The periodization of the History of the Romanian Language according to G. Ivănescu. A Social‑Historical Approach
In this paper we aim at presenting the way in which the Iassian linguist G Ivănescu divided the history of the Romanian language, as well as the social‑historical criteria which lay at the basis of this division. We limit our presentation to the development of the spoken Romanian language, from its origin until the 16th century, and disregard its written version, since the latter, according to the Iassian researcher, is influenced by other factors and it, therefore, needs to be separated from the evolution of the spoken dialects. We also attempt to highlight the causalist perspective that characterises Ivănescu’s vision upon the diachronic linguistic phenomenon, that is, the cause‑effect relation between various extra‑linguistic factors and the evolution of the Romanian language.
Keywords: language change, language history, basis of articulation, vulgar Latin, extra‑linguistic factors, psychological basis