Stress in Belarusian words

Every Belarusian word has exactly one stressed syllable. The vowels о and э appear ONLY in stressed syllables. In unstressed positions, they shift to а. This is the hallmark of Belarusian pronunciation and spelling.

дом → дамы́ — house → houses (unstressed о becomes а)

вакно́ → во́кны — window → windows (stress shifts, so spelling changes)

рака́ → рэ́чка — river → little river (stressed а comes from unstressed о)

Akannie means that unstressed о is always written and pronounced as а. This is not optional — it is a strict spelling rule in Belarusian, unlike Russian where it is only a pronunciation feature.

вада́ (not *вода) — water — unstressed о → а

малако́ (not *молоко) — milk — both unstressed о's → а

галава́ (not *голова) — head — unstressed о's → а

Stressed э also becomes а

Just like о, the vowel э only appears under stress. When unstressed, it becomes а too. This sometimes affects the vowel е as well (яканне). • нясу́ (not *несу) — I carry • вясна́ (not *весна) — spring • зямля́ (not *земля) — land Remember: if you hear an unstressed vowel, it's probably а!

Vocabulary

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