John White December 2010 “Planning ‘Our Language’”

“Planning ‘Our Language’: Moldova’s Language Identity”

Since 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. Page 1 of 23

John White December 2010 “Planning ‘Our Language’”

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 paper’s 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

Page 2 of 23

John White December 2010 “Planning ‘Our Language’”

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

Page 3 of 23

John White December 2010 “Planning ‘Our Language’”

Russian loanwords were required for new intellectual and

technical concepts” (Haugen 12).

As a result of Gorbachov’s Glastnost policies in the

1980’s, “A literary debating society bearing the name of

Moldovan poet and clergyman Alexie Mateevici (1888–1917)—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

identity1.

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

1 Law on Usage of Language August 27 and September 1, 1989Page 4 of 23

John White December 2010 “Planning ‘Our Language’”

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 Moldova’s post-Soviet adjustment would be easier

if there hadn’t 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

territory’s 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

Page 5 of 23

John White December 2010 “Planning ‘Our Language’”

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 Romania’s borders. These various pulls

demonstrate the precarious nature of Moldova’s linguistic

identity. The Russian population looks east and controls

Moldova’s reliance on Russian energy and trade, whereas to the

west Romania is trying to appropriate Moldova’s 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.2

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

2 “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” (O’Neill). Page 6 of 23

John White December 2010 “Planning ‘Our Language’”

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.”3 Title I Article 1, elaborates the “state

language is the language Moldovan, who works on the Latin

alphabet” 4. The Language Law also grants translations when

necessary of official state documents for non-Moldovan

speaking citizens, i.e. Russians, Gaugazians, Ukrainians, and

Bulgarians.

3 “Notă: vezi Hot. Parl. despe modul de punere în aplicare a Legii RSS Moldoveneşti"Cu privire la funcţionarea limbilor vorbite pe teritoriul RSS Moldoveneşti nr.3466-XI din 01.09.89

“RSS Moldovenească sprijină aspiraţia moldovenilor care locuiesc peste hotarele republicii, iar ţinînd cont de identitatealingvistică moldo-română realmente existentă - şi a românilor care locuiesc pe teritoriul Uniunii RSS, de a-şi face studiile şi de a-şi satisface necesităţile culturale în limba maternă.

“RSS Moldovenească asigură pe teritoriul său condiţiile necesare pentru folosirea şi dezvoltarea limbii ruse ca limbă de comunicare între naţiunile din Uniunea RSS, precum şi a limbilor populaţiilor de alte naţionalităţi care locuiesc în republică.” (Language Law) (translated with http://translate.google.com/#auto|en|)

4 “Articolul 1. În conformitate cu Constituţia (Legea Fundamentală) a RSS Moldoveneşti limba de stat a RSS Moldoveneşti este limba moldovenească, care funcţionează pe baza grafiei latine.” (Language Law) (translated with http://translate.google.com/#auto|en|)Page 7 of 23

John White December 2010 “Planning ‘Our Language’”

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”5. The Declaration even said

that Romanian was declared the official language in 1989,

which it wasn’t. What the Laws did say was that the Moldovan

SSR acknowledged Romanians were living in the USSR and there

existed an “identitatea lingvistică moldo-română.” (“Moldo-

Romanian linguistic identity” – author’s translation). With

this overstatement of Romania’s influence on Moldovan

territory, it’s 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” and5 “REAMINTIND…prin legile si hotaririle Parlamentului Republicii Moldova privind decretarea limbii romane ca limba de stat si reintroducerea alfabetului latin, 31 august 1989” (Declaration of Independence) (translated with http://translate.google.com/#auto|en|)Page 8 of 23

John White December 2010 “Planning ‘Our Language’”

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,”6 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.

6 “SUBLINIIND dainuirea in timp a moldovenilor in Transnistria – parte componenta ateritoriului 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”” (Declaration ofIndependence) (translated with http://translate.google.com/#auto|en|)Page 9 of 23

John White December 2010 “Planning ‘Our Language’”

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 inauthentic7 .They also feared that

Moldova would attach itself back to Romania to whom they

shared neither history nor language. Moldova eventually turned

down Romania’s invitation for annexation (as it had been

between 1918-1940) and began promoting their own unique multi-

7 Minister of Education (of Transnistria) Bomeşco said, “‘The Moldovan language that uses the Latin alphabet is but a pseudo-language…the 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)

Page 10 of 23

John White December 2010 “Planning ‘Our Language’”

nation identity – which included the territory of

Transnistria.

Yet in 1991, Moldova’s future seemed uncertain. Their

flag8 and anthem rallied around Romania. Moldova adopted the

National Anthem, “Awaken, Romania!” ("Deşteaptă-te, române")

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

song’s 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 noastră”). It’s

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

8 “As early as 1989, while still within the Soviet Union…Popular 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 groundsthat this flag was already in use by another country – bizarrely alluding here to Chad rather than risking any mention of Romania at all.” (PCGN)Page 11 of 23

John White December 2010 “Planning ‘Our Language’”

but felt Moldova’s future should be with Romania and Romanian

language(WIKI – Mateevici). One must question the intent of a

nation’s 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 country’s wealth and run Transnistria, and

Transnistria “produced one third of Moldova’s 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 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) The State recognizes and protects the right to

preserve, develop and use the Russian language and other

languages spoken in the country. (3) The State promotes the

learning of languages of international communication”9.

9 “Articolul 13Limba de stat, funcţionarea celorlalte limbi

Page 12 of 23

John White December 2010 “Planning ‘Our Language’”

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 “person's

right to choose the language of education and training.” and

the “study [of] the state language is provided in educational

institutions at all levels.”10 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”11.

(1) Limba de  stat  a Republicii Moldova este  limba  moldovenească, funcţionînd pebaza grafiei latine.(2) Statul recunoaşte  şi  protejează  dreptul la păstrarea,  la dezvoltarea  şi lafuncţionarea limbii ruse şi a altor limbi vorbite  pe teritoriul ţării.(3) Statul facilitează  studierea limbilor de circulaţie internaţională.” (Constitution) (translated with http://translate.google.com/#auto|en|)

10 “Articolul 35Dreptul la învăţătură

(1) Dreptul la  învăţătură  este asigurat prin învăţămîntul  general obligatoriu,prin  învăţămîntul  liceal  şi prin  cel  profesional,  prinînvăţămîntul  superior,  precum  şi prin alte forme de instruire  şi  deperfecţionare.(2) Statul asigură, în  condiţiile legii, dreptul de a alege limba de educare şiinstruire a persoanelor.” (Constitution) (translated withhttp://translate.google.com/#auto|en|)

11 “Articolul VII(1) Legea din  1 septembrie 1989 cu privire la funcţionarea limbilor vorbite  pe teritoriul Republicii Moldova rămîne în vigoare în măsura în care nu contravine prezentei Constituţii.” (Constitution) (translated with http://translate.google.com/#auto|en|)Page 13 of 23

John White December 2010 “Planning ‘Our Language’”

When the Communists won the elections in 2001, president

Vladimir Voronin began a campaign for Moldova’s 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 mă las de limbă noastră” (“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 lïmba 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 it’s called Moldovan, and

it’s 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 Page 14 of 23

John White December 2010 “Planning ‘Our Language’”

‘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

language…We 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 officials…insisted that

translators be used”(Leivat). The citizens of Moldova also

know that it’s about ideology, not history. In February 2008

RFE/RL went to Chisinau to ask locals what they thought. One

Page 15 of 23

John White December 2010 “Planning ‘Our Language’”

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 Năstase, one time Prime Minister of

Romania, who insisted he needed to see a dictionary before

he’d call the language Moldovan. Năstase once “jokingly

Page 16 of 23

John White December 2010 “Planning ‘Our Language’”

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 “î / â” distinction occurs, written with a

medial “î” rather than “â” 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”12 (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 “moldovenească 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”)[,] moldoveneşti adj; speakers

of the Moldovan language[,] moldovenime noun; the totality of

Moldovans; Moldovan identity” (PCGN). In Romanian, the words

12 "castravetsy" [cucumber in Romanian] versus "pepeni" [melon in Romanian, cucumber in Moldovan] Page 17 of 23

John White December 2010 “Planning ‘Our Language’”

were a type of object or people and are tangible. But in

Moldovan, the words become abstract, philosophical, and

ideological. They’ve 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 language’s name in the constitution, he said

Page 18 of 23

John White December 2010 “Planning ‘Our Language’”

a public referendum would be best (EurActiv with Reuters).

Former president Voronin also emphasized the public’s role in

deciding what to name the state’s 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 doesn’t 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

Page 19 of 23

John White December 2010 “Planning ‘Our Language’”

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 Moldova’s language in order to act out

their own agenda. Linguistically, Moldova has multiple

nations within its constructed state borders. Despite

Moldova’s pride in being so ethnically tolerant, its national

anthem demonstrates the country’s 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=PDF

Constitution. “Constitutia Republicii Moldova” http://lex.justice.md http://translate.google.com/# 09

Page 20 of 23

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Dec 2010. <http://lex.justice.md/viewdoc.php?action=view&view=doc&id=311496&lang=1>

Danelsons, Renars. “Moldova, Minorities and the International Community” Latvijas Universitāte, 2008 http://szf.lu.lv 09 Dec 2010. http://szf.lu.lv/files/petnieciba/publikacijas/Moldova_minorities_4.pdf

Declaration of Independence. www.moldova-suverana.md http://translate.google.com/#ro|en| 10 Dec 2010. <http://www.moldova-suverana.md/index.php?start_from=&ucat=7&subaction=showfull&id=1156426235&archive=1156767681&

EurActiv with Reuters. “Moldovan leader presses for language name change” 13 Jan 2010 www.euractiv.com 09 Dec 2010. <http://www.euractiv.com/en/culture/moldovan-leader-presses-language-name-change/article-188816>

Fishman, Joshua. “Language and Ethnicity: The View from

Within” p.336

Haugen, Einar. “Language of Imperialism: Unity or Pluralism?”

p. 12

Language Law. “Cu privire la funcţionarea limbilor vorbite pe teritoriul RSS Moldoveneşti” (“The use of languages spoken territory of Moldavian SSR”) www.iatp.md http://translate.google.com/#auto|en 18 Dec 2010. <http://www.iatp.md/ladom/downloads/M3.doc.>

Leivat, Laas. “Moldovan to reject Moldovan language” 11 Dec 2009. www.eesti.ca 09 Dec 2010. http://www.eesti.ca/?

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op=article&articleid=26404&lang=en Moldova to reject Moldovan language

Moldova.org. “On 31 August Moldova celebrates the Language Day” 31 Aug 2007. www.moldova.org. 10 Dec 2010. < http://politicom.moldova.org/news/on-31-august-moldova-celebrates-the-language-day-70280-eng.html>

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