Most people in Russian speak Russian, while the majority of Estonians express themselves in Estonian. So what do people from Belarus speak? Belarusian, right?
If you were to ask a someone from Belarus what language they grew up with or use at home, you might expect that to be the answer. Belarusian is one of the two official languages there and the traditional language of the Belarusian people. Despite this however, a majority of the Belarusian population are more like to express themselves the nation's other official language - Russian.
While the use of Russian on former Soviet nations is common, it's normally in tandem with the local language. In Kazakhstan, the majority of the population speaks both Russian and Kazakh and the use of Russian is common in Moldova alongside Romanian/Moldovan. In Belarus, however, Belarusian isn't so much being spoken alongside Russian as it is being displaced by it. Surveys vary, but about 70% of Belarusians use Russian at home, while less than 20% say they use Belarusian. Russian is the language of the government and as 2016, no university in the country uses Belarusian as its primary language of instruction. Things have been at a point that numerous academics and politician have commented that the Belarusian language is more decorative and symbolic to the country than it is functional.
So how did this happen? Why did other languages take on Russian as a linguistic addition while in Belarus it's become a replacement. As you might guess, the answer is rooted in history and politics.
Although Belarusian has been a distinct language of its own since at least the 13th century, it's rarely been the language of political influence. When the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth came to power, the language of the upper class was either Polish or Russian. Then after the Third Partition of Poland, Belarus became a governorate of the Russian Empire and the language of political sway became Russian while the use of Belarusian was subsequently discouraged and suppressed. So while the language was still being used in more rural settings, it had been significantly supplanted in the cities.
In the late 1800s, things started to shift slightly the other way. Publishing in Belarusian became much more common and interest in the language was renewed as nationalist sentiment spread. Finally in 1904, the previous ban on publishing books in Belarusian was removed. The importance of the language was clear. Both the the Belarusian People's Republic (the whites) and the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic declared Belarusian to be their national language.
When Belarus became a member of the Soviet Union, language was an often discussed factor. The Byelorussian SSR had made the Belarusian the official language of governance for the country, the first time it had been the official language in modern history. It's status was reconfirmed by a decree in 1924 that recognised Belarusian, Polish, Russian and Yiddish in the BSSR.
This is where you have to understand the USSR's linguistic policies.
Initially, the Soviet Union's policy to language was one of self-determination. In 1922, the decree was made that all Soviet nations had the right to education in their own language. This was part of the larger policy of korenizatsiya which encouraged people of the Soviet republics to embrace their local roots, languages included.
In the 1930s, however this policy was entirely reversed. In the years leading up to World War II, preference started being given to Russian with the language becoming compulsory in schools in 1938. By the time the war ended, the process of Russification was picking up steam as Russian was promoted as the language of inter-ethnic communication and for the union as a whole.
In Belarus, the Belarusian language lost footing to Russian. Significantly more materials were prints in Russian and Russian was the primary language of education for overwhelming majority of the population. From here, Russian took dominance in more domains of every day life and became the expected language of commerce and public life.
There were pro-Belarusian sentiments of course. In 1990, the Supreme Soviet of the BSSR passed a law that aimed to increase both the use and prestige of the Belarusian language through a National Language Program. And when the 1994 constitution was written, it declared that Belarusian would be the sole official language. Russian was still given special status however as "language of inter-ethnic communication."
Then Alexander Lukashenko came in.
Lukashenko ran for president in 1995 with a platform that denounced the 'forceful Belarusization' of the country. Once Lukashenko was elected in 1995, he organised a national referendum to address the linguistic situation of Belarus. This repositioned Russian as one of the country's official languages and Belarusian once again lost footing.
Lukashenko, who is now in his fifth term, has maintained a very pro-Russian linguistic stance. To be clear, this is no way the cause of the country's current linguistic state so much as it is a symptom.
It might be easy to say that the language's situation is become of Lukashenko. It's also tempting to point to the Soviet Union's language policy of Russification as the cause. And looking before that, we could also point to the imperialism. But really, it's all those things.
We can see that Belarusian flourished when it had the opportunity, but nearly all policies throughout history have framed the language as something less than. While there are a lot of efforts to keep the language alive, it's going to be a challenge until policy catches up.
If you were to ask a someone from Belarus what language they grew up with or use at home, you might expect that to be the answer. Belarusian is one of the two official languages there and the traditional language of the Belarusian people. Despite this however, a majority of the Belarusian population are more like to express themselves the nation's other official language - Russian.
While the use of Russian on former Soviet nations is common, it's normally in tandem with the local language. In Kazakhstan, the majority of the population speaks both Russian and Kazakh and the use of Russian is common in Moldova alongside Romanian/Moldovan. In Belarus, however, Belarusian isn't so much being spoken alongside Russian as it is being displaced by it. Surveys vary, but about 70% of Belarusians use Russian at home, while less than 20% say they use Belarusian. Russian is the language of the government and as 2016, no university in the country uses Belarusian as its primary language of instruction. Things have been at a point that numerous academics and politician have commented that the Belarusian language is more decorative and symbolic to the country than it is functional.
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| My excuse to include a photo of Lake Strusta |
Although Belarusian has been a distinct language of its own since at least the 13th century, it's rarely been the language of political influence. When the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth came to power, the language of the upper class was either Polish or Russian. Then after the Third Partition of Poland, Belarus became a governorate of the Russian Empire and the language of political sway became Russian while the use of Belarusian was subsequently discouraged and suppressed. So while the language was still being used in more rural settings, it had been significantly supplanted in the cities.
In the late 1800s, things started to shift slightly the other way. Publishing in Belarusian became much more common and interest in the language was renewed as nationalist sentiment spread. Finally in 1904, the previous ban on publishing books in Belarusian was removed. The importance of the language was clear. Both the the Belarusian People's Republic (the whites) and the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic declared Belarusian to be their national language.
When Belarus became a member of the Soviet Union, language was an often discussed factor. The Byelorussian SSR had made the Belarusian the official language of governance for the country, the first time it had been the official language in modern history. It's status was reconfirmed by a decree in 1924 that recognised Belarusian, Polish, Russian and Yiddish in the BSSR.
This is where you have to understand the USSR's linguistic policies.
In the 1930s, however this policy was entirely reversed. In the years leading up to World War II, preference started being given to Russian with the language becoming compulsory in schools in 1938. By the time the war ended, the process of Russification was picking up steam as Russian was promoted as the language of inter-ethnic communication and for the union as a whole.
In Belarus, the Belarusian language lost footing to Russian. Significantly more materials were prints in Russian and Russian was the primary language of education for overwhelming majority of the population. From here, Russian took dominance in more domains of every day life and became the expected language of commerce and public life.
There were pro-Belarusian sentiments of course. In 1990, the Supreme Soviet of the BSSR passed a law that aimed to increase both the use and prestige of the Belarusian language through a National Language Program. And when the 1994 constitution was written, it declared that Belarusian would be the sole official language. Russian was still given special status however as "language of inter-ethnic communication."
Then Alexander Lukashenko came in.
Lukashenko, who is now in his fifth term, has maintained a very pro-Russian linguistic stance. To be clear, this is no way the cause of the country's current linguistic state so much as it is a symptom.
It might be easy to say that the language's situation is become of Lukashenko. It's also tempting to point to the Soviet Union's language policy of Russification as the cause. And looking before that, we could also point to the imperialism. But really, it's all those things.
We can see that Belarusian flourished when it had the opportunity, but nearly all policies throughout history have framed the language as something less than. While there are a lot of efforts to keep the language alive, it's going to be a challenge until policy catches up.
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