Moldovan Academy of Sciences adopts two spelling rules used in Romania, acknowledges that official language is Romanian

The Philology Institute of the Moldovan Academy of Sciences has adopted two spelling rules that are in use in Romania since 1993, Info-Prim Neo reports. The first rule prescribes the use of {â} (a-circumflex) instead of {î} (i-circumflex) to represent the sound which is called {barred-i} in phonetics, and often transliterated as {y}, like in the name of the former Moldovan Prime Minister Zinaida {Greceanâi/Greceanîi/Greceanyi}. The second rule substitutes i-circumflex with the letter {u} in the word {sînt} (first person singular present of the verb {a fi} – /to be/), prescribing the use of the form {sunt} instead. The Moldovan Academy of Sciences said that this decision comes from the acknowledgment that the official language of the Republic of Moldova is Romanian and anticipates the recognition of this truth by the Moldovan Parliament and the Constitution. The Academy recommends the use of these rules in the official documents of Moldova from 15 April 2011. The rules will also extend to grammar textbooks.