The Belarusian language (беларуская мова, BGN/PCGN: byelaruskaya mova, Scientific: belaruskaja mova, łac.: biełaruskaja mova), sometimes referred to as White Ruthenian, is the language of the Belarusian people. It is an official language of Belarus, along with Russian, and is spoken abroad, chiefly in Russia, Ukraine, and Poland.[3] Prior to Belarus gaining its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, the language was known in English as Byelorussian or Belorussian, transliterating the Russian name, белорусский язык, or alternatively as White Ruthenian or White Russian. Following independence, it was also called Belarusian.[4][5]
Belarusian is one of the East Slavic languages, and shares many grammatical and lexical features with other members of the group. To some extent, Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian are mutually intelligible. Its predecessor stage is known as Old Belarusian (14th to 17th centuries), in turn descended from Old East Slavic (10th to 13th centuries).
According to the 1999 Belarus Census, the Belarusian language is declared as a "language spoken at home" by about 3,686,000 Belarusian citizens (36.7% of the population)[6] as of 1999.[7] About 6,984,000 (85.6%) of Belarusians declared it their "mother tongue". Other sources put the "population of the language" as 6,715,000 in Belarus and 9,081,102 in all countries.[8][9] According to a study done by the Belarusian government in 2009, 72% of Belarusians speak Russian at home, while Belarusian is used by only 11.9% of Belarusians. 29.4% of Belarusians can write, speak and read Belarusian, while only 52.5% can read and speak it. According to the research, one out of ten Belarusians does not understand Belarusian.
Although closely related to other East Slavic languages, Belarusian phonology is distinct in a number of ways. The phoneme inventory of the modern Belarusian language consists of 45 to 54 phonemes: 6 vowels and 39 to 48 consonants, depending on how they are counted. When the nine geminate consonants are excluded as mere variations there are 39 consonants, and excluding rare consonants further depresses the count. The number 48 includes all consonant sounds, including variations and rare sounds, which may be semantically distinct in the modern Belarusian language.
The Belarusian alphabet is a variant of the Cyrillic script, which was first used as an alphabet for the Old Church Slavonic language. The modern Belarusian form was identified in 1918, and consists of thirty-two letters. Prior to this, Belarusian had also been written in the Belarusian Latin alphabet (Łacinka / Лацінка) and the Belarusian Arabic alphabet. The Glagolitic script had been used, sporadically, until the 11th or 12th century.
There are several systems of romanizing (transliterating) written Belarusian text in existence; see Romanization of Belarusian.
Standardized Belarusian grammar in its modern form was adopted in 1959, with minor amendments in 1985. It was developed from the initial form set down by Branislaw Tarashkyevich (first printed in Vilnius, 1918). Historically, there had existed several other alternative standardized forms of Belarusian grammar.
Belarusian grammar is mostly synthetic and partly analytic. Belarusian orthography is constructed on the phonetic principle, and is mainly based on on the Belarusian folk dialects of Minsk-Vilnius region.
Dialects
North-Eastern
Middle
South-Western
West Palyesian
Lines
Areal of Belarusian language (1903, Karski) Eastern border of western group of Russian dialects (1967, Zaharova, Orlova) Border between Belarusian and Russian or Ukrainian (1980, Bevzenk)
Besides the literary norm, there exist two main dialects of the Belarusian language, the North-Eastern and the South-Western. In addition, there exist the transitional Middle Belarusian dialect group and the separate West Palyesian dialect group.
The North-Eastern and the South-Western dialects are separated by a hypothetical line Ashmyany–Minsk–Babruysk–Homyel, with the area of the Middle Belarusian dialect group placed on and along this line.
The North-Eastern dialect is chiefly characterized by the "soft sounding R" (мякка-эравы) and "strong akanye" (моцнае аканне), and the South-Western dialect is chiefly characterized by the "hard sounding R" (цвёрда-эравы) and "moderate akanye" (умеранае аканне).
The West Palyesian dialect group is more distinct linguistically, close to Ukrainian language in many aspects, and is separated by the conventional line Pruzhany–Ivatsevichy–Telekhany–Luninyets–Stolin.
The question of whether contemporary Belarusian and Russian (as well as Ukrainian and Rusyn) are dialects of a single language or separate languages is not entirely decided by linguistic factors alone. This is because there is a high degree of mutual intelligibility.[10] As members of the East Slavic group of languages, they are descended from a common ancestor. Although Belarusian, Russian, and Ukrainian are usually listed by linguists as separate languages,[11] one source lists them, with Rusyn, as four inner-languages within a single outer-language.[12]
Within East Slavic, the Belarusian language is most closely related to Ukrainian.[13]
There are a number of names under which the Belarusian language has been known, both contemporary and historical. Some of the most dissimilar are from the Old Belarusian period.
- Belarusian (also spelled Belarusan, Belarussian, Byelarussian) – derived from the Belarusian name of the country "Belarus", officially approved for use abroad by the Belarusian authorities (ca. 1992) and promoted since then.
- Byelorussian (also spelled Belorussian, Bielorussian ) – derived from the Russian name of the country "Byelorussia" (Russian: Белоруссия), used officially (in the Russian language) in the times of the USSR, and, later, in Russia.
- White Russian, White Ruthenian (and its equivalents in other languages) – literal, a word-by-word translation of the parts of the composite word Belarusian.
- Great Lithuanian (вялікалітоўская (мова)) – proposed and used by Yan Stankyevich since the 1960s, intended to part with the "diminishing tradition of having the name related to the Muscovite tradition of calling the Belarusian lands" and to pertain to the "great tradition of Belarusian statehood".
- Kryvian or Krivian (крывіцкая/крывічанская/крыўская (мова), Polish: język krewicki) – derived from the name of the Slavonic tribe Krivichi, one of the main tribes in the foundations of the forming of the Belarusian nation. Created and used in the 19th century by Belarusian Polish-speaking writers Jaroszewicz, Narbut, Rogalski, Jan Czeczot. Strongly promoted by Vaclau Lastouski.
- Simple (простая (мова)) or local (тутэйшая (мова)) – used mainly in times preceding the common recognition of the existence of the Belarusian language, and nation in general. Supposedly, the term can still be encountered up to the end of the 1930s, e.g., in Western Belarus.
- Simple Black Ruthenian (Russian: простой чернорусский) – used in the beginning of the 19th century by the Russian researcher Baranovski and attributed to contemporary vernacular Belarusian.[14]
The modern Belarusian language was redeveloped on the base of the vernacular spoken remnants of the Old Belarusian language, surviving in the ethnic Belarusian territories in the 19th century. The end 18th century (the times of the Divisions of Commonwealth) is the usual conventional borderline between the Old Belarusian language and Modern Belarusian language stages of development.
By the end 18th century, the (Old) Belarusian language was still common among the smaller nobility in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (GDL). Jan Czeczot in 1840s had mentioned that even his generation’s grandfathers preferred speaking (Old) Belarusian.[15] (According to A. N. Pypin, the Belarusian language was spoken in some areas among the smaller nobility during the 19th century.[16]) In its vernacular form, it was the language of the smaller town dwellers and of the peasantry and it had been the language of the oral forms of the folklore. The teaching in Belarusian was conducted mainly in schools run by the Basilian order.
The development of the Belarusian language in the 19th century was strongly influenced by the political conflict in the territories of the former GDL, between the Russian Imperial authorities, trying to consolidate their rule over the "joined provinces" and the Polish and Polonised nobility, trying to bring back its pre-Partitions rule[17] (see also: Polonization in times of Partitions).
One of the important manifestations of this conflict was the struggle for the ideological control over the educational system. The Polish and Russian language were being introduced and re-introduced, while the general state of the people's education remained poor until the very end of the Russian Empire.[18]
Summarily, the first two decades of the 19th century had seen the unprecedented prosperity of the Polish culture and language in the former GDL lands, had prepared the era of such famous "Belarusians by birth – Poles by choice," as Mickiewicz and Syrokomla. The era had seen the effective completion of the Polonization of the smallest nobility, the further reduction of the area of use of the contemporary Belarusian language, and the effective folklorization of the Belarusian culture.[19]
Due both to the state of the people's education and to the strong positions of Polish and Polonized nobility, it was only since the 1880s–1890s, that the educated Belarusian element, still shunned because of "peasant origin", began to appear in the state offices.[20]
In 1846, ethnographer Shpilevskiy prepared the Belarusian grammar (using Cyrillic alphabet) on the basis of the folk dialects of the Minsk region. However, the Russian Academy of Sciences refused to print his submission, on the basis that it had not been prepared in a sufficiently scientific manner.
Since the mid-1830s, the ethnographical works began to appear, and the tentative attempts to study the language were instigated (e.g., Belarusian grammar by Shpilevskiy). The Belarusian literature tradition began to re-form, basing on the folk language, initiated by the works of Vintsent Dunin-Martsinkyevich. See also: Jan Czeczot, Jan Barszczewski.[21]
In the beginning of the 1860s, both Russian and Polish parties in Belarusian lands had begun to realise that the decisive role in the upcoming conflicts was shifting to the peasantry, overwhelmingly Belarusian. So, a large amount of propaganda appeared, targeted at the peasantry and prepared in the Belarusian language.[22] Notably, the anti-Russian, anti-Tsarist, anti-Orthodox "Manifest" and the newspaper "Peasants' Truth" (1862–1863) by Kalinowski, the anti-Polish, anti-Revolutionary, pro-Orthodox booklets and poems (1862).[23]
The advent of the all-Russian "narodniki" and Belarusian national movements (end 1870s – beg. 1880s) renewed interest in the Belarusian language (see also: Homan (1884), Bahushevich, Yefim Karskiy, Dovnar-Zapol'skiy, Bessonov, Pypin, Sheyn, Nosovich). The Belarusian literary tradition was renewed, too (see also: F. Bahushevich). It was in these times that F. Bahushevich made his famous appeal to Belarusians: "Do not forsake our language, lest you pass away" (Belarusian: Не пакідайце ж мовы нашай, каб не ўмёрлі).
In course of the 1897 Russian Empire Census, about 5.89 million people declared themselves speakers of the Belarusian language.
Excerpt from the Russian Empire Census results
| Guberniya* |
Total Population |
Belarusian (Beloruskij) |
Russian (Velikoruskij) |
Polish (Polskij) |
| Vilna |
1,591,207 |
891,903 |
78,623 |
130,054 |
| Vitebsk |
1,489,246 |
987,020 |
198,001 |
50,377 |
| Grodno |
1,603,409 |
1,141,714 |
74,143 |
161,662 |
| Minsk |
2,147,621 |
1,633,091 |
83,999 |
64,617 |
| Mogilev |
1,686,764 |
1,389,782 |
58,155 |
17,526 |
| Smolensk |
1,525,279 |
100,757 |
1,397,875 |
7,314 |
| Chernigov |
2,297,854 |
151,465 |
495,963 |
3,302 |
| Privislinsky Krai |
9,402,253 |
29,347 |
335,337 |
6,755,503 |
| All Empire |
125,640,021 |
5,885,547 |
55,667,469 |
7,931,307 |
| * See also: Administrative-territorial division of Belarus and bordering lands in 2nd half 19 cent. (right half-page) and Ethnical composition of Belarus and bordering lands (prep. by Mikola Bich on the basis of 1897 data) |
The end of the 19th century however still showed that the urban language of Belarusian towns remained either Polish or Russian and in the same census towns exceeding 50000 had Belarusian speakers of less than a tenth. This state of affairs greatly contributed to a perception that Belarusian is a "rural" and "uneducated" language.
However the census was a major breakthrough for the first steps of the Belarusian national self-conscience and identity, as it clearly showed to the Imperial authorities, and the still strong Polish minority that the population and the language was neither Polish nor Russian.
The rising influence of Socialist ideas advanced the process of emancipating of the Belarusian language still further (see also: Belarusian Socialist Assembly, Circle of Belarusian People's Education and Belarusian Culture, Belarusian Socialist Lot, Socialist Party "White Russia", Tsyotka, Nasha Dolya). The fundamental works of Yefim Karskiy marked a turning point in the scientific perception of Belarusian language. The ban on publishing books and papers in Belarusian was officially removed (1904-12-25). The unprecedented surge of the national feeling, especially among the workers and peasants, coming in the 20th century, esp. after the events of 1905,[24] gave momentum to the intensive development of the Belarusian literature and press (see also: Naša niva, Yanka Kupala, Yakub Kolas).
During the 19th – early 20th century, there was no normative Belarusian grammar. Authors wrote as they saw fit, usually representing the particularities of different Belarusian dialects. The scientific groundwork for the introduction of a truly scientific and modern grammar of the Belarusian language was laid down by linguist Yefim Karskiy.
By the early 1910s, the continuing lack of a codified Belarusian grammar was becoming intolerably obstructive in the opinion of uniformitarian prescriptivists. Then Russian academician Shakhmatov, chair of the Russian language and literature department of St. Petersburg University, approached the board of the Belarusian newspaper Naša niva with a proposal that a Belarusian linguist would be trained under his supervision in order to be able to create documentation of the grammar. Initially, famous Belarusian poet Maksim Bahdanovich was to be entrusted with this work. However, Bahdanovich's poor health (tuberculosis) precluded his living in the climate of St. Petersburg, so Branislaw Tarashkyevich, a fresh graduate of the Vilnya Liceum No.2, was selected for the task.
In the Belarusian community, great interest was vested in this enterprise. The already famous then Belarusian poet Yanka Kupala, in his letter to Tarashkyevich, urged him to "hurry with his much-needed work". Tarashkyevich had been working on the preparation of the grammar during 1912–1917, with help and supervision of academicians Shakhmatov and Karskiy. Tarashkyevich had completed the work by the Fall 1917, even having to go from the tumultuous Petrograd of 1917 to relatively calm Finland in order to be able to complete it uninterrupted.
By Summer 1918, it became obvious, that there were insurmountable problems with the printing of Tarashkyevich's grammar in Petrograd – a lack of paper, type and qualified personnel. Meanwhile, Tarashkyevich's grammar had apparently been slated for adoption in the workers' and peasants' schools of Belarus that were to be set up. So, Tarashkyevich was permitted to print his book abroad. In June 1918, Tarashkyevich arrived in Vil'nya, via Finland. The Belarusian Committee petitioned for the administration to allow the book to be printed. Finally, the 1st edition of the "Belarusian grammar for schools" was printed (Vil'nya, 1918).
There existed at least two other contemporary attempts at codification of the Belarusian grammar. In 1915, rev. Balyaslaw Pachopka had prepared a Belarusian grammar using the Latin script. Belarusian linguist S. M. Nyekrashevich considered B. Pachopka's grammar unscientific and ignorant of the principles of the Belarusian language. In 1918, for an unspecified period, B. Pachopka's grammar was reportedly taught in an unidentified number of schools. Another grammar was, supposedly, jointly prepared by A. Lutskyevich and Ya. Stankyevich, and differed from Tarashkyevich's grammar somewhat in resolution of some key aspects.
On December 22, 1915, Hindenburg issued an order on schooling in German Army occupied territories (of contemp. Russian Empire), banning schooling in Russian and including the Belarusian language in the exclusive list of the four languages being mandatory in the respective native schooling systems (Belarusian, Lithuanian, Polish, Yiddish). School attendance was not made mandatory, though. Passports at this time were bi-lingual, in German and in one of the "native languages".[25] Also at this time, Belarusian preparatory schools, printing houses, press organs were opened (see also: Homan (1916)).
After the 1917 February Revolution in Russia, the Belarusian language became an important factor in the political activities in the Belarusian lands (see also: Central Council of Belarusian Organisations, Great Belarusian Council, I All-Belarusian Congress, Belnatskom). In the Belarusian People's Republic, Belarusian was used as its only official language (decreed by Belarusian People's Secretariat, 1918-04-28). Subsequently, in the Belarusian SSR, Belarusian was decreed to be one of the four (Belarusian, Polish, Russian, Yiddish) official languages (decreed by Central Executive Committee of BSSR, February 1921).
Ethnographic map of the Slavic peoples prepared by Czech ethnographer
Lubor Niederle showing territorial boundaries of Slavic languages in Eastern Europe in the mid 1920s
In BSSR, the Tarashkyevich’s grammar had been officially accepted for use in state schooling after its re-publishing in the unchanged form by Yazep Lyosik under the name Ya. Lyosik. Practical grammar. P[art]. I (1922). This grammar had been re-published once again, unchanged, by the Belarusian State Publishing House under the name Ya. Lyosik. Belarusian language. Grammar. Ed. I. 1923 (1923).
In 1925, Yazep Lyosik introduced two new chapters to the grammar, addressing the orthography of combined words and partly modifying the orthography of assimilated words. Hence, Belarusian grammar had been popularized and taught in the educational system in that form. The ambiguous and insufficient development of several components of Tarashkyevich’s grammar was perceived to be cause of some problems in practical usage, and this led to discontent with the grammar.
In 1924–1925, Yazep Lyosik and Anton Lyosik prepared and published their project of orthographic reform, proposing a number of radical changes. A fully phonetic orthography was introduced. One of the most distinctive changes brought in was the principle of akanye (Belarusian: ́аканне), wherein unstressed "o", pronounced in both Russian and Belarusian as [a], is written as "а". Consequently, words like [malaˈko] are pronounced the same in both languages but written as молоко in Russian and малако in Belarusian.
The Belarusian Academic Conference on Reform of the Orthography and Alphabet was called in 1926. After discussions on the project the Conference had made resolutions on some of the problems. However, a project run by the Lyosik brothers hadn’t addressed all of the problematic issues, so the Conference was not able to address all of those either.
At the outcome of the conference, the Orthographic Commission was created to prepare the project of the actual reform. This was instigated on 1927-10-01, headed by S. Nyekrashevich, with the following principal guidelines of its work adopted:
- To consider the resolutions of the Belarusian Academical Conference (1926) non-mandatory, although highly competent material.
- To simplify Tarashkyevich’s grammar where it was ambiguous or difficult in use, to amend it where it was insufficiently developed (e.g., orthography of the assimilated words), and to create new rules if absent (orthography of the proper names and geographical names).
During its work in 1927-1929, the Commission had actually prepared the project of the reform of the orthography. The resulting project had included both completely new rules and existing rules in unchanged and changed forms, with those changed being, variously, the outcome of the work of the Commission itself, or the resolutions of Belarusian Academical Conference (1926), re-approved by the Commission.
Notably, the use of the Ь (soft sign) before the combinations "consonant+iotified vowel" ("softened consonants"), which had been denounced as highly redundant before (e.g., in the proceedings of the Belarusian Academic Conference (1926)), had been cancelled. However, the complete resolution of the highly important issue of the orthography of the un-stressed Е (IE) had not been achieved.
Both the resolutions of the Belarusian Academic Conference (1926) and the project of the Orthographic Commission (1930) caused much disagreement in the Belarusian academic environment. Several elements of the project were to be put under appeal in the "higher (political) bodies of power."
In West Belarus, under Polish rule, the Belarusian language was at a disadvantage. Schooling in the Belarusian language was obstructed, and printing in Belarusian experienced political oppression.[citation needed]
The prestige of the Belarusian language in the Western Belarus of the period hinged significantly on the image of the BSSR being the "true Belarusian home".[26][verification needed] This image, however, was strongly disrupted by the "purges" of "national-democrats" in BSSR (1929–1930) and by the following grammar reform (1933).
Tarashkyevich's grammar was re-published five times in Western Belarus. However, the 5th edition (1929) (re-printed verbatim in Belarus in 1991 and often referenced to) was the version diverting from the previously published, which Tarashkyevich had prepared disregarding the Belarusian Academic Conference (1926) resolutions.[27]
In 1929–1930, the Communist authorities of Soviet Belarus made a series of drastic crackdowns against the supposed "national-democratic counter-revolution" (informally "nats-dems" (Belarusian: нац-дэмы)). Effectively, entire generations of Socialist Belarusian national activists in the first quarter of the 20th century had been wiped out from political, scientific, and social existence. Only the most famous cult figures (e.g. Yanka Kupala) were spared.
However, a new power group in Belarusian science quickly formed during power shifts, under the virtual leadership of the Head of the Philosophy Institute of the Belarusian Academy of Sciences, academician S. Ya. Vol’fson (С. Я. Вольфсон). The book published under his editorship Science in Service of Nats-Dems’ Counter-Revolution (1931), represented the new spirit of the political life in Soviet Belarus.
The Reform of Belarusian Grammar (1933) had been brought out quite unexpectedly, supposedly, [Stank 1936] with the project published in the central newspaper of the Belarusian Communist Party "Zviazda" on 1933-06-28 and the decree of the Council of People’s Commissaries (Council of Ministers) of BSSR issued on 1933-08-28, to gain the status of law on 1933-09-16.
There had been some post-factum speculations, too, that the 1930 project of the reform (as prepared by the people no longer politically "clean"), had been given for the "purification" to the "nats-dems" competition in the Academy of Sciences, which would explain the "block" nature of the differences between the 1930 and 1933 versions. Peculiarly, Yan Stankyevich in his notable critique of the reform [Stank 1936] didn’t mention the project prepared by 1930, dating the project of the reform to 1932.
The reform resulted in the grammar officially used, with further amendments, in Byelorussian SSR and modern Belarus. Sometimes this grammar is called official grammar of Belarusian language, to distinguish it from the pre-reform grammar, known as classic grammar or Taraškievica (Tarashkevitsa). It is also known as narkamauka, after the word narkamat, a Belarusian abbreviation for People's Commissariat (ministry). The latter term bears a derogatory connotation.
The officially announced causes for the reform were:
- The pre-1933 grammar was maintaining artificial barriers between the Russian and Belarusian languages.
- The reform was to cancel the influences of the Polonisation corrupting the Belarusian language.
- The reform was to remove the archaisms, neologisms and vulgarisms, supposedly introduced by the "national-democrats."
- The reform was to simplify the grammar of the Belarusian language.
The reform had been accompanied by the fervent press campaign directed against the "nats-dems not yet giving up."
The decree had been named On Changing and Simplifying the Belarusian Orthography («Аб зменах і спрашчэнні беларускага правапісу»), but the bulk of the changes had been introduced into the grammar. Yan Stankyevich in his critique of the reform talked about 25 changes, with 1 of them being strictly orthographic, and 24 relating to both orthography and grammar. [Stank 1936]
It is worth noticing, that many of the changes in the orthography proper ("stronger principle of AH-ing," "no redundant soft sign," "uniform ’’nye’’ and ’’byez’’") had been, in fact, just implementations of the earlier propositions of the by then repressed persons (e.g., Yazep Lyosik, Lastowski, Nyekrashevich, 1930 project). [BAC 1926][Nyekr 1930][Padluzhny 2004]
The morphological principle in the orthography had been strengthened, which also had been proposed in 1920s. [BAC 1926]
The "removal of the influences of the Polonisation" had been represented, effectively, by the:
- Reducing the use of the "consonant+non-iotified vowel" in assimilated Latinisms in favor of "consonant+iotified vowel," leaving only Д, Т, Р unexceptionally "hard."
- Changing the method of representation of the sound "L" in the Latinisms to another variant of the Belarusian sound Л (of 4 variants existing), rendered with succeeding non-iotified vowels instead of iotified.
- Introducing the new preferences of use of the letters Ф over Т for fita, and В over Б for beta, in Hellenisms. [Stank 1936]
The "removing of the artificial barriers between the Russian and Belarusian languages" (virtually the often-quoted "Russification of the Belarusian language," which may well happen to be a term coined by Yan Stankyevich) had, according to Stankyevich, moved the normative Belarusian morphology and syntax closer to their Russian counterparts, often removing from the use the indigenous features of the Belarusian language. [Stank 1936]
Stankyevich also observed that some components of the reform had moved the Belarusian grammar to the grammars of other Slavonic languages, which would hardly be its goal. [Stank 1936]
In West Belarus, there had been some voices raised against the reform, chiefly by the non-Communist/non-Socialist wing of the Belarusian national scene. Yan Stankyevich named Belarusian Scientific Society, Belarusian National Committee, Society of the friends of Belarusian linguistics in the Wilno University. [Stank 1936] Certain political and scientific groups and figures went on with using the pre-reform orthography and grammar, however, thus multiplying and differing versions.
However, the reformed grammar and orthography had been used, too, e.g., during the process of S. Prytytski (1936).
In times of Occupation of Belarus by Nazi Germany (1941–1944), the Belarusian collaborationists influenced the newspapers and the schools to use the Belarusian language. This variant did not use any of the post-1933 changes in vocabulary, orthography and grammar. Much publishing in Belarusian Latin script was done. In general, in the publications of the Soviet partisan movement in Belarus, the normative 1934 grammar was used.
After the Second World War, several major factors influenced the development of the Belarusian language. The most important was the implementation of "rapprochement and unification of Soviet people" policy which resulted in Russian language by 1980s effectively and officially assuming the role of principal mean of communication, with Belarusian relegated to a secondary role. The post-war growth of circulation of publishing in Belarusian in BSSR drastically lagged behind those in Russian. The use of Belarusian as main language of education was gradually limited to rural schools and humanitarian faculties.[28] While officially much lauded, the language was popularly imaged as "uncultured, rural language of rural people".
That was the source of concern for the nationally minded and caused, e.g., the series of publications by Barys Sachanka in 1957–1961 and the text named "Letter to Russian friend" by Alyaksyey Kawka (1979). Interestingly, the contemporary BSSR Communist party leader Kirill Mazurov made some tentative moves to strengthen the role of Belarusian language in the 2nd half 1950s.[29] However, the support of the Belarusian could also be easily considered "too strong" and even identified with the support of "Belarusian nationalists and fascists".
After the beginning of Perestroika and relaxing of the political control in end 1980s, the new campaign in support of the Belarusian language was mounted in BSSR, expressed in "Letter of 58" and other publications, producing certain level of popular support and resulting in the BSSR Supreme Soviet ratifying the "Law on languages" ("Закон аб мовах"; January 26, 1990) mandating the strengthening of the role of Belarusian in the state and civic structures.
The discussion on problems of the Belarusian orthography and on the further development of language was held from 1935–1941. From 1949–1957 this continued, although it was deemed there was a need to amend some unwarranted changes to the 1933 reform. The Orthography Commission, headed by Yakub Kolas, set up the project in about 1951, but it was approved only in 1957, and the normative rules were published in 1959.[30] This grammar had been accepted as normative for the Belarusian language since then, receiving minor practical changes in the 1985 edition.
A project to correct parts of the 1959 grammar was conducted from 2006–2007.
After Belarusian independence, the Belarusian language gained in prestige and popular interest.[citation needed] However, the implementation of the 1992–1994 "Law on languages" was conducted in such a way that it provoked public protests and was dubbed "Landslide Belarusization" and "undemocratic" by those opposing it in 1992–1994. In a controversial referendum held on 14 May 1995 the Belarusian language lost its exclusive status as the only state language. The state support of Belarusian language and culture in general has dwindled since then.
Main article:
Taraškievica There exists an alternative literary norm of the Belarusian language, named Taraškievica (Tarashkevica). The promoters and users of it prevalently refer to it as Klasyčny pravapis (Classic orthography).
Belarusian is represented by the ISO 639 code be or bel, or more specifically by IETF language tags be-1959acad (so-called "Academic" ["governmental"] variant of Belarusian as codified in 1959) or be-tarask (Belarusian in Taraskievica orthography).[1]
- ^ У Падляшскім ваяводстве беларуская мова прызнана афіцыйнай
- ^ European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages
- ^ Also spoken in Azerbaijan, Canada, Estonia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, USA, Uzbekistan, per Ethnologue.
- ^ Belarusan English Dictionary
- ^ Ethnologue. Languages of the World. Belarusan
- ^ Of these, about 3,370,000 (41.3%) are Belarusians, and about 257,000 belong to other ethnicities(Russians, Poles, Ukrainians, and Jews).
- ^ Data from 1999 Belarusian general census in English.
- ^ (Johnstone and Mandryk 2001) as cited on Ethnologue.
- ^ In Russia, the Belarusian language is declared as a "familiar language" by about 316,000 inhabitants, among them, about 248,000 Belarusians, comprising about 30.7% of Belarusians living in Russia (data from 2002 Russian Census In Russian). In Ukraine, the Belarusian language is declared as a "native language" by about 55,000 Belarusians, which comprise about 19.7% of Belarusians living in Ukraine (data from 2001 Ukrainian census In Ukrainian). In Poland, the Belarusian language is declared as a "language spoken at home" by about 40,000 inhabitants (data from 2002 Polish general census Table 34 (in Polish)).
- ^ Alexander M. Schenker. 1993. "Proto-Slavonic," The Slavonic Languages. (Routledge). Pp. 60-121. Pg. 60: "[The] distinction between dialect and language being blurred, there can be no unanimity on this issue in all instances..."
C.F. Voegelin and F.M. Voegelin. 1977. Classification and Index of the World's Languages (Elsevier). Pg. 311, "In terms of immediate mutual intelligibility, the East Slavic zone is a single language."
Bernard Comrie. 1981. The Languages of the Soviet Union (Cambridge). Pg. 145-146: "The three East Slavonic languages are very close to one another, with very high rates of mutual intelligibility...The separation of Russian, Ukrainian, and Belorussian as distinct languages is relatively recent...Many Ukrainians in fact speak a mixture of Ukrainian and Russian, finding it difficult to keep the two languages apart..."
- ^ Bernard Comrie and Greville G. Corbett, ed. 1993. The Slavonic Languages (Routledge).
Ethnologue, 16th edition.
Bernard Comrie. 1992. "Slavic Languages," International Encyclopedia of Linguistics (Oxford). Vol. 3, pp. 452-456.
- ^ David Dalby. 1999/2000. The Linguasphere Register of the World's Languages and Speech Communities (The Linguasphere Observatory), Volume Two, pp. 442-443: "53-AAA-e, Russkiy+Ukrainska"
- ^ Roland Sussex, Paul V. Cubberley. (2006). The Slavic languages . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pg. 518
- ^ Acc. to: Улащик Н. Введение в белорусско-литовское летописание. – М., 1980.
- ^ [Dovnar 1926] Ch. XVII Sec.1
- ^ [Turuk 1921], p.10
- ^ [Dovnar 1926] Ch. XXII Sec.1 p.507
- ^ [Dovnar 1926] Ch. XV Sect. 10.
- ^ Per (Dovnar 1926), (Smalyanchuk 2001)
- ^ [Dovnar 1926] Ch. XV Sect. 7
- ^ [Dovnar 1926]. Ch. XV. Sect.3.
- ^ [Dovnar 1926] Ch. XV Sect. 4.
- ^ [Turuk 1921], p.11
- ^ [Dovnar 1926] Ch. XXI Sec.4 p.480-481
- ^ Turonek 1989
- ^ (words of V. Lastouski)
- ^ [Tarashk 1929] Foreword.
- ^ The BSSR counterpart of the USSR law "On strengthening of ties of school with real life and on further development of the popular education in USSR" (1958), adopted in 1959, along with introduction of the mandatory 8-year school education, made it possible for the parents of pupils to opt for non-mandatory studying of the "second language of teaching," which would be Belarusian in Russian language school and vice versa. However, e.g., in 1955/1956 schooling year there had been 95% of schools with Russian as the primary language of teaching, and 5% with Belarusian as the primary language of teaching. [StStank 1962]
- ^ See Modern history of Belarus by Mironowicz.
- ^ The BSSR Council of Ministers approved the project of the Commission on Orthography "On making more precise and on partially changing the acting rules of Belarusian orthography" («Аб удакладненні і частковых зменах існуючага беларускага правапісу») on 1957-05-11. The project had served as a basis for the normative Rules of the Belarusian Orthography and Punctuation («Правілы беларускай арфаграфіі і пунктуацыі»), published in 1959.
- [Karsk 1893] Карский Е. Ф. Что такое древнее западнорусское наречие? // «Труды Девятого археологического съезда в Вильне, 1893», под ред. графини Уваровой и С. С. Слуцкого, т. II – М., 1897. – с. 62 – 70. In edition: Карский Е. Ф. Белорусы: 3 т. Т. 1 / Е. Ф. Карский / Уступны артыкул М. Г. Булахава, прадмова да першага тома і каментарыі В. М. Курцовай, А. У. Унучака, І. У. Чаквіна . – Мн. : БелЭн, 2006. – с. 495 – 504. ISBN 985-11-0360-8 (T.1), ISBN 985-11-0359-4.
- [Karsk 1903] Карский, Е. Ф. Белорусы: 3 т. Т. 1 / Уступны артыкул М. Г. Булахава, прадмова да першага тома і каментарыі В. М. Курцовай, А. У. Унучака, І. У. Чаквіна. ; [Карскій. Бѣлоруссы. Т. I – Вильна, 1903] – Мн. : БелЭн, 2006. ISBN 985-11-0360-8 (Т.1), ISBN 985-11-0359-4.
- [Lyosik 1917] [Язэп Лёсік] Граматыка і родная мова : [Вольная Беларусь №17, 30.08.1917] // Язэп Лёсік. Творы: Апавяданні. Казкі. Артыкулы / (Уклад., прадм. і камент. А. Жынкіна. – Мн. : Маст. літ., 1994. – (Спадчына). ISBN 5-340-01250-6.
- [Stank 1939] Ян Станкевіч. Гісторыя беларускага языка [1939] // Ян Станкевіч. Збор твораў у двух тамах. Т. 1. - Мн.: Энцыклапедыкс, 2002. ISBN 985-6599-46-6.
- [StStank 1962] Станкевіч С. Русіфікацыя беларускае мовы ў БССР і супраціў русіфікацыйнаму працэсу [1962] / Прадмова В. Вячоркі. – Мн. : Навука і тэхніка, 1994. ISBN 5-343-01645-6.
- [Zhur 1978] А. И. Журавский. Деловая письменность в системе старобелорусского литературного языка // Восточнославянское и общее языкознание. – М., 1978. – С. 185-191.
- [Halyen 1988] Галенчанка Г. Я. Кнігадрукаванне ў Польшчы // Францыск Скарына і яго час. Энцыклапед. даведнік. – Мн. : БелЭн, 1988. ISBN 5-85700-003-3.
- [AniZhur 1988] Анічэнка У. В., Жураўскі А. І. Беларуская лексіка ў выданнях Ф. Скарыны // Францыск Скарына і яго час. Энцыклапед. даведнік. – Мн. : БелЭн, 1988. ISBN 5-85700-003-3.
- [Zhur 1993] Жураўскі А. І. Беларуская мова // Энцыклапедыя гісторыі Беларусі. У 6 т. Т. 1. - Мн.: БелЭн, 1993.
- [Yask 2001] Яскевіч А. А. Старабеларускія граматыкі: да праблемы агульнафілалагічнай цэласнасці. – 2-е выд. – Мн. : Беларуская навука, 2001. ISBN 985-08-0451-3.
- [Lis 1991] Браніслаў Тарашкевіч. Выбранае: Крытыка, публіцыстыка, пераклады / Укладанне, уступ, камент. А. Ліса. – Мн. : Маст. літ., 1991. – (Спадчына). ISBN-5-340-00498-8
- [Lis 1966] Арсень Ліс. Браніслаў Тарашкевіч – Мн. : Навука і Тэхніка, 1966.
- [BAC 1926] Да рэформы беларускага правапісу. // Пасяджэньні Беларускае Акадэмічнае Конфэрэнцыі па рэформе правапісу і азбукі. - Мн.: [б. м.], [1927?].
- [Tarashk 1929] Б. Тарашкевіч. Беларуская граматыка для школ. - Вільня : Беларуская друкарня ім. Фр. Скарыны, 1929 ; Мн. : «Народная асвета», 1991 [факсімільн.]. - Выданьне пятае пераробленае і пашыранае.
- [Stank 1918] Ян Станкевіч. Правапіс і граматыка [1918] // Ян Станкевіч. Збор твораў у двух тамах. Т. 1. - Мн.: Энцыклапедыкс, 2002. ISBN 985-6599-46-6
- [Stank 1927] Ян Станкевіч. Беларуская Акадэмічная Конфэрэнцыя 14.–21.XI.1926 і яе працы дзеля рэформы беларускае абэцэды й правапісу (агульны агляд) [1927] // Ян Станкевіч. Збор твораў у двух тамах. Т. 1. - Мн.: Энцыклапедыкс, 2002. ISBN 985-6599-46-6
- [Stank 1930] Ян Станкевіч. Б. Тарашкевіч: Беларуская граматыка для школ. Выданьне пятае пераробленае і пашыранае. Вільня. 1929 г., бал. 132 + IV [1930–1931] // Ян Станкевіч. Збор твораў у двух тамах. Т. 1. - Мн.: Энцыклапедыкс, 2002. ISBN 985-6599-46-6
- [Baranowski 2004] Ігар Бараноўскі. Помнік сьвятару-беларусу (120-ыя ўгодкі з дня нараджэньня а. Баляслава Пачопкі) // Царква. Грэка-каталіцкая газета. № 4 (43), 2004. – Брэст: ПП В.Ю.А., 2004.
- Mayo P. (1993). "Belorussian." In Comrie B. & Corbett G. (eds.) The Slavonic languages. London & New York: Routledge. p. 887–946. ISBN 978-0-415-04755-5
- McMillin A. (1980). "Belorussian." In Schenker A. & Stankiewicz E. (eds.) The Slavic literary languages, formation and development. New Haven: Yale Concilium on International and Area Studies. p. 105–117. ISBN 978-0-936586-00-7
- Wexler P. (1977). A historical phonology of the Belorussian language. Heidelberg: C. Winter. ISBN 978-3-533-02575-7
