Languages on the Move: The Linguistic Landscape of Moldova in the Second Decade of the 21st Century

For the past thirty years and since its separation from the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, language laws and politics have shaped the linguistic panorama of the independent Republic of Moldova. Among the issues examined in the present article are the current statuses of Romanian, the official...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Slavia Meridionalis Vol. 25
Main Authors: Donald Dyer, Valentina Iepuri
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Institute of Slavic Studies, Polish Academy of Sciences 20.10.2025
Subjects:
Bulgarian language
Gagauz language
Moldova
Romanian language
Russian language
Ukrainian language
ISSN:2392-2400
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:For the past thirty years and since its separation from the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, language laws and politics have shaped the linguistic panorama of the independent Republic of Moldova. Among the issues examined in the present article are the current statuses of Romanian, the official language of the country today, spoken by the vast majority of citizens, and Russian, the former language of interethnic communication. Romanian today occupies an increasingly dominant position in the country’s administrative and social structures, while Russian finds itself in retreat, decreasing in the educational sector in particular. The Ukrainian, Gagauz, and Bulgarian languages remain strong regionally, with the number of speakers of the former growing quickly as a result of immigrants fleeing the war in Ukraine.
ISSN:2392-2400
DOI:10.11649/sm.3265