Belarusian

Belarusian, or Belaruskaya mova, is an East Slavic language spoken primarily in Belarus and by Belarusian communities abroad. It is one of the official languages of Belarus, alongside Russian, and serves as a key symbol of national identity. In everyday life, Russian is widely used, but Belarusian maintains a presence in education, government, media, and culture, especially in rural areas and among language revival movements.

Belarusian belongs to the East Slavic subgroup of the Indo-European language family, and is closely related to Ukrainian and Russian. It has several regional dialects, including North-Eastern, Central, and South-Western varieties. The modern standard form is mainly based on North-Western and Central dialects, though speech varies across the country. Orthographic and lexical standards have developed over time, producing competing but mutually intelligible forms.

Belarusian is written predominantly in the Cyrillic alphabet, although a Latin-based Łacinka script is used by some communities and for ceremonial or historical texts. There are two well-known orthographic traditions: the traditional Tarashkevica (Tarashkevich) and the Soviet-era standard adopted in 1959; in practice both are encountered, with ongoing debates about standardization and preference among writers, educators, and institutions.

Historically, the Belarusian language has a rich literary heritage, with early printed work by Francysk Skaryna and a flourishing tradition in the 19th and 20th centuries by poets such as Yanka Kupala and Yakub Kolas. During the Russian Empire and Soviet periods, Belarusian faced pressures and repression, while the post-Soviet era saw renewed promotion and cultural revival. Today the language remains a core element of Belarusian national identity and cultural life, even as Russian usage remains widespread.