Româna, o limbǎ modernǎ într-o lume în care, pentru mulţi, reperul modernitǎţii este limba Englezǎ?
Romanian, a Modern Language in a World in Which, for Most People, the Landmark of Modernity Is English?

Summary/Abstract: Since the 1st of January 2007, the date when Romania joined the European Union, Romanian has become one of the official languages of the EU. The documents drawn up within the framework of this political and economic partnership between 27 states from Europe for which they represent the so-called „community acquis” („acquis communautaire”) are translated in each of the official languages, these languages having all equal rights within the European Union. Nonetheless nowadays English has an international, even worldwide, dimension that none of the other 26 official languages has. This position of English is commonly considered as related to a characteristic which most people assign to it, namely „modernity”. Which are the main features of a „modern” language? Are these properties also present in the case of the Romanian language? Can our language represent a „modern” instrument of communication, appropriate to serve the needs of intercomprehension between the member states of the EU, if possible as „economically” and „efficiently” as English? Under what circumstances could Romanian ensure the feature underlying the international prestige of English to a great extent? These are the main questions we attempt to answer in our contribution.

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