Aromanian studies ( rup, Studii armãneshti) are an

academic discipline An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, ...

centered on the study of the

Aromanians The Aromanians ( rup, Armãnji, Rrãmãnji) are an ethnic group native to the southern Balkans who speak Aromanian, an Eastern Romance language. They traditionally live in central and southern Albania, south-western Bulgaria, northern and ...

. They are included within Balkan and

Romance Romance (from Vulgar Latin , "in the Roman language", i.e., "Latin") may refer to: Common meanings * Romance (love), emotional attraction towards another person and the courtship behaviors undertaken to express the feelings * Romance languages, ...

studies. Notable scholars on Aromanian topics include ,

Thede Kahl Thede Kahl (born 30 March 1971 in Hamburg) is a German ethnographer and ethnolinguist. He is the head of the Institute of South Slavic Studies in the University of Jena (in which he is a professor), in Germany. His research focuses are the Slav ...

and

Gustav Weigand Gustav Weigand (1 February 1860 – 8 July 1930), was a German linguist and specialist in Balkan languages, especially Romanian and Aromanian. He is known for his seminal contributions to the dialectology of the Romance languages of the Balkans ...

. The Aromanian question, a term used for the historical and current division on ethnic identity among the Aromanians, has prominently influenced Aromanian studies.

Description

Aromanian studies are a subset of

Balkan studies Balkan studies or Balkanology is the studies of the Balkans. Institutions specializing in Balkan studies ;Academic * International Association of South-East European Studies (AIESEE) * East European and Balkan Institute, Hankuk University of Foreig ...

. The beginning of the 21st century has seen an increase of interest in Balkanology on the small autochthonous minorities of the

Balkans The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...

, including the

. The Aromanians are also researched on

Romance studies Romance studies or Romance philology ( an, filolochía romanica; ca, filologia romànica; french: romanistique; eo, latinida filologio; it, filologia romanza; pt, filologia românica; ro, romanistică; es, filología románica) is an acade ...

Nationalism Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...

s and the Aromanian question have proven to be difficult obstacles for the progress of Aromanian studies, as issues such as whether the Aromanians are an independent separate ethnic group or if they are a subgroup to the

Greeks The Greeks or Hellenes (; el, Έλληνες, ''Éllines'' ) are an ethnic group and nation indigenous to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea regions, namely Greece, Cyprus, Albania, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, and, to a lesser extent, oth ...

or the

Romanians The Romanians ( ro, români, ; dated exonym '' Vlachs'') are a Romance-speaking ethnic group. Sharing a common Romanian culture and ancestry, and speaking the Romanian language, they live primarily in Romania and Moldova. The 2011 Roman ...

remain controversial.

Institutions and journals

In 1995, with help from the

University of Freiburg The University of Freiburg (colloquially german: Uni Freiburg), officially the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg (german: Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg), is a public research university located in Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemb ...

, the Aromanian professor founded the European Center of Aromanian Studies ( rup, Tsentrul European ti Studii Armãneshti; german: Europäisches Zentrum für Aromunische Studien) at Freiburg im Breisgau,

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. The Aromanian

journal A journal, from the Old French ''journal'' (meaning "daily"), may refer to: *Bullet journal, a method of personal organization *Diary, a record of what happened over the course of a day or other period *Daybook, also known as a general journal, a ...

''Zborlu a nostru'' ("Our Word") is edited by the European Center of Aromanian Studies. ''Rivista di litiraturã shi studii armãni'' ("Journal of Aromanian Literature and Studies") is an academic journal on the Aromanians founded on 1 April 1994 by the Aromanian writer . It was published semiannually by the Editura Cartea Aromână ("Aromanian Book Publishing House", in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

) and the Fundația Cartea Aromână ("Aromanian Book Foundation", in

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

) until April 2007, having a total of 33

volumes Volume is a measure of occupied three-dimensional space. It is often quantified numerically using SI derived units (such as the cubic metre and litre) or by various imperial or US customary units (such as the gallon, quart, cubic inch). The defi ...

. It was exclusively written in Aromanian, in a special

alphabet An alphabet is a standardized set of basic written graphemes (called letters) that represent the phonemes of certain spoken languages. Not all writing systems represent language in this way; in a syllabary, each character represents a syllab ...

aimed at becoming the

standard Standard may refer to: Symbols * Colours, standards and guidons, kinds of military signs * Standard (emblem), a type of a large symbol or emblem used for identification Norms, conventions or requirements * Standard (metrology), an object th ...

script for the Aromanian language. The journal promoted Aromanian works, specially unpublished ones; covered Aromanian literature, be it classical or recent; included cultural and

philological Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as t ...

studies on the Aromanians; and contained ethnographical and historical information about the ethnic group.

Notable people

In 2013, the Czech

ethnologist Ethnology (from the grc-gre, ἔθνος, meaning 'nation') is an academic field that compares and analyzes the characteristics of different peoples and the relationships between them (compare cultural, social, or sociocultural anthropology) ...

and professor referred to

, a German

linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...

, as the "founding father of Aromanian studies". Other researchers that have provided works relevant to Aromanian studies include the Aromanian linguist , the German

ethnographer Ethnography (from Greek ''ethnos'' "folk, people, nation" and ''grapho'' "I write") is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. Ethnography explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject o ...

and ethnolinguist

, the Aromanian historian and philologist and the Romanian researcher Emil Țîrcomnicu.

References

{{Aromanians Balkan studies Romance studies

Description

Institutions and journals

Notable people

See also

References