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TheBelarusian Latin alphabet orŁacinka (fromBelarusian:лацінка,BGN/PCGN:latsinka,IPA:[laˈt͡sʲinka]) for the Latin script in general is theLatin script as used to write Belarusian. It is similar to theSorbian alphabet and incorporates features of thePolish andCzech alphabets. Today, Belarusian most commonly uses theCyrillic alphabet.
Łacinka was used in the Belarusian area from the 16th century. After theannexation of the Belarusian territory by theRussian Empire, Łacinka was completely banned by the Russian authorities during 1859-1905[1] in order to facilitate the switch to theCyrillic script and preferably to the Russian language. This banended 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 theoccupation 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 theNaša Niva weekly, theARCHE journal, and some of theBelarusian diaspora press on theInternet.
The system ofromanisation in the Łacinka is phonological rather than orthographical, and thus certain orthographic conventions must be known. For instance, the Łacinka equivalent to Cyrillicе can beje orie, depending on its position in a word. Also, there is nosoft sign in Łacinka; palatalisation is instead represented by a diacritic on the preceding consonant.
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| * Cyrillicе, ё, ю, я are equivalent toje, jo, ju, ja initially or after a vowel, toe, o, u, a after the consonantl (ля =la), and toie, io, iu, ia after other consonants. * Cyrillic л is generally romanised asł, but it is transliterated asl if it appears before ь, і, е, ё, ю, я, or another л followed by these letters. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Instruction on transliteration of Belarusian geographical names with letters of Latin script is similar to Łacinka, but transliterates Cyrillicл 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, digraphssz/cz were even sometimes used along with their modernized diacriticš/č replacements in the same text.
In the 16th century, the first known Latin renderings of Belarusian Cyrillic text occurred, in quotes ofRuthenian 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.
| Cyrillic | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| а | б | в | г | д | е | ё | ж | з | зь | і | й | к | л | ль | м | н | нь | о | п |
| р | с | сь | т | у | ў | ф | х | ц | ць | ч | ш | ы | ь | э | ю | я | |||
| c.1840s–c.1920s | |||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||
| a | b | w | h | d | je1 | jo1 | ż | z | ź | i | j | k | ł | l | m | n | ń | o | p |
| r | s | ś | t | u | u | f | ch | c | ć | cz | sz | y | – | e | ju1 | ja1 | |||
| c.1907–c.1937 | |||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||
| a | b | w | h | d | je1 | jo1 | ž | z | ź | i | j | k | ł | l | m | n | ń | o | p |
| r | s | ś | t | u | ŭ | f | ch | c | ć | č | š | y | – | e | ju1 | ja1 | |||
| c.1937-now | |||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||
| a | b | v | h | d | je1 | jo1 | ž | z | ź | i | j | k | ł | l | m | n | ń | o | p |
| r | s | ś | t | u | ŭ | f | ch | c | ć | č | š | y | – | e | ju1 | ja1 | |||
| Notes | |||||||||||||||||||
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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, notablyJan Čačot, Paŭluk Bahrym,Vincent Dunin-Marcinkievič,Francišak Bahuševič, and Adam Hurynovič. The Revolutionary DemocratKastuś Kalinoŭski used only the Latin script in his newspaperPeasants’ Truth (Belarusian:Мужыцкая праўда, in Latin script:Mużyckaja prauda, orMužyckaja 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:
In the 1920s in theBelarusian SSR, like theBelarusian 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 asVacłaŭ Łastoŭski).
From the 1920s to 1939, after the partition of Belarus (1921), the use of a modified Latin script was reintroduced to Belarusian printing inWestern 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).
| A a | B b | C c | Ć ć | Č č | D d | E e | F f | G g | H h |
| I i | J j | K k | L l | Ł ł | M m | N n | Ń ń | O o | P p |
| R r | S s | Ś ś | Š š | T t | U u | Ŭ ŭ | W w | Y y | Z z |
| Ź ź | Ž ž |
Belarusian was written in the Latin script in 1941 to 1944 in the German-occupied Belarusian territories and by the Belarusian diaspora inPrague (1920s – c.1945).
After theSecond World War, Belarusian was occasionally written in the Latin script by the Belarusian diaspora in Western Europe and the Americas (notably inWest Germany and theUnited States). In 1962,Jan Stankievič proposed a completely new Belarusian Latin alphabet.
| O o | A a | E e | B b | C c | Ć ć | Č č | D d | F f | G g |
| H h | Ch ch | I i | J j | K k | L l | Ł ł | M m | N n | Ń ń |
| P p | R r | Ś ś | Š š | T t | V v | U u | Ŭ ŭ | Dz dz | Dź dź |
| Dž dž | Z z | Ź ź | Ž ž |
Nowadays, Łacinka is used rarely apart from some posters and badges. Yet, some books continue to be published in this script. For instance:
In late 2021 aVK project of the Latin alphabet-based Belarusian Wikipedia, that is, the Biełaruskaja Wikipedyja łacinkaj, commenced.[9]
On the occasion of theInternational Mother Language Day (February 21) in 2023, a machine-converted website edition ofNaša Niva in Łacinka[10] was launched.[11][12]
