Language status

History

An act allowing the use of Belarusian in Polish courts and schools was being prepared by Władysław Sikorski’s government before the war, but never came into force due to the collapse of the government. The Polish parliamentary majority was reluctant to grant Belarusians any political autonomy (Mironowicz 2010: 11Mironowicz 2010 / komentarz/comment/r /
Mironowicz, Eugeniusz 2010. „Białorusini w Polsce (1919-2009)”, w: Teresa Zaniewska (red.) Białorusini. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Sejmowe, s. 9-28.
). In 1925, Belarusian Members of Parliament created Białoruska Włościańsko-Robotnicza Hromada parliamentary club (the Belarusian Peasants' and Workers' Union) which saw a chance for Belarus’ autonomy only in cooperation with the USSR. The party was outlawed in 1927 and its members arrested. After several years of prison, they were transferred to USSR as part of a prisoner exchange. Accused of spying for Poland, they died in the Soviet Union in the years 1937-38 during mass repressions.
Belarusian Christian Democracy considered Christianity to be the basis for social order and stressed every nation’s right to self-determination. They demanded the right to education in the Belarusian language, as well as the language’s presence in religious life.
The most influential party was an autonomous local organisation of the Communist Party of Poland – the Communist Party of Western Belarus. It represented the interests of the USSR and remained dependent on the Comintern (Communist International Movement – an international organization bringing together various communist parties) (Mironowicz 2010: 13Mironowicz 2010 / komentarz/comment/r /
Mironowicz, Eugeniusz 2010. „Białorusini w Polsce (1919-2009)”, w: Teresa Zaniewska (red.) Białorusini. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Sejmowe, s. 9-28.
). Branislaw/Bronisław Tarashkyevich, the creator of Belarusian orthography, belonged to this party.
In the second half of the 1930s, all manifestations of Belarusian national movement were fought under the pretext of struggle against communism (Mironowicz 2010: 14-15Mironowicz 2010 / komentarz/comment/r /
Mironowicz, Eugeniusz 2010. „Białorusini w Polsce (1919-2009)”, w: Teresa Zaniewska (red.) Białorusini. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Sejmowe, s. 9-28.
).
The policy of PKWN (Polski Komitet Wyzwolenia Narodowego, The Polish Committee of National Liberation – the executive organ in Poland created in Moscow in 1944 and remaining under J. Stalin’s control) was twofold: on one hand, the rights of Belarusians were extended and the people engaged in building the communist state; on the other hand, they were repatriated as part of a deal with USSR. At the same time the Polish underground resistance movement persecuted Belarusians trying to make them leave for USSR. Repressions were treated as a part of revenge for cooperating with the new authorities. Romuald Rajs’s (nom de guerre “Bury”) unit is known to have murdered 79 members of the Orthodox Church from Bielsk Podlaski County (Mironowicz 2010: 17-18Mironowicz 2010 / komentarz/comment/r /
Mironowicz, Eugeniusz 2010. „Białorusini w Polsce (1919-2009)”, w: Teresa Zaniewska (red.) Białorusini. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Sejmowe, s. 9-28.
).
1946 brought a change in the Polish government’s policy: the people who remained in Poland were recognised as Poles of the Orthodox Church.
They were not granted any national minorities rights but had full rights as Polish people. In the times of People's Republic of Poland, government policy kept changing. However, from 1955 onwards, organisation structures of the minority operated continuously under the government’s control. Except for caring for the Belarusian culture, they aimed at propagating ideas which were in line with the policy of the governing Polish United Workers' Party (Mironowicz 2010: 19-23Mironowicz 2010 / komentarz/comment/r /
Mironowicz, Eugeniusz 2010. „Białorusini w Polsce (1919-2009)”, w: Teresa Zaniewska (red.) Białorusini. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Sejmowe, s. 9-28.
).
The “Solidarity” trade union movement in the Białystok region was of a national-Polish and Catholic character. The minority representatives who became initially engaged in the movement, soon abandoned it due to “Catholics expressing savage indignation at any aspect of Ruthenian otherness”. According to Eugeniusz Mironowicz, activists from ”Solidarność” viewed Belarusians and Orthodox Christians as “a part of the Soviet world”. Moreover, the authorities tried to underscore the conflict of interests between the opposition and the national minority (Mironowicz 2010: 24Mironowicz 2010 / komentarz/comment/r /
Mironowicz, Eugeniusz 2010. „Białorusini w Polsce (1919-2009)”, w: Teresa Zaniewska (red.) Białorusini. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Sejmowe, s. 9-28.
).
Nevertheless, oppositional activities took place in the 1980s within the minority itself, for example through the establishment of Białoruskie Zrzeszenie Studentów (Belarusian Students’ Association), publishing illegal magazines and other materials, as well as celebrating the anniversary of proclaiming the independence of the Belarusian People’s Republic (25 March 1918). The latter event attracted also members of the Polish opposition (Mironowicz 2010: 24Mironowicz 2010 / komentarz/comment/r /
Mironowicz, Eugeniusz 2010. „Białorusini w Polsce (1919-2009)”, w: Teresa Zaniewska (red.) Białorusini. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Sejmowe, s. 9-28.
).

Official status

The statue of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was written in the Ruthenian language, which is identified by some researchers with the Belarusian language (e.g. Straczuk 1999: 22Straczuk 1999 / komentarz/comment/r /
Straczuk, Justyna 1999. Język a tożsamość człowieka w warunkach społecznej wielojęzyczności. Pogranicze polsko-litewsko-białoruskie. Warszawa: UW.
). Ruthenian remained the chancery language of the Great Duchy of Lithuania until 1696 when, by the Parliament’s decision, it was replaced by Polish at the request of the nobility from Nowogródek (Navahrudak) (Michaluk 2010: 38Michaluk 2010 / komentarz/comment/r /
Michaluk, Dorota 2010. Białoruska Republika Ludowa 1918–1920. Toruń: Wydawnictwo Naukowe UMK.
). No chance to use Belarusian language varieties in public life appeared until the 20th century. Currently, in spite its official status, the Belarusian language is not held in high esteem by a meaningful percent of the society (Straczuk 1999: 24Straczuk 1999 / komentarz/comment/r /
Straczuk, Justyna 1999. Język a tożsamość człowieka w warunkach społecznej wielojęzyczności. Pogranicze polsko-litewsko-białoruskie. Warszawa: UW.
). Pursuant to Art. 10 of the Law on national and ethnic minorities and regional language of 6 January 2005, the following municipalities (gminas ) in the Podlaskie Voivodeship, where Belarusian is used as an auxiliary language, were included in the Official Record of Municipalities:

Hajnówka /Bel. Гайнаўка – urban municipality (since 2007),
Orla /Орля (since 2009),
Narewka / Нараўка(since 2009),
Czyże / Чыжы(since 2010),
Hajnówka / Гайнаўка– rural municipality (since 2010)

(http://mac.gov.pl/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Lista-gmin-wpisanych-do-Urz%C4%99dowego-Rejestru-Gmin-w-kt%C3%B3rych-jest-u%C5%BCywany-j%C4%99zyk-pomocniczy.pdf). Except for Narewka, these municipalities are situated outside the region of Belarusian dialects in M. Sajewicz’s understanding (cf. Sajewicz 1997Sajewicz 1997 / komentarz/comment/r /
Sajewicz, Michał 1997. „O białorusko-ukraińskiej granicy językowej na Białostocczyźnie.”, w: Feliks Czyżewski & Michał Łesiów (red.) Ze studiów nad gwarami wschodniosłowiańskimi w Polsce. Lublin: Wydawnictwo UMCS, s. 91-107.
), but according to statistical data, the residents declare using Belarusian. The Ministry’s register of municipalities where Belarusian is used by over 20% of population includes 7 other municipalities where Belarusian could be introduced as an auxiliary language in the light of the law (cf. http://www2.mswia.gov.pl/download.php?s=1&id=947).
By now, official Polish-Belarusian names have been introduced in 27 towns and villages. Ratification of the European Charter of for Regional or Minority Languages in Poland includes the Belarusian language.

Media

Belarusian literature created in Poland appeared in the magazine Czasopis and, to a lesser degree, in Przegląd Prawosławny (Kruk 1997: 69Kruk 1997 / komentarz/comment/r /
Kruk, Mikołaj 1997. „Białorutenika w białostockich czasopismach i periodykach w latach 1985-1995”, w: Jan F. Nosowicz (red.) Dziedzictwo przeszłości związków językowych, literackich i kulturowych polsko-bałto-wschodniosłowiańskich. Białystok: UB, s. 63-72.
). Białoruskie Stowarzyszenie Literackie Białowieża (Belarusian Literary Association Białowieża) publishes a literary and artistic annual Termapiły (http://kamunikat.org/termapily.html).
The weekly magazine Niwa was launched as an organ of the government-supported Białoruskie Towarzystwo Społeczno-Kulturalne (Belarusian Socio-Cultural Society). Kalendarz Białorusi was first published in 1957. Both magazines are still published to this day. Niwa has been independent of BTSK since 1992 (Kalina 2010: 63-65Kalina 2010 / komentarz/comment/r /
Kalina, Jerzy 2010. „Białorusini w Polsce w prasie, radiu i telewizji (1956-2008)”, w: Teresa Zaniewska (red.) Białorusini. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Sejmowe, s. 63-76.
).
In the 1980s, there appeared independent Belarusian periodicals and other publications outside censorship’s control, such as Białaruskija dakumanty, Kantakt and Aposznija pawiedamleńni BAS. There also existed in samizdat a religious magazine Fos (Kalina 2010: 66-69Kalina 2010 / komentarz/comment/r /
Kalina, Jerzy 2010. „Białorusini w Polsce w prasie, radiu i telewizji (1956-2008)”, w: Teresa Zaniewska (red.) Białorusini. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Sejmowe, s. 63-76.
).
In the 1990s, the magazines Czasopis (published in Polish and Belarusian) and Hołas Haradka were established (Kalina 2010: 69Kalina 2010 / komentarz/comment/r /
Kalina, Jerzy 2010. „Białorusini w Polsce w prasie, radiu i telewizji (1956-2008)”, w: Teresa Zaniewska (red.) Białorusini. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Sejmowe, s. 63-76.
).
Since 1998, the University of Warsaw has been issuing a scientific journal Acta Albaruthenica, while the Białorutenistyka Białostocka magazine has been published by University of Białystok since 2009. The first radio programme in Belarusian was broadcast on Polish Radio in Białystok on 15 June 1958 – after that, the programme was broadcast once a week. In 1959, programmes in radio broadcasting centres appeared as well. Since 1990, a programme in Belarusian has been broadcast daily for fifteen minutes and on Fridays and Sundays for half an hour. The programme’s name has been Pad znakam Pahoni since 1993. Additionally, there is the Saturday Belarusian-language Koncert życzeń and two Orthodox Christian religious programmes: Duchounyja sustreczy and Pierad wychadam u Carkw.
Other broadcasts in Belarusian language, such as a concert at the Belarusian Singer-songwriters Festival Jesień Bardów, appear sporadically.
The radio channel Radyo Racyja broadcasts from Białystok in Belarusian exclusively. The channel is also available on the Internet (http://racyja.eu). Another channel that has its seat in Poland is Euroradio, aimed primarily at broadcasting on the territory of Belarus (http://euroradio.by/).
The regional channel of Polish Television in Białystok presents a weekly programme Tydzień białoruski. Morevover, the TVP Białystok branch produces documentaries devoted to subjects concerning Belarus. In addition, Polish Television broadcasts Biełsat, a Belarusian-language channel aimed primarily at viewers in Belarus. It features a series of programmes Беларусы ў Польшчы (Belarusians in Poland).
Dialect appears in magazines and on Internet websites. The Padlaska Cyberwioska website (http://cybervioska.w.interia.pl) is run fully through the medium of “simple language” – the dialect of Belarusian used by the Catholic population of the Sokółka region (Maksimjuk 2009: 70Maksimjuk 2009 / komentarz/comment/r /
Maksimiuk, Jan 2009. „Napišy štoś ludśkie...”, Czasopis 7/8: 70-72.
).
The Belarusian Internet Library Kamunikat also operates from Poland (http://www.kamunikat.org), providing access to books, magazines and recordings in Belarusian.

Education

Russian was the compulsory language in schools in the times of the Russian Empire. Even when some national minorities (e.g. Lithuanians, Georgians, Kalmyks, Jews) were given access to education in their national languages by the act of Duma in 1910, Ukrainian and Belarusian children were still taught in Russian, their languages treated as dialects of Russian (Michaluk 2010: 50Michaluk 2010 / komentarz/comment/r /
Michaluk, Dorota 2010. Białoruska Republika Ludowa 1918–1920. Toruń: Wydawnictwo Naukowe UMK.
).
In the 20th century, Polish policy towards Belarusian education was inconsistent. In 1919, the Polish government abolished the Belarusian school system previously introduced by the Germans (Romanowska 2010: 78Romanowska 2010 / komentarz/comment/r /
Romanowska, Ewa 2010. „Szkoła białoruska w Polsce – od czasów II po III Rzeczpospolitą”, w: Teresa Zaniewska (red.) Białorusini. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Sejmowe, s. 77-105.
). In the same year, five courses offering additional qualifications for teachers of Belarusian were created for 1500 people (Romanowska 2010: 79Romanowska 2010 / komentarz/comment/r /
Romanowska, Ewa 2010. „Szkoła białoruska w Polsce – od czasów II po III Rzeczpospolitą”, w: Teresa Zaniewska (red.) Białorusini. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Sejmowe, s. 77-105.
). After the creation of Middle Lithuania (Poland-dependent puppet state subsequently annexed to Poland), 186 Belarusian primary schools were established. In the years to follow, the number of such schools began to fall, and in 1923 there were only about 22 - 38 of them (the numbers vary depending on the source – Romanowska 2010: 79Romanowska 2010 / komentarz/comment/r /
Romanowska, Ewa 2010. „Szkoła białoruska w Polsce – od czasów II po III Rzeczpospolitą”, w: Teresa Zaniewska (red.) Białorusini. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Sejmowe, s. 77-105.
).
In 1924, a bill was passed in Poland which was to allow the creation of bilingual schools with Belarusian, but the implementing acts to it practically blocked the development of Belarusian-language education system. A year after the bill was introduced, there were 3 Belarusian-medium schools with 425 pupils, while the Belarusian population was over 2 million (Mironowicz 2010: 11Mironowicz 2010 / komentarz/comment/r /
Mironowicz, Eugeniusz 2010. „Białorusini w Polsce (1919-2009)”, w: Teresa Zaniewska (red.) Białorusini. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Sejmowe, s. 9-28.
, Romanowska 2010: 79Romanowska 2010 / komentarz/comment/r /
Romanowska, Ewa 2010. „Szkoła białoruska w Polsce – od czasów II po III Rzeczpospolitą”, w: Teresa Zaniewska (red.) Białorusini. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Sejmowe, s. 77-105.
).
In 1944, schools in the Belarusian language started to be established with the consent of the Council of Education of PKWN (the Polish Committee of National Liberation). All these schools were abolished in the years 1945-1947. From 1949 onwards, Belarusian educational system was re-introduced. By the end of the school year 1949/1950, 39 Belarusian schools and some Belarusian classes were created.
In the school year 1969/1970, there were 163 Belarusian primary schools with 11,302 pupils, but from 1970 onwards, education in Belarusian started to be reduced. In the school year 1973/1974 there were only 103 schools with 5,983 pupils (Mironowicz 2010: 22-23Mironowicz 2010 / komentarz/comment/r /
Mironowicz, Eugeniusz 2010. „Białorusini w Polsce (1919-2009)”, w: Teresa Zaniewska (red.) Białorusini. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Sejmowe, s. 9-28.
).
In the school year 2011/2012, Belarusian was studied as a national minority language by:

• 1,383 pupils in 23 primary schools,
• 790 students in 16 middle schools (gimnazjum),
• 745 students in 3 high schools (ZWS 2012ZWS 2012 / komentarz/comment/r /
  Mały rocznik statystyczny 2012. MRS 2012 Warszawa: ZWS.
  ).

After graduating from secondary school in Poland, one can take the Matura exam in Belarusian. Courses in Belarusian philology are offered at the University of Białystok and the University of Warsaw. Moreover, Belarusian language courses are conducted at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań.

Religious life

As a result of the so-called Union of Brest signed in 1596 in Brest-Litovsk, the Orthodox Church in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was officially incorporated into the Catholic Church, retaining the Eastern rite (although part of the hierarchy and congregation did not yield to this decision). Since then, the vast majority of Ruthenian noblemen converted to Latin Rite Catholicism, while the so-called “Ruthenian faith” became a peasants’ creed and lost its prestige (Straczuk 1999: 25Straczuk 1999 / komentarz/comment/r /
Straczuk, Justyna 1999. Język a tożsamość człowieka w warunkach społecznej wielojęzyczności. Pogranicze polsko-litewsko-białoruskie. Warszawa: UW.
). During the Russian partition, in 1839 in Połock (today’s Belarus), Uniats officially became part of the Eastern Orthodox Church, although the process was not finalized with a single act. Nevertheless, from this time on, Orthodox Christianity became the predominant denomination among Belarusians.
Before the Second World War, Belarusian Christian Democracy called for using the Belarusian language in both Catholic and Orthodox religious life. It was fought by state and church authorities, since the Catholic Church was supposed to be a tool in the Polonization of Belarusian people. Priests who preached in Belarusian were persecuted (Mironowicz 2010: 13Mironowicz 2010 / komentarz/comment/r /
Mironowicz, Eugeniusz 2010. „Białorusini w Polsce (1919-2009)”, w: Teresa Zaniewska (red.) Białorusini. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Sejmowe, s. 9-28.
).
From 1937 onwards, Polish setting for the Orthodox religious began to be formed on the territories reagrded by the authorities as lacking a crystallized national identify (the regions of Vilnius, Grodno and Białystok). In places where the local population rejected the Polish language and culture in Orthodox Church life, churches were demolished. In 1938, around hundred sacral buildings were destroyed (Mironowicz 2010: 16Mironowicz 2010 / komentarz/comment/r /
Mironowicz, Eugeniusz 2010. „Białorusini w Polsce (1919-2009)”, w: Teresa Zaniewska (red.) Białorusini. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Sejmowe, s. 9-28.
).

Attitudes

Along with the spread of the Polish language among the Ruthenian nobility, the Belarusian language lost its prestige to a large degree and began to be treated as a peasant language of only local scope (Straczuk 1999: 23Straczuk 1999 / komentarz/comment/r /
Straczuk, Justyna 1999. Język a tożsamość człowieka w warunkach społecznej wielojęzyczności. Pogranicze polsko-litewsko-białoruskie. Warszawa: UW.
). Belarusian was commonly thought to be a dialectal variation of Russian; consequently Russian elements were easily spread to the language. This phenomenon became stronger in religious life after the unification of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church with the Russian Orthodox Church. Young Orthodox peasantry succumbed easily to Russification (Straczuk 1999: 25Straczuk 1999 / komentarz/comment/r /
Straczuk, Justyna 1999. Język a tożsamość człowieka w warunkach społecznej wielojęzyczności. Pogranicze polsko-litewsko-białoruskie. Warszawa: UW.
). To this day, it is argued by some that Belarusian language variations are nothing but ”papsuta polska mowa, zaśmieczana rasiejskimi słowami, padrusyfikawana” – “spoiled Polish, polluted with Russian words, strongly Russified” (http://cybervioska.w.interia.pl/mova_2.htm). The stereotype of a Belarusian communist waiting for incorporation of the region into the USSR was prevalent among Poles in the Białystok area in the early years of the People’s Republic of Poland. At the same time, Belarusians perceived Poles as nationalists who murdered women and children because of their otherness. The mutual hostility made any cooperation between the two nations impossible (Mironowicz 2010:19Mironowicz 2010 / komentarz/comment/r /
Mironowicz, Eugeniusz 2010. „Białorusini w Polsce (1919-2009)”, w: Teresa Zaniewska (red.) Białorusini. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Sejmowe, s. 9-28.
).
Jan Czeczot perceived similarities between the Belarusian language, which he called mowa krywicka, “Krivian language”, and Sanskrit. He thought that introducing Krivian vocabulary would enhance literary Polish – at the same time, however, he was critical towards borrowings from other sources (Czeczot 1846: VI-VIICzeczot 1846 / komentarz/comment/r /
Czeczot, Jan 1846. Piosnki wieśniacze znad Niemna i Dźwiny, niektóre przysłowia i idiotyzmy w mowie Sławiano-Krewieckiej, s postrzeżeniami nad nią uczynionymi. Wilno: Józef Zawadzki.

). Alaksandr Krywicki considered the Southwestern dialects of Belarusian, which include also the varieties observed in Poland, as “somewhat most Belarusian when it comes to the entirety and character of features and means” (2003: 160Krywcki 2003 / komentarz/comment/r /
Kрывіцкі, Аляксандр А. [Krywicki] 2003. Дыялеакталогія беларускай мовы. Мінск: Вышэйшая школа.
).

Text samples

Dialectal texts

• Dialectal text from Jaginty (Sokółka County, Podlaskie Voivodeship)

A u̯o teras, u̯o, siejuć awios i siejacca lon, i paźniej na Stanisława siejuć, ale teras siejuć ad razu s‿afsom lon. Nu a puźniaj pałóź toj lon trebo, pa pałoni znou̯ rwać paśpieja. Nu paśpieja lon rwać, potym pasuszyć jaho trebo, pabić, a tedy słać toj lon. Kiedyści na ciernicy, teraz to traczki takija, kiedyści na ciernicach, rencznia cierli. Puźniaj patrécca toj lon, trea trapać. Patrapajacca, czasać, paczeszacca j tedy praść toj lon. I praść adno na kuzal, druhoja na zrebninu, trecia płachy, na worki, jak na szto. Nuj tedy znóu̯ tkać. Wyczczacca, tedy znóu̯ bielicca ta usieŋ́ko.

(after: Kondratiuk i Łapicz 1972: 139Kondratiuk i Łapicz 1972 / komentarz/comment/r /
Kondratiuk, Michał & Czesław Łapicz 1972. „Jaginty, pow. Dąbrowski”, w: Antonina Obrębska-Jabłońska (red.) Teksty gwarowe z Białostocczyzny z komentarzem językowym. Warszawa: PWN, s. 135-140.
)

• Dialectal text from Gliniszcz Mały (Sokółka County, Podlaskie Voivodeship)

A łubin to tam na dau̯ kach kala Krywoho, toj łubin siejali, to szcze słoŋko, szczce ciomno było trebo wychodzić iści ś‿śarpkom żaci toj łubin. Ala pukil zojdziasz, słoŋko u̯ że u̯ haru zojdzia, try kilomentry, ji zaraz toj łubin ablataja, szcze tak wo czasto nohi rwali, bo bosy pa tych kamieniach, pa giegach pachodzi za karóumi, ta ji mnie rwali ji Germani tój szto u̯ Amercy, to pakul zkłyhajasz kulhajuczy da toho łubinu, ji u̯ że żniem, padażniem, słonaczko padydzia u̯ haru, to takija kapiakie znóu̯ składali. Pierszo takoja koło stawicca wo tak u̯ o, łubin, a potym znóu̯ tak nakładajacca, ni wiazali, bo chto jaho pawiaża? Tam było taho łubinu, na adnoj pasłoscy stajóu̯ mo jakich ź‿dziewiać, tyja nadau̯ ki takija szyrokija pa wosim zahony ji pa jakich troji staji, chto jaho pawiazau̯ by, tam nawozou̯ ‿sz ni było, ni hnoju tam ni zawiaziesz, ta tylko tam łubin siejali, ala u̯ że potym jak pawozim toj łubin, to ceła starana u̯ stadoli, dau̯ niej u̯ adryni, ceła starana. Ji potym małacili ji wazili tam dzieści jaho prodać. Ni wiedaju pa czom jaho prodali, ni pomniu.

(after: Łapicz 1972: 145Łapicz 1972 / komentarz/comment/r /
Łapicz, Czesław 1972. „Gliniszcze Małe, pow. sokólski”, w: Antonina Obrębska-Jabłońska (red.) Teksty gwarowe z Białostocczyzny z komentarzem językowym. Warszawa: PWN, s. 141-149.
)

• Dialectal text from Nowodworce (Białystok County, Podlaskie Voivodeship)

To czydzieścié pasemki treba na dziesiéńć pasᵉm, na dziesiéńć pasᵉm, bo to czynowaty worki tkućcia; to treba na dziesiéńć. A na kużal to treba napraść szeździesiónt dwa pasemki, to budzie ściéna, bo to cieniutko; a treba snować u dwadzieścia dwa pasam, to budzie ciéniutki tój kużal. Kiedyść ja tkała dwanaście ścien, to tak cztéry ścien słany len był, to taki siwiutki był, a te to był znuf swoje po swoim dwanaście ścian. To wy wiecie, to jedén son siat pszyszet, to muwi tak, ojej, Wićkowo, szto ty heta, kaźᵉ, czczesz takoja pieknoja, a u̯ on taki bielutki, taki sliczniutki; a jak płocha, żep udał sie, o nasz mama to tak u̯ o, bywało, ajej dzieci, kiepski kużel, maszku niéma, maszku, maszku niéma. Jak moszek chodzi po tem płotnie taki, pyłek u̯ o tag‿by moszek, to jusz strasznie uda się f‿płocha.

(after: Łapicz i Sawicka 1972: 169-170Łapicz i Sawicka 1972 / komentarz/comment/r /
Łapicz, Czesław & Irena Sawicka 1972. „Nowodworce, pow. białostocki”, w: Antonina Obrębska-Jabłońska (red.) Teksty gwarowe z Białostocczyzny z komentarzem językowym. Warszawa: PWN, s. 167-173.
)

Poetry

Mikoła Hajduk
Świetlaki

Nocz tumanam ścielecca;
Sonny plos raki,
Tolki za asielicaj -
U łuzie świetlaki.

Byccam z nieba zornaha
Chtoś rukoj znarok
Siarod łuha czornaha
Strachnuu zory u zmrok

(after: Hajduk 1988: 7Hajduk 1988 / komentarz/comment/r /
Hajduk, Mikoła 1988. Cisz. Białystok: Wojewódzki Dom Kultury.

)

Functional text – a recipe

Czyrwony borszcz z uszkami
(adna porcyja: 214 kaloryj, padrychtouka: 50 min, warenie: 45 min, pradukty dla 4 asob)

na zupu: 5 burakou, 1 morkwa, 1 pietruszka, kawałak salera, 10 zieran czornaho piercu, 2 zierna anhielskaho ziela, 1 zubok czosnyku, 1 babkowy listok, sol, cukar, sok z cytryny, 80 hramou suszonych hrybou
na ciesto: 15 dekahramou mukie, 1 ijko, 1 łożka wade
na farsz: hrybe uwaranyja u zupi, 1 cybula, łożka tartaj bołki, 1 ijko, sol, pierac

Hrybe umyć, namaczyć praz nocz i uwaryć u hetaj ża samaj wodzi, u jakoj maczylisa. Warywa abłupić, uwaryć razam z abłuplenymi i parezanymi u dziażki burakami i pryprawami.
Adcedzić hrybe i warywa. Wadu, u jakoj warylisa hrybe i waryva ulić da adnaho harszczka. Kab zupa mieła piekniejszy koler, możno dadać kryszku buraczanaho kancentratu. Daprawić solaj, piercam, sokam z cytryny, czosnykam i jeśli trebo cukram. Padhreć, ale ni waryć, kab zupa ni zhubiła swajeho koleru.
Zrabić farsz da uszkou. Hrybe i cybulu drobnieńko parezać, padskwaryć na maśli, dadać tartu bołku, ijko i pryprawy. Wymieszać.
Z mukie, ijka i haraczoj wade zahnieści ni wielmi ćwiorde ciesto, tonko jaho razwalać i parezać na maleńkija kwadraty. Na każdym kwadraciku pałażyć farszu, złażyć na pałowu i zlepić bierahie. Patom zlepić prociulehłyja rahie. Uszka waryć u asobnym kipiatku. Kiedy wypłynuć na wierch, waryć jaszcze chwilinu i wyciahnuć z wade.
Uszka ułażyć na hłybokich talerkach i zalić haraczym borszczam.
Czyrwony borszcz najlepszy paśla troch - czatyroch dzion.

(after: http://cybervioska.w.interia.pl/infarmacyi_1.htm)

Current state of knowledge

Samples and dialectological data

Samples of Belarusian dialects of the Białystok region are to be found in a joint publication Teksty gwarowe z Białostocczyzny z komentarzem językowym edited by A. Obrębskaj-Jabłońska (Obrębska-Jabłońska 1972Obrębska-Jabłońska 1972 / komentarz/comment/r /
Obrębska-Jabłońska, Antonina (red.) 1972. Teksty gwarowe z Białostocczyzny z komentarzem językowym. Warszawa: PWN.
). Literary texts in Belarusian dialects appear in minority magazines e.g. Czasopis.
Dialectal material from the territory of Poland was included in Слоўнік беларускіх гаворак паўночна-заходняй Беларусі и яе пагранічча (A dictionary of Belarusian dialects of the North-West Belarus and its borderland) by Jozefa Mackiewicz (Юзэфа Фларыянаўна), published in Minsk in 1979. Detailed information on Belarusian varieties and other linguistic varieties of the Białystok region are to be found in Atlas gwar wschodniosłowiańskich Białostocczyzny (Atlas of the East-Slavic Dialects of the Białystok Region) published 1980-2002.

Material culture

The Belarusian Ethnographic Museum in Białowieża was closed in the 1970s. Its exhibition was transferred to Muzeum Wsi Północno-Wschodniej Polski (the Museum of the Countryside of North-East Poland) in Ciechanowiec. The exhibition was displayed there under changed names, presented as “relics of the folk craft material culture in North-East Poland” (Mironowicz 2010: 22Mironowicz 2010 / komentarz/comment/r /
Mironowicz, Eugeniusz 2010. „Białorusini w Polsce (1919-2009)”, w: Teresa Zaniewska (red.) Białorusini. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Sejmowe, s. 9-28.
).
At present, Muzeum i Ośrodek Kultury Białoruskiej (the Museum and Centre of Belarusian Culture) in Hajnowka exhibits the material culture of Belarusian people produced since the end of the 19th century.

Institutional background

Białoruskie Towarzystwo Społeczno-Kulturalne (the Belarusian Socio-Cultural Society), founded 1956, is the oldest existing Belarusian organization in Poland. Its aims at working for the national culture, Belarusian identity and spreading knowledge about Belarus. BTSK cooperated with the Ministry of National Education in organizing Belarusian classes in schools (Kossakowska 2007: 157Kossakowska 2007 / komentarz/comment/r /
Kossakowska, Ilona 2007. „Mniejszości narodowe i etniczne w województwie podlaskim”, w: Antoni Mironowicz & Marcin Ulanowski (red.) Kościoły i związki wyznaniowe, a świadomość narodowa mieszkańców pogranicza. Białystok: Wyższa Szkoła Administracji Publicznej im. Stanisława Staszica, s. 155-168.
).. Związek Białoruski w RP (the Belarussian Association in the Republic of Poland), founded 1993, assembles numerous Belarusian associations, including the Program Board of the Niwa weekly magazine. The institution organizes seminars on history and literature and maintains contacts between the Belarusian minority and cultural elites in Belarus (Kossakowska 2007: 157Kossakowska 2007 / komentarz/comment/r /
Kossakowska, Ilona 2007. „Mniejszości narodowe i etniczne w województwie podlaskim”, w: Antoni Mironowicz & Marcin Ulanowski (red.) Kościoły i związki wyznaniowe, a świadomość narodowa mieszkańców pogranicza. Białystok: Wyższa Szkoła Administracji Publicznej im. Stanisława Staszica, s. 155-168.
).
The aim of Związek Młodzieży Białoruskiej (Belarusian Youth Association), founded 1992, is to develop initiative among young Belarusians , as well as spreading knowledge about Belarusians and their traditions ((Siegień-Matyjewicz 2007: 68Siegień-Matyjewicz 2007 / komentarz/comment/r /
Siegień-Matyjewicz Alicja J. 2007. Poczucie tożsamości narodowej młodzieży pochodzenia białoruskiego. Olsztyn-Warszawa: Białoruskie Zrzeszenie Studentów.
).
Białoruskie Stowarzyszenie Literackie Białowieża (Belarusian Literary Association Białowieża), founded 1990, is involved in publishing and organizes cultural and literary seminars (Kossakowska 2007: 158Kossakowska 2007 / komentarz/comment/r /
Kossakowska, Ilona 2007. „Mniejszości narodowe i etniczne w województwie podlaskim”, w: Antoni Mironowicz & Marcin Ulanowski (red.) Kościoły i związki wyznaniowe, a świadomość narodowa mieszkańców pogranicza. Białystok: Wyższa Szkoła Administracji Publicznej im. Stanisława Staszica, s. 155-168.
).
Białoruskie Towarzystwo Historyczne (Belarusian Historical Society), founded in 1993, supports the academic work in history and Belarusian studies, and popularizes historical knowledge about Belarusians (Kossakowska 2007: 158Kossakowska 2007 / komentarz/comment/r /
Kossakowska, Ilona 2007. „Mniejszości narodowe i etniczne w województwie podlaskim”, w: Antoni Mironowicz & Marcin Ulanowski (red.) Kościoły i związki wyznaniowe, a świadomość narodowa mieszkańców pogranicza. Białystok: Wyższa Szkoła Administracji Publicznej im. Stanisława Staszica, s. 155-168.
).
Stowarzyszenie Dziennikarzy Białoruskich (the Belarusian Journalists’ Association), founded 1992, gathers together Belarusian journalists and publicists (Kossakowska 2007: 158Kossakowska 2007 / komentarz/comment/r /
Kossakowska, Ilona 2007. „Mniejszości narodowe i etniczne w województwie podlaskim”, w: Antoni Mironowicz & Marcin Ulanowski (red.) Kościoły i związki wyznaniowe, a świadomość narodowa mieszkańców pogranicza. Białystok: Wyższa Szkoła Administracji Publicznej im. Stanisława Staszica, s. 155-168.
).
Białoruskie Stowarzyszenie Studentów (Belarusian Students’ Association), founded 1988, integrates the Belarusian student community (Kossakowska 2007: 158Kossakowska 2007 / komentarz/comment/r /
Kossakowska, Ilona 2007. „Mniejszości narodowe i etniczne w województwie podlaskim”, w: Antoni Mironowicz & Marcin Ulanowski (red.) Kościoły i związki wyznaniowe, a świadomość narodowa mieszkańców pogranicza. Białystok: Wyższa Szkoła Administracji Publicznej im. Stanisława Staszica, s. 155-168.
).