bielaruskaja mova, беларуская мова
Native Speakers: 5 million; L2 Speakers: 1.3 million
Belarus, parts of Eastern Europe
Official: Belarus
Indo-European, Slavic (East Slavic)
It shares close linguistic ties with Russian and Ukrainian but retains distinct phonological, grammatical, and lexical features. Notably, Belarusian uses a phonetic spelling system, meaning words are written largely as they are pronounced. Belarusian grammar is highly inflected, with six grammatical cases and three genders, and its vocabulary includes many unique words of native origin as well as borrowings from Polish, reflecting historical and cultural influences.
Belarusian has two primary dialect groups: the North-Eastern (or Vitebsk-Mogilev) and the South-Western (or Brest-Pinsk) dialects, with a transitional Central dialect forming the basis of the modern standard language. These dialects differ in pronunciation, vocabulary, and some grammatical features. The North-Eastern dialect is more influenced by Russian, while the South-Western variety reflects greater influence from Ukrainian and Polish. Despite regional variation, the dialects are generally mutually intelligible and play a key role in preserving Belarusian linguistic identity, especially in rural areas.
Cyrillic script
In the United States, Belarusian is a heritage language spoken primarily within immigrant communities, particularly those that arrived during the 20th century and in more recent migration waves. While not widely spoken, Belarusian can be found in pockets of New York, New Jersey, Illinois, and California, where Belarusian-American cultural organizations, churches, and community centers help preserve the language. English is predominant among younger generations, but Belarusian is sometimes maintained in households, religious services, or cultural events. Due to its smaller speaker base, it is considered a low-diffusion language in the U.S., often requiring specialized interpretation and translation services.
At Latitude Prime, we offer Belarusian translation, Belarusian interpretation, and Belarusian localization services in numerous specialized subject areas and multiple dialects. Whether you need to translate legal documents into Belarusian, need a Belarusian interpreter for a business meeting in Minsk, or want to localize your website into Belarusian to market your products or services in Belarus, Latitude Prime has the customized language solution to meet all your Belarusian language needs.
