Editing Belarusian language (section)

=== Post-1991 ===
[[File:Russian and Belarusian Language Distribution in Belarus, 2019.png|thumb|227x227px|Map showing the distribution of Russian and Belarusian speakers in Belarus, based on 2019 census data.]]
The process of government support for "Belarusization" began even before the breakup of the Soviet Union, with the Supreme Soviet of the BSSR passing a law on languages in 1990 that aimed for the gradual increase in prestige and general use of the Belarusian language over the next 10 years, followed by the creation that same year of a National Language Program to support this endeavor.<ref name=":0">{{cite web |last=Bekus |first=Nelly |title=Belarusian Language Policy in the Context of Linguistic Human Rights. |url=https://sites.fas.harvard.edu/~postcomm/papers/2012-2013/bekus.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191221221634/https://sites.fas.harvard.edu/~postcomm/papers/2012-2013/bekus.pdf |archive-date=2019-12-21 |access-date=2019-02-09 |website=Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences |page=5}}</ref> After Belarus became independent in 1991, support for the cause of the Belarusian language gained prestige and popular interest, with the post-Soviet Belarusian government the continued creation of policies to actively promote the use of the Belarusian language, especially in education.<ref>{{cite web |date=Mar 2012 |title=Internationalizing teacher education: The case of Belarus |url=http://web.b.ebscohost.com/abstract?direct=true&profile=ehost&scope=site&authtype=crawler&jrnl=00331538&AN=75063402&h=sJfl1nBh%2byv2sJFaixhQPWfp5%2f4sZqWUHDINT1BLRIPmi4UY3AtgPRh6dOSqn7Mhmpbd94ZXmMR69K1BXpSJ3g%3d%3d&crl=f&resultNs=AdminWebAuth&resultLocal=ErrCrlNotAuth&crlhashurl=login.aspx%3fdirect%3dtrue%26profile%3dehost%26scope%3dsite%26authtype%3dcrawler%26jrnl%3d00331538%26AN%3d75063402 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190929142748/http://web.b.ebscohost.com/abstract?direct=true&profile=ehost&scope=site&authtype=crawler&jrnl=00331538&AN=75063402&h=sJfl1nBh%2byv2sJFaixhQPWfp5%2f4sZqWUHDINT1BLRIPmi4UY3AtgPRh6dOSqn7Mhmpbd94ZXmMR69K1BXpSJ3g%3d%3d&crl=f&resultNs=AdminWebAuth&resultLocal=ErrCrlNotAuth&crlhashurl=login.aspx%3fdirect%3dtrue%26profile%3dehost%26scope%3dsite%26authtype%3dcrawler%26jrnl%3d00331538%26AN%3d75063402 |archive-date=2019-09-29 |access-date=2017-12-19}}</ref>{{citation needed|date=February 2011}} The creation of the 1994 Constitution declared Belarusian to be the sole official language, though Russian was given the status as "language of inter-ethnic communication".<ref name=":0" /> However, the implementation of the 1992–94 "Law on Languages" took place in such a way that it provoked public protests and was dubbed "Landslide Belarusization" and "undemocratic" by those opposing it in 1992–94.{{Citation needed|date=November 2017}}

After the election of [[Alexander Lukashenko]] as the President of Belarus in the [[1994 Belarusian presidential election|1994 elections]], the positions of Belarusian language in Belarusian education system worsened as the number of first graders who were taught in Belarusian significantly decreased (e.g. in capital [[Minsk]] from 58.6% in 1994 to just 4.8% in 1998) and by 2001 most of the major Belarusian cities had no schools where its pupils were instructed in Belarusian, however Minsk still had 20 Belarusian-language schools.<ref name="Bekus">{{cite book |last1=Bekus |first1=Nelly |url=https://books.openedition.org/ceup/616 |title=Struggle over identity: the official and the alternative "Belarusianness" |date=2010 |publisher=CEU press |isbn=978-9639776685 |location=Budapest |pages=151–155 |access-date=27 January 2024}}</ref> In 1996, Russian language was given equal status to Belarusian following changes in the [[Constitution of Belarus]] and subsequently became Belarus's language of administration, business and education.<ref name="Kamusella" /> In 1999, only 17% of pupils attended Belarusian-language elementary schools in Belarus.<ref name="Kamusella" /> Moreover, a complete minority (~10.5%) of single-circulation newspapers were printed in Belarusian and the amounts decreases each year.<ref name="Bekus" />

In a [[1995 Belarusian referendum|referendum]] held on 14 May 1995 the Belarusian language lost its exclusive status as the only [[Official language|state language]]. State support for Belarusian language and culture in general has dwindled since then, and Russian is dominant in everyday life in today's Belarus.<ref name="Brli2010">{{in lang|uk}} [http://m.dw.com/uk/білоруська-мова-в-білорусі-державний-статус-чи-декорація/a-19063646?maca=ukr-VGUS-Link-YedynkaUpMobileManual-dwukr Belarusian language in Belarus: state status or scenery?], [[DW.com]] (22 February 2016)</ref> In a 2006 article, [[Roy Medvedev]] compared the position of the Belarusian language in Belarus with that of the [[Irish language]] in the Republic of Ireland.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Медведев |first1=Р. |date=March 2006 |title=Непрерывное развитие языков: их влияние друг на друга и конкуренция |url=http://www.nkj.ru/archive/articles/4556 |journal=Наука и жизнь |access-date=2017-11-23 |quote=Положение дел с языком в Белоруссии сходно с положением в Ирландии.}}</ref> [[Adam Maldzis]] considers that one of typological similarities is the official bilinguism both in Belarus and Ireland, and the low real status of the mother-tongue.<ref>A. Maldzis. Introduction // Belarus – Éire. Belarus – Ireland. Беларусь – Iрландыя. Беларусь – Ирландия: Матэрыялы навуковага семінара "Беларуска-ірландскія гістарычна-культурныя сувязі". Minsk, 2000. P. 15.</ref>

A spelling reform of the official Belarusian language, making the spelling of some words more similar to Taraškievič's system, was decided on 23 July 2008, and went into effect on 1 September 2010.<ref>
A detailed account can be found in the article [[:be-tarask:Правілы беларускай артаграфіі і пунктуацыі (2008)]]
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