MOLDOVA
Language
Language
Cities in MOLDOVA
| Chisinau |
Language
In essence, Moldovan is a Romanian dialect that was introduced as a "new" language by the Soviet regime for political reasons from 1924 onwards. The introduction of the Cyrillic alphabet created a separation of Romanian and russified this Romanian language. New words were constantly invented and lists of Romanian words that "polluted" Moldovan were published, and all words and neologisms of Latin origin were removed. Moldovan is the most widely spoken language, except in Transnistria where Russian is still dominant and where Moldovan is still written in the Cyrillic script. In the rest of the country Moldovan is written in the Latin script. The Gagauz speak a kind of Turkish that was written in the Greek alphabet until 1957, and then in Cyrillic. There are (minor) differences between Russian, Moldavian Romanian and Gagauzian.
Sources
Williams, N. / Romania & Moldova
Lonely Planet
Belarus & Moldova : country studies
Federal Research Division, Library of Congress
CIA - World Factbook
BBC - Country Profiles
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