Some Differences between Narkamauka and Tarashkevica as exemplified by selected issues related to verbs

Radosław Kaleta

Uniwersytet Warszawski

Abstract

In connection with the 80th anniversary of the introduction of narkamauka and 95th anniversary of the publication of the first edition of Belarussian grammar for schools by Bronislav Tarashkevich, the paper shows differences between two standards of the Belarusian language, the so called “narkamauka” (the variant of the Belarusian language used after the language reform from 1933, including later language changes up to present day) and the so called “tarashkevica” (the variant of the Belarusian language presented by Bronislav Tarashkevich in his grammar of the Belarusian language). The differences are exemplified by an analysis of issues related to the verb. The paper contains an in-depth analysis of the language material included in three editions (1918, 1929, 1943) of the grammar of Bronislav Tarashkevich. The examples included in these editions are compared with modern standards of the Belarusian language. The comparison also includes Belarusian dialects and various comments of Belarusian linguists, especially Jan Stankievich. The analysis shows that the differences between two standards of the Belarusian language are more profound and concern not only orthography.

Keywords:

verb, orthography, narkamauka, comparison