For a short period of time in the early 1990s, the national anthem of Moldova was "Deșteaptă-te, române!", which was and remains the national anthem of Romania. The lyrics were written by Alexei Mateevici (1888–1917) a month before his death. Mateevici contributed significantly to the national emancipation of Bessarabia. The music was composed by Alexandru Cristea.
The focus of "Limba noastră" is language; in this case, the national language of Moldova, which is referred to as either Romanian or Moldovan. It calls for the people to revive the usage of their native language. The poem does not refer to the language by name; it is poetically called "our language".
Codru forests, referred to in the line "Our language is the greenest leaf of the everlasting codrii".
The Dniester river, referred to in the line "Gentle river Dniester’s ripples hiding starlight bright and shining."
"Limba noastră" is based on a twelve-verse poem. For the officially-defined national anthem used today, the verses were selected and reorganised into five verses of four lines each; namely, the first, second, fifth, ninth and twelfth verses, respectively, which are highlighted in bold.
8 [ˈlim.ba ˈno̯as.trə ɨj a.ˈle̯a.sə] [sə ri.ˈdi.t͡ʃe ˈsla.van ˈt͡ʃe.rurʲ] [sə ne ˈspju.en hram ʃja.ˈka.sə] [ˈveʃ.ni.t͡ʃe.le a.de.ˈvə.rurʲ]
9 [ˈlim.ba ˈno̯as.trəj ˈlim.bə ˈsfɨn.tə] [ˈlim.ba ˈve.ki.lor ka.ˈza.nij] [ˈka.re̯o plɨŋg ʃi ˈka.re̯o ˈkɨn.tə] [pe la ˈvat.ra lor t͡sə.ˈra.nij]
10 [ɨn.vi.ˈa.t͡si.və dar ˈgra.jul] [ru.d͡ʒi.ˈnit de ˈmul.tə ˈvre.me] [ˈʃter.d͡ʒet͡sʲ ˈsli.nul mu.t͡ʃe.ˈga.jul] [al uj.ˈtə.rij‿n ˈka.re ˈd͡ʒe.me]
11 [ˈʃtrɨn.d͡ʒet͡sʲ ˈpja.tra lu.t͡ʃi.ˈto̯a.re] [t͡ʃe din ˈso̯a.re se a.ˈprin.de] [ʃit͡sʲ a.ˈve̯a ɨn re.vər.ˈsa.re] [un po.ˈtop nou̯ de ku.ˈvin.te]
12 [rə.sə.ˈri.va o ko.ˈmo̯a.rə] [ɨn a.ˈdɨŋ.kurʲ ɨn.fun.ˈda.tə] [un ʃi.ˈrag de ˈpja.trə ˈra.rə] [pe mo.ˈʃi.e re.vər.ˈsa.tə]
I Our language is a treasure that surges from deep shadows of the past A necklace of rare gems that scattered all over the domain.
II Our language is a burning flame amidst a people that without warning Awoke from the sleep of death like the brave hero of the tales.
III Our language is made of songs from our soul’s deepest desires Flash of lightning striking swiftly through dark clouds and blue horizons.
IV Our language is the tongue of bread when the winds blow through the summer Uttered by our forefathers who blessed the country through their labour.
V Our language is the greenest leaf of the everlasting codrii Gentle river Dniester’s ripples hiding starlight bright and shining.
VI Utter no more bitter cries now that your language is too poor And you will see with what abundance flow the words of our precious country.
VII Our language is full of legends stories from the days of old Reading one and then another makes one shudder, tremble and moan.
VIII Our language is singled out to lift praises up to heaven Uttering with constant fervour truths that never cease to beckon.
IX Our language is more than holy words of homilies of old Wept and sung perpetually in the homesteads of our folks.
X Resurrect now this our language rusted through the years that have passed Wipe off filth and mould that gathered when forgotten through our land.
XI Gather now the sparkling stone catching bright light from the sun You will see the endless flooding of new words that overflow.
XII A treasure will spring up swiftly from deep shadows of the past A necklace of rare gems that scattered all over the domain.
Images
Moldovan stamp depicting a Romanian language class. The teacher is explaining the lesson. On the blackboard is written a quatrain from "Limba noastră".
Moldovan stamp bearing the first verses of the anthem.
Mateevici, author of the poem. In the background are written quatrains from "Limba noastră".
A "Limba noastră" social ad in Chișinău (with the word ROMÂNĂ) sprayed onto it.
Wikisource, "Limba noastră", full text of Mateevici's poem (in Romanian)
State Symbols of the Republic of Moldova – The official page of the Republic of Moldova features a page about the flag and anthem, which include vocal and instrumental versions
President's House – The official website of the President of Moldova has a page with information about the anthem. The Romanian version of the page also contains the music score of the anthem.
This article uses material from the Wikipedia English article Limba noastră, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 license ("CC BY-SA 3.0"); additional terms may apply (view authors). Content is available under CC BY-SA 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses. ®Wikipedia is a registered trademark of the Wiki Foundation, Inc. Wiki English (DUHOCTRUNGQUOC.VN) is an independent company and has no affiliation with Wiki Foundation.
Moldovan stamp depicting a Romanian language class. The teacher is explaining the lesson. On the blackboard is written a quatrain from "Limba noastră".
Moldovan stamp bearing the first verses of the anthem.
Mateevici, author of the poem. In the background are written quatrains from "Limba noastră".
