Nina Barshcheuskaya
The population of the Belarusian-Lithuanian borderland is polylingual. Alena Grynavetskyene wrote about certain phenomena of contact between Lithuanian and Slavic dialects in southeastern Lithuania.
“For example, residents of the southwestern outskirts of the Lithuanian capital (the southeastern part of the Vilnius district, the eastern part of the Trakai district, the Eisiskes district) mainly speak Belarusian (or, as they themselves say, ‘proста’ [simply]) and Polish; they know Russian; occasionally the elderly, aged 70 to 80 and older, speak Lithuanian; children of school age also speak Lithuanian poorly. (…) In the studied territory, in most cases in domestic use and social interaction, people speak Belarusian (‘proста’ [simply]), especially the middle generation and youth, although they consider themselves Poles” — Viktor Siankevich reported in the pages of “Zapisy” in 1976, referencing a publication by Alena Grynavetskyene (Viktor Siankevich, On the Question of the Polish Minority in Belarus, in: “Zapisy,” No. 14, New York 1976, p. 79).
The numerous problems caused by the failure to distinguish between the concepts of Litvins and Lithuanians were noted by Chuly Naziralnyk on the pages of “Batskausshchyna.”
“If one agrees with the Lithuanian representation of history, i.e., that the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a Lithuanian state, there was never a time when it included Belarusian lands only within the borders, roughly speaking, from Yeuja to Maladzyechna. Even in the worst period of historical Lithuania, the period of decline of this state, within the borders of 1772, its full composition included the Vilnius region, the Hrodna region and the Minsk region (both with Palessie, of course), the Polatsk region with the Vitsebsk region and the Mahiliou region. And in the normal period for the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, it also included the Smolensk region, the Severian land, and some other territories.” (Chuly Naziralnyk, On Lithuanian Responses, in: “Batskausshchyna,” February 23, 1949, p. 2)
Licwin-Hudas-Krews pondered the reasons for Lithuanian claims on Belarusian lands and concluded that, as in other unfortunate cases, their “older brother” — the Muscovite — helped them with this.
“Having subjugated Belarus, it was very disadvantageous for the Muscovites that Belarusians called themselves Litvins, this being their second national name after Krivichs, because that would always remind our people that their ancestors waged nearly incessant wars against Moscow. Therefore the Muscovites imposed the name ‘Belarusians’ on our people, and pushed the name ‘Lithuania,’ ‘Litvins’ onto the Lithuanians; at the same time, in their agitational-political literature, they promoted the view that the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a Lithuanian state, alien to our forefathers, who were allegedly torn away from Moscow. After some time, the Lithuanian national revival movement seized upon this concept, although previously this movement was called ‘Samogitian.’” (Licwin-Hudas-Krews, We and Our Neighbors, in: “Batskausshchyna,” No. 50, p. 3)
Licwin-Hudas-Krews referenced the works of earlier scholars and cited the statement of Professor Bruckner, who, examining a Polish translation of a Belarusian manuscript made in Zamosc, noted at the end: “I keep saying ‘Lithuanian,’ but this means ‘Belarusian,’ because in the 16th century nobody even dreamed of Lithuania in today’s meaning of that word.” The common people of Moscow, as well as the Ukrainian people, usually called Belarusians Litvins. There are characteristic examples of this in Dal’s dictionary: “No matter how much the Litvin tries to hide it, he’ll still ‘dzek’ [use the Belarusian phonetic feature]. Only a dead Litvin doesn’t ‘dzek.’”
The state language of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was also the Belarusian language. The code of laws of the GDL, the Lithuanian Statute, was not only Belarusian in its language but also in the origin of the laws contained therein, such as, for instance, the customary law of kopa courts. From earlier written laws, certain provisions from the constitutions of individual Belarusian lands — Polatsk, Vitsebsk, Smolensk — entered the Statute, such as clauses on personal inviolability. These had earlier entered the Privilege of Grand Duke Casimir of 1457, and from there into the Lithuanian Statute.
In connection with the dominance of the Belarusian language in the GDL, the fact was observed that it also spread to the Samogitian-Aukshtaitian nobility, who considered their own language low and peasant-like, and when writing their chronicles used the Belarusian language, considering it a higher language, as is typical of nationally assimilated people.
Licwin-Hudas-Krews noted that one cannot speak of the right of Lithuanians to Minsk or Brest merely because they were called Minsk Litouski and Brest Litouski. The presence of place names of Baltic origin on the territory of Belarus also does not attest to its Lithuanian character, because such names are normal for a Baltic-Slavic people, which is what the Belarusians are.