The Russian alphabet has undergone many changes over its long history. What does the letter fit?
In Greece, this letter is well known. It has long been included in the alphabet of this country. For children, soft toys are made in the form of letters, and they can be bought at the store. It's about the letter theta. The Russian letter Fita looked exactly the same, the spelling of which looks like a kalach: as if a horizontal stick were stuck in the middle of the letter o.
It can now be seen in old books or in ancient illustrations. The letter Fit was used before the reform of the Russian alphabet. And it was introduced from the Greek alphabet by the monks Cyril and Methodius.
Cyril and Methodius
Now more than 360 million Slavic speakers use Cyrillic alphabet - the alphabet that two Greek scientists gave the world. In 862, in order to strengthen his power in Moravia, Prince Rostislav asked the emperor of Byzantium to send a teacher who would talk about true faith in their native language. To fulfill the mission, brothers were well-versed in the Slavic language, Cyril and Methodius. Linguists agree that then among the Slavic tribes there was no single dialect.
Some time before the messianic journey, Cyril designs the Slavic alphabet. Contemporaries talked about his unique phonetic rumor. Being well acquainted with the Slavic speech, he selects symbols to designate Slavic sounds. He uses the already existing letters from the Greek and Hebrew alphabets.
But to this day, scientists do not know exactly what form of alphabet - Cyrillic or Glagolitic - he created. Nevertheless, alphabets of modern languages arose on the basis of the Cyrillic alphabet, and some of them are not Slavic.
Fita in Greek
To translate the Bible into a language understandable to the Slavic peoples, an alphabet based on the Greek language was created with the inclusion of additional characters for phonemes that are not in it. Cyril and Methodius needed to adapt to a new pronunciation.
Some sounds familiar to us are not in Greek, and vice versa. And the translation of the sacred texts required the transliteration of new words that the Slavs did not have. As a result, some letters were carried over from the Greek alphabet. Including the letter Fit.
It is interesting that this mysterious letter θ in Greece was called at different times in different ways: either phyta or theta. And it meant either a sound close to "f", or, as in modern Greek, a dull interdental "t". This is the deaf English sound “th” (for example, in the word “theater”). The official adoption of a single script took place in Russia at a time when the fita was read as "f". Therefore, in the Russian language there are words that from ancient times were read through "f", and later versions with fita are borrowed words read through "t".
Fita and Firth
The Slavs did not have words with the phoneme “f”. But her pronunciation was required during worship, for relations with Byzantium and the use of Slavic writing in Cyrillic. Many borrowed words either started with "f", or had it in the middle:
To designate one sound - “f” - two letters were used: Θ and F. Its introduction into the native language took place through the literary language. But a harmonious theory as to when to write the letter Firth, and when Fitu, was not.
Among the people, the sound took root with great difficulty. It was replaced by “p” and “hv”: Greek faros turned into a sail, an apron into a hvartuk, a factory into a boar. In the story of Leo Tolstoy's “Filipok” it is from “hv” that the boy adds his name - Khvilipok!
Writing in Russia
The beginning of the unified writing system is considered to be the baptism of Russia and the official recognition of the Holy Scriptures for religious ceremonies. It took place in 988.
The traditional pronunciation of borrowed words, of which there were a fair amount, influenced the change in the phonetic series of Russian speech. This primarily affected educated circles of society and the merchants.
It was necessary to draw up documents, communicate using common concepts and terms. Written works of Cyril in the Slavic language from now on become the basis for the creation of native literature.
Gradually, a pronunciation system developed that was different from that conceived by the Greek monks. The letter fita began to be pronounced as the phoneme "f", duplicating the letter Firth. But not only duplicate was duplicated. Changes have occurred in the language. Overdue reform of the alphabet.
ABC Reform
The approved Old Slavonic alphabet consisted of forty-three letters, including the Greek alphabet and nineteen letters for Slavic phonemes. Before the reform of Peter I, there were no lowercase letters in the alphabet of the Cyrillic alphabet; the entire text was written in capital letters. Peter introduced lowercase letters, removed the Firth and left one fit. Fanciful letters replaced with a simple "civilian" font. The church continued to conduct services in a dying language, opposing innovation. A few years later, Peter returned the Firth to ABC at the insistence of the religious elite.
This reform was a compromise between church and Latin alphabets, since by this time a fashion for the Latin alphabet and imitation of Western culture had arisen.
By the nineteenth century, phytus began to be read as “t,” in a Western manner. Towards the beginning of the twentieth century, Firth and Fita caused great difficulties. The confusion was aggravated by the fact that surnames were written differently, having one pronunciation. Not only fita, but also other letters from Peter the Great were used in a different way.
The 1918 reform finally abolished phyta, replacing it with the letter "f". The word "vivliofek" (βιβλιοθήκη,) has become a "library". A fita went down in history.