The Belarusian Latin alphabet (also known as Latsinka (in BGN/PCGN) or Łacinka (in itself), from Belarusian: лацінка, informal for the Latin alphabet in general) — the common name of the several historically existing systems of rendering the Belarusian (Cyrillic) text in Latin script. It is used, occasionally, in its current form, by certain authors, groups and promoters in the Nasha Niva weekly, the ARCHE journal, and some of the Belarusian diaspora press on the Internet. The BGN/PCGN romanization system for Belarusian is a method for romanization of Cyrillic Belarusian texts, that is, their transliteration into the Latin alphabet. ... NaÅ¡a Niva (Наша Ніва, Nasha Niva) is one of the oldest Belarusian weekly newspaper founded in 1906 and re-established in 1991. ...

It is not, as such, the Romanisation system, as it imposes knowing certain accompanying orthographic conventions. A romanization or latinization is a system for representing a word or language with the Roman (Latin) alphabet, where the original word or language used a different writing system. ...

History

In Medieval times (16th century), the first examples of the Latin renderings of the Belarusian (Cyrillic) text are known to occur, coming from the need to include the Old Belarusian quotes in the Polish and Latin texts. Those renderings were un-codified and, seemingly, were done by applying the Polish orthography to the Old Belarusian sounds. (15th century - 16th century - 17th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 16th century was that century which lasted from 1501 to 1600. ...

In the 17th century, Belarusian Roman Catholics gradually increased their use of the Latin script, but still largely in parallel with the Cyrillic. Before the 17th century the Belarusian Roman Catholics had been using the Cyrillic script widely. (16th century - 17th century - 18th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 17th century was that century which lasted from 1601-1700. ...

In the 18th century, the Latin script was used, in parallel with Cyrillic, in some literary works (e.g., dramatic), written in contemporary Belarusian. (17th century - 18th century - 19th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 18th century refers to the century that lasted from 1701 through 1800. ...

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In the 19th century, some Polish and Belarusian writers of Polish cultural background used the Latin script, exclusively or occasionally, in their works written in Belarusian, notably Chachot, Bahrym, Dunin-Martsinkyevich, Bahushevich, and Hurynovich. The Revolutionary Democrat Kalinowski used the Latin script exclusively in his newspaper Peasants’ Truth (Belarusian: Мужыцкая праўда, in Latin script: Mużyckaja prauda; 6 issues in 1862 – 1863). The Belarusian or Belorussian language (беларуская мова, BGN/PCGN: byelaruskaya mova, Scientific: bjelaruskaja mova) is the language of the Belarusian people and is spoken in Belarus and abroad, chiefly in Russia, Ukraine, Poland. ... Ghe (Ґ, Ò‘, also called ge with upturn) is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet pronounced like the G in go. Originally part of the Ukrainian and Belarusian alphabets, its function was replaced by the letter Ge (Г) in the Soviet Union after 1933. ... For the prime symbol (′) used for feet and inches, see Prime (symbol). ... Vintsent Dunin-Martsinkyevich (Belarusian: ; Polish: ; c. ... Konstanty Kalinowski (also known under his Belarusian and Lithuanian names of Касту́сь Каліно́ўскі or Kastuś Kalinoŭski and Kostas Kalinauskas; 1838-1864) was a writer, journalist, lawyer and revolutionist. ... NaÅ¡a Niva (Наша Ніва, Nasha Niva) is one of the oldest Belarusian weekly newspaper founded in 1906 and re-established in 1991. ... Branislaw Tarashkyevich (Belarusian: ; January 20, 1892 — November 29, 1938) — Belarusian public figure and politician, linguist. ... Vintsent Dunin-Martsinkyevich (Belarusian: ; Polish: ; c. ... The acute accent (   ) is a diacritic mark used in many modern written languages with alphabets based on the Latin and Greek scripts. ... Jan Czeczot Jan Czeczot (1796-1847) was a Polish romantic poet and ethnographer. ... Vintsent Dunin-Martsinkyevich (Belarusian: ; Polish: ; c. ... Konstanty Kalinowski (also known under his Belarusian and Lithuanian names of Касту́сь Каліно́ўскі or Kastuś Kalinoŭski and Kostas Kalinauskas; 1838-1864) was a writer, journalist, lawyer and revolutionist. ...

Such introduction of the Latin script for the rendering of the language with far-reaching Cyrillic tradition is sometimes explained by the unfamiliarity of the 19th writers with the history of the Belarusian language or with the language itself, or by the impossibility of either acquiring or deploying the Cyrillic type at the publishing sites those writers had been using.

The custom of using of the Latin script for Belarusian text gradually ceased in the common practice, although at the beginning of the 20th century there were still several examples of exclusive or non-exclusive 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 (in issues’ subheading: Printed weekly in Russian and in Polish letters (in Latin script: Wychodzić szto tydzień ruskimi i polskimi literami)).
• Tsyotka’s Belarusian Violin (Belarusian: Скрыпка беларуская, Skrypka biełaruskaja), Baptism to Freedom (Belarusian: Хрэст на свабоду, Chrest na swabodu) — books of poetry.
• Tsyotka’s First reading for Belarusian children (Belarusian: Першае чытанне для дзетак-беларусаў, Perszaje czytannie dla dzietak-biełarusaŭ) — attempt at creating a Belarusian elementary reading book.
• Kupala’s Zither Player (Belarusian: Гусляр, Huslar; 1910) — book of poetry.
• Pachopka’s Belarusian Grammar (1915, publ. in 1918) — Belarusian grammar, based entirely on Latin script; 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, e.g., at the Belarusian Academic Conference (1926), some suggestions were made to consider transition of the Belarusian grammar to the Latin script (e.g., Zhylunovich, for the sake of "making the Belarusian grammar more progressive"). However, these suggestions were rejected by the Belarusian linguists (e.g., Lastowski). In Polish mythology, Kupala is the goddess of herbs, sorcery, sex, and midsummer. ... The current norms of Belarusian grammar were adopted in 1959. ... The 1920s is a decade that is sometimes referred to as the Jazz Age or the Roaring Twenties, usually applied to America. ...

In the 1920s-1939, after the partition of the Belarus (1921), use of the Latin script, in evolved form, was re-introduced 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 the Tarashkyevich’s grammar (Vil’nya, 1929). The 1920s is a decade that is sometimes referred to as the Jazz Age or the Roaring Twenties, usually applied to America. ... Year 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

The most active promoter of the Belarusian Latin alphabet at this time was notable Belarusian linguist Yan Stankyevich. It was his proposals (c.1937 – 1941) that gave the Belarusian Latin alphabet its current form.

Belarusian was written in the Latin script during 1941 – 1944 in the German-occupied Belarusian territories, and by the Belarusian diaspora in Prague (1920s – c.1945).

After the Second World War, Belarusian was occasionally written in the Latin script by the Belarusian diaspora in non-Soviet Europe and the Americas (notably in West Germany and the USA). In 1962, Yan Stankyevich proposed a completely different form of the Belarusian Latin alphabet.

Note: all proper names and place names in this article are rendered in BGN/PCGN, direct quotes excluded. The BGN/PCGN romanization system for Belarusian is a method for romanization of Cyrillic Belarusian texts, that is, their transliteration into the 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 [факсімільн.]
• Б. Тарашкевіч. Беларуская граматыка для школ. – Вільня : Беларуская друкарня ім. Фр. Скарыны, 1929 ; Мн. : «Народная асвета», 1991 [факсімільн.]. – Выданьне пятае пераробленае і пашыранае.
• Да рэформы беларускай азбукі. // Працы акадэмічнае канферэнцыі па рэформе беларускага правапісу і азбукі. – Мн. : [б. м.], 1927.
• Дунін-Марцінкевіч В. Творы / [Уклад., 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. ISBN 5-338-00024-5
• 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. ISBN-985-08-0580-3
• 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 [факсімільн.]. – © 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 [1930–1931] // Ян Станкевіч. Збор твораў у двух тамах. Т. 1. – Мн.: Энцыклапедыкс, 2002. ISBN 985-6599-46-6
• Ян Станкевіч. Беларуская Акадэмічная Конфэрэнцыя 14.—21.XI.1926 і яе працы дзеля рэформы беларускае абэцэды й правапісу (агульны агляд) [1927] // Ян Станкевіч. Збор твораў у двух тамах. Т. 1. – Мн.: Энцыклапедыкс, 2002. ISBN 985-6599-46-6
• Ян Станкевіч. Як правільна гаварыць і пісаць пабеларуску (Пастановы Зборкаў Чысьціні Беларускае Мовы) [Вільня, 1937] // Ян Станкевіч. Збор твораў у двух тамах. Т. 1. – Мн.: Энцыклапедыкс, 2002. ISBN 985-6599-46-6
• Ян Станкевіч. Які мае быць парадак літараў беларускае абэцады [1962] // Ян Станкевіч. Збор твораў у двух тамах. Т. 2. – Мн.: Энцыклапедыкс, 2002. ISBN 985-6599-46-6

External links

• Essay on "Łacinka"
• Web site dedicated to "Łacinka" and totally written in "Łacinka"