Moldovan alphabet
Encyclopedia
The Moldovan Cyrillic alphabet is a Cyrillic alphabet
designed for the Moldovan language
in the Soviet Union
and used from 1938 to 1989 (and still today in Transnistria
). Its introduction was decided by the Central Executive Committee of the Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic on May 19, 1938. Its structure is based on the Russian Cyrillic alphabet
(excluding three Russian letters and adding another), and does not have a direct resemblance to the historical Romanian Cyrillic alphabet
used from the Middle Ages until the second half of the 19th century in the Principalities of Vallachia and Moldavia and until 1932 in the Soviet Union.
from the Romanians of Romania
. Following the Soviet occupation of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina, it was established as the official alphabet of the Moldavian SSR
until 1989, when a law returned to the standard Latin-based Romanian alphabet
.
There were several requests to switch back to the Latin alphabet, which was seen "more suitable for the Romance core of the language," in the Moldovan MSSR. In 1965, the demands of the 3rd Congress of Writers of Soviet Moldavia were rejected by the leadership of the Communist Party, the replacement being deemed "contrary to the interests of the Moldavian people and not reflecting its aspirations and hopes".
The Moldovan Cyrillic alphabet is still the official and the only accepted alphabet in Transnistria
for this language.
(ж) with breve
: (U+04C1, U+04C2).
The following chart shows the Moldovan Cyrillic alphabet compared with the Latin alphabet
currently in use.
(from Mihai Eminescu
, "Luceafărul")
Cyrillic alphabet
The Cyrillic script or azbuka is an alphabetic writing system developed in the First Bulgarian Empire during the 10th century AD at the Preslav Literary School...
designed for the Moldovan language
Moldovan language
Moldovan is one of the names of the Romanian language as spoken in the Republic of Moldova, where it is official. The spoken language of Moldova is closer to the dialects of Romanian spoken in northeastern Romania, and the two countries share the same literary standard...
in the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
and used from 1938 to 1989 (and still today in Transnistria
Transnistria
Transnistria is a breakaway territory located mostly on a strip of land between the Dniester River and the eastern Moldovan border to Ukraine...
). Its introduction was decided by the Central Executive Committee of the Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic on May 19, 1938. Its structure is based on the Russian Cyrillic alphabet
Russian alphabet
The Russian alphabet is a form of the Cyrillic script, developed in the First Bulgarian Empire during the 10th century AD at the Preslav Literary School...
(excluding three Russian letters and adding another), and does not have a direct resemblance to the historical Romanian Cyrillic alphabet
Romanian Cyrillic alphabet
The Romanian Cyrillic alphabet was used to write the Romanian language before 1860–1862, when it was officially replaced by a Latin-based Romanian alphabet. Cyrillic remained in occasional use until circa 1920...
used from the Middle Ages until the second half of the 19th century in the Principalities of Vallachia and Moldavia and until 1932 in the Soviet Union.
History
The Moldovan Cyrillic alphabet was used during the Stalin era as a way to separate culturally the Moldovans of the Moldavian ASSRMoldavian ASSR
The Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic , shortened to Moldavian ASSR or, less frequently, Moldovan ASSR, was an autonomous republic of the Ukrainian SSR between 12 October 1924 and 2 August 1940, encompassing modern Transnistria The Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic...
from the Romanians of Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
. Following the Soviet occupation of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina, it was established as the official alphabet of the Moldavian SSR
Moldavian SSR
The Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic , commonly abbreviated to Moldavian SSR or MSSR, was one of the 15 republics of the Soviet Union...
until 1989, when a law returned to the standard Latin-based Romanian alphabet
Romanian alphabet
The Romanian alphabet is a modification of the Latin alphabet and consists of 31 letters:The letters Q , W , and Y were officially introduced in the Romanian alphabet in 1982, although they had been used earlier...
.
There were several requests to switch back to the Latin alphabet, which was seen "more suitable for the Romance core of the language," in the Moldovan MSSR. In 1965, the demands of the 3rd Congress of Writers of Soviet Moldavia were rejected by the leadership of the Communist Party, the replacement being deemed "contrary to the interests of the Moldavian people and not reflecting its aspirations and hopes".
The Moldovan Cyrillic alphabet is still the official and the only accepted alphabet in Transnistria
Transnistria
Transnistria is a breakaway territory located mostly on a strip of land between the Dniester River and the eastern Moldovan border to Ukraine...
for this language.
Description
All but one of the letters of this alphabet can be found in the modern Russian alphabet, the exception being the character zheZhe (Cyrillic)
Zhe is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet.It commonly represents the voiced postalveolar fricative , like the pronunciation of ⟨s⟩ in "treasure".Zhe is romanized as ⟨zh⟩ or ⟨ž⟩.-History:...
(ж) with breve
Breve
A breve is a diacritical mark ˘, shaped like the bottom half of a circle. It resembles the caron , but is rounded, while the caron has a sharp tip...
: (U+04C1, U+04C2).
The following chart shows the Moldovan Cyrillic alphabet compared with the Latin alphabet
Romanian alphabet
The Romanian alphabet is a modification of the Latin alphabet and consists of 31 letters:The letters Q , W , and Y were officially introduced in the Romanian alphabet in 1982, although they had been used earlier...
currently in use.
| Cyrillic letter: | Equates to Latin letter: | Name | As employed in this context: | IPA International Phonetic Alphabet The International Phonetic Alphabet "The acronym 'IPA' strictly refers [...] to the 'International Phonetic Association'. But it is now such a common practice to use the acronym also to refer to the alphabet itself that resistance seems pedantic... |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| а | a | а | /a/ | |
| б | b | бе | /b/ | |
| в | v | ве | /v/ | |
| г | g, gh | ге | gh used before i or e, elsewhere g | /ɡ/ |
| д | d | де | /d/ | |
| е | e, ie | е | ie after a vowel or if it alternates with ia, elsewhere e | /e/, /je/ |
| ж | j | же | /ʒ/ | |
| g | Before i and e | /dʒ/ | ||
| з | z | зе | /z/ | |
| и | i, ii | и | ii used at end of word, i elsewhere | /i/ |
| й | i | "и" скурт | before and after vowels | /j/ |
| к | c, ch | ка | ch before i and e, c elsewhere | /k/ |
| л | l | ле | /l/ | |
| м | m | ме | /m/ | |
| н | n | не | /n/ | |
| о | o | о | /o/ | |
| п | p | пе | /p/ | |
| р | r | ре | /r/ | |
| с | s | се | /s/ | |
| т | t | те | /t/ | |
| у | u | у | /u/ | |
| ф | f | фе | /f/ | |
| х | h | ха | /h/ | |
| ц | ţ | це | /ts/ | |
| ч | c | че | Before i and e | /tʃ/ |
| ш | ş | ше | /ʃ/ | |
| ы | â, î | ы | â in middle of word, î at beginning and end of word | /ɨ/ |
| ь | i | семнул моале | At end of word (usually) | /ʲ/ (i.e. palatalization Palatalization In linguistics, palatalization , also palatization, may refer to two different processes by which a sound, usually a consonant, comes to be produced with the tongue in a position in the mouth near the palate.... of preceding consonant) |
| э | ă | э | /ə/ | |
| ю | iu | ю | /ju/, /ʲu/ | |
| я | ea, ia | я | ea after a consonant or е, ia elsewhere | /ja/, /ʲa/ |
Example text
| In Cyrillic script: Привя ын заре кум пе мэрь Рэсаре ши стрэлуче, Пе мишкэтоареле кэрэрь Корэбий негре дуче. |
In Latin script: Privea în zare cum pe mări Răsare şi străluce, Pe mişcătoarele cărări Corăbii negre duce. |
(from Mihai Eminescu
Mihai Eminescu
Mihai Eminescu was a Romantic poet, novelist and journalist, often regarded as the most famous and influential Romanian poet. Eminescu was an active member of the Junimea literary society and he worked as an editor for the newspaper Timpul , the official newspaper of the Conservative Party...
, "Luceafărul")