How to write correctly: Republic of Belarus or Belarus?

Turkmenistan or Turkmenistan, in Ukraine or Ukraine, Moldova or Moldova? These grammatical dilemmas puzzle many citizens and give rise to sharp disputes, which very often flow into the political plane. In this article we will consider one such example: the Republic of Belarus or Belarus - how to write and speak correctly?

State of 8 letters

The country, which will be discussed in this article, is located in Eastern Europe, in temperate latitudes. This is one of the former republics of the USSR. In general, the "legs" of the problem, how to write and say correctly - the Republic of Belarus or Belarus, "grow" precisely from the Soviet past of the state.

This sore issue regularly pops up in various forums and social networks. Moreover, discussions on this issue are often not conducted between philologists or linguists, but between "pro-Russian" and "pro-Western", smoothly turning into cheap politicking.

In fact, the answer to the question "How correctly to say: the Republic of Belarus or Belarus?" Hidden not so deep as it may seem. Let's try to answer it in this article.

Curiosity with Dmitry Medvedev

In 2009, at a meeting with journalists, Dmitry Medvedev (then he was the president of the Russian Federation), they recommended correctly calling a neighboring country. Literally it sounded like this: "8 letters, the fourth - and, in the end - a soft sign". The remark, although it was of a comic nature, however the head of state promised to put things in order and put a fatty point in the question: "The Republic of Belarus or Belarus?"

Soon the Minister of Justice of Russia came to Minsk to discuss all the nuances of the problem with the country's leadership. He also promised that special letters will be sent to all government offices and other important instances of the Russian Federation with detailed explanations.

Nevertheless, most journalists in Russia perceived such recommendations as "hitting" on the press. That is why, in 90% of Russian media the neighboring state continues to be called "Byelorussia". What can I say, even if in Wikipedia, which a priori should be an objective and competent resource, this country is signed exactly that way.

The Republic of Belarus or Belarus - how is it the same?

More recently, the company "Yandex" has addressed the same question to the Institute of Russian language named after VV Vinogradov. The request was formulated as follows: "The Republic of Belarus or Belarus, how correctly is the name of this country written, in accordance with the norms of the modern Russian language?"

The scientists of the Institute sent a detailed and reasonable answer.

It said that both options have the right to exist. However, it is worthwhile to distinguish between the everyday level of communication (spoken language) and the official level. The Republic of Belarus is the official name of the young state, which appeared on the map of Europe in 1991. It was recorded in all relevant official documents, including in Russian. On this basis, at the official level, only this term should be used. We are talking about television, printed publications, official documents, public speeches, Internet resources, etc.

In addition, there is the so-called "All-Russian classifier of countries of the world", which was approved back in 2001. The last changes to this document were made in January 2014. All the countries of the world are listed in alphabetical order, and their correct names are also indicated. And in this classifier it is also quite clearly and unambiguously written: "The Republic of Belarus". The same goes for another former country of the socialist camp - the Republic of Moldova (it's correct to write exactly that, not Moldova, as many people mistakenly say).

Republic of Belarus or Belarus: the roots of the problem

Why did this problem arise at all? And where do her "legs" grow from?

The fact is that the country with the name Belorussia officially existed in the recent past. Rather, it was a republic within the great power - the Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic (or BSSR). It was at that time that the roots of this linguistic problem were taking shape.

Scientists and philologists from Belarus are especially sensitive and painful to this issue. And they very much hope that in the near future their country in the post-Soviet space will be called correctly.