One of the most interesting dead languages is Old Slavonic. Words that were part of his vocabulary, grammar rules, even some phonetic features and the alphabet became the basis of the modern Russian language. Let's look at what kind of language it is, when and how it originated, and also whether it is used today and in what areas.
We will also talk about why they study it at universities, as well as mention the most famous and significant works on Cyrillic and Old Slavonic grammar. We recall Cyril and Methodius, the world-famous Solun brothers.
General information
Despite the fact that for centuries, scientists have been paying attention to this language, studying the Old Slavonic alphabet and the history of its development, there is not so much information about it. If the grammatical and phonetic structure of the language, the lexical structure is more or less studied, then everything regarding its origin is still in question.
The reason for this is that the creators of writing themselves either did not keep records of their work, or these records were completely lost over time. A detailed study of writing itself began only a few centuries later, when no one could say with certainty what kind of dialect became the basis of this writing.
It is believed that this language was artificially created on the basis of the dialects of the Bulgarian language in the 9th century and was used on the territory of Russia for several centuries.
It is also worth noting that in some sources you can find a synonymous name for the language - Church Slavonic. This is due to the fact that the origin of literature in Russia is directly related to the church. At first, the literature was ecclesiastical: books, prayers, parables were translated, and original scriptures were created. Moreover, in the main, this language was owned only by people serving the church.
Later, with the development of language and culture, Old Russian was replaced by Old Russian, which relied heavily on its predecessor. It happened around the XII century.
Nevertheless, the Old Slavonic initial letter came to us practically unchanged, and we still use it. We use the grammar system, which began to emerge even before the emergence of the Old Russian language.
Creation Versions
It is believed that the Old Slavonic language owes its appearance to Cyril and Methodius. And it is precisely this information that we find in all textbooks on the history of language and writing.
The brothers created a new script based on one of the Solun dialects of the Slavs. This was done primarily in order to translate biblical texts and church prayers into the Slavic language.
But there are other versions of the origin of the language. So, I. Yagich believed that the foundation of Old Slavonic was one of the dialects of the Macedonian language.
There is also a theory according to which the basis of the new written language was Bulgarian. Her nomination P. Shafarik. He believed that this language should be called Old Bulgarian, and not Old Slavonic. Some researchers are still debating this issue.
By the way, until now, Bulgarian linguists believe that the language we are considering is precisely Old Bulgarian, and not Slavic.
We can even assume that there are other, less well-known theories of the origin of the language, but they either were not considered in scientific circles, or their complete failure was proved.
In any case, Old Slavonic words can be found not only in Russian, Belarusian and Ukrainian, but also in Polish, Macedonian, Bulgarian and other Slavic dialects. Therefore, discussions about which of the languages are closest to Old Slavonic are unlikely to ever be completed.
Solun brothers
The creators of the Cyrillic alphabet and the Glagolitic alphabet - Cyril and Methodius - come from the city of Soluni, in Greece. The brothers were born in a rather wealthy family, so they were able to get an excellent education.
The elder brother, Mikhail, was born around 815. When ordained a monk, he received the name Methodius.
Konstantin was the youngest in the family and was born around 826. He knew foreign languages, knew the exact sciences. Despite the fact that many predicted success and a great future for him, Konstantin decided to follow in the footsteps of his older brother and also became a monk, receiving the name Cyril. He died in 869.
The brothers were actively involved in the dissemination of Christianity and scriptures. They traveled to different countries, trying to convey the word of God to people. But nevertheless, it was the Old Slavic alphabet that brought them world fame.
Both brothers were canonized. In some Slavic countries, May 24 is the day of Slavic writing and culture (Russia and Bulgaria). In Macedonia this day is revered by Cyril and Methodius. Two other Slavic countries - the Czech Republic and Slovakia - moved this holiday to July 5.
Two alphabets
It is believed that the Old Slavonic initial was created precisely by the Greek Enlightenment. In addition, initially there were two alphabets - the Glagolitic and Cyrillic. Briefly consider them.
The first is the Glagolitic. It is believed that its creator was Cyril and Methodius. It is believed that this alphabet has no foundation and was created from scratch. In Old Russia, it was used quite rarely, in some cases.
The second is Cyrillic. Its creation is also attributed to the Solun brothers. It is believed that the charter of the Byzantine letter was taken as the basis of the alphabet. At the moment, the Eastern Slavs — Russians, Ukrainians, and Belarusians — use the letters of the Old Slavic alphabet, or rather, the Cyrillic alphabet.
As for the question about which of the alphabets is older, then there is also no definite answer to it. In any case, based on the fact that both Cyrillic and Glagolitic were created by the Solun brothers, the difference between the time of their creation was hardly more than ten to fifteen years.
Was there writing before Cyrillic?
An interesting fact is that some scholars of the history of language believe that in Russia there was a written language even before Cyril and Methodius. Confirmation of this theory is considered the "Veles book", which was written by the Old Russian magicians even before the adoption of Christianity. At the same time, it was not proven in which century this literary monument was created.
In addition, scholars argue that in various records of ancient Greek travelers and scholars there are references to the presence of writing among the Slavs. It also refers to the agreements that the princes signed with the Byzantine merchants.
Unfortunately, it is still not precisely established whether this is true, and if so, what kind of writing was in Russia before the spread of Christianity.
Learning Old Slavonic
Regarding the study of the Old Slavonic language, it was of interest not only to scholars studying the history of the language, dialectology, but also Slavic scholars.
Its study begins in the 19th century with the formation of a comparative historical method. We will not dwell on this issue in detail, since, in fact, a person who is not closely familiar with linguistics, the names and surnames of scientists will not be interesting and familiar. We will only say that on the basis of research more than one textbook was compiled, many of them are used to study the history of language and dialectology.
In the course of research, theories of the development of the Old Slavonic language were developed, dictionaries of the Old Slavonic vocabulary were compiled, grammar and phonetics were studied. But at the same time, there are still unsolved secrets and mysteries of the Old Slavonic dialect.
We also allow ourselves to list the most famous dictionaries and textbooks of the Old Slavonic language. Perhaps these books may interest you and help you delve into the history of our culture and writing.
The most famous textbooks were published by such scholars as Khabugraev, Remneva, Elkina. All three textbooks are called “Old Slavonic language”.
A rather impressive scientific work was published by A. Selishchev. He prepared a textbook, consisting of two parts and covering the entire system of the Old Slavonic language, containing not only theoretical material, but also texts, a dictionary, as well as some articles on the morphology of the language.
The materials devoted to the Solun brothers and the history of the emergence of the alphabet are also interesting. So, in 1930, the work "Materials on the History of the Emergence of the Ancient Slavic Writing", written by P. Lavrov, was released.
No less valuable is the work of A. Shakhmatov, which saw the light in Berlin in 1908 - "The Legend of the Book in Slovenian." In 1855 the monograph by O. Bodyansky "On the time of the origin of Slavic writings" saw the light of day.
Also, the "Old Slavonic Dictionary" was compiled, based on manuscripts of the 10th-11th centuries, which was edited by R. Tseytlin and R. Vecherka.
All of these books are widely known. On their basis, not only write essays and reports on the history of the language, but also prepare more serious work.
Old Slavic vocabulary
A fairly large layer of Old Slavonic vocabulary inherited the Russian language. Old Slavonic words are quite firmly entrenched in our dialect, and today we will not even be able to distinguish them from the original Russian words.
Let's look at a few examples in order for you to understand how deeply the Old Slavs penetrated our language.
Church terms like “priest,” “sacrifice,” “wand,” came to us from the Old Slavonic language, and abstract concepts such as “power,” “distress,” and “consent” also come to us.
Of course, the Old Slavs themselves are much larger. Here are a few signs that indicate that the word is Old Slavism.
1. The presence of prefixes - and through. For example: return, excessive.
2. Compound tokens with the words God, good, sin, evil and others. For example: malevolence, the fall.
2. The presence of the suffixes -st-, -kn-, -usch-, -yushch, -ash- -yasch-. For example: burning, melting.
It would seem that we have listed only a few signs by which Old Slavicism can be defined, but you probably remembered more than one word that came to us from Old Slavonic.
If you want to know the meaning of Old Slavonic words, we can advise you to look into any explanatory dictionary of the Russian language. Almost all of them retained their original significance, despite the fact that more than a decade has passed.
Use at the present stage
At the moment, the Old Slavonic language is studied at universities in individual faculties and specialties, and is also used in churches.
This is due to the fact that at this stage of development, this language is considered dead. Its use is possible only in the church, as many prayers are written in this language. In addition, it is worth noting the fact that the first sacred scriptures were translated precisely into the Old Slavonic language and are still used by the church in the form that it was centuries ago.
Regarding the world of science, we note the fact that Old Slavonic words and their individual forms are often found in dialects. This attracts the attention of dialectologists, allowing you to study the development of the language, its individual forms and dialects.
Researchers of culture and history also know this language, as their work is directly related to the study of old memos.
Despite this, at this stage, this language is considered dead, since nobody, for a long time, speaks it, as well as in Latin, Greek, and only a few know it.
Church use
The most widely used language is in the church. So, Old Slavonic prayers can be heard in any Orthodox church. In addition, excerpts from church books and the Bible are also read on it.
At the same time, we also note that church employees, young seminary students also study this dialect, its features, phonetics and graphics. Today, the Old Slavonic language is rightfully considered the language of the Orthodox Church.
The most famous prayer, which is often read in this dialect, is "Our Father." But there are still many prayers in the Old Slavonic language, which are less known. You can find them in any old prayer book or you can hear them visiting the whole church.
University Studies
The Old Slavonic language is widely studied at universities today. Pass it at the philological faculties, historical, legal. In individual universities, it is possible to study for philosopher students.
The program includes the history of origin, the Old Slavonic alphabet, especially phonetics, vocabulary, and grammar. The basics of syntax.
Students not only learn the rules, learn to pronounce words, parse them as part of speech, but also read texts written in this language, try to translate them and understand the meaning.
All this is done so that philologists can further apply their knowledge to study long-standing literary memos, features of the development of the Russian language, its dialects.
It is worth noting that it is rather difficult to study the Old Slavonic language. The text written on it is difficult to read, since it contains not only a lot of archaisms, but the very rules for reading the letters "yat", "ep" and "yer" at first are difficult to remember.
Thanks to the knowledge gained, historian students will be able to study long-standing monuments of culture and writing, read historical documents and annals, and understand their essence.
The same applies to those who study at the faculties of philosophy, law.
Despite the fact that today Old Slavonic is a dead language, interest in it has not ceased to this day.
conclusions
It was Old Slavic that became the basis of the Old Russian language, which, in turn, replaced the Russian language. Words of Old Slavic origin are perceived by us as primordially Russian.
A significant layer of vocabulary, phonetic features, the grammar of East Slavic languages - all this was laid back in the period of development and use of the Old Slavic language.
Old Slavonic is formally a dead language in which only ministers of the church currently communicate. It was created back in the 9th century by the brothers Cyril and Methodius and was originally used to translate and record church literature. In fact, Old Slavonic was always a written language that was not spoken by the people.
Today we no longer use it, but at the same time it is widely studied at the philological and historical faculties, as well as in theological seminaries. Today, Old Slavonic words and this old language can be heard visiting a service in the church, since all prayers in Orthodox churches are read on it.