IPN analysis, article originally published on September 2, 2013: I knew a couple that had a common wedding, lived all their lives in one house and grew up children together, but never took the chance to become husband and wife … I know a country that is independent and sovereign and has an official language, but never took the chance to become a society where everyone wishes and can live in harmony... One of the serious reasons of these fatal non-accomplishments is the non-functionality of the linguistic system existing in society and in the family, as a prototype cell of society. Each of us knows by one or several couples of the kind and everyone realizes that this country is our Moldova. The members of this couple are buried in separate graves and in different cemeteries, as it’s seems. What will be the fate of this country if neither it in general not every citizen in particular is able to solve this vital problem?

He and Her

She was a speaker of Romanian, or “Moldovan’ then, while he was a Russian speaker though both of his parents were Moldovans born in village who moved to the city immediately after the war. Such a move was dictated by those times. When they started to live together, they got on well in Russian. She was neither a member, nor a supporter of the People’s Front when they started t feel Moldovans. But when the children were born, long before the People’s Front, she didn’t think in what language they should tell the first words to them and to sing lullabies to them, to pamper them and to pray to God for their life and health. They spoke to them in Romanian from the very beginning. It wasn’t a conscientious nationalism act. It was rather an instinct as she didn’t want to reach a stage at which to speak in different languages with their own children. She knew well the situation in her husband’s family where the parents didn’t know well Russian, which later became a kind of mother tongue for their son. She considered that this was a reason why the relations with her new relatives weren’t so warm. Based on the same instinct, she took them to Moldovan kindergartens and schools and this was a considerable effort at that time. When the linguistic preferences changed, a high-ranking official who was a relative of a husband and whose family spoke Russian, asked her how did she know that times will change at that time. She didn’t know, but she wanted to have a family and leave in warmth.
 
Initially, he studied Romanian together with the children. But something happened meanwhile and he lost interest in the Romanian language. Thus, she spoke to the children in Romanian, while to the husband in Russia. The children spoke to the mother and between themselves in Romania, while with him in Russian. He spoke to everyone in Russian as the Romanian words he learned were not enough for sufficient communication.

Romanian and Russian  

During the first years, they went together at concerts and performances in both of the languages. His friends, who were mainly Russian speakers, and her friends, who were mainly Romanian speakers, entered the family as common friends. He soon lost interest in the Romanian concerts, performances and friends because the language was an obstacle. For a period, they accepted Russian concerts and friends, but, at a moment, they stopped going one and receiving guest together. They seldom met the friends separately, but not in their house.

The common interests became fewer in number and he and her became strangers in their common house. The love and care for the children remained the only common thing between them. Meanwhile, it turned out that they understood this love and care mainly in different ways.

Life and Death

They lived together for many years for the sake of the children. When they grew old, they didn’t want to separate as they didn’t need it, but they remained strangers to each other. They say that one of them asked not being buried in the same grave or maybe even in the same cemetery…

The causes for such a fate weren’t only linguistic of course, but the lack of a common language played a decisive role in their inability to find a common language. Was there an alternative for such a fate?. At least two, but at the most two also. The first: She could accept Russian as the only language of communication in the family. If the Soviet Union had continued to exist, the mother would have been affected, but the children would have enjoyed advantages, including more rapid access to high-ranking posts. Nobody would have noticed other losses as the USSR would have remained a closed society where no other languages except Russian were needed. This was the supreme condition for the USSR to exist. But times changed and the linguistic preferences changed too. Knowing two or more languages, the children enjoyed more advantages. It was a kind of inheritance left by their mother. The second: He could accept her language as the language of communication in the family, but this would have implied additional effort and additional understanding. Everyone would have gained from such a situation. This applies to all the members of this society and to all the people of this country.. But it didn’t happen so…

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Many passing social mega-categories, but two constant categories

At each historical stage, there were only several social mega-groups in the independent Moldova. First of all, under the influence of the tectonic movements in the former USSR, there appeared post-Soviets and anti-Soviets. There also existed stat nationalists and internationalists, unionists and statalists, Communists and anti-Communists. Now there are rich and poor, and there is emerging a new category - of pro-Western and pro-Eastern people. Regretfully, in all the times and in all the conditions there existed two social mega-categories: Romanian/Moldovan speakers and Russian speakers. This distinct categories marked those enumerated above at every historical stage.

Romanian – demarcation line in society

Thus, the Romanian language, as a social instrument, sets the demarcation line between the values and options of different social groups in Moldova, which become also the aforementioned two in a certain formula.

The numeric proportion and the relations between the two categories change in a way, but rather insignificantly for hoping that all the people in Moldova will have common options and values in a predictable future, especially as regards such a major goal as the country’s development course. Very good specialists of the Chisinau Romanian Language House recently told IPN that 250 persons studied Romanian at them and this is considered a high figure. We presume that the figure can be 4-5 times higher annually if taking into account other Romanian language courses taught in Chisinau and outside it. How many years and how many generations we need for the linguistic situation and thus the situation in general to change significantly after 22 years of independence and 24 years of official language? But many of those who know it do not want to use it in public for reasons that I do not understand. Usually, most of the Romanian speakers know and speak Russian, even if not very correctly. Thus, the Romanian language is in Moldova the greatest unifying element in society, as well as the greatest separating element.

Moldova’s parallel worlds

The situation of the Romanian language in general has changed. More people now speak Romanian of a high quality in publish institutions and places. This is mostly due to the speakers of Romanian/Moldovan and their ability to develop themselves in this field.

From linguistic viewpoint and, respectively, from all the other viewpoints, the country continues to live in parallel worlds that risks never meeting.

Regretfully, only representatives of one category of speakers came to the celebrations staged in the Great National Assembly Square of Chisinau on the Independence Day and the Romanian Language Day, as every year. I fear to think about the motives of such a state and the possible effects on Moldova and on all the people living in this country as the linguistic situation points to the existence of a ‘smoldering’ linguistic conflict in Moldova, as the Transnistrian one. But this possible conflict is rather inside of each of us and inside our families as a society or a country is nothing else but a large family that can survive only by respecting the co-existence rules in the family. We saw the solution existing for a family: graves in different cemeteries. What solutions exist for a country and a society where the people cannot get on?

Economic stimuli and instinct of self-preservation

In the analysis “Bomb with cumulative effect or how many official languages does Moldova need?”, which was published on October 4, 2010, I pleaded for using economic instruments for stimulating the studying of Romanian by those who don’t know it. I keep the same conviction as well as the conviction that the authorities of this state have great responsibilities in this respect. But I would like the second category of speakers to also understand that the smoldering fire either stops burning or destroys everything around. Do they have a reserve country where to live if Moldova ‘catches fire’ again?

I knew a couple… I know a country that risks not becoming society…

Post-Scriptum

His and her children grew up and know very well by two-three languages each. They have their own families. The spouses are Russian speakers. In the family of one of them they speak more Romanian and they have a large circle of interests and friends. The family of another one starts to witness the situation of the mother’s and father’s family…

Valeriu Vasilică, IPN