New tendencies in Belarusian dialects

Abstract

Belarusian dialects are in the neighborhood of Baltic dialects – West- and east-Slavonic, thereby creating zones of mixed or transitional dialects in the borderland and entering new mutual contacts every day at different social and language levels. Because of different situations in the central area and in borderland zones, new tendencies in Belarusian dialects are shown in the following order: 1. new tendencies in the central Belarusian area, 2. new tendencies in dialects in Belarus’ border area. The central dialectal area played a special role in the codification of Belarusian.  The dialectal features of this area are of distinct local origin as a result of mutual impacts and contaminations with peculiarities from various Belarusian dialects within this central zone rather than the outcome of development and separation from other Belarusian dialects as a consequence of contacts with dialects of the neighboring languages. In the border area the processes of language convergence are observable. In diachronic terms we can speak of the transition of next generation from the Belarusian dialect to the Russian language.