Belarus

Alphabet

The Belarusian language is based on the Ciryllic Alphabet, as in Russian,
Аа Бб Вв Гг Ґґ Дд ДЖдж ДЗдз Ее Ёё Жж Зз Іі Йй Кк Лл Мм Нн Оо
Пп Рр Сс Тт Уу Ўў Фф Хх Цц Чч Шш Ыы Ьь Ээ Юю Яя

For a best comprehension, we can start separating consonants from vowels,

Consonants (zyčnyja)
б -b like b in bit / baćka бацька
в -v like v in vine / vulica вуліца
ґ -g like g in go / gazeta ґазэта
г -h no equivalent sound. approx. like h
in how / hurok гурок
д -d like d in do / dobra добра
дж -d� like j in journey / d�ała джала
дзь -dź no equivalent sound. approx. like ds in raids / dzie дзе
ж -� like s in pleasure / �art жарт
з -z like z in zoo / zachad захад
зь -ź no equivalent sound; it is a soft palatalized z that sounds in between z and zh. /źmiest зьмест
к -k like k in kitten / kava кава
л -ł like l in lady / ły�ka лыжка
ль -l soft l (like in German) or l in lemon /lustra льюстра
м -m like m in my maci маці
н -n like n in not / nazva назва
нь -ń like n in near / pryvitańnie прывітаньне
п -p like p in pot / pakoj пакой
р -r trilled r (like a Scottish r) / rada рада
с -s like s in sun / sam сам
сь -ś no equivalent sound; it is a soft palatalized s that sounds in between s and sh / śviata сьвята
т -t like t in tip / tak так
ў -ŭ like w in window / aŭtar аўтар
ф -f like f in face / fryzura фрызура

Vowels (hałosnyja)
а -a between the a in cat and the u in cut / ale але
е -je or ie like ye in yet / dzie дзе
ё -jo or io like yo in yonder / jon ён
i -i like ee in see / ichny іхны
й -j like y in gay or boy. It is a semivowel, i.e. always combined with a full vowel. /sojm сойм
о -o like o in hot. / voka вока
у -u like oo in boot / vulica вуліца
ы -y a "dark" hard i, like the i in Chris / jany яны
э -e like e in met / heta гэта
ю -ju or iu like u in duke / junak юнак
я -ja or ia like ya in yard / jaki які

The pattern that I showed above is:
ciryllic letter -latin transcrption -example of pronuntiation in english- belarussian word in which the letter is used. Note that the examples I give in english don't translate the belarussian words.

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History

Beginning in the 6th century the territory of modern Belarus was settled by East Slavic tribes, the ancestors of the Belorussians. In the 9th and 10th centuries several principalities emerged, the most important being centered around Polotsk (Polatsk) Through dynastic links they came to be part of Kievan Rus' and were converted to Orthodox Christianity.

After the disintegration of Kievan Rus' in the 13th century, the Belorussian lands were incorporated into the expanding Grand Duchy of Lithuania. At first the Belorussians exerted a strong religious and cultural influence on the pagan Lithuanians; after the dynastic union of Lithuania and Poland in 1386, however, the Lithuanians converted to Latin Christianity, and the position of the Orthodox Belorussians began to decline. The Belorussian bishops accepted union with Rome in 1596. Most of the population adhered to the EASTERN RITE (Uniate) church, but the nobility largely adopted Latin Rite Catholicism along with the Polish language and culture.

In the Partitions of Poland (1772, 1793, and 1795; see POLAND, PARTITIONS OF), Belarus was annexed to the Russian Empire. In the 19th century the Russians and Poles competed for the loyalty of the Belorussian (largely peasant) masses.Only in the late 19th century, after a peasant revolt led by Kastus Kalinouski (Konstantin Kalinovsky) in 1863, did a distinct Belorussian national awareness begin to develop.This was further stimulated by a literary revival,exemplified by the works of the Belorussian poets Yakub Kolas and Yanka Kupala.

An independent Belarus was proclaimed (March 1918) after the collapse of the Russian Empire. After the POLISH-SOVIET WAR of 1920, however, western Belarus was occupied by Poland,and the eastern regions became the Belorussian SSR,part of the Soviet Union. In 1939, at the beginning of World War II, the western territories were also annexed by the USSR. As a principal theater of the war, Belarus suffered enormous devastation and lost one-quarter of its population. Postwar reconstruction was followed by a period of considerable economic development and rapid industrialization.

The reforms begun by Soviet leader Mikhail GORBACHEV in the mid-1980s stimulated a national revival,including the formation of a mass popular movement called Adradzhenne (Rebirth) in 1989, and unrest among Belorussian workers contributed to the economic crisis that hastened the end of the USSR. When the COMMONWEALTH OF INDEPENDENT STATES was formed by the former Soviet republics in December 1991, Minsk became its capital.