The NGO Frantsishak Skaryna Belarusian Language Society Г ’я ы ы ія Фціш ыы Quick facts Our Language Breakthroughs Activities Cooperation Quick facts about the Belarusian Language Society Our Society is a non-governmental organization, established in . )ts irst two chairpersons were the People’s Poets of Belarus N. (ilevich and (. Buraukin. The objectives: defense of linguistic rights; promotion of the Belarusian language and culture. Numbers ca 7 thousand members within several hundred branches in Belarus and abroad. Named in honor of Frantsishak Skaryna 9 – 5, the Belarusian irst print- er. Our logo combines Skaryna’s personal sign with the Belarusian national historical symbols. Our Language Belarusian is the language of the Bel- irst written constitution in Europe. arusian people. )t is one of the Eastern Frantsishak Skaryna became the irst Frantsishak Skaryna Slavic languages, which belong to the Belarusian and Eastern Slavic printer. Slavic branch of the )ndo-European lan- (is translation of the Bible was among guage family. Belarusian is one of the the irst in Renaissance Europe. two state languages of Belarus. )t is also )n the 7th century, after many Bela- spoken in other countries and is a rec- rusians had been resettled to Moscow, ognized regional or minority language Old Belarusian had an enormous inlu- in Poland, Ukraine and the Czech Re- ence on the dialect of Moscow and actu- public. Belarusian is the mother tongue ally became the language of the Russian of more than million people in Bela- tsar’s court. )t had also been the oicial The font Бія by M. rus. This is a slight majority of the coun- language of Wallachia in the th – th Bayaryn, inspired by Bela- try’s population. For many others Bela- centuries. Actually, Old Belarusian was rusian ornaments rusian is a second language. one of the European lingua francas. The Belarusian language primarily )n , Polish became the sole uses the Cyrillic alphabet. (owever, the oicial language of Rzeczpospolita, the Latin script is also sometimes used. The recently formed union of the Great Belarusian Tatars used to write books Duchy of Litva and Poland. Belarusian called Kitabs mainly in Belarusian us- continued to be the language of the Bel- ing the Arabic alphabet. arusian people, however, Belarusian The roots of the Belarusian language speakers were discriminated. The level go back to the Bronze age before of the discrimination became higher in BC. About years ago, the then the th century, some time after the form of Belarusian began to stand out Russian empire had captured Belarus. against its Slavic background as it For instance, the oicial correspond- adopted many Baltic words. )n the th – ence and printing books in Belarusian as th centuries, the Old Belarusian lan- well as speaking it at educational estab- guage inluenced the then Polish and lishments were prohibited, even the use Ukrainian languages as well as old Tver of the term Belarus was forbidden. and old Pskov dialects. (owever, ca million people called Bel- The Old Belarusian language had arusian their mother tongue in the cen- th The Belarusian Ethno- been the oicial language of the Great sus of . )t was the most wide- th th graphic areal and the Bela- Duchy of Litva in the – 7 centu- spread mother tongue in the Russian ries. The Statutes of the Great Duchy empire. rusian language spread J. were written in Old Belarusian in the First works written in the New Bela- Stankevich, . Rendered th century. The Third Statute was the rusian literary language appeared in the by U. Katkouski. Page Our Language irst half of the th century. The second make Russian another oicial language. half of that century saw the beginning of )n the pro-Russia president the national revival. The Belarusian lit- Lukashenka and a group of MPs brought erature lourished throughout the th the proposal to put this question to the century. Belarusian became the oicial referendum before the parliament, even language of the Belarusian People’s Re- though it was illegal to hold a plebiscite public . Then, in the Belarusian on such a matter. When the parliament Soviet Republic, it had some time been rejected the proposal, the president one of the four oicial languages along threatened the MPs that he would hold with Polish, Russian and Yiddish. a referendum without their consent. )n The Statute of the Great )n the -ies, the soviet state support- protest, MPs went on a hunger strike, Duchy of Litva ed the spread of the oicial use of the that was brutally suppressed by an Belarusian language. At the same time, armed unit. )n terror, the other MPs in the Western Belarus, under the Polish inally approved the plebiscite. The rule, Belarusian language was at a disad- OSCE declared that the referendum did- vantage. Belarusian-medium schooling n’t meet all the international democratic and mass media were obstructed. standards. Still, a small majority of eligi- )n the -ies, the soviet regime exe- ble voters ,% approved granting Rus- cuted the vast majority of Belarusian sian the equal status with Belarusian. men of letters. The authorities started to (owever, what followed was the gross replace indigenous Belarusian grammat- inequality and discrimination against ical, phonetic and lexical features in the Belarusian language and its speak- grammar books and dictionaries with ers. artiicial ones, borrowed from Russian. The Law on Languages was amended. Belarusian-medium education was Now it provides for the oicial use of An XV))) century Kitab banned in Smolensk region of soviet either of the state languages without the Russia, the Latvian authorities closed mandatory use of the other. )n fact, it is down all the Belarusian schools. Still, in Belarusian that is for the most part ig- Belarus itself the majority of pupils nored in a number of domains, such as studied at Belarusian-medium schools legislation, local administration and After the WW)), the Belarusian lan- business. There are several reasons for guage was gradually relegated to a sec- this: the discriminatory and pro-Russia ondary role in the public sphere, alt- policy of the Belarusian authorities, ig- hough it was the mother tongue of the norance of the mother tongue among a majority. The use of Belarusian as the part of the Belarusians, the fear that medium of instruction was progressively speaking Belarusian would label a per- reduced to rural schools only. Language son an oppositionist, the preponderance advocates sufered repressions. of Russian-language and Russian mass The new wave of revitalization began media. The share of Belarusian-medium in the -ies. )n , our Society con- education has fallen drastically since tributed to drafting and passing of the . Just ,% of schoolchildren and A Society’s poster, de- Law on Languages as well as to drawing only ,% of university students are now picting Vasyl Bykau, the up the state program, which provided taught through the medium of Belarus- great Belarusian writer for a gradual passage to Belarusian as ian. the sole oicial language within a - The plight of the Belarusian language year period. Belarusian became the state arouses deep concern. Many rallies and language of the Republic of Belarus. The nationwide campaigns have been orga- new language policy improved the con- nized against violations of linguistic dition of Belarusian rapidly. For in- rights and in support of the Belarusian stance, % of urban irst-graders stud- language. A part of them was successful. ied at Belarusian-medium schools or )n response to our appeals, the Court of classes in . Constitution recommended to amend An anti-russiication poster Yet, there were people who wished to the Law on languages as far as the lin- by Uladzimir Krukousky Page Our Language guistic balance in Belarus is not pre- Belarusian language in . Both served, which causes justiied concern UNESCO Red Book on Endangered of the Belarusian Language Society. Languages: Europe and (owever, Belarusian MPs still ignore UNESCO’s Atlas of the World Lan- this message. guages in Danger refer to the Belarusian The Austrian Association of Slavists language. condemned discrimination against the Linguistic rights of Belarusian citizens are constantly violated in Belarus. Some of the violations are exempliied below. Public administration and oicial bodies The majority of Belarusian laws are enacted in Russian only. Some people were forbidden to speak Belarusian in court or were illegal- ly charged for the service of an interpreter. Education Some school administrations impede establishing of Belarusian-medium classes on parents’ requests. )t is impossible to acquire a higher education through the medium of Belarus- ian alone in almost any area of study. )f a rural Belarusian-medium school is closed as the number of pupils in a vil- lage is considered to be insuicient, then its pupils are usually sent to Russian- medium schools. Belarusian-speaking schoolchildren cannot enjoy the right to be taught all sub- jects in their mother tongue even at Belarusian-medium schools due to the absence of textbooks. The media and new technologies All but one of state-owned Belarusian TV channels broadcast mainly in Rus- sian. The weekly newspaper The majority of national and local public bodies’ web pages has no Belarusian Nasha Slova and the liter- version. ary magazine Verasen are two of the Society’s periodi- cals The socioeconomic sphere Fill-in forms, cheques, contracts, order forms, instructions for use, labels, lists of ingredients, guarantees, etc. are mainly available only in Russian. Some institutions may refuse to accept application forms illed in Belarusian. Anyway, in spite of the pressure, Bel- emerged. A lot of application software arusian is spoken and being extensively has been translated into Belarusian, the used in certain oicial domains. For language is rather widely used on the instance, the Ministry of Culture drafts )nternet.