Editing Moldovan language (section)

== Orthography ==
{{See also|Romanian alphabet|Moldovan Cyrillic alphabet}}
[[File:SignInMoldovanCyrillic.JPG|thumb|A welcome sign in Moldovan Cyrillic in [[Tiraspol]], the capital of [[Transnistria]], in 2012. The phrase in [[Latin alphabet]] is ''{{lang|ro|Bine ați venit!}}'']]

The language was generally written in a [[Romanian Cyrillic alphabet]] (based on the [[Old Church Slavonic]] alphabet) before the 19th century. Both Cyrillic and, rarely, Latin, were used until after [[World War&nbsp;I]]; after Bessarabia was included in Romania in 1918, the Cyrillic alphabet was officially forbidden in the region. In the [[interwar period]], Soviet authorities in the [[Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic]] alternately used Latin or Cyrillic for writing the language, mirroring the political goals of the moment. Between 1940 and 1989, i.e., during Soviet rule, the new [[Moldovan Cyrillic alphabet]] replaced Latin as the official alphabet in Moldova (then [[Moldavian SSR]]).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Grenoble |first=Lenore A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yiObBPPjXbYC&pg=PA95 |title=Language Policy in the Soviet Union |date=2003 |publisher=Kluwer Academic Publishers |isbn=0-306-48083-2 |location=Dordrecht |pages=89–93 |access-date=24 September 2016 |archive-date=19 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230319185850/https://books.google.com/books?id=yiObBPPjXbYC&pg=PA95&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=0_0&sig=18KrKKRvIs7weBHod_lgv_llcc0 |url-status=live }}</ref> In 1989, the Latin script was once again adopted in Moldova by Law 3462 of 31 August 1989, which provided rules for transliterating Cyrillic to Latin, along with the orthographic rules used in [[Romania]] at the time. Transnistria, however, uses the Cyrillic alphabet.<ref name="constitMFA"/>

Though not immediately adopting these, the Academy of Sciences of Moldova acknowledged both the Romanian Academy's decision of 1993 and the orthographic reform of 2005.<ref>[http://akademos.asm.md/files/Modificari%20in%20ortografia%20limbii%20romane.pdf "La solicitarea Consiliului Științific al Institutului de Filologie al Academiei de Științe a Moldovei din 24 noiembrie 2009 și în conformitate cu Hotărârea Adunării Generale a Academiei Române din 17 februarie 1993, privind revenirea la ''â'' și ''sunt'' în grafia limbii române, Consiliul Suprem pentru Știință și Dezvoltare Tehnologică, întrunit în ziua de 25 decembrie 2009, a hotărât să se adreseze Parlamentului Republicii Moldova cu rugămintea de a lua o hotărâre în problema revenirii în grafia limbii române la utilizarea lui ''â'' în interiorul cuvintelor, a formei ''sunt (suntem, sunteți)'' și la normele ortografice cuprinse în Dicționarul ortografic, ortoepic și morfologic al limbii române (DOOM, ediția a II-a, București, 2005)."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220411073527/http://akademos.asm.md/files/Modificari%20in%20ortografia%20limbii%20romane.pdf |date=11 April 2022 }} Modificări în ortografia limbii române, nr. 1(16), martie 2010</ref> In 2000, the Moldovan Academy recommended adopting the spelling rules used in Romania,<ref>The new edition of ''Dicționarul ortografic al limbii române (ortoepic, morfologic, cu norme de punctuație)'' [The orthographic dictionary of the Romanian language (orthoepic, morphological, with punctuation rules)] – introduced by the [[Academy of Sciences of Moldova]] and recommended for publishing following a conference on 15 November 2000 – applies the decision of the General Meeting of the [[Romanian Academy]] from 17 February 1993, regarding the return to "â" and "sunt" in the orthography of the Romanian language. ([[:ro:Imagine:Asm lbro3.jpg|Introduction, Institute of Linguistics of the Academy of Sciences of Moldova]])</ref> and in 2010 launched a schedule for the transition to the new rules that was completed in 2011 (regarding its publications).<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.allmoldova.md/ro/int/interview/gheorghe-duca-060410.html |title=Gheorghe Duca: Trebuie schimbată atitudinea de sorginte proletară față de savanți și în genere față de intelectuali |date=4 June 2010 |access-date=3 January 2011 |language=ro |publisher=Allmoldova |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722170555/http://www.allmoldova.md/ro/int/interview/gheorghe-duca-060410.html |archive-date=22 July 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> However, these changes were not implemented by Moldova's Ministry of Education, so the old orthographic conventions were maintained in the education sector such as in school textbooks.

On 17 October 2016, [[Ministry of Education and Research (Moldova)|Minister of Education]] [[Corina Fusu]] signed Order No. 872 on the application of the revised spelling rules as adopted by the Moldovan Academy of Sciences, coming into force on the day of signing.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://mecc.gov.md/ro/content/normele-ortografice-ale-scrierii-lui-si-sunt-grafia-limbii-romane-obligatorii-institutiile |title=Normele ortografice ale scrierii lui "â" și "sunt" în grafia limbii române – obligatorii în instituțiile de învățământ |trans-title=The orthographic norms of "â" and "sunt" in the Romanian language - mandatory in educational institutions |language=ro |website=Moldovan Ministry of Education, Culture and Research |date=18 October 2016 |access-date=25 September 2018 |archive-date=8 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211108094130/https://mecc.gov.md/ro/content/normele-ortografice-ale-scrierii-lui-si-sunt-grafia-limbii-romane-obligatorii-institutiile |url-status=live }}</ref> Since then the spelling used by institutions subordinated to the Ministry of Education is in line with the spelling norms used in Romania since 1993. This order, however, has no application to other government institutions, nor has Law 3462 been amended to reflect these changes; thus, those institutions continue to use the old spelling.