Mova Lab
Chronos: Interactive Timeline
Scroll through the ages to see how the language evolved.
The Chancellery of the Grand Duchy
The 1588 Statute of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania—one of Europe's first codified legal systems—was written in Old Belarusian. The language served as the official state language: courts, diplomacy, commerce—all operated in Belarusian.
1588 Statute
Vytautas' Seal
GDL Metrica
The Forbidden Leaflets
After the 1863 uprising, printing in Belarusian was banned. The language survived in secret leaflets, books, and newspapers—often in Latin script. Kalinoŭski's 'Mużyckaja prauda' became the voice of the people.
Mużyckaja Praŭda
Naša Niva
Kalinoŭski's Leaflet
BNR & The Standard
On March 25, 1918, the Belarusian People's Republic was proclaimed—the first attempt at statehood. Taraškievica became the first standard grammar. The language gained its official literary norm, and the trappings of statehood—charters and postage stamps—cemented its new status.
BNR CHARTER
TARAŠKIEVIČ'S GRAMMAR
BNR STAMP
The Reform: A Tradition Severed
In 1933, a Soviet reform radically altered Belarusian orthography: soft signs were removed, Latinisms were Russified, grammatical forms were brought closer to Russian. That same year the NKVD arrested Branisłaŭ Taraškievič, author of the first grammar. It was a deliberate strike against the language as a national instrument.
1933 REFORM
TARAŠKIEVIČ 1933
SOFT SIGN
Revival and Independence
On 25 August 1991 the Declaration of State Sovereignty was given the force of constitutional law. Belarusian was officially proclaimed the country's sole state language, and a broad, peaceful cultural revival began across every sphere of public life.
DECLARATION
PRESS REVIVAL
VINYL 1991
The Digital Renaissance
The language has moved into the digital. A national corpus gathers hundreds of millions of word usages, dictionaries are consolidating into open portals, and independent laboratories are building interactive projects. Belarusian is on the cutting edge once again.
BELARUSIAN CORPUS
VERBUM.BY
PAZNAJ.BY
Orthography: Narkamaŭka vs. Taraškievica
Two grammars, one language.
Śnieh cicha padaje na viasnovyja pali.
Benzin kaštuje doraha ŭ našym horadzie.
Heta byŭ vialiki plian dlia ŭsich.
My śnili pra liepšuju budučyniu.
Snieh cicha padaje na viasnovyja pali.
Bienzin kaštuje doraha ŭ našym horadzie.
Heta byŭ vialiki płan dlia ŭsich.
My snili pra liepšuju budučyniu.
Softness Map
In Taraškievica, consonants [s], [z], [c], [dz] soften before the next soft consonant. This is the famous assimilative softness.
Official (Narkamaŭka)
sviata
Classical (Taraškievica)
śviata
Rules & Explanations
A soft sign is placed between two consonants when the second is soft. This allows writing to mirror the living speech.
Śnieh · źvier · śćjah
Taraškievica preserves the soft [l] in words of Latin and Greek origin, as it was in Old Belarusian.
Plian · filiazofija · bijaliohija
The classical orthography also differs in noun and place-name declensions.
U Miensku · na liekcyi
Mova Lab
Three Tablets
One language — three alphabets. Type a word and watch.
The Cyrillic Legacy
Our primary code. Catch every Ў — the letter only we have.
Уўеў, і ўўогуле ўўё ў парадку
The Latin Tradition
Our European face. All the softness of the language — no extra letters.
SOFTNESS DECODER
Kitabs
Belarusian written in Arabic script. The books of Belarusian Tatars.
Chymy — invented letters
Arabic has no [ts], [ch], [p] — so the Tatars invented their own letters.
Havorki: The Living Voice
An audio archive of the country. Five voices from five corners of Belarus — pick a point on the map and hear how people speak there.
Source
Documentary expedition “Mova: How the Country Speaks”
Onliner & A1, 2019
Western Palessie
Palessie
Timecode
24:41–24:59
- Geo-tag
- Kupiacičy village, Pinsk district, Brest region
- Speaker
- Valancina Aliaksandraŭna Piakun · b. 1945
Transcript
Rańšie hovorиłи «kit» na kota, «kit», a tam kazałи «kut». On die dierievnia Radиško, možie, paru kiłomietriv, i Liubiel tak, tam tožie kazałи «kut», «vuz», «kuń». A v nas «kiń» kazałи na konia, «viz» kazałи na voza, iii na kota «kit», u nas «kit».
Tap a word to hear it in living speech.
Vocabulary test
Understand the dialect
Listen to the word and pick its meaning.
Scientific consultant of the expedition: Vadzim Shklaryk, Institute of Linguistics, National Academy of Sciences of Belarus. Excerpts are used for educational purposes.