Internal tensions separating pro-Western and pro-Russian people have reignited the language debate: Moldova or Moldova? To understand which term is more accurate, it is necessary to refer not only to history, but also to current events.
Let’s start with the first: By Moldova, we mean the present state, historically the capital city of Chisinau, part of present-day Romania, Bessarabia and Transnistria, which declared its independence and where the Russian army is located. . This region has always experienced a dual influence: Romania on the one hand and Russia on the other. When the country joined the Soviet Union, Moscow started the process of Russifying the population. With the disintegration of the USSR and the declaration of independence, a political and cultural movement aimed at cleansing its Romanian roots increasingly established itself. That is why today the inhabitants (and institutions) of the region prefer the name denoted in Romanian, that is, Moldovan.
Actually, Moldavia is a term of Russian origin that comes from the river of the same name that runs through the region and was used by those nostalgic for the Soviet bloc. On the other hand, the name Moldova has a strong nationalist and anti-Soviet connotation, given the decision of the Chisinau government to use the word to describe the state that regained its independence in 1991. Officially the “Republic of Moldova”, the new nation has from the very beginning asked the governments of other countries to use this name in every context.
The same can be said for the language that is officially Romanian today (although Russian became the second official language after protests by the Russian-speaking majority in Transnistria). For centuries in Italy only the classical form was used (Moldavia), in 1996 the question of place names on the occasion of a national football match in Chisinau fired up journalists and commentators who used who and whose alias. From then on, the two terms were used casually in the common language (but not the official language).
As for the name of citizens, both in speech and in various search engines, Moldovan is definitely more common than its Moldovan equivalent. Moldova is actually a neologism based on the Romanian form of the term. The prevalence of the form with “a” is also common to most other languages: in Spanish and Portuguese it is said: MoldovanFrench and English Moldovanin german Moldavisch and such.
Source: Today IT
Karen Clayton is a seasoned journalist and author at The Nation Update, with a focus on world news and current events. She has a background in international relations, which gives her a deep understanding of the political, economic and social factors that shape the global landscape. She writes about a wide range of topics, including conflicts, political upheavals, and economic trends, as well as humanitarian crisis and human rights issues.
