Belarusian
Let an agent explain the Belarusian language and its dialects, relay history, orthographies and status from linguistic sources with attribution, describe communities in Belarus, Poland and Ukraine, and distinguish Belarusian from Russian, Ukrainian and Polish, presenting language policy debates neutrally.
Research draft, second pass
A second pass drafted this model: the structure a model of this thing needs, and what is known about it in the world. The line under this one says how the second half was obtained - researched against sources, or recalled without web access, in which case nothing here was read anywhere and every claim is a lead to verify. Unreviewed either way.
written by Claude from model knowledge without web access - no source was read, every claim is a lead to verify
Researched by: Claude
Purpose and description
Let an agent explain the Belarusian language and its dialects, relay history, orthographies and status from linguistic sources with attribution, describe communities in Belarus, Poland and Ukraine, and distinguish Belarusian from Russian, Ukrainian and Polish, presenting language policy debates neutrally.
An East Slavic language spoken by about 5 to 7 million people, one of the two official languages of Belarus alongside Russian, with communities in Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania and Russia, standardised in the early 20th century with the Taraskievica and later Narkamauka orthographies, and comprising dialect groups such as Central, Northeastern and Southwestern Belarusian; its use in Belarus has declined relative to Russian, a topic of language policy debate that the model reports with attribution.
What it is for: Not applicable; a language.
It can be explain dialects and features; relay history and orthographies; describe status and communities; distinguish related languages.
Distinguishing features
East Slavic
Two orthographies
Co-official with Russian
Declining daily use
What it looks like
Not a visible object; speech and text in Cyrillic, historically also Latin script.
Physical character
speakers: about 5-7 million - estimates
official status: Belarus, since 1990; co-official with Russian since 1995 note
orthographies: Taraskievica 1918, Narkamauka 1933 list
home use in Belarus: about 26 percent - 2019 census
How it is recognised
East Slavic language of Belarus
Central, Northeastern and Southwestern dialects; Belarusian in Belarus, Poland and Ukraine
Russian and Ukrainian are sister languages; Polish is West Slavic; Trasianka is a mixed speech
Related models
is a kind of - in registry terms
is an official language of - with Russian
is contrasted with - the other official language
is written in - with a historical Latin alphabet
In practice
Families and kinds
standard Belarusian in Narkamauka and Taraskievica
Central Belarusian dialects
Northeastern Belarusian dialects
Southwestern Belarusian dialects
Belarusian in Poland and Ukraine
Trasianka mixed speech
Identifiers
ISO 639-1 be Belarusian
ISO 639-3 bel Belarusian
Glottolog bela1254 Belarusian
Standards and regulation
Belarusian law on languages
Minority language protection in Poland and Ukraine
ISO 639 codes
Failure modes and hazards
Partisan framing of language policy
Confusing Belarusian with Russian or Ukrainian
Treating one orthography as the only standard
Also called
Where this came from
wikidata · CC0 1.0
Drafted structure
Bundle to layer to finding to question, as the second pass will find it: 4 bundles · 8 layers · 8 findings · 16 questions.
Understand What Belarusian is.
Attribution.
Definition
Definition and classification.
Definition
Definition.
- What is Belarusian, and how does it differ from Russian, Ukrainian and Polish, as linguists describe? definition
- Is the question about the language, a dialect, a community or policy? boundary
Dialects
Dialects.
Dialects
Dialects.
- What are the Central, Northeastern and Southwestern dialect groups, and what is Trasianka? definition
- Which entry fits the specific dialect? action
Learn Grammar and orthography.
Practice.
Grammar
Grammar.
Grammar
Grammar.
- What are the main features of Belarusian phonology, grammar and vocabulary? provenance
- Which references are standard? provenance
Orthography
Orthographies.
Orthography
Orthography.
- How do Taraskievica and Narkamauka differ, and what is the Belarusian Latin alphabet? provenance
- Which sources are cited? provenance
History History.
Attribution.
Development
Development.
Development
Development.
- How did Belarusian develop from Old East Slavic and Ruthenian to the modern standard? provenance
- Which entry fits Ruthenian language? action
Policy
Language policy.
Policy
Policy.
- How have Soviet, post-1991 and current policies affected Belarusian, with positions attributed? provenance
- Is the presentation neutral? boundary
Context Communities and culture.
Context.
Communities
Communities abroad.
Communities
Communities.
- How is Belarusian used in Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania and the diaspora? provenance
- Which entry fits Belarusians in Poland? action
Literature
Literature.
Literature
Literature.
- What are the major works of Belarusian literature? provenance
- Which entry fits Belarusian literature? action
What the second pass must settle
- Should Taraskievica and the dialect groups be separate primary entries?
- How should linguistic sources be linked?
- The registry entry has merged aliases naming countries and dialects; should they be split off?