Etymology of Belarus
The name Belarus (or Byelorussia, as it was called earlier) can be literally translated as White Ruthenia.[1]
Max Vasmer's dictionary suggests that the name may have come from the white clothing worn by the local Slavic population.[2][3] Modern researchers find this dubious. Another theory suggests that the old Rus' lands that were not conquered by the Tatars (i.e., Polotsk, Vitebsk and Mogilev) had been referred to as "White Rus'".[2]
History
Rus' is generally considered to be a borrowing from Finnic Ruotsi ("Sweden").[4][5] There are two theories behind the origin of Rus'/Ruotsi, which are not mutually exclusive. It is either derived more directly from OEN rōþer (OWN róðr[4]), which referred to rowing, the fleet levy, etc., or it is derived from this term through Rōþin, an older name for the Swedish coastal region Roslagen.[4][5][6]
The name Rus' is often conflated with its Latin forms Russia and Ruthenia, thus Belarus is often referred to as White Russia or White Ruthenia. The name first appeared in
The Latin term "Alba Russia" was used again by
The term Belorussia (Russian: Белору́ссия, the latter part similar but spelled and stressed differently from Росси́я, Russia) first rose in the days of the Russian Empire, and the Russian Tsar was usually styled "the Tsar of All the Russias", as Russia or the Russian Empire was formed by three parts of Russia—the Great, Little, and White.[18] This asserted that the territories are all Russian and all the peoples are also Russian; in the case of the Belarusians, they were variants of the Russian people.[19]
After the
The term Byelorussia (its names in other languages such as English being based on the Russian form) was only used officially until 1991, when the
Accordingly, the name Byelorussia was replaced by Belarus in English.
References
- ISBN 9780313274978.
- ^ a b Zaprudnik 1993, p. 2
- ^ Minahan 1998, p. 35
- ^ a b c Hellquist, Elof (1922). Svensk etymologisk Ordbok. Robarts - University of Toronto. Lund, Gleerup. p. 658.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-415-33315-3.
- ^ "РУСЬ". Словарь Онлайн (in Russian). Retrieved 2023-07-03.
- ^ Vauchez, Dobson & Lapidge 2001, p. 163
- ISBN 9783845291147.
- ^ "Reisadvies Belarus (Wit-Rusland)". 8 November 2021.
- ^ "Belarus: Reise- und Sicherheitshinweise". Auswärtiges Amt.
- ^ De Jong, Sjoerd (12 September 2020). "Keus tussen 'Belarus' en 'Wit-Rusland' is niet alleen taalkundig". NRC. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
- ^ Brouwers, Arnout (23 September 2020). "Nederland erkent president Loekasjenko niet, maar EU treft nog geen sancties tegen Belarus". Volkskrant. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
- ^ Klein, Oliver (11 August 2020). "Warum Weißrussland plötzlich Belarus heißt". ZDF Heute. ZDF. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
- ^ Bertolaso, Marco (7 August 2020). "Warum auch wir von "Belarus" sprechen". deutschlandfunk.de. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
- ^ de Courson 1879, p. 281
- ISBN 985-6599-12-1.
- ^ Plokhy 2001, p. 327
- ISBN 978-0-691-13467-3.
- ISBN 978-0-19-983799-1.
- ^ Richmond 1995, p. 260
- ISBN 978-0-7425-5558-7.
- ^ a b "Law of the Republic of Belarus – About the name of the Republic of Belarus" (in Russian). Pravo – Law of the Republic of Belarus. 19 September 1991. Retrieved 6 October 2007.
- ^ Ryder 1998, p. 183
- ^ Zaprudnik 1993, pp. 4–5
- ^ ""Як нас заве сьвет — «Беларашэн» ці Belarus(i)an?"". www.svaboda.org. Retrieved 2016-07-28.
- ^ Treadgold & Ellison 1999, p. 230
- ^ "Swedish government urged to change Belarus's official name". European Radio for Belarus. 13 July 2009. Retrieved 2 February 2010.
- ^ a b Levy & Spilling 2009, p. 95
- ^ "Belarus – Government". The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. 2007. Retrieved 22 December 2007.
- ^ ""Беларусь" vs "Белоруссия": ставим точку в вопросе". Onliner (in Russian). 26 February 2014.
- ^ ""白罗斯"而不是"白俄罗斯'" (in Simplified Chinese). Embassy of Belarus in China. 2018-03-16. Retrieved 2023-07-18.
- ^ "白俄罗斯国家概况". Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China. Retrieved 2022-07-18.
- ^ "白俄羅斯共和國". Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of China. Retrieved 2023-07-18.
- ^ "白俄罗斯". United Nations. Retrieved 2023-07-18.
- ^ ""Gudija" ar "Baltarusija"?". State Commission of the Lithuanian Language (in Lithuanian). Archived from the original on 2020-11-30. Retrieved 2020-12-09.
- ^ "Lithuania Refuses to Call Belarus as "Belarusia"". Telegraf.by. 16 April 2010.
Bibliography
- de Courson, Barbara Frances Mary (1879). The Jesuits: their foundation and history, Volume 1. Benziger Brothers.
- Minahan, James (1998). Miniature Empires: A Historical Dictionary of the Newly Independent States. Greenwood. ISBN 0-313-30610-9.
- Levy, Patricia; Spilling, Michael (2009). Belarus. New York: Benchmark Books. ISBN 978-0-7614-3411-5.
- Plokhy, Serhii (2001). The Cossacks and Religion in Early Modern Ukraine. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-924739-0.
- Richmond, Yale (1995). From Da to Yes: Understanding the East Europeans. Intercultural Press. ISBN 1-877864-30-7.
- Ryder, Andrew (1998). Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States. Routledge. ISBN 1-85743-058-1.
- Vauchez, André; Dobson, Richard Barrie; Lapidge, Michael (2001). Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages. Routledge. ISBN 1-57958-282-6.
- Treadgold, Donald; Ellison, Herbert J. (1999). Twentieth Century Russia. Westview Press. ]
- Zaprudnik, Jan (1993). Belarus: At a Crossroads in History. Westview Press. ISBN 0-8133-1794-0. Archived from the originalon 2 May 2016.