Few of the Slavonic literary languages can boast a history of uninterrupted development as extensive as that enjoyed by Russian or Polish. The majority, like Byelorussian, were formed, or re-formed, in the 19th century, often after years of suppression or neglect, receiving their impetus from the tide of nationalism that swept Europe in the wake of Napoleon. The origins and development of these 'new' literary languages present the philologist with a field of enquiry that is at once interesting and comparatively little-known, and it was in the hope of throwing some further light on one of its particularly neglected aspects that the present study was undertaken.