Belarusian

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A language of Belarus

ISO 639-3
bel
Alternate Names
Belarusan, Belorussian, Bielorussian, Byelorussian, White Russian, White Ruthenian
Autonym
беларуская мова‎ (Biełaruskaja mova)
User Population

3,510,000 in Belarus, all users. L1 users: 1,120,000 in Belarus (2009 census), decreasing. The majority of Belarusans speak Russian [rus] as their L1. L2 users: 2,390,000 (2020). Ethnic population: 7,960,000 (2009 census). Total users in all countries: 3,923,450 (as L1: 1,533,450; as L2: 2,390,000).

Language Status

7 (Shifting). Statutory language of national identity (1994, Constitution, Article 17(1)), largely symbolic use.

Classification
Indo-European, Balto-Slavic, Slavic, East
Dialects

Northeast Belarusian (Polots, Viteb-Mogilev), Southwest Belarusian (Grodnen-Baranovich, Slutska-Mazyrski, Slutsko-Mozyr), Central Belarusian. Linguistically between Russian [rus] and Ukrainian [ukr], with transitional dialects to both.

Typology

SVO; prepositions; noun head final; gender (masculine/feminine/neuter); no articles; case-marking (6 cases); verb affixes mark person, number, gender of subject (in past tense); passives; tense and aspect; 37 consonant and 6 vowel phonemes; non-tonal; free stress.

Language Use

Adults only. Shifting to Russian [rus].

Language Development

Few schools remain in which Belarusian is used as a language of instruction. Taught in some primary and secondary schools. Dictionary. Grammar. Bible: 1973–2017.

Language Resources
OLAC resources in and about Belarusian
Writing

Braille script [Brai], no longer in use. Cyrillic script [Cyrl], official usage. Latin script [Latn], official usage 1941–1944, modern occasional usage.

Other Comments

Russian is dominant in all spheres of life, including public and private services, legislation, education, and the media (2018 BelarusFeed). Christian, Muslim.

Also spoken in:

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