| Moldavian | |
|---|---|
| graiul moldovean | |
| Native to | Moldova,Romania,Ukraine |
| Region | seegeographic distribution |
| Ethnicity | Romanians |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | – |
| Glottolog | mold1248 |
| This article containsIPA phonetic symbols. Without properrendering support, you may seequestion marks, boxes, or other symbols instead ofUnicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, seeHelp:IPA. | |
TheMoldavian dialect is one of severaldialects of theRomanian language (Daco-Romanian). It is spoken across the approximate area of the historical region ofMoldavia, now split between theRepublic of Moldova,Romania, andUkraine. The Moldavian dialect is one of the main regional varieties of the Daco-Romanian grouping of dialects, with consistent phonetic, lexical, and syntactic features that distinguish it from other dialects, including theWallachian variety upon which the modern Romanian literary standard is based. Though largelymutually intelligible with other Romanian dialects, Moldavian retains both archaic elements and regional innovations that may or may not be shared with other dialects.
The Moldavian dialect can be considered avernacular or 'speech' when contrasted with astandardized variety of the language existing within a particular social and economic context. In this case, Moldavian has increasingly approached such a classification since the promotion of the Wallachian dialect as the standard variety of formal and literary Romanian, leading to a reduction of urban Moldavian varieties to primarily informal forms, and, for some speakers, to the level of merely an accent. However, Moldavian has historically evolved to the point of being a dialect, hence its present classification, and would remain that way or diverge more otherwise. This dialect has not been consistently written, except in specific historical and artistic contexts. In this instance, theRomanian orthography is generally used, or theMoldovan Cyrillic alphabet.
The Moldavian dialect is the representative of the northern grouping of Daco-Romanian dialects and has influenced the Romanian spoken over large areas ofTransylvania. The name of the dialect reflects the historical region of Moldavia, which encompasses regions including and beyond the Republic of Moldova.
While the Moldavian dialect had been considered mostly as equal as the other dialects for much of its history, the rise of a standardized literary Romanian, based on the Wallachian (Bucharest) variety with Latin neologisms, first promoted with the rise of Romanian nationalism in the 19th century and later institutionalized, gradually reduced the prestige of regional varieties like Moldavian in formal and public contexts. Writers from the Moldavian region since the 16th century had been heavily influenced by the liturgical language of the time, which wasChurch Slavonic, and a mix of Greek and Latin as well as regional vernaculars or dialects. Standardization by the 20th century led to fluctuating but increasing levels ofcode-switching, particularly in urban centers such asChișinău, where speakers often shift between the regional dialect and the standard language depending on formality and perceived social correctness. Over time, this has contributed to the perception of Moldavian as an informal 'speech' oraccent, especially among younger and urban populations. Nonetheless, the dialect preserves a certain structure which is internally consistent, and functions like any other dialect that is mostly based in a rural environment. Newer or more scientific vocabulary usually keeps the original standard Romanian pronunciation, the process functioning in a similar way to 19th centurylearned borrowings from Latin.
The Moldavian dialect is not synonymous with theMoldovan language, which had once been an attempt to standardize the Moldavian dialect, though by the late 80s could be considered simply a renaming of thestandard Romanian language, also found in Bucharest. The dialect itself has never been successfully standardized in its existence and has almost never been found in academic or administrative settings.
The Moldavian and theWallachian dialects are the only two that have been consistently identified and recognized by linguists. They are clearly distinct in dialect classifications made byHeimann Tiktin,Mozes Gaster,Gustav Weigand,Sextil Pușcariu, Sever Pop,Emil Petrovici, Romulus Todoran, Ion Coteanu,Alexandru Philippide,Iorgu Iordan, Emanuel Vasiliu, and others, whereas the other dialects have been considerably more controversial and difficult to classify due to unclear boundaries and shifting social contexts.
The border between Romania and the Republic of Moldova does not correspond to any significantisoglosses to justify a dialectal division; phonology and morphology (which commonly define dialectal classifications) are identical across the border, whereas lexical differences are minimal.[1] In fact, larger differences in phonology can be found between the northern and southern regions of the Republic of Moldova.
The Moldavian dialect is spoken in the northeastern part ofRomania, theRepublic of Moldova, and small areas ofUkraine. It is the only Romance variety spoken east of theEastern Carpathians. In detail, its distribution area covers the following administrative or historical regions:
Transitional varieties of the Moldavian dialect are found in areas of contact with the other dialects. As such, Moldavian features often occur outside the historical Moldavia: in northernDobruja, in northeasternMuntenia, and in north-eastTransylvania.
| Labial | Alveolar | Palato- Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| hard | soft | hard | soft | hard | soft | hard | soft | ||||
| Nasal | m⟨м⟩ | mʲ⟨-мь⟩ | n⟨н⟩ | nʲ⟨-нь⟩ | ɲ⟨н(и,е)⟩ | ||||||
| Plosive | unvoiced | p⟨п⟩ | pʲ⟨-пь⟩ | t⟨т⟩ | tʲ⟨-ть⟩ | c⟨к(и,е)⟩ | k⟨к⟩ | kʲ⟨-кь⟩ | |||
| voiced | b⟨б⟩ | bʲ⟨-бь⟩ | d⟨д⟩ | dʲ⟨-дь⟩ | ɟ⟨г(и,е)⟩ | ɡ⟨г⟩ | ɡʲ⟨-гь⟩ | ||||
| Affricate | unvoiced | t͡s⟨ц⟩ | t͡sʲ⟨-ць⟩ | t͡ʃ⟨ч⟩ | |||||||
| voiced | d͡z⟨дз⟩ | d͡ʒ⟨ӂ⟩ | |||||||||
| Fricative | voiced | v⟨в⟩ | vʲ⟨-вь⟩ | z⟨з⟩ | zʲ⟨-зь⟩ | ʒ⟨ж⟩ | ʝ⟨ж(и,е)⟩ | ||||
| unvoiced | f⟨ф⟩ | fʲ⟨-фь⟩ | s⟨с⟩ | sʲ⟨-сь⟩ | ʃ⟨ш⟩ | ç⟨ш(и,е)⟩ | h⟨х⟩ | hʲ⟨-хь⟩ | |||
| Approximant | w⟨ў,у⟩ | r⟨р⟩ | rʲ⟨-рь⟩ | j⟨й,и⟩ | |||||||
| l⟨л⟩ | lʲ⟨-ль⟩ | ||||||||||
The soft alveolar consonants and the palatal consonants are considered to be allophones of one another, with the former being realised at the end of words. The soft labial consonants and the palatal consonants would be identical, depending on the region the dialect is spoken in and the phonological context.
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | i⟨и⟩ | ɨ⟨ы,-э⟩ | u⟨у⟩ |
| Mid | e⟨е⟩ | ə⟨э⟩ | o⟨о⟩ |
| Open | a⟨а⟩ | ||
There are also the standard Romanian diphthongs, though these are largely undifferentiated from the equivalent vowel-glide combinations.
The Moldavian dialect has the following phonetic particularities that contrast it with the other Romanian dialects:
The dialect has a tendency to innovate and amplify more changes (fromCommon Romanian) compared to standard Romanian (based on the Wallachian dialect), like heavy palatalization and labialization, simplifying affricates, as well as a trend of more frequent lenition and cluster simplification, while still retaining some archaic qualities.
The dialect tends to simplify and reduce unstressed vowels and diphthongs, much like inEuropean Portuguese. Vowel hiatus is also restricted by adding a glide between conflicting vowels. New vowel-glide sequences also come about from the frequent palatalization and labialization. There can be considerablesyncopation in polysyllabic words.
The dialect is characterized by its tendency toward more analytical, regular, and simplified morphological structures compared to standard Romanian.
Moldavian dialect:[jɛaˈvɛˈdowɨvaʃʲʃɨsɨɲiˈrawˈwaminijdiˈvaʃilijijkɨdəˈdew'unʃjubəˈraʃdiˈlapti‖ʃɨaˈʃadilaoˈvremistɨrˈkisɨrɨˈvaʃili‖numəjdəˈdewˈlapti]
Standard Romanian:Ea avea două vaci și se mirau oamenii de vacile ei că dădeau un ciubăraș de lapte. Și așa de la o vreme stârpiseră vacile, nu mai dădeau lapte.
English translation: "She had two cows and people were amazed at her cows for giving a bucketful of milk. And so from a while the cows became dry, they stopped giving milk."
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