February 21, Pozirk. Ihar Kapyłoŭ, director of the Jakub Kołas Institute of Linguistics, on International Mother Language Day, February 21, expressed optimism about the prospects of Belarusian language survival.
“A language will live only when it performs its main function as a means of communication,” he said at a news conference in Minsk.
“As for the Belarusian language, according to the latest census, more than 2.5 million residents [2.4 million according to the 2019 census] said they consider it their mother tongue and use it,” said Kapyłoŭ, adding that this is “more than the population of many European countries.”
He said that the Belarusian language is prestigious among young people, noting that many youths attend Institute of Linguistics events. Young people are also “actively involved” in linguistics research, including the development of artificial intelligence software for transcribing ancient texts, he said.
A December poll found only 11 percent of city and town residents speaking Belarusian on a regular basis, while 88 spoke Russian. The proportion of Belarusian-speakers rose from 7 percent year on year, according to the Belarusian Identity in 2024 poll conducted by Filip Bikanaŭ and Kanstancin Nieściarovič.
