Romanian Academy head Ioan Aurel Pop: Romanian Language Day, celebration of Romanian soul

The Romanian Language Day is a celebration of the Romanian soul, because the language is the most pronounced effigy of the Romanians, said, on Tuesday, Ioan Aurel Pop, the president of the Romanian Academy, at the debate "The current status of the Romanian language". "The Day of the Romanian Language - since 1990 in the Republic of Moldova and since 2013 in Romania - is an official holiday, but in fact it is a celebration of the Romanian soul, because the language is the most pronounced effigy of the Romanians. Many definitions have been given of the language and of the Romanian language, but language for me means a living organism that is born, grows, develops and even ages sometimes and flows into other languages at the same time as the people who created it and that served as a means of communication. That's why we are talking, perhaps scientifically incorrect, but in colloquial language, about living languages and dead languages. Ours is alive and no matter how contaminated it may be today by neologisms, barbarisms, hyper-urbanisms, unusual abbreviations, naughty text messages, we should not be afraid. The Romanian language still has the power to remain itself despite these various dangers," said Ioan Aurel Pop during the event held in the Academy's Aula. Ioan Aurel Pop said that the Romanian Academy has the role of watching over the Romanian language, over the rich, harmonious, beautiful literary language, capable of communicating all the human feelings. "Our language is our life and, fortunately, I believe that language has its own means of defense, conservation and development with a condition, that we, as specialists, watch over the most beautiful form of language which is the literary language. We can express ourselves in words, we can cultivate the dialects of the language, we can have a colloquial language, but when it comes to a ceremony and solemnity, the literary language defines us, and ours is a rich, harmonious, beautiful literary language, able to communicate through words all the human feelings, from the simplest to the most complicated. This mission of caring over the language is held by the Romanian Academy and the Romanian Academy will never abdicate from its mission," the president of the Romanian Academy stressed. Academic Eugen Simion asserted that the Romanian language is the sign of our identity as a people. "The Romanian language is the sign of our identity. I'm not telling you a new thing, but I'm telling you a real thing. Whoever has a language has a people, or the people exist if they have a language, a poet said. (...) Peoples who lose their language become populations, and the populations disappear from history. It is the language that gives the identity," academician Eugen Simion said. The Romanian Language Day is celebrated on 31 August, as it has been established by Law 53/2013. The legislative proposal on the establishment of this day was started in 2011, when 166 MPs from all political groups submitted to the Senate a draft law requesting the proclamation of August 31 as the Day of the Romanian Language. The legislative approach was approved by the Senate on 6 December 2011 and by the Chamber of Deputies on 19 February 2013. The law was promulgated by President Traian Basescu on 13 March 2013 and published in the Official Journal on 19 March 2013.AGERPRES(RO - author: Petronius Craiu, editor: Florin Marin; EN - author: Maria Voican, editor: Simona Iacob)