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The Belarusian Latin alphabet or Łacinka (from be, лацінка or łacinka,
BGN/PCGN BGN/PCGN romanization are the systems for romanization and Roman-script spelling conventions adopted by the United States Board on Geographic Names (BGN) and the Permanent Committee on Geographical Names for British Official Use (PCGN). The syste ...
:
''Latsinka'', ) for the Latin script in general is the common name for writing Belarusian using
Latin script The Latin script, also known as Roman script, is an alphabetic writing system based on the letters of the classical Latin alphabet, derived from a form of the Greek alphabet which was in use in the ancient Greek city of Cumae, in southern ...
. It is similar to the
Sorbian alphabet The Sorbian alphabet is based on the ISO basic Latin alphabet but uses diacritics such as the acute accent and the caron, making it similar to the Czech and Polish alphabets. (This mixture is also found in the Belarusian Latin alphabet.) The sta ...
and incorporates features of the
Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin scree ...
and Czech alphabets. Today, Belarusian most commonly uses the
Cyrillic The Cyrillic script ( ), Slavonic script or the Slavic script, is a writing system used for various languages across Eurasia. It is the designated national script in various Slavic, Turkic, Mongolic, Uralic, Caucasian and Iranic-speaking cou ...
alphabet.


Use

Łacinka was used in the Belarusian area from the 16th century until the 1930s. During the time of the Nazi German-occupied Belarusian territories, the Łacinka script was used as the only official script for the Belarusian language. It is used occasionally in its current form by certain authors, groups and promoters in the ''
Nasha Niva ''Nasha Niva'' ( be, Наша Ніва, Naša Niva, lit. "Our field") is one of the oldest Belarusian weekly newspapers, founded in 1906 and re-established in 1991. ''Nasha Niva'' became a cultural symbol, due to the newspaper's importance as a p ...
'' weekly, the ''ARCHE'' journal, and some of the
Belarusian diaspora The Belarusian diaspora refers to emigrants from the territory of Belarus as well as to their descendants. According to different researchers, there are between 2.5 and 3.5 million Belarusian descendants living outside the territory of the Re ...
press on the
Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, p ...
. The system of
romanisation Romanization or romanisation, in linguistics, is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, ...
in the Łacinka is phonological rather than orthographical, and thus certain orthographic conventions must be known. For instance, the Łacinka equivalent to Cyrillic ' can be ''e'', ''ie'' or ''je'', depending on its position in a word. Also, there is no
soft sign The soft sign (Ь, ь, italics ) also known as the front yer, front jer, or er malak (lit. "small er") is a letter of the Cyrillic script. In Old Church Slavonic, it represented a short (or "reduced") front vowel. As with its companion, the ...
in Łacinka; palatalisation is instead represented by a diacritic on the preceding consonant. The official Belarusian
romanisation Romanization or romanisation, in linguistics, is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, ...
2007 system is similar to Łacinka but transliterates Cyrillic ''л'' in different ways: ''л'' = ''ł'' (Łacinka) = ''l'' (official), ''ль'' = ''l'' (Łacinka) = ''ĺ'' (official), ''ля'' = ''la'' (Łacinka) = ''lia'' (official).


History

In the 16th century, the first known Latin renderings of Belarusian Cyrillic text occurred, in quotes of Ruthenian in Polish and Latin texts. The renderings were not standardised, and Polish orthography seems to have been used for Old Belarusian sounds. In the 17th century, Belarusian Catholics gradually increased their use of the Latin script but still largely in parallel with the Cyrillic. Before the 17th century, the Belarusian Catholics had often used the Cyrillic script. In the 18th century, the Latin script was used, in parallel with Cyrillic, in some literary works, like in drama for contemporary Belarusian. In the 19th century, some Polish and Belarusian writers of Polish cultural background sometimes or always used the Latin script in their works in Belarusian, notably Jan Czeczot, Paŭluk Bahrym, Vincent Dunin-Marcinkievič,
Francišak Bahuševič Francišak Bahuševič ( be, Францішак Багушэвіч, pl, Franciszek Bohuszewicz, – () was a Belarusian poet, writer and lawyer, considered to be one of the initiators of modern Belarusian literature. Biography Bahuševič was ...
, and Adam Hurynovič. The Revolutionary Democrat
Konstanty Kalinowski Wincenty Konstanty Kalinowski, also known as Kastuś Kalinoŭski ( be, Касту́сь Каліно́ўскі also be, Вінцэ́нт Канстанці́н Каліно́ўскі, lit=Vincent Kanstancin Kalinoŭski, lt, Konstantinas Kalinau ...
used only the Latin script in his newspaper ''Peasants’ Truth'' ( be, Мужыцкая праўда, in Latin script: '' Mużyckaja prauda''; six issues in 1862–1863). Such introduction of the Latin script for the language broke with the long Cyrillic tradition and is sometimes explained by the unfamiliarity of the 19th century writers with the history of the language or with the language itself or by the impossibility of acquiring or using the Cyrillic type at the printers that the writers had been using. The custom of using the Latin script for Belarusian text gradually ceased to be common, but at the beginning of the 20th century, there were still several examples of use of the Latin script in Belarusian printing: *Newspaper ''Nasha Dolya'' (1906). *Newspaper ''Nasha Niva'' (the issues during 10.11.1906 – 31.10.1912) — issues in both Cyrillic and Latin (with the subheading: ''Printed weekly in Russian and in Polish letters'' (in Latin script: ''Wychodzić szto tydzień ruskimi i polskimi literami'')). * Tsyotka’s ''Belarusian Violin'' ( be, links=no, Скрыпка беларуская, ''Skrypka biełaruskaja''), ''Baptism to Freedom'' ( be, links=no, Хрэст на свабоду, ''Chrest na swabodu'') — books of poetry. *Tsyotka’s ''First reading for Belarusian children'' ( be, links=no, Першае чытанне для дзетак-беларусаў, ''Perszaje czytannie dla dzietak-biełarusaŭ'') — an attempt at creating a Belarusian elementary reading book. * Yanka Kupala’s ''Zither Player'' ( be, links=no, Гусляр, ''Huslar''; 1910) — book of poetry. * rev. Baliaslau Pachopka’s ''Belarusian Grammar'' (1915, publ. in 1918) — Belarusian grammar, based entirely on Latin script, but is claimed by Belarusian linguists, however, to be prepared unscientifically and breaking the traditions of the Belarusian language. See also
Belarusian grammar The grammar of the Belarusian language is mostly synthetic and partly analytic, and norms of the modern language were adopted in 1959. Belarusian orthography is constructed on the phonetic principle ("you write down what you hear") and is mainly b ...
. In the 1920s in the
Belarusian SSR The Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR, or Byelorussian SSR; be, Беларуская Савецкая Сацыялістычная Рэспубліка, Bielaruskaja Savieckaja Sacyjalistyčnaja Respublika; russian: Белор� ...
, like the Belarusian Academic Conference (1926), some suggestions were made to consider a transition of the Belarusian grammar to the Latin script (for example, Zmicier Zhylunovich for "making the Belarusian grammar more progressive"). However, they were rejected by the Belarusian linguists (such as Vaclau Lastouski). From the 1920s to 1939, after the partition of Belarus (1921), the use of a modified Latin script was reintroduced to Belarusian printing in Western Belarus, chiefly for political reasons. The proposed form of the Belarusian Latin alphabet and some grammar rules were introduced for the first time in the 5th (unofficial) edition of Tarashkyevich's grammar (Vil'nya, 1929). Belarusian was written in the Latin script in 1941 to 1944 in the German-occupied Belarusian territories and by the Belarusian diaspora in
Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a tempera ...
(1920s – c.1945). After the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
, Belarusian was occasionally written in the Latin script by the Belarusian diaspora in Western Europe and the Americas (notably in
West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 ...
and the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...
). In 1962,
Yan Stankyevich Yan may refer to: Chinese states * Yan (state) (11th century – 222 BC), a major state in northern China during the Zhou dynasty * Yan (Han dynasty kingdom), first appearing in 206 BC * Yan (Three Kingdoms kingdom), officially claimed inde ...
proposed a completely new Belarusian Latin alphabet.


Today

Nowadays, Łacinka is used rarely apart from some posters and badges. Yet, some books continue to be published in this script. For instance: * Uładzimir Arłoŭ. 2015. ''Patria Aeterna. Apaviadańni'' atria Aeterna: Short Stories Minsk: A. N. Varaksin. * Ryčard Havialis. 2018. ''Vilenski pokier'' ilnius Poker(translated from the Lithuanian by Paŭlina Vituščanka). Vilnius: Logvino literatūros namai and Minsk: Lohvinaŭ. . NB: The paper book was published in Cyrillic in Taraškievica. Yet, the ebook is available in three orthographically and scriptaly different versions, namely, also in Łacinka and official orthography, apart from the faithful copy of the paper edition. * Alhierd Bacharevič. 2022. ''Vieršy Вершы ''
oems An original equipment manufacturer (OEM) is generally perceived as a company that produces non-aftermarket parts and equipment that may be marketed by another manufacturer. It is a common industry term recognized and used by many professional or ...
Prague: Vydaviectva Viasna Выдавецтва Вясна., 142pp. NB: Each poem is given in Łacinka and
Cyrillic The Cyrillic script ( ), Slavonic script or the Slavic script, is a writing system used for various languages across Eurasia. It is the designated national script in various Slavic, Turkic, Mongolic, Uralic, Caucasian and Iranic-speaking cou ...
. * In
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 u ...
since 1997 functions a magazine ''Рунь'' (''Ruń'', ISNN 1392-7671), recent issues of which include articles in both Cyrillic
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 ...
and Łacinka. In late 2021 a project of the Latin alphabet-based Belarusian Wikipedia, that is, the Biełaruskaja Wikipedyja łacinkaj, commenced.Biełaruskaja Wikipedyja łacinkaj
/ref>


See also

*
Romanization of Belarusian Romanization or Latinization of Belarusian is any system for transliterating written Belarusian from Cyrillic to the Latin alphabet. Standard systems for romanizing Belarusian Standard systems for romanizing Belarusian include: * BGN/PCGN rom ...
* Instruction on transliteration of Belarusian geographical names with letters of Latin script * Russian Latin alphabet * Ukrainian Latin alphabet


References

*Ad. Stankiewič. Biełaruskaja mowa ŭ škołach Biełarusi – Wilnia : Wydawiectwa „Biełaruskaje krynicy“. Bieł. Druk. Im. Fr. Skaryny ŭ Wilni Ludwisarskaja 1, 1928; Менск : Беларускае коопэрацыйна-выдавецкае таварыства ″Адраджэньне″, 1993 �аксімільн.*Б. Тарашкевіч. Беларуская граматыка для школ. – Вільня : Беларуская друкарня ім. Фр. Скарыны, 1929; Мн. : «Народная асвета», 1991 �аксімільн. – Выданьне пятае пераробленае і пашыранае. *Да рэформы беларускай азбукі. // Працы акадэмічнае канферэнцыі па рэформе беларускага правапісу і азбукі. – Мн. : �. м. 1927. *Дунін-Марцінкевіч В. Творы / �клад., прадм. і камент. Я. Янушкевіча – Мн. : Маст. літ., 1984. *К. Калиновский: Из печатного и рукописного наследия/Ин-т истории партии при ЦК КП Белоруссии – фил. Ин-та марксизма-ленинизма при ЦК КПСС. – Мн.: Беларусь, 1988. *Сцяпан Некрашэвіч. Садаклад па рэформе беларускага правапісу на акадэмічнай канферэнцыі 1926 г. // Выбраныя навуковыя працы акадэміка С. Н. Некрашэвіча: Да 120-годдзя з дня нараджэння / НАН Беларусі; Ін-т мовазнаўства імя Я. Коласа; Навук. рэд. А. І. Падлужны. – Мн. : 2004. *Як правільна гаварыць і пісаць пабеларуску. Беларускія корэспондэнцыйныя курсы ў Празе. – Прага : Dr. Jan Ermačenko, Běloruské vydavatelství, 1941; Менск : Беларускае коопэрацыйна-выдавецкае таварыства ″Адраджэньне″, 1992 �аксімільн. – Міжнародная асацыяцыя беларусістаў, 1992. – Беларускае таварыства архівістаў, 1992. *Ян Станкевіч. Б. Тарашкевіч: Беларуская граматыка для школ. Выданьне пятае пераробленае і пашыранае. Вільня. 1929 г., бал. 132 + IV 930–1931// Ян Станкевіч. Збор твораў у двух тамах. Т. 1. – Мн.: Энцыклапедыкс, 2002. *Ян Станкевіч. Беларуская Акадэмічная Конфэрэнцыя 14.—21.XI.1926 і яе працы дзеля рэформы беларускае абэцэды й правапісу (агульны агляд) 927// Ян Станкевіч. Збор твораў у двух тамах. Т. 1. – Мн.: Энцыклапедыкс, 2002. *Ян Станкевіч. Як правільна гаварыць і пісаць пабеларуску (Пастановы Зборкаў Чысьціні Беларускае Мовы) �ільня, 1937// Ян Станкевіч. Збор твораў у двух тамах. Т. 1. – Мн.: Энцыклапедыкс, 2002. *Ян Станкевіч. Які мае быць парадак літараў беларускае абэцады
962 Year 962 ( CMLXII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * December – Arab–Byzantine wars – Sack of Aleppo: A Byzantine e ...
// Ян Станкевіч. Збор твораў у двух тамах. Т. 2. – Мн.: Энцыклапедыкс, 2002.


External links

{{commons category, Belarusian Latin alphabet
Essay on "Łacinka"

English-language introduction
to a web site previously dedicated to "Łacinka" and totally written in "Łacinka"
Online romanizer for Belarusian texts and websites
Belarusian
Latin alphabet The Latin alphabet or Roman alphabet is the collection of letters originally used by the ancient Romans to write the Latin language. Largely unaltered with the exception of extensions (such as diacritics), it used to write English and the ...
Proposals