Considerations on modernizing and redefining the neolatinic physiognomy of the Romanian language. Two centuries of French influence Cover Image

Considérations sur la modernisation et la redéfinition de la physionomie néolatine du roumain. Deux siècles d’influence française
Considerations on modernizing and redefining the neolatinic physiognomy of the Romanian language. Two centuries of French influence

Author(s): Constantin-Ioan Mladin
Subject(s): Language studies, Phonetics / Phonology, Morphology, Syntax, Lexis, Semantics, Historical Linguistics
Published by: Språk- och litteraturcentrum, Lunds Universitet
Keywords: Franchising; French language; modern language; English language.

Summary/Abstract: This contribution discusses the transformations of the Romanian language (in parallel with the modernization of the Romanian public institutions) inspired or triggered by the "French model". After some conceptual and terminological considerations (re-latinization, re-romanization, Latin-Roman occidentalization, re-occidentalization, modernity in the dynamics of the language), the author evokes the circumstances (historical, political, economic, cultural, social) that favored the franchizing of the Romanian language and details this process from a chronological perspective (the Hungarian and German branches, the Greek branch, the Russian branch). With the help of relevant examples, the most significant changes brought to Romanian by French influence (phonetic, lexical, semantic, morphosyntactic changes) are presented. The article insists on some complementary vectors in the process of franchising the Romanian language: the Phanariot princes, the preceptors and secretaries of the aristocratic families, the French consuls in the Romanian Principalities, the young people who had studied abroad and the emancipated women, the literature, the press, and the Francophone education.

  • Issue Year: 2/2019
  • Issue No: 1
  • Page Range: 124-181
  • Page Count: 58
  • Language: French