
West Polesian (захыднёполіськая мова, ''zakhydnyopolis'kaya mova'') is the
East Slavic dialect group (or
variety) spoken in southwestern
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 ...
, in northwestern
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 ...
and adjoining regions of
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
. There is controversy regarding whether West Polesian belongs to Belarusian or Ukrainian, or is a separate
microlanguage (as has been proposed by linguist
Aleksandr Dulichenko).
Various variants or dialects of West Polesian are used in everyday speech. Attempts were made in the 1990s by
Nikolai Shelyagovich to develop a standard written language, although his efforts received almost no support and the campaign eventually ceased. In particular, writer
Nil Hilevich and some others spoke against Shelyagovich, claiming that he represented a threat to the national integrity of Belarus, and labelled "
Yotvingian separatism".
History
The formation of the Polesian literary language itself began in 1988 thanks to the efforts of the philologist and poet
Nikolai Shelyagovich. Then the social and cultural association "
Polesie" ''(Полісьсе)'' was created and the development of a written norm of a special Polesian ("Yotvingian" in the terminology of Shelyagovich and his supporters) language began. In 1990, a constituent conference was held, at which various ethnographic and linguistic problems of Polesia were discussed, and, in particular, the creation of a written Polesian language.
In the newly created literary language in 1988–1990, several inserts with the title "Балесы Полісся" (Pages of Polesia) were published in the Belarusian newspaper "Чырвоная змена" (Chyrvonaja Zmena), several rotary issues of the "information bulletin" (small newspaper) "Zbudinne" ("Awakening"). In 1990–1995, the newspaper "Zbudinne" was published every 2 weeks, was widely sold in newsstands in the
Brest Region and in
Minsk
Minsk (, ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the administra ...
, and one could subscribe to it. The circulation of the newspaper averaged about 2-2.5 thousand copies. Also in this language were written several theses for the Yotvingian (Polesian) scientific-practical conference, held in Pinsk on April 13–14, 1990. The rest of the abstracts were written in Russian, Belarusian and Ukrainian. In 1992, a book of chess miniatures "Jitveža Šaxova mynjatjura" was published in the Western Polesian language in Shelyagovich's version.
Orthography
«Yotvingian»
In 1990, an alphabet was proposed by Nikolai Shelyagovich.
Klimchuk's script
Belarusian dialectologist recorded spoken texts and wrote translations in the dialect of the author's native village (). Among other things, he did translation of the
New Testament
The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...
.
«Арыентаваўся на мову дзеда». Навошта навуковец пераклаў Новы Запавет на заходнепалескі дыялект
'' Radio Liberty'', December 7, 2017
See also
* Beresteishchyna
* Simple speech
References
{{Authority control
East Slavic languages
Languages of Belarus
Languages of Ukraine
Languages of Poland