Aromanian is popularly touted to be the Eastern romance language that is spoken in Greece, Romania, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Albania and Serbia. However, not everybody agrees with the assertion that Aromanian is a romance language closest to Latin or that Aromanian is 80% Latin. This is because a lot of Aromanian words were borrowed from French words during the 19th and 20th century. The reromanizationation of its alphabet and the changing of its orthography to make it look more Latin has led to distrust of Aromanians about what they say about their language. Aromania is derived from the Latin word ‘Romanus.’ Aromanian has over 300,000 speakers worldwide. Its speakers are known as Aromanians or Vlachs. The term Vlachs is mainly used outside Greece to refer to all Latin people who descended from the Balkans. This includes the Aromanians. Aromnian shares many similarities with Romanian. The main point of dissimilarity being that while Romanian was heavily influenced by Slavic languages, Aromanian has borrowed heavily from the Greek language. Aromanian has three major dialects: Pindean, Gramustean and Farsherot.
There are different theories in regards to the origin of the Aromanians. Generally, these theories describe Aromanians to have been the descendants of Latin Greeks or Roman colonists and soldiers who were given agricultural land as payment for their services and they decided to settle in the Balkans. Aromanian is recognized as an official language in Macedonia. The language is taught in primary schools and can also be used in court proceedings. The language is not officially recognized in any other country.
There are many Aromanians who live outside the Balkan countries. Aromanians can be found in the United States, Canada, Germany and France. Germany is home to one of the largest libraries in the Aromanian language, the Union for Culture and Language of the Aromanians. In France, there is an Aromanian cultural association known as Trâ Armânami. The United States hosts The Society Farsarotul, one of the oldest cultural associations of the Aromanian culture. It was founded in 1903 by an Aromanian native, Nicolae Cican.
