Editing Belarusian language (section)

{{Short description|East Slavic language}}
{{use dmy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox language
| pronunciation    = {{IPA|be|bʲɛɫaˈruskaja ˈmɔva|}}
| altname          = 
| name             = Belarusian
| nativename       = {{lang|be|беларуская мова}}
| states           = [[Belarus]]
| ethnicity        = [[Belarusians]]
| speakers         = {{sigfig|5.094|4}} million<ref name="belstat.gov.by">{{cite web|url=https://census.belstat.gov.by/saiku/?guest=true&lang=en&default_view_state=edit#query/open//public/F503N_en.saiku|title=Distribution of the population by native language and language normally spoken at home|website=Belstat.gov.by |access-date=4 September 2024}}</ref>
| date             = 2019 census
| speakers2        = {{sigfig|1.287|2}} million L2 speakers (2009 census)<ref name="belstat.gov.by" />
| familycolor      = Indo-European
| fam2             = [[Balto-Slavic]]
| fam3             = [[Slavic languages|Slavic]]
| fam4             = [[East Slavic languages|East Slavic]]
| ancestor         = [[Proto-Indo-European]]
| ancestor2        = [[Proto-Balto-Slavic]]
| ancestor3        = [[Proto-Slavic]]
| ancestor4        = [[Old East Slavic]]
| ancestor5        = [[Ruthenian language|Ruthenian]] (Old Belarusian)
| ancestor6        = 
| script           = [[Cyrillic script]] ([[Belarusian alphabet]])<br />[[Latin script]] ([[Belarusian Latin alphabet]])<br />[[Braille]] ([[Belarusian Braille]])<br />[[Arabic script]] ([[Belarusian Arabic alphabet]])
| nation           = {{BLR}}<br />
* [[Union State]]
* [[Collective Security Treaty Organization]]
| minority         = {{Flag|Poland}}<br>                                        
{{Flag|Czech Republic}}<ref>{{cite web|author=Jan Jiřička |url=http://zpravy.idnes.cz/vietnamci-oficialni-narodnostni-mensinou-fiq-/domaci.aspx?c=A130703_133019_domaci_jj |title=Česko má nové oficiální národnostní menšiny. Vietnamce a Bělorusy – iDNES.cz |website=Zpravy.idnes.cz |date = 3 July 2013 |access-date=2017-01-10}}</ref><br />{{UKR}}<ref>{{cite web |title=To which languages does the Charter apply?|page=3 |url=http://hub.coe.int/c/document_library/get_file?uuid=d74fc9bd-0c0c-40ac-9e47-26d4887daf8e&groupId=10227 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120818143617/http://hub.coe.int/c/document_library/get_file?uuid=d74fc9bd-0c0c-40ac-9e47-26d4887daf8e&groupId=10227|url-status=dead|archive-date=2012-08-18|work=European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages|publisher=Council of Europe|access-date=2014-04-03}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://zakon.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/670-2024-п |title=Про затвердження переліку мов національних меншин (спільнот) та корінних народів України, яким загрожує зникнення |date=7 June 2024 |website=Official webportal of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine}}</ref><br/>{{Flag|Moldova}}<ref>{{cite web |url=https://deschide.md/ro/stiri/politic/78929/Pre%C8%99edintele-CCM-Constitu%C8%9Bia-nu-confer%C4%83-limbii-ruse-un-statut-deosebit-de-cel-al-altor-limbi-minoritare.htm |title=Președintele CCM: Constituția conferă limbii ruse un statut deosebit de cel al altor limbi minoritare |publisher=Deschide.md |access-date=22 January 2021 |archive-date=29 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210129050215/https://deschide.md/ro/stiri/politic/78929/Pre%C8%99edintele-CCM-Constitu%C8%9Bia-nu-confer%C4%83-limbii-ruse-un-statut-deosebit-de-cel-al-altor-limbi-minoritare.htm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.moldpres.md/news/2021/01/21/21000400 |title=Chişinău, (21.01.2021) Judecătorii constituționali au decis că limba rusă nu va avea statutul de limbă de comunicare interetnică pe teritoriul Republicii Moldova |publisher=Moldpres.md |access-date=22 January 2021 |archive-date=23 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210123203429/https://www.moldpres.md/news/2021/01/21/21000400 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://protv.md/politic/presedintele-cc-domnica-manole-explica-de-ce-a-fost-anulata-legea-cu-privire-la-statutul-special-pentru-limba-rusa-limba-de-stat-a-rm-este-limba-romana-video---2554643.html |title=Președintele CC Domnica Manole, explică de ce a fost anulată legea cu privire la statutul special pentru limbia rusă |publisher=ProTv.md |access-date=22 January 2021 |archive-date=29 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210129092300/https://protv.md/politic/presedintele-cc-domnica-manole-explica-de-ce-a-fost-anulata-legea-cu-privire-la-statutul-special-pentru-limba-rusa-limba-de-stat-a-rm-este-limba-romana-video---2554643.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
| agency           = [[National Academy of Sciences of Belarus]]
| iso1             = be
| iso2             = bel
| iso3             = bel
| glotto           = bela1254
| glottorefname    = Belarusian
| lingua           = 53-AAA-eb < [[East Slavic languages|53-AAA-e]]<br />(varieties: <br />53-AAA-eba to 53-AAA-ebg)
language of minority<ref>''[[Yefim Karsky]]''. "Belarusians. II. The language of Belarusian people". В. 1. — [S.l.], 1908.</ref>
| notice           = IPA
| map              = Idioma bielorruso.png
| mapcaption       = Belarusian-speaking world<br />Legend: Dark blue – territory where Belarusian is the primary language; Light blue – territory where Belarusian is a minority language
| map2             = Lang Status 80-VU.svg
| mapcaption2      = {{center|{{small|Belarusian is classified as Vulnerable by the UNESCO ''[[Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger]]'' (2023)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://belstat.gov.by/en/perepis-naseleniya/perepis-naseleniya-2009-goda/main-demographic-and-social-characteristics-of-population-of-the-republic-of-belarus/population-classified-by-knowledge-of-the-belarusian-and-russian-languages-by-region-and-minsk-city |title=Population classified by knowledge of the Belarusian and Russian languages by region and Minsk City |publisher=Belstat.gov.by |access-date=2 December 2018 |archive-date=3 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170803170716/http://www.belstat.gov.by/en/perepis-naseleniya/perepis-naseleniya-2009-goda/main-demographic-and-social-characteristics-of-population-of-the-republic-of-belarus/population-classified-by-knowledge-of-the-belarusian-and-russian-languages-by-region-and-minsk-city/ |url-status=dead}}</ref>}}}}
| image            = Шыльда ў менскім мэтро.JPG
}}
'''Belarusian''' ({{langx|be|беларуская мова|bielaruskaja mova|label=[[endonym]]}}, {{IPA|be|bʲɛɫaˈruskaja ˈmɔva|pron}}) is an [[East Slavic languages|East Slavic language]]. It is one of the two [[Languages of Belarus|official languages]] in [[Belarus]], the other being [[Russian language|Russian]]. It is also spoken in parts of [[Russia]], [[Lithuania]], [[Latvia]], [[Poland]], [[Ukraine]], and the [[United States]] by the [[Belarusian diaspora]].

Before Belarus [[Dissolution of the Soviet Union|gained independence]] in 1991, the language was known in [[English language|English]] as ''Byelorussian'' or ''Belorussian'', or alternatively as ''White Russian''. Following independence, it became known as ''Belarusian'', or alternatively as ''Belarusan''.<ref name="Як нас заве сьвет — «Беларашэн» ці Belarus(i)an?"/>

As one of the East Slavic languages, Belarusian shares many grammatical and lexical features with other members of the group. To some extent, Russian, [[Ukrainian language|Ukrainian]], and Belarusian retain a degree of [[mutual intelligibility]]. Belarusian descends from a language generally referred to as [[Ruthenian language|Ruthenian]] (13th to 18th centuries), which had, in turn, descended from what is referred to as [[Old East Slavic]] (10th to 13th centuries).

In the first [[1999 Belarusian census|Belarusian census]] in 1999, the Belarusian language was declared as a "language spoken at home" by about 3,686,000 Belarusian citizens (36.7% of the population).<ref name=census>Data from 1999 Belarusian general census [http://belstat.gov.by/homep/en/census/main.php in English] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090505120940/http://belstat.gov.by/homep/en/census/main.php |date=May 5, 2009 }}</ref><ref>Of these, about 3,370,000 (41.3%){{Clarify|date=April 2013}} were [[Belarusians]], and about 257,000 belonged to other ethnicities ([[Russians]], [[Polish people|Poles]], [[Ukrainians]], and [[Jews]]).</ref> About 6,984,000 (85.6%) of [[Belarusians]] declared it their "mother tongue". Other sources, such as ''[[Ethnologue]]'', put the figure at approximately {{sigfig|3.510000|2}} million active speakers in Belarus.<ref name=e25>{{e25|bel}} {{dead link|date=May 2023}}</ref> In [[Russia]], the Belarusian language is declared as a "familiar language" by about 316,000 inhabitants, among them about 248,000 Belarusians, comprising about 30.7% of Belarusians living in Russia.<ref>[[Russian Census (2002)]], [http://www.perepis2002.ru/ct/doc/ in Russian]{{dead link|date=September 2018|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> In [[Ukraine]], the Belarusian language is declared as a "native language" by about 55,000 Belarusians, which comprise about 19.7% of Belarusians living in Ukraine.<ref>2001 Ukrainian census [http://www.ukrcensus.gov.ua/ In Ukrainian]</ref> In [[Poland]], the Belarusian language is declared as a "language spoken at home" by about 40,000 inhabitants<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.stat.gov.pl/dane_spol-gosp/nsp/ludnosc/index.htm |title=Ludność. Stan I Struktura Demograficzno-Społeczna |website=Główny Urząd Statystyczny |access-date=February 6, 2007 |archive-date=May 25, 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050525185706/http://www.stat.gov.pl/dane_spol-gosp/nsp/ludnosc/index.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> According to a study done by the Belarusian government in 2009, 72% of Belarusians speak Russian at home, while Belarusian is actively used by only 11.9% of Belarusians (others speak a mixture of Russian and Belarusian, known as [[Trasianka]]). Approximately 29.4% of Belarusians can write, speak, and read Belarusian, while 52.5% can only read and speak it.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/214868912.pdf|title=The problem of using the Belarusian language |via=CORE |date=1 January 2013|author1=А.В. Зубик|author2=А.О. Роговая|publisher=Polessky State University |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231219231151/https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/214868912.pdf |archive-date= Dec 19, 2023 }}</ref> Nevertheless, there are no Belarusian-language universities in Belarus.<ref name="Kamusella">{{cite web |last1=Kamusella |first1=Tomasz |date=11 October 2021 |title=Belarusian: An extremist language? |url=https://neweasterneurope.eu/2021/10/11/belarusian-an-extremist-language/ |access-date=27 January 2024 |website=New Eastern Europe}}</ref><ref name="Coakley">{{cite magazine |last1=Coakley |first1=Amanda |date=28 October 2022 |title=Inside the Fight To Preserve the Belarusian Language |url=https://time.com/6224762/fight-to-preserve-belarusian-language/ |access-date=21 January 2024 |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]}}</ref>