| West Polesian | |
| Nativename: | захыднёполіськая мова |
| States: | Belarus, Ukraine, Poland |
| Region: | Southwestern Belarus, northwestern Ukraine, bordering regions of Poland |
| Speakers: | ? |
| Familycolor: | Indo-European |
| Fam2: | Balto-Slavic |
| Fam3: | Slavic |
| Fam4: | East Slavic |
| Ancestor: | Proto-Indo-European |
| Ancestor2: | Proto-Balto-Slavic |
| Ancestor3: | Proto-Slavic |
| Ancestor4: | Old East Slavic |
| Ancestor5: | Ruthenian |
| Script: | Cyrillic |
| Dia1: | Motolian |
| Isoexception: | dialect |
| Glotto: | west2977 |
West Polesian (захыднёполіськая мова, zakhydnyopolis'kaya mova) is the East Slavic dialect group (or variety) spoken in southwestern Belarus, in northwestern Ukraine and adjoining regions of Poland. There is controversy regarding whether West Polesian belongs to Belarusian or Ukrainian, or is a separate microlanguage (as has been proposed by linguist Aleksandr Dulichenko).
Various variants or dialects of West Polesian are used in everyday speech. Attempts were made in the 1990s by Nikolai Shelyagovich to develop a standard written language,[1] although his efforts received almost no support and the campaign eventually ceased.[2] In particular, writer Nil Hilevich and some others spoke against Shelyagovich, claiming that he represented a threat to the national integrity of Belarus, and labelled "Yotvingian separatism".[3]
The formation of the Polesian literary language itself began in 1988 thanks to the efforts of the philologist and poet Nikolai Shelyagovich. Then the social and cultural association "Polisse" (Полісьсе) was created and the development of a written norm of a special Polesian ("Yotvingian" in the terminology of Shelyagovich and his supporters) language began. In 1990, a constituent conference was held, at which various ethnographic and linguistic problems of Polesia were discussed, and, in particular, the creation of a written Polesian language.[4]
In the newly created literary language in 1988-1990, several inserts with the title «Балесы Полісся» (Pages of Polesia) were published in the Belarusian newspaper «Чырвоная змена» (Chyrvona Zmena), several rotary issues of the "information bulletin" (small newspaper) "Zbudinne" ("Awakening"). In 1990-1995, the newspaper "Zbudinne" was published every 2 weeks, was widely sold in newsstands in the Brest Region and in Minsk, and one could subscribe to it. The circulation of the newspaper averaged about 2-2.5 thousand copies. Also in this language were written several theses for the Yotvingian (Polesian) scientific-practical conference, held in Pinsk on April 13–14, 1990. The rest of the abstracts were written in Russian, Belarusian and Ukrainian. In 1992, a book of chess miniatures "Jitvezha Shakhova mynyatyur" was published in the Western Polesian language in Shelyagovich's version.[5]
In 1990, an alphabet was proposed by Nikolai Shelyagovich.
| А а | Б б | В в | Г г | Ґ ґ | Д д | Е е | Ж ж | З з | И и | |
| І і | Ы ы | Ј ј | К к | Л л | М м | Н н | О о | П п | Р р | |
| С с | Т т | У у | Ф ф | Х х | Ц ц | Ч ч | Ш ш | Шч шч |
Belarusian dialectologist recorded spoken texts and wrote translations in the dialect of the author's native village .[6] Among other things, he did translation of the New Testament.[7]