The Belarusian Language
![[ 1995 Postage Stamp - Day of Writing and Printing ]](images/day-print-write.jpg)
The Belarusian Language |
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This section of the A Belarus Miscellany Web site provides an informal summary of the history and current state of the Belarusian language. Scroll through this page to select the topic in which you are interested.
Communities of the East Slavic linguistic family interacted with one another as well as with speakers of other languages, Slavic and non-Slavic. Changes in the political and spiritual organizations and structures that occurred in this area had great effects over time as well.
Since Belarusian religious literature shared its origins with Russian and Ukrainian in the 11th through 14th centuries (when the common language was what is often called Church Slavonic), Belarusian literature, and thus the written language, only came into its own in the 15th century.
A common ancestor for both literary Ukrainian and Belarusian, is the language called Ruthenian. For further discussion refer to the book, Testament to Ruthenian: A Linguistic Analysis of the Smotryc'kyj Variant, and the discussion of "The Grand Duchy of Litva, Rus', and Samogitia (GDL)", including the map depicting the Polish Commonwealth and the Grand Duchy of Litva, Samogitia, and Rus' around approximately 1620.
Refer to the following map for the geographical range of spoken Belarusian at the beginning of the nineteenth century. (Note: The file size of the map is a 223 KB.)
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Educated at the Cracow (Poland) and Padua (Italy) universities, Frantzisk Skaryna (1490 - 1552), poet, printer, and medical doctor from Polacak, was very important in the development of the Belarusian language. His translation of the Bible into the Belarusian vernacular was reprinted in Vilna by the brothers Mamonich, who set up the first printing press there in 1525. (Refer to this link for a sample page from his translation and printing of the book of Ecclesiastes, as well as several other postage stamps honoring Skaryna.)
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![[ 1997 Postage Stamp - Skaryna and Cracovia ]](images/cracovia-s.jpg)
Postage stamp; 1 of 4 (1997): Skaryna and Cracovia |
![[ 1996 Postage Stamp - Cover of 'Gramatika Slovenska', 1596 ]](images/gramatika-1596.jpg)
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Postage stamp (1996): cover of Gramatika Slovenska, by Laurentziya Zizaniya, 1596 |
Note: In error, some people use the term Lacinka to refer to "transliterated" Belarusian--a written form of Belarusian using the western alphabet (such as is used for English). Transliterated Belarusian is without accented characters (but which are used in Lacinka), and is often used in e-mail, on Internet listservs, etc.
Taraskevitza is named after Belarusian philologist and political leader, Branislau Tarashkievich (1892 - 1938), who wrote Belaruskaja hramatuka dla shkol (Belarusian School Grammar); Vilnius,1918; Mensk, 1928. Follow this link for further information about this very important Belarusian.
A complicating factor about the Belarusian language is that it was "updated" in 1933 during the Soviet era, thus the Belarusian of the diaspora (Taraskevitza) is different from the Belarusian used within the Republic of Belarus--Narkomovka. Narkomovka is a Soviet, Russified, version of Belarusian, and its title comes from the "People's Committee" that did this "updating."
It is very important to remember that Narkomovka was instituted by a government whose goals were to destroy national identities and territories, and replace them with Soviet, communist values--and the Russian language (and many aspects of Russian culture, since language and culture are so intertwined). Instituting Narkomovka was part of that destructive effort, and the current government of Belarus is continuing those policies.
Regrettably, this language "policy" is just another indication of the divided Belarusian people (and it is certainly to the current regime's advantage to keep them divided). The existence of two forms of the language also reinforces the isolation of the people in Belarus from the bulk of the diaspora, whose help is so desperatedly needed within Belarus--and who, just as importantly, need to learn from the Soviet-educated (and Russified) Belarusians as well.
A form of Russian tends to dominate in most cities and regional centers. This form of Russian is often a mixture of Russian and Belarusian (trasyanka), and again varies in exact form depending on the city and region.
Orthography (Rules of Spelling)
As an example of the related confusion of transliterating Belarusian words into other languages, follow this link regarding the variety of spellings of the country name of Belarus.
Although there have been periodic efforts to strengthen the use of the Belarusian language in Belarus by a relatively small but well educated minority, many people still consider Belarusian as the language of the village and the countryside. Needless to say, such thinking was (and is) encouraged by the Czarist Russian colonists, and then subsequently, by the Soviet Russian occupiers and by their philosophical descendants of today.
Belarusian Alphabets: Cyrillic, Latzinka, and Transliterated
The Future of the Belarusian Language
The effects of hundreds of years of occupation (including linguistic), the destruction of the many wars and the resulting dispersal of Belarusians around the world, the torture and murder of many of Belarus' cultural, scholarly, and political leaders, and the apparent current lack of national and cultural identity for many Belarusians combine to cast serious doubt on the future of the Belarusian language and culture.
Let no one misunderstand nor underestimate the destructiveness of the past Czarist Russian, Soviet, and current Belarusian government's policies where Belarusian language and culture is concerned.
(Certainly, Poland's policies were destructive as well, but were miniscule in comparison to the Russian and Soviet actions and effects. One of many of the graphic examples possible to illustrate this point: Belarusian philologist and political leader, Branislau Tarashkievich, translated the long, Polish narrative epic poem Pan Tadeusz [by Adam Miskiewicz] into Belarusian while in Polish prison; but was arrested by the Soviets in 1937 and executed in 1938 on groundless charges.)
Whether or not one agrees with what has happened, there is no question about what has and is taking place. Political and territorial objectives have attempted and are attempting to destroy Belarusian self-identity.
Whether or not this "pan-Slavic", re-constituted Soviet Union, or whatever one chooses to call it, is "good," "desireable," something totally evil (or not), or something in between, is for each of us to decide. But the fact remains, Belarusian culture and language, and thus the basic human dignity of the Belarusian people, are still being threatened by people with ulterior motives. . . .
The future of Belarusian language (and culture) is in question, but the situation is certainly not hopeless. There are thousands of Belarusians in Belarus who work to keep it alive. For example, take a look at Web sites such as Bielaruskaja palicka (Беларуская Палічка), Krajavid Kniharnia, Belarusian E-Books Library, and Belarusan Music Source for current books, periodicals, audio and video recordings, etc., in the Belarusian language.
Although not updated since 1999, the UNESCO Red Book on Endangered Languages: Europe includes Belarusian as number 1, on its list of Potentially endangered languages. Anyone at all familiar with the situation in Belarus knows that the situation for Belarusian in Belarus has reached a crisis level since 1999.
There are Belarusian emigres in Europe, North America, Australia, the Russian Federation, and elsewhere who actively support and work with Belarusians in Belarus. Whether or not they will succeed only time will tell. . . .
One has to ask: Why are there no comprehensive Belarusian language dictionaries to modern world languages (with only a very, very few exceptions, and none that I know of are comprehensive)? Most glaring, there are no comprehensive Belarusian-English, Belarusian-German, and Belarusian-French dictionaries. (The answer has to do with the tsarist Russian and Soviet-Russian legacy of cultural genocide toward Belarusian and many other nationalities of the former Russian colonial empire.)