Minsk or Mensk?
Post categories: Student blog
| 22:01 UK time, Wednesday, 15 December 2010
Abigail asked to tell more about Minsk and Mensk. Though it is quite a complicated question and I'm not a historian I'll try in short ;)
It is supposed that the city's name comes from the name of the river Menka. In ancient times 'Minsk' was used too (depending on the influence of other languages on Belarusian in different periods), but 'Mensk' was being kept in spoken language. And at the times of BSSR (Belarusian Soviet Socialistic Republic) there was a period when 'Mensk' was an official name of the city, though in 1939 it was renamed by the government to 'Minsk'. Russification and repressions of national activists are among the versions of its reasons... In 1991 some deputies wanted to return 'Mensk' but the proposal was rejected since there were not enough votes. So Minsk is Minsk now, but some media (opposition especially) still use 'Mensk' and pre-reformed language, which seems to be just more natural
Comment number 1.
At 15th Dec 2010, Lumens wrote:Hi Veronika.
Thanks for your blog, it's so interesting to learn more about Minsk.
Could you tell us more about Belorussian language and its history plaese?
Are you studying English in uni?
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Comment number 2.
At 15th Dec 2010, Veronika wrote:Hello!!
Oh, thanks for asking about the language! I was thinking about it, too!
i will write about it later.
And yes,i study English at university. What about you?
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Comment number 3.
At 16th Dec 2010, Lumens wrote:Thanks. It would be really amazing to read such a post!
I am currently studying architecture. I prefer to read books in English, it is difficult for me sometimes b'cause of my level, but so useful.
Do you like reading?
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Comment number 4.
At 16th Dec 2010, Abigail Wincott wrote:Thanks Veronika. So many cities round the world have very political names. In the UK we have a city in Northern Ireland called ... well it was called Derry. Then the British renamed it Londonderry. Now you have to make a choice, whether to call it Derry/Londonderry, and by choosing you make a political choice. The sign / is called a stroke, and so one local radio presenter in Northern Ireland has named the city 'Stroke City.'
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Comment number 5.
At 16th Dec 2010, Veronika wrote:yeah, seems it's everywhere.. thanks for sharing this too
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