Simple speech ( uk, проста мова, prosta mova, pl, mowa prosta, po prostu, be, про́стая мова; па простаму, prostaya mova; "(to speak) in a simple way"), also translated as "simple language" or "simple talk", is an informal reference to various uncodified

vernacular A vernacular or vernacular language is in contrast with a "standard language". It refers to the language or dialect that is spoken by people that are inhabiting a particular country or region. The vernacular is typically the native language, n ...

forms of

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

and Belarusian in the areas historically influenced by

Polish culture The culture of Poland ( pl, Kultura Polski ) is the product of its geography and distinct historical evolution, which is closely connected to an intricate thousand-year history. Polish culture forms an important part of western civilization and ...

. This term has been commonly used, e.g., as a reply to the question about the

mother tongue A first language, native tongue, native language, mother tongue or L1 is the first language or dialect that a person has been exposed to from birth or within the critical period. In some countries, the term ''native language'' or ''mother tongu ...

or language spoken at home by the

Tutejszy Local (Polish: ''Tutejszy'', ; be, Тутэйшы, translit=Tutejšy; uk, Тутешній, translit=Tuteshniy; lt, Tuteišiai; lv, Tuteiši; russian: Tуземный, translit=Tuzemnyj) was a self-identification of Eastern European rural popula ...

in the historical region of ''

Kresy Eastern Borderlands ( pl, Kresy Wschodnie) or simply Borderlands ( pl, Kresy, ) was a term coined for the eastern part of the Second Polish Republic during the interwar period (1918–1939). Largely agricultural and extensively multi-ethnic, it ...

'', which covers parts of modern

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

and a bit of

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

. It also refers to the vernacular form of Ukrainian before its codification ("Old Ukrainian" of 16th–18th centuries).СТАРОУКРАЇНСЬКА “ПРОСТА МОВА” ХУІ – ХУІІІ СТ. В КОНТЕКСТІ ФОРМУВАННЯ НАЦІОНАЛЬНОЇ ЛІТЕРАТУРНОЇ МОВИ
Old Ukrainian "Simple language" of the 16th–18th century in the context of the formation of a national literary language. Dr V.A. Perediyenko (2001) In 16th century the chancellery language of the

Grand Duchy of Lithuania The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state that existed from the 13th century to 1795, when the territory was partitioned among the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia, and the Habsburg Empire of Austria. The state was founded by Li ...

was

Old Ruthenian Ruthenian (Belarusian language, Belarusian: руская мова; Ukrainian language, Ukrainian: руська мова; Ruthenian: руска(ѧ) мова; also see #Nomenclature, other names) is an exonymic linguonym for a closely-related grou ...

("руска мова", commonly called "simple speech" ("проста мова".). According to

Christian Stang Christian Schweigaard Stang (15 March 1900 – 2 July 1977) was a Norwegian linguist, Slavicist and Balticist, professor in Balto-Slavic languages at the University of Oslo from 1938 until shortly before his death. He specialized in the study of ...

, it was based on the Ruthenian dialects of the region around

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urb ...

. Also, the

Podlachian microlanguage Podlachian language (''pudlaśka mova'') is an East Slavic literary microlanguage based on the East Slavic dialects spoken by inhabitants of the southern part of Podlachian Province (Polish: ') in Poland between the Narew (north) and Bug (so ...

is referred to by locals as "our speech" (Своя мова), "simple speech" (проста мова), or "local speech" (тутейша мова) (cf. "

").svoja.org
a website dedicated to "our speech" The term "simple" refers to the speech of "simple people", as a distinction to the "high style" of official and written language of the time and region:

Church Slavonic Church Slavonic (, , literally "Church-Slavonic language"), also known as Church Slavic, New Church Slavonic or New Church Slavic, is the conservative Slavic liturgical language used by the Eastern Orthodox Church in Belarus, Bosnia and Herzeg ...

in the case of Old Ukrainian of 16th–17th centuries and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania,В. В Калугин, Язык и письменность Древней Руси: лекции по истории русского литературного языка XI-XVII веков, 200
p. 177
/ref> and the

Polish language Polish (Polish: ''język polski'', , ''polszczyzna'' or simply ''polski'', ) is a West Slavic language of the Lechitic group written in the Latin script. It is spoken primarily in Poland and serves as the native language of the Poles. In a ...

in the case of ''

''. The versions of "simple speech" differ depending on the region. Polish linguist Mirosław Jankowiak reported in 2015 that most people in rural areas of

Vilnius Region Vilnius Region is the territory in present-day Lithuania and Belarus that was originally inhabited by ethnic Baltic tribes and was a part of Lithuania proper, but came under East Slavic and Polish cultural influences over time. The territory ...

who declare themselves as

Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, who share a common history, culture, the Polish language and are identified with the country of Poland in Ce ...

speak Belarusian "simple speech". He notes that it is difficult to explain the discrepancy between the declared ethnicity and language: the locals can be either Polonized Belarusians, or Belarusianized Poles, or even Belarusianized Lithuanians who later became Polonized. He also notes a linguistic puzzle on how "simple speech" survived without codification and formal education despite 200 years of

Russification Russification (russian: русификация, rusifikatsiya), or Russianization, is a form of cultural assimilation in which non-Russians, whether involuntarily or voluntarily, give up their culture and language in favor of the Russian cultur ...

and tens of years of

Polonization Polonization (or Polonisation; pl, polonizacja)In Polish historiography, particularly pre-WWII (e.g., L. Wasilewski. As noted in Смалянчук А. Ф. (Smalyanchuk 2001) Паміж краёвасцю і нацыянальнай ідэя� ...

. Jankowiak also notes that

Bronisław Taraszkiewicz Branislaw Adamavich Tarashkyevich, russian: Бронисла́в Ада́мович Тарашке́вич, lt, Bronislavas Taraškevičius, pl, Bronisław Adamowicz Taraszkiewicz (20 January 1892 – 29 November 1938) was a Belarusian public fi ...

who was first to codify the Belarusian language (1918, "

Taraškievica Taraškievica or Belarusian Classical Orthography (, be, тарашкевіца / клясычны правапіс) is a variant of orthography of the Belarusian language, based on the literary norm of the modern Belarusian language, the fir ...

") hailed from

Mačiuliškės Mačiuliškės ( be, Мацюлішкі, pl, Maciuliszki) is a village in the Vilnius District Municipality, from Lavoriškės. It is the birthplace of Belarusian linguist Branislaw Tarashkyevich Branislaw Adamavich Tarashkyevich, russian: Б ...

of Vilnius region, and it appears that his version of Belarusian was influenced by the "simple speech" native to him.

References

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See also

References

Further reading