The modern Russian language is based on Old Slavonic, which, in turn, used to be used both for writing and for speech. To this day, many scrolls and paintings have been preserved.
Culture of Ancient Russia: writing
Many scholars argue that until the ninth century there was no written record at all. This means that in the time of Kievan Rus, writing did not exist as such.
However, this assumption is erroneous, because if you look at the history of other developed countries and states, you can see that each strong state had its own written language. Since Ancient Russia was also included in a number of fairly strong countries, writing was also necessary for Russia.
Another group of scientists and researchers proved that writing was, and this conclusion was supported by a number of historical documents and facts: the Brave wrote the tales "On Writings." Also "in the Lives of Methodius and Constantine" mentions the presence of writing among the Eastern Slavs. As evidence, Ibn Fadlan's notes are also cited.
So when did writing appear in Russia? The answer to this question is still controversial. But the main argument for society, confirming the emergence of writing in Russia, are the agreements between Russia and Byzantium, which were written in 911 and 945.
Cyril and Methodius: a huge contribution to Slavic writing
The contribution of the Slavic enlighteners is invaluable. It was with the beginning of their work that the Slavic language had its own alphabet, which was much simpler in pronunciation and spelling than the previous version of the language.
It is known that enlighteners with their students did not preach among the East Slavic peoples, however, researchers say that perhaps Methodius and Cyril set such a goal. Attaching to one’s views would not only expand the circle of one’s interests, but would also simplify the introduction of a simplified language into the East Slavic culture.
In the tenth century, the books and the lives of the great enlighteners came to the territory of Russia, where they began to enjoy real success. To this moment, researchers attribute the emergence of writing in Russia, the Slavic alphabet.
Russia since the advent of its language alphabet
Despite all these facts, some researchers are trying to prove that the alphabet of enlightenment appeared back in the days of Kievan Rus, that is, even before baptism, when Russia was a pagan land. Despite the fact that most of the historical documents are written in Cyrillic, there are papers that contain information written in the Glagolitic alphabet. Researchers say that, probably, the Glagolitic alphabet was also used in Ancient Russia precisely in the period of the ninth-tenth centuries - before the adoption of Christianity by Russia.
More recently, this assumption has been proven. Scientists-researchers found a document that contained notes of a certain priest of Upir. In turn, Upir wrote that in 1044 the Glagolitic alphabet was used in Russia, however, the Slavic people perceived it as the work of the enlightener Cyril and began to call it “Cyrillic”.
It is difficult to say how much the culture of Ancient Russia was different at that time. The emergence of writing in Russia, as is commonly believed, began precisely from the moment the books of the enlightenment were widely distributed, despite the facts suggesting that writing was an important element for pagan Russia.
The rapid development of Slavic writing: the baptism of pagan land
The fast pace of development of the writing of the East Slavic peoples began after the baptism of Russia, when writing appeared in Russia. In 988, when Prince Vladimir adopted Christianity in Russia, children who were considered a social elite began to be taught in letter books. It was at the same time that church books appeared in writing, inscriptions on cylinder locks, and written expressions were also present, which the blacksmiths knocked to order, with swords. Texts appear on princely seals.
It is also important to note that there are legends about coins with inscriptions used by princes Vladimir, Svyatopolk and Yaroslav.
And in 1030, birch bark letters became widely used.
First written notes: birch bark letters and books
The first written records were notes on birch bark letters. Such a letter is a written record on a small fragment of a birch bark.
Their uniqueness is that today they are perfectly preserved. For researchers, such a find is very important: in addition to the fact that thanks to these letters you can learn about the features of the Slavic language, the letters on the birch bark are able to tell about important events that took place during the period of the eleventh to fifteenth centuries. Such notes became an important element for studying the history of Ancient Russia.
In addition to Slavic culture, birch bark letters were also used among cultures of other countries.
At the moment there are many birch-bark documents in the archives, the authors of which are Old Believers. In addition, with the advent of birch bark “paper”, people learned to exfoliate birch bark. This discovery was the impetus for writing books on the birch bark. Slavic writing in Russia began to develop more and more.
A find for researchers and historians
The first letters made on birch bark paper, which were found in Russia, were in the city of Veliky Novgorod. Everyone who has studied history knows that this city was of no small importance for the development of Russia.
A new stage in the development of writing: translation as a major achievement
A huge influence on the writing in Russia had the southern Slavs.
Under Prince Vladimir in Russia began to translate books and documents from the South Slavic language. And under Prince Yaroslav the Wise, a literary language began to develop, thanks to which such a literary genre as church literature appeared.
Of great importance for the Old Russian language was the ability to translate texts from foreign languages. The first translations (of books) that came from the West European side were translations from Greek. It was the Greek language that greatly changed the culture of the Russian language. Many borrowed words were used more and more in literary works, even in the same church writings.
It was at this stage that the culture of Russia began to change, the writing of which became more and more complicated.
Reforms of Peter the Great: Towards a Simple Language
With the advent of Peter I, who reformed all the structures of the Russian people, even significant changes were made to the language culture. The appearance of writing in Russia in ancient times immediately complicated the already complex Slavic language. In 1708, Peter the Great introduced the so-called “civil font”. Already in 1710, Peter the Great personally reviewed each letter of the Russian language, after which a new alphabet was created. The alphabet was distinguished by its simplicity and ease of use. The Russian ruler wanted to simplify the Russian language. Many letters were simply excluded from the alphabet, due to which not only colloquial speech, but also written was simplified.
Significant changes in the 18th century: the introduction of new characters
The main change in this period was the introduction of such a letter as "and short." This letter was introduced in 1735. Already in 1797, Karamzin used a new sign to denote the sound “yo”.
By the end of the 18th century, the letter “yat” had lost its meaning, because its sound coincided with the sound of “e”. It was at this time that the letter "yat" was no longer used. Soon she also ceased to be part of the Russian alphabet.
The last stage of the development of the Russian language: small changes
The final reform, which changed the writing in Russia, was the reform of 1917, which lasted until 1918. It meant the exclusion of all letters, the sound of which was either too similar or even repeated. It is thanks to this reform that today the solid sign (b) is a dividing sign, and soft (b) has become dividing when designating a soft consonant sound.
It is important to note that this reform caused great discontent from many prominent literary figures. For example, Ivan Bunin strongly criticized this change in his native language.