Łacinka Alphabet
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The Belarusian Latin alphabet or Łacinka (from , BGN/PCGN: , ) for the Latin script in general is the
Latin script The Latin script, also known as the Roman script, is a 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 Magna Graecia. The Gree ...
as used to write Belarusian. It is similar to the Sorbian alphabet and incorporates features of the Polish and Czech alphabets. Today, Belarusian most commonly uses the
Cyrillic The Cyrillic 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 countries in Southeastern Europe, Ea ...
alphabet.


Use

Łacinka was used in the Belarusian area from the 16th century. After the annexation of the Belarusian territory by the
Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...
, Łacinka was completely banned by the Russian authorities during 1859-1905 in order to facilitate the switch to the
Cyrillic script The Cyrillic script ( ) is a writing system used for various languages across Eurasia. It is the designated national script in various Slavic languages, Slavic, Turkic languages, Turkic, Mongolic languages, Mongolic, Uralic languages, Uralic, C ...
and preferably to the Russian language. This ban ended in 1905, resulting in the active concurrent use of both Łacinka and the Belarusian Cyrillic script in numerous books and newspapers until the 1930s. Though during the time of the occupation of the western part of Belarus by the German Empire in 1914-1918, the Łacinka script was the only one allowed to be studied on the "native language" lessons because the Cyrillic script was banned there. Nowadays Łacinka is used occasionally in its current form by certain authors, groups and promoters in the '' Naša Niva'' weekly, the ''ARCHE'' journal, and some of the Belarusian diaspora press on the
Internet The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...
. The system of romanisation 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 ''je'' or ''ie'', depending on its position in a word. Also, there is no soft sign in Łacinka; palatalisation is instead represented by a diacritic on the preceding consonant.
Instruction on transliteration of Belarusian geographical names with letters of Latin script The Instruction on the Transliteration of Belarusian Geographical Names with Letters of the Latin Script was an official standard of the romanization of Belarusian geographical names. Status The instruction was adopted by a decree of the Belar ...
is similar to Łacinka, but transliterates Cyrillic ''л'' in different ways: ''л'' = ''ł'' (Łacinka) = ''l'' (geographical), ''ль'' = ''l'' (Łacinka) = ''ĺ'' (geographical), ''ля'' = ''la'' (Łacinka) = ''lia'' (geographical). This may become a source of confusion because, for example, the Łacinka spelling of the word "столь" is indistinguishable from the geographical transliteration of a different word "стол" as they both look like "stol". Whereas the changes of the actual Łacinka were never disruptive or ambiguous during its lifetime, digraphs ''sz/cz'' were even sometimes used along with their modernized diacritic ''š/č'' replacements in the same text.


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 Čačot, Paŭluk Bahrym, Vincent Dunin-Marcinkievič, Francišak Bahuševič, and Adam Hurynovič. The Revolutionary Democrat Kastuś Kalinoŭski used only the Latin script in his newspaper '' Peasants’ Truth'' (, in Latin script: ''Mużyckaja prauda'', or ''Mužyckaja praŭda''; 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 ''Naša Dola'' (1906). *Newspaper ''Naša 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'')). * Ciotka’s ''Belarusian Violin'' (, ''Skrypka biełaruskaja''), ''Baptism to Freedom'' (, ''Chrest na swabodu'') — books of poetry. *Ciotka’s ''First reading for Belarusian children'' (, ''Perszaje czytannie dla dzietak-biełarusaŭ'') — an attempt at creating a Belarusian elementary reading book. * Janka Kupała’s ''Zither Player'' (, ''Huslar''; 1910) — book of poetry. * rev. Balasłaŭ Pačopka’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. In the 1920s in the Belarusian SSR, like the Belarusian Academic Conference (1926), some suggestions were made to consider a transition of the Belarusian grammar to the Latin script (for example, Źmicier Žyłunovič for "making the Belarusian grammar more progressive"). However, they were rejected by the Belarusian linguists (such as Vacłaŭ Łastoŭski). 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 Taraškievič's grammar (Vilnia, 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 ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...
(1920s – c.1945). After the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, Belarusian was occasionally written in the Latin script by the Belarusian diaspora in Western Europe and the Americas (notably in
West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...
and the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
). In 1962, Jan Stankievič 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. *
Ričardas Gavelis Ričardas Gavelis (8 October 1950 – 18 August 2002) was a Lithuanian writer, playwright, journalist, and theoretical physicist. He is most known for novels such as ''Vilnius Poker'' and ''Memoirs of a Young Man''. Gavelis grew up near a monaste ...
. 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 Prague: Vydaviectva Viasna Выдавецтва Вясна., 142pp. NB: Each poem is given in Łacinka and
Cyrillic The Cyrillic 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 countries in Southeastern Europe, Ea ...
. * Uładzimir Arłou. 2024. ''Śvieciacca vokny dy nikoha za jimi'' ight in the Windows, but No One is There
Białystok Białystok is the largest city in northeastern Poland and the capital of the Podlaskie Voivodeship. It is the List of cities and towns in Poland, tenth-largest city in Poland, second in terms of population density, and thirteenth in area. Biał ...
: Fundacja Kamunikat.org. , 226pp. * In
Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...
since 1997 the magazine ''Рунь'' (''Ruń'', ISNN 1392-7671) has been published; recent issues of which include articles in both Cyrillic
Taraškievica Taraškievica (, ) or Belarusian Classical Orthography () is a variant of orthography of the Belarusian language, based on the literary norm of the modern Belarusian language, the first normalization of which was made by Branislaŭ Taraškiev ...
and Łacinka. In late 2021 a VK project of the Latin alphabet-based Belarusian Wikipedia, that is, the Biełaruskaja Wikipedyja łacinkaj, commenced. On the occasion of the International Mother Language Day (February 21) in 2023, a machine-converted website edition of '' Naša Niva'' in Łacinka was launched.Padarunak «NN» da Dnia rodnaj movy: ad siońnia vy možacie čytać nas łacinkaj. 2023.''Naša Niva''. 21 Feb.
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See also

* Romanization of Belarusian *
Instruction on transliteration of Belarusian geographical names with letters of Latin script The Instruction on the Transliteration of Belarusian Geographical Names with Letters of the Latin Script was an official standard of the romanization of Belarusian geographical names. Status The instruction was adopted by a decree of the Belar ...
* 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// 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, also known as the Roman alphabet, is the collection of letters originally used by the Ancient Rome, ancient Romans to write the Latin language. Largely unaltered except several letters splitting—i.e. from , and from ...
Proposals in Europe