Simple speech (; ; ), also translated as simple language or simple talk, is an informal reference to various uncodified

vernacular Vernacular is the ordinary, informal, spoken language, spoken form of language, particularly when perceptual dialectology, perceived as having lower social status or less Prestige (sociolinguistics), prestige than standard language, which is mor ...

forms of Ukrainian and Belarusian in the areas historically influenced by

Polish culture The culture of Poland () is the product of its Geography of Poland, geography and distinct historical evolution, which is closely connected to History of Poland, an intricate thousand-year history. Poland has a Catholic Church, Roman Catholic ma ...

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

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

or language spoken at home by the Tutejszy in the historical region of ''

Kresy Eastern Borderlands (), often simply Borderlands (, ) was a historical region of the eastern part of the Second Polish Republic. The term was coined during the interwar period (1918–1939). Largely agricultural and extensively multi-ethnic with ...

'', which covers parts of modern

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, 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, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

and a bit of

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

. 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 sovereign state in northeastern Europe that existed from the 13th century, succeeding the Kingdom of Lithuania, to the late 18th century, when the territory was suppressed during the 1795 Partitions of Poland, ...

was Old Ruthenian ("руска мова", commonly called "simple speech" ("проста мова"). According to Christian Stang, it was based on the Ruthenian dialects of the region around

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 ...

. Also, the Podlachian microlanguage is referred to by locals as "our speech" (Своя мова), "simple speech" (проста мова), or "local speech" (тутейша мова) (cf. " Tutejszy").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 is the conservative Slavic liturgical language used by the Eastern Orthodox Church in Belarus, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Poland, Russia, Ukraine, Serbia, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, Slovenia and Croatia. The ...

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 (, , or simply , ) is a West Slavic languages, West Slavic language of the Lechitic languages, Lechitic subgroup, within the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family, and is written in the Latin script. It is primarily spo ...

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 Pole or poles may refer to: People *Poles (people), another term for Polish people, from the country of Poland * Pole (surname), including a list of people with the name * Pole (musician) (Stefan Betke, born 1967), German electronic music artist ...

speak Polish-Belarusian "simple speech". He notes that it is difficult to explain the discrepancy between the declared ethnicity and the specifics of language use: 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 (), Russianisation or Russianization, is a form of cultural assimilation in which non-Russians adopt Russian culture and Russian language either voluntarily or as a result of a deliberate state policy. Russification was at times ...

and tens of years of

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

. Jankowiak also notes that Bronisław Taraszkiewicz who was first to codify the Belarusian language (1918, "

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 ...

") hailed from

Mačiuliškės Mačiuliškės (, ) is a village in the Vilnius District Municipality, from Lavoriškės. It is the birthplace of Belarusian linguist Branislaw Tarashkyevich. References * ''Lietuvos TSR administracinio-teritorinio suskirstymo žinynas'', T. ...

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

See also

References

Further reading