Lexical variation as a factor in the differentiation of closely related languages (on the problem of Belarusian-Russian language interaction and mutual influence)

Abstract

The article considers the issues of lexical variability in the modern Belarusian standard language taking into account the peculiarities of its historical development and function, describes the types of lexical variants and reveals the reasons and ways of their development; it shows the effect of intra-language lexical variability on the development and nature of cross-language lexical variability (cross-language lexical parallelism) in conditions of closely related bilingualism; the main types of differences between the lexical units of the closely related Belarusian and Russian languages and their role in the manifestation of the national specificity of the Belarusian language in comparison with Russian are established.

Keywords

• national language
• closely related bilingualism
• language purism
• lexical variability