Languages of Belarus
Languages of Belarus | |
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Yiddish, Trasianka | |
Foreign | English |
Signed | Russian Sign Language |
Keyboard layout |
The official languages of Belarus are Belarusian and Russian
The pre-Slavic language of the area, as well as its geographic name was
At present, Belarusian and Russian are considered the sole native languages of Belarus, as seen below.
The language situation in Belarus is characterized by a co-existence of several linguistic codes. The three most widespread codes are Belarusian, Russian and the so-called Trasianka, a mixed speech in which Belarusian and Russian elements and structures alternate arbitrarily.[1]
History
The earliest known documents from ethnic Belarusian territories date from the 12th century.
In the late 14th and in the 15th century the Church Slavonic religious writings in East Slavonic territories underwent an archaization known as rebulgarisation. The purpose of this archaization was to counteract the "falsification" of the divine word which allegedly had been caused by the influence of vernaculars.[5] Rebulgarisation made Church Slavonic even less comprehensible to the population at large than it already was due to its complex syntax structures and its high share of abstract lexicon. This and the political rise of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania with its Slavic majority population contributed to the emergence of a written language on an autochthonous East Slavonic basis. This language emerged as a Koiné language from vernaculars bordering the administrative centers of the Grand Duchy.[6] It was the official language of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and was used in particular by the authorities, in offices and in diplomatic correspondence, but in the course of time it entered former "exclusive" domains of Church Slavonic as well. In contemporary sources it was referred to as "ruskij jazyk", which serves pro-Russian linguistic historiography as an argument to claim it as a part of the history of the Russian language.[7] On the other hand, pro-Belarusian linguistic historiography claims "ruskij jazyk" as "Old Belarusian language" ("starabelaruskaja mova"), which is problematic as well insofar as at that time no distinct Belarusian identity in today's sense of the term had evolved.[8] Apart from that the term Ruthenian language is in use, although the latter often refers only to the southern (from today's perspective: Ukrainian) variant of the state language of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
After the Union of Lublin and the Union of Brest the influence of Polish language and culture in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania increased at the cost of Ruthenian, the use of which in official documents of the Grand Duchy was forbidden in 1696. Subsequently, linguistic elements of Belarusian were perpetuated mainly in vernaculars and folklore passed on by word of mouth. After the Partitions of Poland initially Polish remained the social dominant language in Belarus being more and more replaced in this role by Russian, in particular after the November Uprising.
As part of the movement of Romanticism in the 19th century poets and intellectuals with origin from today's Belarus were inspired by the language use of the peasantry and contributed to a new basis for a modern Belarusian literary language, which was only partly connected to the official language of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.[9] The language policy of the Russian Empire treated Belarusian as a dialect of Russian. After the January Uprising of 1863, in which Belarusians participated as well, all - for the time being tentative - steps toward a Belarusian linguistic and cultural emancipation were blocked by the authorities.[10]
The efforts for the creation of a modern Belarusian literary language intensified after the liberalizations following the
According with the principles of Lenin's nationality policy in the early years of the
Of great importance for the development of the linguistic situation in the decades after
At the time of
Development since the dissolution of the Soviet Union
After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in December 1991 the Belarusian language law remained in force, and a Belarusization policy was initiated which aimed at linguistic Belarusization of the most important areas of public life within ten years. Particular attention was drawn to the educational system.
In the Belarusian population censuses of 1999 and 2009 respondents were asked about their native language and about the language they usually speak at home. In 1999 85.6% of the citizens with Belarusian nationality declared Belarusian, 14.3% declared Russian as their native language, in 2009 these shares were 60.8% for Belarusian and 37.0% for Russian. As language they usually speak at home in 1999 41.3% of Belarusians declared Belarusian, 58.6% Russian, in 2009 these shares were 26.1% for Belarusian and 69.8% for Russian.[14] A recent research project at the University of Oldenburg has pointed out the unreliability of the language-related questions in the Belarusian censuses and included in its own surveys "Belarusian-Russian mixed language" (commonly known as "trasianka") as an answer variant in addition to Russian and Belarusian. Moreover, multiple answers were allowed. Asked about their native language, around 49% of Belarusians chose Belarusian, 38% trasianka and 30% Russian.[18] As language(s) of their first socialization, around 50% of Belarusians named trasianka, 42% Russian and 18% Belarusian. As language predominantly used - in this category multiple answers were not allowed - 55% of the respondents with Belarusian national identity chose Russian, 41% trasianka and 4% Belarusian.
The number of first graders who were taught in Belarusian significantly decreased, such as in the capital
Apart from Russian, Belarusian and trasianka the languages of national minorities are used in Belarus, but to a much lesser extent. According to the Belarusian census of 2009 the overwhelming majority of non-Belarusians use Russian in their everyday life.
Ethnicity | Population, thousands of people | Belarusian | Russian |
---|---|---|---|
Total | 9,504 | 23.4 | 70.2 |
Belarusians | 7,957 | 26.1 | 69.8 |
Russians | 785 | 2.1 | 96.5 |
Poles | 295 | 40.9 | 50.9 |
Ukrainians | 159 | 6.1 | 88.4 |
Jews | 13 | 2.0 | 95.9 |
Native languages | Spoken languages |
Ethnicity | Population, thousands of people | Belarusian | Russian |
---|---|---|---|
Total | 9,413 | 26 | 71.3 |
Belarusians | 7,990 | 28.5 | 71 |
Russians | 706 | 2.5 | 97.2 |
Poles | 287 | 46 | 52.4 |
Ukrainians | 159 | 6.5 | 89 |
Jews | 13 | 2.1 | 96.6 |
Knowledge of Belarusian and Russian languages by region and Minsk City
Source: Belstat Census 2009 [25]
Entity | All population | Of total population persons who indicated as | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mother tongue | Language normally spoken at home | Other language they have good knowledge of | |||||
Belarusian | Russian | Belarusian | Russian | Belarusian | Russian | ||
Republic of Belarus | 9503.8 | 5058.4 | 3948.1 | 2227.2 | 6673.0 | 1281.7 | 1305.4 |
Brest Region | 1401.2 | 751.9 | 597.4 | 374.2 | 982.4 | 209.6 | 236.1 |
Vitebsk Region | 1230.8 | 646.8 | 543.7 | 276.1 | 900.8 | 207.7 | 176.9 |
Gomel Region | 1440.7 | 786.4 | 602.8 | 326.4 | 1037.6 | 154.8 | 166.5 |
Grodno Region | 1072.4 | 634.7 | 386.9 | 375.9 | 606.1 | 145.6 | 230.4 |
Minsk City | 1836.8 | 645.9 | 966.0 | 106.1 | 1508.7 | 321.6 | 54.3 |
Minsk Region | 1422.5 | 987.2 | 390.5 | 553.0 | 796.6 | 127.4 | 343.9 |
Mogilev Region | 1099.4 | 605.5 | 460.8 | 215.5 | 840.8 | 115.0 | 97.3 |
In Belarus on the whole 70.21% of the population indicated they speak Russian at home, 23.43% indicated Belarusian, 3.13% did not indicate a language, 1.51% indicated Trasianka, 1.47% indicated several languages and the remaining 0.23% indicated another language. The area where Belarusian is used the least at home is Minsk City (6% of people) while the area where it is used the most is the Minsk region (39% of people; note that Minsk region administratively excludes the city of Minsk).
Entity | All population | Of total population persons who indicated as | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mother tongue | Language normally spoken at home | ||||
Belarusian | Russian | Belarusian | Russian | ||
Republic of Belarus | 9413.4 | 5094.9 | 3983.8 | 2447.8 | 6718.6 |
Brest Region | 1348.1 | 1037.7 | 270.5 | 218.7 | 1103.0 |
Vitebsk Region | 1135.7 | 514.0 | 585.6 | 142.8 | 965.6 |
Gomel Region | 1388.5 | 652.7 | 693.7 | 201.1 | 1156.3 |
Grodno Region | 1026.8 | 559.9 | 427.8 | 389.1 | 616.7 |
Minsk City | 2018.3 | 982.1 | 980.1 | 689.1 | 1292.6 |
Minsk Region | 1471.2 | 876.1 | 548.3 | 549.6 | 884.6 |
Mogilev Region | 1024.8 | 472.4 | 477.7 | 257.2 | 698.9 |
References
- ^ Hentschel, G. (2014) Belarusian and Russian in the Mixed Speech of Belarus. In: Besters-Dilger, J. et al. (eds.): Congruence in Contact-Induced Language Change: Language Families, Typological Resemblance, and Perceived Similarity. Berlin/Boston, 93-121.
- ^ McMillin, A. (1980): Belorussian. In: Schenker, A. & E. Stankiewicz (ed.): The Slavic literary languages. Formation and development. New Haven, 105-117.
- ^ Pryhodzič, M. (1998): Z historyi belaruskaj movy i jaje vyvučėnnja. In: Lukašanec, A. et al. (rėd.): Belaruskaja mova. Opole, 13-24.
- ^ Uspenskij, B. (1987): Istorija russkogo literaturnogo jazyka (XI-XVII vv.), München.
- ^ Birnbaum, H. (1975): On the significance of the second south Slavic influence for the evolution of the Russian literary language. In: International Journal of Slavic Linguistics and Poetics 21 (1975), 23-50.
- ^ a b c Cychun, H. (2002): Weißrussisch. In: Okuka, M. (Hrsg.): Lexikon der Sprachen des europäischen Ostens. Klagenfurt, 563-579.
- ^ Brüggemann, M. (2013): Unentbehrliches Russisch, entbehrliches Weißrussisch? Russophone zur Sprachgeschichte und Sprachverwendung in Weißrussland. In: Kempgen, S. et al. (Hrsg.): Deutsche Beiträge zum 15. Internationalen Slavistenkongress Minsk 2013. München etc., 89-98.
- ^ Plokhy, S. (2006): The origins of the Slavic nations: Premodern identities in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. Cambridge.
- ^ Dingley, J. (2001): Sprachen in Weißrußland bis zum Ende des 19. Jahrhunderts. In: Beyrau, D. & R. Lindner. (Hrsg.): Handbuch der Geschichte Weißrußlands. Göttingen, 437-450.
- ^ a b Brüggemann, M. (2014): Die weißrussische und die russische Sprache in ihrem Verhältnis zur weißrussischen Gesellschaft und Nation. Ideologisch-programmatische Standpunkte politischer Akteure und Intellektueller 1994-2010. Oldenburg (Studia Slavica Oldenburgensia 23).
- ^ a b Gutschmidt, K. (2000): Sprachenpolitik und sprachliche Situation in Weißrußland seit 1989. In: Panzer, B. (Hrsg.): Die sprachliche Situation in der Slavia zehn Jahre nach der Wende. Frankfurt/Main etc., 67-84.
- ^ Plotnikaŭ, B. (2000): Äußere Ursachen für die begrenzte Verwendung der weißrussischen Sprache. In: Die Welt der Slaven 45 (2000), 49-58.
- ^ Bieder, H. (2000): Konfession, Ethnie und Sprache in Weißrußland im 20. Jahrhundert. In: Zeitschrift für Slawistik 45 (2000), 200-214.
- ^ a b c Brüggemann, M. (2014): Zwischen Anlehnung an Russland und Eigenständigkeit: Zur Sprachpolitik in Belarus'. In: Europa ethnica 3-4 (2014), 88-94.
- ^ Hentschel, G. et al. (2014): Trasjanka und Suržyk - gemischte weißrussisch-russische und ukrainisch-russische Rede: Sprachlicher Inzest in Weißrussland und der Ukraine? Frankfurt/Main etc.
- ^ Zaprudski, S. (2007): In the grip of replacive bilingualism: the Belarusian language in contact with Russian. In: International Journal of the Sociology of Language 183 (2007), 97-118.
- ^ a b Zaprudski, S. (2000): Language policy in the Republic of Belarus in the 1990s, http://www.belarusguide.com/culture1/literature/Belarusian_Language_Prosecution_in_Belarus.htm
- ^ Hentschel, G. & B. Kittel (2011): Weißrussische Dreisprachigkeit? Zur sprachlichen Situation in Weißrussland auf der Basis von Urteilen von Weißrussen über die Verbreitung ihrer Sprachen im Lande. In: Wiener Slawistischer Almanach 67 (2011), 107-135.
- ISBN 978-963-9776-68-5. Retrieved 28 January 2024.
- ^ Barushka, Katerina (28 January 2015). "After decades of Russian dominance, Belarus begins to reclaim its language". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 January 2024.
- ^ Kamusella, Tomasz (11 October 2021). "Belarusian: An extremist language?". NewEasternEurope.eu. Retrieved 27 January 2024.
- ^ "The Belarusian language in the period of socio-political crisis: signs of linguistic discrimination". Penbelarus.org. 26 September 2022. Retrieved 28 January 2024.
- ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-10-18. Retrieved 2012-08-01.
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: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "Общая численность населения, численность населения по возрасту и полу, состоянию в браке, уровню образования, национальностям, языку, источникам средств к существованию по Республике Беларусь" (PDF).
- ^ "Just a moment".
- ^ https://www.belstat.gov.by/upload/iblock/345/34515eeb3bb5f4ea5ca53b72290e9595.pdf.
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