reference to language has appeared in English-language texts since at least 1921. Alternative Great Lithuanian () – proposed and used by Yan Stankyevich since the 1960s, intended to part with the "diminishing tradition of having the name related to the Muscovite tradition of calling the Belarusian lands" and to pertain to the "great tradition of Belarusian statehood". Kryvian or Krivian (, ) – derived from the name of the Slavonic tribe Krivichi, one of the main tribes in the foundations of the forming of the Belarusian nation. Created and used in the 19th century by Belarusian Polish-speaking writers Jaroszewicz, Narbut, Rogalski, Jan Czeczot. Strongly promoted by Vacłaŭ Łastoŭski. Vernacular Simple () or local () – used mainly in times preceding the common recognition of the existence of the Belarusian language, and nation in general. Supposedly, the term can still be encountered up to the end of the 1930s, e.g., in Western Belarus. It is widely used to this day in Pomerania in reference to the mixed Polish-Belarusian dialects spoken there. Simple Black Ruthenian () – used in the beginning of the 19th century by the Russian researcher Baranovski and attributed to contemporary vernacular Belarusian. Phonology Although closely related to other East Slavic languages, especially Ukrainian, Belarusian phonology is distinct in a number of ways. The phoneme inventory of the modern Belarusian language consists of 45 to 54 phonemes: 6 vowels and 39 to 48 consonants, depending on how they are counted. When the nine geminate consonants are excluded as mere variations, there are 39 consonants, and excluding rare consonants further decreases the count. The number 48 includes all consonant sounds, including variations and rare sounds, which may be phonetically distinct in the modern Belarusian language. Alphabet The Belarusian alphabet is a variant of the Cyrillic script, which was first used as an alphabet for the Old Church Slavonic language. The modern Belarusian form was defined in 1918, and consists of thirty-two letters. Before that, Belarusian had also been written in the Belarusian Latin alphabet (Łacinka / Лацінка), the Belarusian Arabic alphabet (by Lipka Tatars) and the Hebrew alphabet (by Belarusian Jews). The Glagolitic script was used, sporadically, until the 11th or 12th century. There are several systems of romanizing (transliterating) written Belarusian texts; see Romanization of Belarusian. The Belarusian Latin alphabet is rarely used. Grammar Standardized Belarusian grammar in its modern form was adopted in 1959, with minor amendments in