<p>Беларусь = Белая + Русь</p>

<p>Русь - is a short and ancient word for Russia.</p>

<p>Бела - is a short adjective of Белая which is white.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-07-31T19:13:40.587Z
2017-07-31T19:13:40.587Z
coobit
<p>In Chinese Belarus is <code>白俄罗斯</code>, which literally means <code>White Russia</code>. But I don't understand why it is called as such.</p>

<p>If you get more rigorous with the pronunciation, it is more like <code>be</code>, but since there seems to be no word to be pronunced <code>be</code> in Chinese, maybe <code>bei</code> might be preferrable. So <code>呗俄罗斯</code> or something like that.</p>

<p>Also why is it not more direct, such as <code>被拉入式</code> or something like that?</p>

<p>Is this related to some historical or political reasons? (Especially because <code>黑</code> is considered a bad word)</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-07-30T14:37:50.160Z
wiki has four possible answers: https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%99%BD%E4%BF%84%E7%BD%97%E6%96%AF
Tianyun Ling
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-07-31T19:23:54.527Z
Belarus means White Russia in Russian!
Stumpy Joe Pete
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-08-17T11:00:58.740Z
Related: [Did the name "白俄罗斯" exist in Chinese before 1991?](https://chinese.stackexchange.com/q/27489)
Becky 李蓓
<translation><etymology><word>
Why is Belarus called "White Russia"?
# Why is Belarus called "White Russia"?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-07-30)

In Chinese Belarus is `白俄罗斯`, which literally means `White Russia`. But I don't understand why it is called as such.

If you get more rigorous with the pronunciation, it is more like `be`, but since there seems to be no word to be pronunced `be` in Chinese, maybe `bei` might be preferrable. So `呗俄罗斯` or something like that.

Also why is it not more direct, such as `被拉入式` or something like that?

Is this related to some historical or political reasons? (Especially because `黑` is considered a bad word)

**Tags:** translation, etymology, word

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: wiki has four possible answers: https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%99%BD%E4%BF%84%E7%BD%97%E6%96%AF  
> **username_2**: Belarus means White Russia in Russian!  
> **username_3**: Related: [Did the name "白俄罗斯" exist in Chinese before 1991?](https://chinese.stackexchange.com/q/27489)  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_4 on 2017-07-31. Score: 2

Беларусь = Белая + Русь

Русь - is a short and ancient word for Russia.

Бела - is a short adjective of Белая which is white.


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