronin in French about the advantage their respective countries share because they speak the same language. The president responded in Russian, I have answered a million times, and I will answer again a billion times: It's up to the population to name its country's languageWe held a referendum on October 1, 2004, in which 87 percent defined their language as Moldovan (Vitu and Lobjakas). This political stubbornness is nothing new. During the Soviet occupation, at meetings between Romanian and Moldovan officials, Moldovan officialsinsisted that translators be used(Leivat). The citizens of Moldova also know that its about ideology, not history. In February 2008 RFE/RL went to Chisinau to ask locals what they thought. One man said that even though Russian has modified Romanian, It is easy to realize that we do not need translators between two brothers, who can understand each other alone. Mr. Voronin mixes up two things: his political ideology with the roots of this people and the history of this people" (Vitu and Lobjakas). According to the 2003 Stati dictionary, this is also true. With numerous directly Romanian words, it means Moldovans speak Romanian and vice versa.

In 2003, the Moldovan language made a monumental step in corpus planning with the Vasile Stati dictionary, written by a left-wing politician and linguistic champion of Moldovanness (Moldova.org). Yet the work is recognized as a bogus dictionary and piece of nonsense by The Moldovan Institute of Linguistics (Moldova.org). In trying to prove how separate the two languages are, it only succeeded in proving how they are alike and the lengths politicians will go to make an ideological stance. The book was compiled partly in response to Adrian Nstase, one time Prime Minister of Romania, who insisted he needed to see a dictionary before hed call the language Moldovan. Nstase once jokingly pretended to switch from Romanian to Moldovan during the course of a speech (PCNG). Many of the words are not even translations and then some translations are just instances where the medial / distinction occurs, written with a medial rather than and so conform to Moldovan rather than standard Romanian orthography Stati is obliged to concentrate almost exclusively on vocabulary, rather than linguistic, differences in the dictionary (PCGN). Typical of the vocabulary are different words for a cucumber, where as in Romanian, the same word means melon (Vitu and Lobjakas). A notable expansion of the Romanian vocabulary is with the word Moldova. In Romanian there are four which are types of nouns and one adjective. In Moldovan, there are twenty-five entries. Highlights are moldoveneasc adj; the Moldovan language or space in the sense of historical continuity; & adj (philosophical); the spirit of Moldovan identity[,] moldovenesc adj; Moldovan (as in language, people)[,] moldoveneti adj; speakers of the Moldovan language[,] moldovenime noun; the totality of Moldovans; Moldovan identity (PCGN). In Romanian, the words were a type of object or people and are tangible. But in Moldovan, the words become abstract, philosophical, and ideological. Theyve demarcated the realm of a nation. Despite that patriotic attempt at corpus planning, no one took the dictionary seriously. When the Communist government lost power in 2008, a pro-Western coalition government took over. They were cautious not to directly offend their Russian populations, but the first signs of the changes are evident by the removal of the letters MD on government websites. MD designated the Moldovan language. These have been replaced by RO, which indicates the Romanian language (Leivat). The coalition, aptly named Alliance for European Integration, is trying to break with the Soviet-Moldovan myth. In January 2010 the acting president Mihai Ghimpu spoke publicly, We must be brave and make quite clear our identicalness [with Romanians] and the language that we speak. I cannot carry on with an old policy - a Stalinist and false one" (EurActiv with Reuters). Political ally Marian Lupu is more stand-offish on the topic. When the question came up on whether the Moldovan government should change the languages name in the constitution, he said a public referendum would be best (EurActiv with Reuters). Former president Voronin also emphasized the publics role in deciding what to name the states official language and he often cited the 2004 referendum when defending his positions.

In a state with such a mixed population as Moldova, the only way the major ethnicity can proceed with its identity positioning is through extreme tolerance of its nearly 30% Slavic speaking, power holding, population. Russia remains the language of inter-ethnic communication while Moldovan is the language of the largest ethnicity. The state has a shared history with its region Transnistria from 1940 to present. Clearly the Moldovan government doesnt want to let the area east of the Dniester River go on account of its significant economic output. The region never was a part of Bessarabia and they do not share a common linguistic identity except for the Russian of inter-ethnic communication.

When the Russian Empire came to Bessarabia after 1812, they began a policy of enforced Russian at the expense of the local language. To separate from Russia, the region adopted the Romanian Latin alphabet in its current form for the first time in its history. As it united with Romania, it played up the shared language. When the Soviet Union took over in 1940, the languages differences from Romanian were exploited to divide a common people. Since initial Russian occupation to present date, each region whether Romania, Moldova, or Russia bolstered the status of Moldovas language in order to act out their own agenda. Linguistically, Moldova has multiple nations within its constructed state borders. Despite Moldovas pride in being so ethnically tolerant, its national anthem demonstrates the countrys dilemma. Whether Our Language refers to Moldovan or Romanian is immaterial when taking into account the key language it excludes: Russian. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Brezianu, Andrei & Spanu, Vlad. Historical Dictionary of Moldova Second Edition. Apr 2007. www.scarecrowpress.com 20 Dec 2010. http://www.scarecrowpress.com/Chapters/Index.shtml?SKU=0810856077&Site=scarecrowpress&Title=Historical%20Dictionary%20of%20Moldova&FileType=PDFConstitution. Constitutia Republicii Moldova http://lex.justice.md http://translate.google.com/# 09 Dec 2010.

Danelsons, Renars. Moldova, Minorities and the International Community Latvijas Universitte, 2008 http://szf.lu.lv 09 Dec 2010. http://szf.lu.lv/files/petnieciba/publikacijas/Moldova_minorities_4.pdfDeclaration of Independence. www.moldova-suverana.md http://translate.google.com/#ro|en| 10 Dec 2010.

ONeill, Louis. The Worlds Most Unhappy People. 21 April 2009. http://online.wsj.com 09 Dec 2010.

O-Zone. Nu m las de limb noastr (I Do Not Give Up Our Language) Translated by Katherine0825. 18 October 2009. http://lyricstranslate.com 19 Dec 2010.

PCNG. Moldovan: An Identity but not a Language Permanent Committee on Geographical Names Crown Copyright 2005. www.pcgn.org.uk 6 Dec 2010.

Pridnestrovie UN. UN and OSCE: Pridnestrovie is different and distinct http://pridnestrovie.net 19 Dec 2010.

Pridnestrovie Moldova. Moldova: null and void merging with Pridnestrovie http://pridnestrovie.net 19 Dec 2010

Roper, Steven. The politicization of education: Identity formation in Moldova and Transnistria Communist and Post-Communist Studies 38 (2005) 501-514 Department of Political Science, Eastern Illinois University, Charleston, IL. 25 October 2005. www.stevendroper.com 15 Dec 2010. < http://www.stevendroper.com/education.pdf>

Vitu, Valeria & Lobjakas, Ahto. Romania/Moldova: Divided By A Common Language 21 Feb 2008. www.rferl.org 9 Dec 2010.

WIKI Limba Noastra www.wikipedia.org 18 Dec 2010.

WIKI Mateevici. www.wikipedia.org 18 Dec 2010.

WIKI MDR. www.wikipedia.org 18 Dec 2010. Law on Usage of Language August 27 and September 1, 1989

Romanian President Traian Basescu said [in April 2009] that his country would give Moldovans an individualized fast-track to Romanian -- and thus European Union -- citizenship. This would apply to descendents of those who were Romanian citizens when Moldova was, until 1940, part of Romania ( HYPERLINK "http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124025997653636315.html" ONeill).

Not: vezi Hot. Parl. despe modul de punere n aplicare a Legii RSS Moldoveneti "Cu privire la funcionarea limbilor vorbite pe teritoriul RSS Moldoveneti nr.3466-XI din 01.09.89

RSS Moldoveneasc sprijin aspiraia moldovenilor care locuiesc peste hotarele republicii, iar innd cont de identitatea

lingvistic moldo-romn realmente existent - i a romnilor care locuiesc pe teritoriul Uniunii RSS, de a-i face studiile i de a-i satisface necesitile culturale n limba matern.

RSS Moldoveneasc asigur pe teritoriul su condiiile necesare pentru folosirea i dezvoltarea limbii ruse ca limb de comunicare ntre naiunile din Uniunea RSS, precum i a limbilor populaiilor de alte naionaliti care locuiesc n republic. ( HYPERLINK "Language" Language Law) (translated with http://translate.google.com/#auto|en|)

Articolul 1. n conformitate cu Constituia (Legea Fundamental) a RSS Moldoveneti limba de stat a RSS Moldoveneti este limba moldoveneasc, care funcioneaz pe baza grafiei latine. ( HYPERLINK "Language" Language Law) (translated with http://translate.google.com/#auto|en|)

REAMINTINDprin legile si hotaririle Parlamentului Republicii Moldova privind decretarea limbii romane ca limba de stat si reintroducerea alfabetului latin, 31 august 1989 ( HYPERLINK "http://www.moldova-suverana.md/index.php?start_from=&ucat=7&subaction=showfull&id=1156426235&archive=1156767681&" Declaration of Independence) (translated with http://translate.google.com/#auto|en|)

SUBLINIIND dainuirea in timp a moldovenilor in Transnistria parte componenta a teritoriului istoric si etnic al poporului nostru;

LUIND ACT de faptul ca parlamentele multor state in declaratiile lor considera intelegerea incheiata la 23 august 1939, intre Guvernul URSS si Guvernul Germaniei, ca nula ab initio si cer lichidarea consecintelor politico-juridice ale acesteia, fapt relevat si de Conferinta internationala Pactul Molotov-Ribbentrop si consecintele sale pentru Basarabia prin Declaratia de la Chisinau, adoptata la 28 iunie 1991;

SUBLINIIND ca fara consultarea populatiei din Basarabia, nordul Bucovinei si tinutul Herta, ocupate prin forta la 28 iunie 1940, precum si a celei din RASS Moldoveneasca (Transnistria), formata la 12 octombrie 1924, Sovietul Suprem al URSS, incalcind chiar prerogativele sale constitutionale, a adoptat la 2 august 1940 Legea URSS cu privire la formarea RSS Moldovenesti unionale ( HYPERLINK "http://www.moldova-suverana.md/index.php?start_from=&ucat=7&subaction=showfull&id=1156426235&archive=1156767681&" Declaration of Independence) (translated with http://translate.google.com/#auto|en|)

Minister of Education (of Transnistria) Bomeco said, The Moldovan language that uses the Latin alphabet is but a pseudo-languagethe real Moldovan language that has been using the Cyrillic alphabet for centuries. 31 Moldova Azi, 13 August. 2004. The politicization of education: Identity formation in Moldova and Transnistria (Roper 11)

As early as 1989, while still within the Soviet UnionPopular demand favoured the Romanian vertical tricolour of blue, yellow and red, but the authorities were initially so concerned at the implications of this that they refused on the grounds that this flag was already in use by another country bizarrely alluding here to Chad rather than risking any mention of Romania at all. (PCGN)

Articolul 13

Limba de stat, funcionarea celorlalte limbi

(1) Limba destata Republicii Moldova estelimbamoldoveneasc, funcionnd pe baza grafiei latine.

(2) Statul recunoateiprotejeazdreptul la pstrarea,la dezvoltareai la funcionarea limbii ruse i a altor limbi vorbitepe teritoriul rii.

(3) Statul faciliteazstudierea limbilor de circulaie internaional. (Constitution) (translated with http://translate.google.com/#auto|en|)

Articolul 35

Dreptul la nvtur

(1) Dreptul lanvtureste asigurat prin nvmntulgeneral obligatoriu, prinnvmntulliceali princelprofesional,prin nvmntulsuperior,precumi prin alte forme de instruireide perfecionare.

(2) Statul asigur, ncondiiile legii, dreptul de a alege limba de educare i instruire a persoanelor. (Constitution) (translated with http://translate.google.com/#auto|en|)

Articolul VII

(1) Legea din1 septembrie 1989 cu privire la funcionarea limbilor vorbitepe teritoriul Republicii Moldova rmne n vigoare n msura n care nu contravine prezentei Constituii. (Constitution) (translated with http://translate.google.com/#auto|en|)

"castravetsy" [cucumber in Romanian] versus "pepeni" [melon in Romanian, cucumber in Moldovan]

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