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Aromanian (also known as Macedo-Romanian, Arumanian or Vlach in most other countries; in Aromanian: limba armãneascã, armãneshce or armãneashti) is an Eastern Romance language spoken in Southeastern Europe. Its speakers are called Aromanians.
It was formed after the Roman conquest of the Balkans and shares many features with modern Romanian, having similar grammar and morphology. The most important dissimilarity between Romanian and Aromanian is the vocabulary, which in the case of the former has been influenced to a greater extent by its neighbouring Slavic languages, while Aromanian has borrowed much vocabulary from the Greek language with which it has been in close contact throughout its history. Also the difference between the two languages have been identified because of the different original languages from which the Aromanian and Romanian have emerged. Namely Aromanian has three different strata in its form: ancient stratum (made from the language spoken in Epirus, Thessaly, Illyria and Macedonia), the Latin stratum (brought from the Roman empire) and Greek or Hellenic stratum which was added during the Roman and Byzantine Empires. In its further development, the language acquired some Turkish words during the reign of the Ottoman Empire.
Geographic distribution
The Aromanian language and people are officially recognised as a minority in the Republic of Macedonia, but large Aromanian communities are also found in Albania, Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia as well as in Romania, where some Aromanians having migrated from the Balkans after the destruction of the Aromanian centers of Moscopole and Gramostea/Grammos region in Western Macedonia.
Official status
The Aromanian language has a degree of official status in the Republic of Macedonia where Aromanian is taught as an optional subject in some primary schools (in Skopje, Kruševo and Bitola) and Aromanian speakers have the right to use the language in court proceedings. Since 2006 the Aromanian language became the second official language, after Macedonian in the city of Kruševo. [3]
History
The language is similar to Romanian and its greatest difference lies in the vocabulary. There are far fewer Slavic words in Aromanian than in Romanian, and many more Greek words, a reflection of the close contact of Aromanian with Greek through much of its history.
It is generally considered that sometime between 800 and 1,200 years ago, the Vulgar Latin spoken in the Balkan provinces of the Roman Empire split into four languages: Daco-Romanian (today's Romanian language), Aromanian, Megleno-Romanian and Istro-Romanian. Some linguists consider the term Proto-Romanian not valid.[4]
Greek influences are much stronger in Aromanian than in other East Romance languages, especially because Aromanian used Greek words to coin new words (neologisms), while Romanian based most of its neologisms on Italian and French.
Also, with the coming of the Turks in the Balkans, Aromanian received some Turkish words as well. Still the lexical composition remains mainly Romance.
Dialects
There are Aromanian dialects which are named after two respective places nowadays located in Albania and Greece: the Moscopole dialect (from the town of Moscopole, also known as the "Aromanian Jerusalem"
and the Gramustean dialect (from the Gramostea/Grammos region). Many linguists think that the language spoken by the Farsherots differs significantly from the afore-mentioned and therefore it should be considered as a separate dialect. Also there are the dialects of Malovista, Gopesh, Beala Supra, Krusevo, and the dialects east of the Vardar River in Macedonia.
Grammar
The grammar and morphology are very similar to those of Romanian and unlike the other Romance languages. The definite article is a clitic particle appended at the end of the word, both the definite and indefinite articles can be inflected, and nouns are classified in three genders, with neuter in addition to masculine and feminine.
Verbs
Aromanian grammar does have some features that distinguish it from Romanian, an important one being the complete disappearance of verb infinitives which clearly puts it in the lower part of the Balkans. As such, the tenses and moods that in Romanian use the infinitive (like the future simple tense and the conditional mood), in Aromanian they are formed in other ways. For the same reason, verb entries in dictionaries are given in their indicative mood, present tense, first person, singular form.
Aromanian verbs are classified in four conjugations. The table below gives some examples, indicating also the conjugation of the corresponding verbs in Romanian. [5]
Situation in Greece
Even before the incorporation of Aromanian-speaking territories into the Greek state, the language was subordinated to Greek, traditionally the Aromanians' language of education and religion. The historical studies cited below (mostly Capidan) show that especially after the fall of Moscopole (178
the process of grecization via education and religion gained a strong impetus mostly among people doing business in the cities.
The Romanian state began opening schools for the Aromanians in the 1860s, but this initiative was regarded with suspicion by some Aromanians, who thought Romania was trying to assimilate them. Antagonism between grecized Aromanians (known as "grecomani"
who rejected what they perceived as Romanian propaganda, and those who accepted their non-Greek (latin) identity promoted in the Romanian schools, tore apart the Aromanian community in the first half of the 20th century. The grecomans and the Greek militia (known as "andarti"
terrorized the Pindus region between 1903-1912 leading to a diplomatic crisis with Romania in 1911 (see Adina Berciu, Maria Petre: 2004).
In 1948, the new Soviet-imposed communist regime of Romania closed all Romanian-run schools outside Romania and since the closure, there has been no formal education in Aromanian and speakers have been encouraged to learn and use the Greek language.
The issue of Aromanian-language education is still a sensitive one, partly because of the painful memories. Greek propaganda is still very strong in the area, Aromanians being considered a sort of "latinized greeks". The pro Greek lobby oppose the introduction of the language into the education system as EU and leading Greek political figures have suggested, viewing it as an artificial distinction between them and other Greeks. For example, the former education minister, George Papandreou, received a negative response from Aromanian mayors and associations to his proposal for a trial Aromanian language education programme. The Panhellenic Federation of Cultural Associations of Vlachs (Πανελλήνια Ομοσπονδία Πολιτιστικών Συλλόγων Βλάχων) expressed strong opposition to EU's recommendation in 1997 that the tuition of Aromanian be supported so as to avoid its extinction.[2]. On a visit to Metsovo, Epirus in 1998, Greek President Costis Stephanopoulos called on Vlachs to speak and teach their language, but its decline continues.
A recent example of the sensitivity of the issue was the 2001 conviction (later overturned in the Appeals Court) to 15 months in jail of Sotiris Bletsas [3][4], a Greek Aromanian who was found guilty of "dissemination of false information" after he distributed informative material on minority languages in Europe (which included information on minority languages of Greece), produced by the European Bureau for Lesser Used Languages and financed by the European Commission. His conviction met with broad condemnation in Greece and it emerged that his case was zealously pursued by Aromanian leaders who viewed themselves as patriotic Greeks and felt confronted by the suggestion that they belonged to a "minority". Bletsas was eventually acquitted.
[edit] Language sample
Tatã a nostru
cai eshci pi tser,
s-ayisascã numa a Ta,
s-yinã Amirãrilja a Ta,
s-facã vreare-a Ta,
cum pi tserlu,
ashi sh-pisti loc.
Pãne-a nostrã atsea di cathi dzuã dã-nã-u sh-azã
shi ljartã-nã amãrtiile-a noastre
ashi cum lji-ljirtãm sh-a amãrtoshlor a noshci.
Shi nu nã-du la pirazmo,
ala aveaglji-nã di atsel arãulu.
Cã a Ta easte Amirãrilja shi puteare
a Tatãlui shi Hiljlui shi a Ayului Spirit,
torã, totãna shi tu eta-a etilor.
Amen.
(the Lord's Prayer - source)
Tuti iatsãli umineshtsã s-fac liberi shi egali la nãmuzea shi-ndrepturli. Eali suntu hãrziti cu fichiri shi sinidisi shi lipseashti un cu alantu sh-si poartã tu duhlu-a frãtsãljiljei.
(Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights), translated by Dina Cuvata
