Borrowings and where they came from

Why the vocabulary differs

Belarusian and Russian share most of their inherited Slavic stock. Where they diverge is in what they borrowed and from whom, and the reason is geography: the lands were part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and then the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth for centuries, so the borrowing went west while Russian's went in other directions.

The Polish layer

The largest, and the reason so much Belarusian vocabulary looks unfamiliar to a Russian speaker:

The German layer

Mostly through Polish, and mostly crafts, building and trade: дах (Dach), цэгла - brick, шруба - screw, варштат - workshop, цэх, кухня, фарба - paint.

The Latin layer

Through the schools and the chancery of the Grand Duchy, so it is concentrated in law, learning and administration: адвакат, студэнт, кансул, рэктар, капітул. Latin was a working language of the Commonwealth's education, and it left more here than it did further east.

The Baltic layer

Small but old, from centuries of contact with Lithuanian: клуня - barn, жвір - gravel, пуня - hayshed, свіран - granary. These are farm and landscape words, which is what you would expect from neighbours rather than rulers.

How borrowings are adapted

• They take Belarusian phonetics: akanne applies, and г is the fricative sound.
• Most take a declension: кава - кавы - каве.
• Those ending in a vowel usually stay indeclinable: кіно, таксі.
• They form derivatives freely: ровар gives роварыст, кава gives кавярня - a coffee house.

The point for a learner

When a Belarusian word looks nothing like the Russian one, the answer is usually Polish. Knowing that gives you a second guessing strategy - and if you know any Polish at all, a large free vocabulary.