Editing Belarusian language (section)

== Classification and relationship to other languages ==
There is a high degree of [[mutual intelligibility]] among the Belarusian, Russian, and Ukrainian languages.<ref>Alexander M. Schenker. 1993. "Proto-Slavonic," ''The Slavonic Languages''. (Routledge). Pp. 60–121. Pg. 60: "[The] distinction between dialect and language being blurred, there can be no unanimity on this issue in all instances..."<br />C.F. Voegelin and F.M. Voegelin. 1977. ''Classification and Index of the World's Languages'' (Elsevier). Pg. 311, "In terms of immediate mutual intelligibility, the East Slavic zone is a single language." As members of the East Slavic group of languages, they are descended from a common ancestor.</ref>

Within East Slavic, the Belarusian language is most closely related to [[Ukrainian language|Ukrainian]].<ref>Roland Sussex, Paul V. Cubberley. (2006). ''The Slavic languages .'' Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pg. 518</ref>{{clear}}