Is Belarusian a language?

[JiaTheResearcher]

Most languages originate from locally spoken dialects, uneducated violations of mainstream linguistic norms.
In case of "Belarussian" it's not even a language because most Belarussians refuse to speak it. Without forced learning of school textbooks it would be forgotten and no one wold feel sorry about it.

[fyodorov]

That doesn't really matter.
Regardless if one considers it a language or a dialect, it doesn't imply anything, either way.

For example, Basque is much more unique from Spanish than Belarusian is from Russian.
Yet the collective West doesn't deem it deserving for the Basques to get independance.

Hence, even if Belarusian is a language, it's doesn't mean Belarus deserves independence from Russia.
Belarus exists just on a map, so Russia might as well annex it, if you ask me. Nothing would really change anyways.

Except for the hypocritical West crying more of their crocodile tears, of course.
But actually this judgement would be totally irrelevant.

Because if they truly cared about sovereignity of the peoples, they would care in every case.
Not pick and choose just when it's convenient for their interests.

+1

[Your Old Comrade]

It's hard to tell if it's a language or a dialect, but I understand about 35-40% of this verse. It seems to be quite pure Belarusian, and not the so-called “trasyanka”. I think that the border regions of Germany and the Netherlands understand each other better.

Мы чакалі Калядаў з маленства
І ніяк не маглі дачакацца
Тату трэба было на работу
Маці трэба было на працу

А Гагарын ляцеў на ракеце
Па-над нашым дваром ды садам
Мы глядзелі усьлед са зьдзіўленьнем
І міжволі чакалі Калядаў

Мы ўвосень падпальвалі лісьце
Мы ўзімку хварэлі на глянды
І прыклаўшы далоні да вуснаў
У цямрэчы чакалі Калядаў

Мы пісалі ў школе дыктоўкі
Нас вадзілі глядзець на парады
Прафсаюз выдаваў карамэлькі
Мы бралі і чакалі Калядаў

Нам даводзілі, хто мы і што мы
Нас вучылі выконваць загады
Нам казалі, ды мы ня чулі
Мы ўпотай чакалі Калядаў

Мы рабілі высновы хутка
Мы павольна сьпявалі баляды
Мы назлосьць валасы расьцілі
І ўпарта чакалі Калядаў

Што з таго, што ўсё гэта зьнікла
Быццам бурбалкі ад ліманаду
Засталіся сям'я ды дзеткі
Засталося чаканьне Калядаў

Засталіся сябры ды праца
А адзін, дык "вабшчэ" ў Канадзе
Мы на сьвяты дашлем паштоўку
Будзем разам чакаць Калядаў

Позна ў вечары посуд памыем
І пакінем, каб сохнуў на тацы
Мы чакаем Калядаў з маленства
І ня можам ніяк дачакацца.

Correct analogy. Someone from Limburg province would understand someone from Cologne, Munster is understood in the Dutch Graafschap and Twenthe.

[Sorab12]

[Scarface F]

Most languages originate from locally spoken dialects, uneducated violations of mainstream linguistic norms.
In case of "Belarussian" it's not even a language because most Belarussians refuse to speak it. Without forced learning of school textbooks it would be forgotten and no one wold feel sorry about it.

As far as I heard it was Russian that was forced via education system, not Belarusian. I highly doubt Soviet Union promoted Belarusian language in schools

[Your Old Comrade]

Most languages originate from locally spoken dialects, uneducated violations of mainstream linguistic norms.
In case of "Belarussian" it's not even a language because most Belarussians refuse to speak it. Without forced learning of school textbooks it would be forgotten and no one wold feel sorry about it.

In Dutch we'd say "he has heard the toiling of the bell, but he doesn't know where the clapper is". That expression would apply to you. There is not a single country that tries enforce the use of what you call uneducated violations of mainstream linguistic norms (in other words: the real language of the people instead of the metropolitan standard of the economic, cultural and political elite), but every country has attempted to stamp it out in order to enforce the will of the elite. My country definitely did/ does that and Russia was/is no better.

[JiaTheResearcher]

As far as I heard it was Russian that was forced via education system, not Belarusian. I highly doubt Soviet Union promoted Belarusian language in schools

Actually Soviet Union promoted learning Ukrainian and Belarussian in national republics. As well as studying local languages in national districts of Russian Federative Soviet Republic.
USSR was more poly-linguistic than you used to think.

[MCMXCV]

Belorussian belongs to the same subgroup of East Slavic languages as Ukrainian and Rusyn. The other East Slavic subgroup is represented by Russian alone.

The western edge of the East Slavic world has been contested between various empires through history, which resulted in different influences on the language that has one common origin. However, this is a normal process and is how many — if not most — languages formed. Calling something a language rather than a dialect and vice versâ has become a political matter, as it implies legitimacy in ruling over a certain area and its people.

The most important thing is that the local populace can speak their language variety freely and that it isn’t deliberately endangered by linguistic policies. The official/state language shouldn’t replace it, but in today’s globalised world with mass media, this is near to impossible.

[Varda]

This is what i heard about Belarusian language from Serbian scholar dr Zoran Milošević whose narrow specialty is action of the Papacy towards Orthodoxy since 16th century. It is based on speech of some village near border with Lithuania or Latvia (i forgot exactly). Creators of standard Belarusian language took a speech of that village as a basis for standard to be as different as possible from Russian language. Most of Belarusians speak Russian in everyday communication, and even of those people who use artificial Belarusian language than language is not native. Except creating a separate language from Russian goal of Jesuits was to return Belarusian people on Greek-Catholicism. According to dr Milošević during the Polish rule ancestors of Belarusians converted to Greek-Catholicism, but in the 18th century when Russians liberated own soil White Russia returned locals to Orthodoxy. Milošević say attempt of creation of the anti-Russian Belarusian nation failed, unlike in Ukraine where it was successfully created anti-Russian nation from Little Russians.

[Nurzat]

Most languages originate from locally spoken dialects, uneducated violations of mainstream linguistic norms.

you cannot call it uneducated as educated actually means standardized and imposing one artificial standard, which sucks. power to all (regional) languages!

even Ukrainian is a standard that is killing the local languages, like Rusyn and Hutsul in the Carpathians, for example.

Romanian is killing Moldovan, which is a contact language between Romanian and pre-Vlach (Slavic) inhabitants of Moldova.

so Belarusian has every right to express itself in the area it's spoken, in its many forms.

one population can at any moment decide to switch language and go back to their local speech, bring back old forgotten words etc, like Croats did to differentiate from Serbs for example. hope Moldovans will do that to differentiate from Romanians etc.

language standardization is authoritarian. standard is useless, only mutual intelligibility above a certain degree is important for interpersonal communication, the rest must be allowed as local, regional and even personal variance! each person should be free to speak and write as they please