Moldovan (limba moldovenească / лимба молдовеняскэ)

Moldovan is a variety or dialect of Romanian spoken in Moldova, northeast Romania, Transnistria, Ukraine and Russia. In 2014 there were about 2.2 million speakers in Moldova. There are about 151,000 speakers in Ukraine, mainly in the Odessa region, 96,000 in Russia, and about 156,000 in Transnistria, where the language is known as Moldovan.

Moldovan is an official language, along with Russian and Ukrainian, in Transnistria. Romanian / Moldovan is a statutory national language in Moldova, and it is recognised as a minority language in Ukraine.

Between 1924 and 1991 Moldova was part of the Soviet Union. It was known as the Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic from 1924-1940, and as the Moldovan Soviet Socialist Republic after that. The language of Moldova was officially known as Moldovan (лимба молдовеняскэ), and was written with the Cyrillic alphabet.

Since 1989 the Moldovan (Romanian) language in Moldova has been written with the same Latin alphabet as Romanian, although some orthographic changes adopted in Romanian are not generally used in Moldova. In Transnistria the Cyrillic alphabet is still used.

According to the 2014 census, 54% of Moldovans call their language Moldovenească (Moldovan), while 24% refer to it as Română (Romanian) [source].

Cyrillic alphabet for Moldovan

Cyrillic alphabets for Moldovan

Download an alphabet chart for Moldovan (and Romanian) (Excel)

Sample text in Cyrillic alphabet

Тоате фиинцеле умане се наск либере ши егале ын демнитате ши ын дрептурь. Еле сынт ынзестрате ку рациуне ши конштиинцэ ши требуе сэ се компорте унеле фацэ де алтеле ын спиритул фратернитэций.

Transliteration

Toate ființele umane se nasc libere și egale în demnitate și în drepturi. Ele sunt înzestrate cu rațiune și conștiință și trebuie să se comporte unele față de altele în spiritul fraternității.

Translation

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
(Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)

Sample text provided by Sergej Lazarev

Sample videos in and about Romanian in Moldova

Links

Information about Moldovan
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moldovan_language
http://languagetsar.com/care-e-diferenta-intre-limba-romana-in-republica-moldova-si-romania/
https://www.ethnologue.com/language/ron

Moldovan/Romanian - a discussion
http://www.languagehat.com/archives/001538.php

Romance languages

Aragonese, Aranese, Aromanian, Asturian, Catalan, Corsican, Dalmatian, Emilian-Romagnol, Extremaduran, Fala, Franco-Provençal, French, Friulian, Galician, Gallo, Gascon, Genoese, Guernésiais, Istro-Romanian, Istriot, Italian, Jèrriais, Ladino, Ladin, Ligurian, Lombard, Lorrain, Megleno-Romanian, Mirandese, Moldovan, Monégasque, Mozarabic, Neapolitan, Occitan, Occitan (Auvergnat), Occitan (Languedocien), Occitan (Limousin), Occitan (Provençal), Picard, Piedmontese, Portuguese, Romanian, Romansh, Sardinian, Sicilian, Spanish, Valencian, Venetian, Walloon

Languages written with the Cyrillic alphabet

Abaza, Abkhaz, Adyghe, Aghul, Akhvakh, Akkala Sámi, Aleut, Altay, Alyutor, Andi, Archi, Assyrian / Neo-Assyrian, Avar, Azeri, Bagvalal, Balkar, Bashkir, Belarusian, Bezhta, Bosnian, Botlikh, Budukh, Bulgarian, Buryat, Chamalal, Chechen, Chelkan, Chukchi, Chulym, Chuvash, Crimean Tatar, Dargwa, Daur, Dolgan, Dungan, Enets, Erzya, Even, Evenki, Gagauz, Godoberi, Hinukh, Hunzib, Ingush, Interslavic, Itelmen, Juhuri, Kabardian, Kaitag, Kalderash Romani, Kalmyk, Karaim, Karakalpak, Karata, Karelian, Kazakh, Ket, Khakas, Khanty, Khinalug, Khorasani Turkic, Khwarshi, Kildin Sámi, Kili, Komi, Koryak, Krymchak, Kryts, Kubachi, Kumandy, Kumyk, Kurdish, Kyrgyz, Lak, Lezgi, Lingua Franca Nova, Lithuanian, Ludic, Macedonian, Mansi, Mari, Moksha, Moldovan, Mongolian, Montenegrin, Nanai, Negidal, Nenets, Nganasan, Nivkh, Nogai, Old Church Slavonic, Oroch, Orok, Ossetian, Pontic Greek, Romanian, Rushani, Russian, Rusyn, Rutul, Selkup, Serbian, Shor, Shughni, Siberian Tatar, Sirenik, Slovio, Soyot, Tabassaran, Tajik, Talysh, Tat, Tatar, Teleut, Ter Sámi, Tindi, Tofa, Tsakhur, Tsez, Turkmen, Tuvan, Ubykh, Udege, Udi, Udmurt, Ukrainian, Ulch, Urum, Uyghur, Uzbek, Veps, Votic, Wakhi, West Polesian, Xibe, Yaghnobi, Yakut, Yazghulami, Yukaghir (Northern / Tundra), Yukaghir (Southern / Kolyma), Yupik (Central Siberian)

Page last modified: 23.04.21

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