УНИКАЛЬНОСТЬ КОЛЛИЗИЙ В ТИПИЧНОМ СЦЕНАРИИ: ЯЗЫКОВАЯ ПОЛИТИКА РЕСПУБЛИКИ МОЛДОВА

Abstract

The article is devoted to the formation and evolution of an independent language policy in the new post-Soviet sovereign states, each of which, despite similar processes, has its own specifics, due to both internal and external factors. The author focuses on the language policy in the Republic of Moldova, as stated in the language legislation, as well as on the extraordinary collisions that have arisen and are arising in dealing with language issues in this multi-ethnic republic during the 30 years of its independence. Since there are no special comprehensive studies on this topic at present, the article is an important attempt to give an analytical overview of language policy in the Republic of Moldova with relevant sociolinguistic comments on the documents forming its legal sphere, as well as taking into account the specifics of such regions as the unrecognized Transnistrian Moldovan Republic and the Autonomous Territorial Unit of Gagauz-Yeri. The article introduces the latest documents and materials on language policy of Moldova for the first time. The logic of the article structure enables to present the three key directions of language policy in the republic in a consistent and sufficiently detailed manner: language policy regarding the state language, with regard to the Romanian influence on it; policy regarding the Russian language as a popular means of inter- ethnic communication with a sufficient index of sustainability and its status; and policy regarding the languages of ethnic minorities that have long lived in the Moldovan region. The article gives a holistic view not only of the documents, but also of the motives, circumstances and processes of their adoption, as well as the consequences of each new step in the language policy promotion in the Republic of Moldova.