Spheres of usage of the Old Belarusian language as indices of the level of its development in the sixteenth century

Abstract

Old Belarusian has been studied as the state language of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania for a long period. Linguistic peculiarities have been analysed in studies of chronicles, literature, and legislative acts. This paper is concerned with the spread of Old Belarusian in the society of the GDL in the sixteenth century. Old Belarusian was used widely in international and domestic politics, executive and judicial systems, army, private documents, everyday life, and literature. The language was highly developed and was the main medium of communication and information transfer.