When was the creation of the first Slavic alphabet. Runes, Glagolitic, Cyrillic: What Cyril and Methodius Really Invented
Cyril and Methodius are Slavic first teachers, great preachers of Christianity, canonized not only by the Orthodox, but also by the Catholic Church.
The life and work of Cyril (Constantine) and Methodius are reproduced in sufficient detail on the basis of various documentary and chronicle sources.
Cyril (826-869) received this name when tonsured into the schema 50 days before his death in Rome, he lived all his life with the name Constantine (Constantine the Philosopher). Methodius (814-885) - the monastic name of the saint, the worldly name is unknown, presumably his name was Michael.
Cyril and Methodius are brothers. They were born in the city of Thessaloniki (Thessaloniki) in Macedonia (now the territory of Greece). Since childhood, they have mastered the Old Slavonic language well - Old Bulgarian. From the words of Emperor Michael III "Solunians" - all speak the Slavic language purely.
Both brothers lived mainly a spiritual life, striving for the embodiment of their beliefs and ideas, not attaching importance to either sensual joys, or wealth, or career, or fame. The brothers never had wives or children, wandered all their lives, never creating a home or a permanent refuge for themselves, and even died in a foreign land.
Both brothers went through life, actively changing it in accordance with their views and beliefs. But as traces of their deeds, only the fruitful changes they made in the life of the people, and the vague stories of lives, traditions, and legends, remained.
The brothers were born into the family of Leo-Drungarius, a middle-ranking Byzantine military leader from the city of Thessalonica. The family had seven sons, with Methodius the eldest and Cyril the youngest of them.
According to one version, they came from a pious Slavic family who lived in the Byzantine city of Soluni. From a large number historical sources, mainly from the "Brief Life of Clement of Ohrid", it is known that Cyril and Methodius were Bulgarians. Since in the 9th century the First Bulgarian Kingdom was a multinational state, it is not entirely possible to determine exactly whether they were Slavs or Proto-Bulgarians, or even had other roots. The Bulgarian kingdom consisted mainly of the ancient Bulgarians (Turks) and Slavs, who were already forming a new ethnos - the Slavic Bulgarians, who retained the old name of the ethnos, but were already a Slavic-Turkic people. According to another version, Cyril and Methodius were Greek origin... There is and alternative theory ethnic origin of Cyril and Methodius, according to which they were not Slavs, but Bulgars (Proto-Bulgarians). This theory also refers to the assumptions of historians that the brothers created the so-called. Glagolitic is an alphabet that is more similar to the Old Bulgarian than to the Slavic.
Little is known about the first years of Methodius' life. Probably, in the life of Methodius there was nothing outstanding until she crossed with the life of his younger brother. Methodius entered military service early and was soon appointed ruler of one of the Slavic-Bulgarian regions subject to Byzantium. Methodius spent about ten years in this position. Then he left the military-administrative service that was alien to him and retired to a monastery. In the 860s, having renounced the rank of archbishop, he became abbot of the Polykhron monastery on the Asian coast of the Sea of Marmara, near the city of Cyzicus. Here, in a quiet shelter on Mount Olympus, Constantine moved for several years, in the interval between travels to the Saracens and the Khazars. The elder brother, Methodius, walked a clear, straight path through life. Only twice did he change her direction: the first time - by leaving for a monastery, and the second - by returning again, under the influence of his younger brother, to active work and struggle.
Cyril was the youngest of the brothers, from infancy he showed extraordinary mental abilities, but did not differ in health. The eldest, Mikhail, even in childhood games, defended the youngest, weak one with a disproportionately large head, with small and short arms. He will continue to protect his younger brother until his death - both in Moravia, and at the cathedral in Venice, and before the papal throne. And then he will continue the fraternal work in written wisdom. And holding hands, they will go down in the history of world culture.
Cyril was educated in Constantinople at the Magnavr School, the best educational institution Byzantium. The education of Cyril was taken care of by the State Secretary Theoktist himself. Before reaching the age of 15, Cyril had already read the works of the most thoughtful father of the church, Gregory the Theologian. A capable boy was taken to the court of Emperor Michael III, as a teaching companion to his son. Under the guidance of the best mentors - including Photius, the future famous Patriarch of Constantinople - Cyril studied ancient literature, rhetoric, grammar, dialectics, astronomy, music and other "Hellenic arts". The friendship of Cyril and Photius largely predetermined further destiny Cyril. In 850 Cyril became a professor at the Magnavr School. Having abandoned a profitable marriage and a brilliant career, Cyril was ordained a priest, and after secretly leaving for a monastery, he began to teach philosophy (hence the nickname Constantine - "Philosopher"). The closeness with Photius was reflected in the struggle of Cyril with the iconoclasts. He wins a brilliant victory over the experienced and ardent leader of the Iconoclasts, which undoubtedly brings Constantine wide fame. The wisdom and power of faith of a still very young Constantine were so great that he managed to defeat the leader of the heretics-iconoclasts Annius in the debate. After this victory, Constantine was sent by the emperor to a dispute to debate the Holy Trinity with the Saracens (Muslims) and also won. Returning, Saint Constantine withdrew to his brother Saint Methodius on Olympus, spending time in unceasing prayer and reading the works of the holy fathers.
The "Life" of the saint testifies that he knew Hebrew, Slavic, Greek, Latin and Arabic well. Having abandoned a lucrative marriage, as well as an administrative career offered by the emperor, Cyril became the patriarchal librarian at Hagia Sophia. Soon he secretly retired to a monastery for six months, and upon his return he taught philosophy (external - Hellenic and internal - Christian) at the court school - the higher educational institution of Byzantium. Then he received the nickname "Philosopher", which remained with him forever. It was not for nothing that Constantine was nicknamed the Philosopher. Every now and then he would break out of noisy Byzantium somewhere in solitude. I read for a long time, pondered. And then, having accumulated another supply of energy and thoughts, he wasted it generously in travels, disputes, disputes, in scientific and literary creativity. Cyril's education was highly valued in the highest circles of Constantinople, he was often attracted to various diplomatic missions.
Cyril and Methodius had many students who became their true followers. Among them I would especially like to mention the Gorazd of Ohrid and Saint Naum.
Gorazd Ohridsky - a disciple of Methodius, the first archbishop of the Slavs - he was the archbishop of Mikulčica, the capital of Great Moravia. Revered Orthodox Church in the face of saints, commemorated July 27 (according to the Julian calendar) in the Cathedral of the Bulgarian Enlighteners. In 885-886, during the reign of Prince Svyatopolk I, a crisis arose in the Moravian Church, Archbishop Gorazd entered into a dispute with the Latin clergy, headed by Vihtig, bishop of Nitrava, on whom at one time St. Methodius imposed an anathema. With the approval of the Pope, Vihtig expelled Gorazd from the diocese and 200 priests with him, and he himself took his place as archbishop. At the same time, Kliment Ohridsky also fled to Bulgaria. They took with them the works created in Moravia and settled in Bulgaria. Those who did not obey - according to the testimony of the Life of St. Clement of Ohrid - were sold into slavery to Jewish merchants, from which they were ransomed by the ambassadors of Emperor Basil I in Venice and transported to Bulgaria. In Bulgaria, students created world-famous literary schools in Pliska, Ohrid and Preslavl, from where their works began to move across Russia.
Naum is a Bulgarian saint, especially revered in modern Macedonia and Bulgaria. Saint Naum, together with Cyril and Methodius, as well as with his ascetic Clement Ohridski, is one of the founders of Bulgarian religious literature. The Bulgarian Orthodox Church includes Saint Naum among the Seven Numbers. In 886-893. he lived in Preslav, becoming the organizer of a local literary school. Then he created a school in Ohrid. In 905 he founded a monastery on the shores of Lake Ohrid, today named after him. His relics are also stored there.
Mount St. Naum on the island of Smolensk (Livingston) is also named after him.
In 858, Constantine, on the initiative of Photius, became the head of the mission to the Khazars. During the mission, Constantine replenishes his knowledge of the Hebrew language, which was used by the educated elite of the Khazars after they accepted Judaism. On the way, during a stop in Chersonesos (Korsun), Constantine discovered the remains of Clement, Pope of Rome (I-II centuries), who died, as they thought, here in exile, and took some of them to Byzantium. The journey into the interior of Khazaria was filled with theological disputes with the Mohammedans and Jews. The whole course of the dispute Constantine later set out in Greek for the report to the patriarch; later this report, according to legends, was translated into Slavic by Methodius, but, unfortunately, this work did not reach us. At the end of 862, the prince of Great Moravia (the state of the Western Slavs) Rostislav turned to the Byzantine emperor Michael with a request to send preachers to Moravia who could spread Christianity in the Slavic language (sermons in those parts were read in Latin, unknown and incomprehensible to the people). The emperor summoned Saint Constantine and said to him: "You must go there, for no one can do this better than you." Saint Constantine, with fasting and prayer, began a new feat. Constantine goes to Bulgaria, converts many Bulgarians to Christianity; according to some scholars, during this trip, he begins his work on creating Slavic alphabet... Constantine and Methodius arrived in Great Moravia using the southern Slavic dialect of Soluni (now Thessaloniki), i.e. the center of that part of Macedonia, which from time immemorial and up to our time belonged to Northern Greece. In Moravia, the brothers taught to read and write and were involved in translation activities, and not only in rewriting books, persons who, undoubtedly, spoke some north-western Slavic dialects. This is directly evidenced by the lexical, derivational, phonetic and other linguistic discrepancies in the oldest Slavic books that have come down to us (in the Gospel, Apostle, Psalter, Menaea of the 10th - 11th centuries). An indirect evidence is the later practice of the Grand Duke Vladimir I of Svyatoslavich, described in the Old Russian Chronicle, when he introduced Christianity in Russia as a state religion in 988. It was the children of his “deliberate child” (that is, the children of his courtiers and the feudal elite) that Vladimir attracted for “teaching books”, sometimes even forcibly, since the Chronicle reports that mothers cried about them as if they were dead.
After the translation was completed, the holy brothers were received with great honor in Moravia, and began to teach Divine services in the Slavic language. This aroused the anger of the German bishops, who celebrated Divine services in Latin in the Moravian churches, and they rebelled against the holy brothers, claiming that Divine services can be performed only in one of three languages: Hebrew, Greek or Latin. Saint Constantine answered them: “You recognize only three languages worthy to glorify God with them. But David cries out: Sing to the Lord, all the earth, praise the Lord, all the nations, let every breath praise the Lord! And the Holy Gospel says: Come teach all languages ... ”The German bishops were put to shame, but they became even more embittered and filed a complaint with Rome. The holy brothers were called to Rome to resolve this issue.
To be able to preach Christianity in the Slavic language, it was necessary to translate the Holy Scriptures into the Slavic language; however, the alphabet capable of transmitting Slavic speech did not exist at that time.
Constantine began to create the Slavic alphabet. With the help of his brother Saint Methodius and the disciples of Gorazd, Clement, Sava, Naum and Angelar, he compiled the Slavic alphabet and translated into the Slavic language books without which Divine services could not be performed: the Gospel, the Apostle, the Psalter and selected services. All these events date back to 863.
863 is considered the year of birth of the Slavic alphabet
In 863, the Slavic alphabet was created (the Slavic alphabet existed in two versions: the Glagolitic alphabet - from the verb - "speech" and the Cyrillic alphabet; until now, scientists have no consensus about which of these two options was created by Cyril). With the help of Methodius, a number of liturgical books were translated from Greek into Slavic. The Slavs were given the opportunity to read and write in their own language. The Slavs had not only their own, Slavic, alphabet, but also the first Slavic literary language was born, many words of which still live in Bulgarian, Russian, Ukrainian and other Slavic languages.
Cyril and Methodius were the founders of the literary-written language of the Slavs - the Old Slavonic language, which in turn was a kind of catalyst for the creation of the Old Russian literary language, the Old Bulgarian and literary languages of other Slavic peoples.
The younger brother wrote, the older one translated his works. The younger created the Slavic alphabet, Slavic writing and book business; the elder practically developed what the younger had created. The younger was a talented scientist, philosopher, brilliant dialectician and subtle philologist; the elder is a capable organizer and practitioner.
Constantine, in the quiet of his refuge, was probably busy completing the work that stood in connection with his not new plans for the conversion of the pagan Slavs. He compiled a special alphabet for the Slavic language, the so-called "verb", and began translating the Holy Scriptures into Old Bulgarian. The brothers decided to return to their homeland and to consolidate their work in Moravia - to take with them some of the disciples, the Moravians, for enlightenment in hierarchical ranks. On the way to Venice, which lay through Bulgaria, the brothers stayed for several months in the Pannonian principality of Kocela, where, despite its ecclesiastical and political dependence, they did the same as in Moravia. Upon arrival in Venice, Constantine had a violent clash with the local clergy. Here, in Venice, unexpectedly for the local clergy, they are presented with a kind message from Pope Nicholas with an invitation to Rome. Having received the papal invitation, the brothers continued on their journey with almost complete confidence of success. This was further facilitated by the sudden death of Nicholas and the accession to the papal throne of Adrian II.
Rome solemnly greeted the brothers and the shrine they brought, part of the remains of Pope Clement. Adrian II approved not only the Slavic translation of Holy Scripture, but also the Slavic divine service, consecrating the Slavic books brought by the brothers, allowing the Slavs to perform services in a number of Roman churches, and ordaining Methodius and his three disciples as priests. The influential prelates of Rome also reacted favorably to the brothers and their cause.
All these successes went to the brothers, of course, not easily. A skilled dialectician and experienced diplomat, Constantine, skillfully used for this the struggle of Rome with Byzantium, and the vacillations of the Bulgarian prince Boris between the eastern and western churches, and Pope Nicholas' hatred of Photius, and Hadrian's desire to strengthen his shaky authority by acquiring the remains of Clement. At the same time, Byzantium and Photius were still much closer to Constantine than Rome and the popes. But for three and a half years of his life and struggle in Moravia, the main, only goal of Constantine was to strengthen the Slavic writing, Slavic book business and culture.
For almost two years, surrounded by sugary flattery and praise, combined with the hidden intrigues of the temporarily subdued opponents of the Slavic worship, Constantine and Methodius live in Rome. One of the reasons for their long delay was the ever worsening health of Constantine.
Despite weakness and illness, Constantine compiled two new literary works in Rome: "The Finding of the Relics of St. Clement" and a poetic hymn in honor of the same Clement.
A long and difficult journey to Rome, an intense struggle with the implacable enemies of the Slavic writing, undermined the already weak health of Constantine. At the beginning of February 869 he took to bed, took the schema and a new monastic name Cyril, and on February 14 he died. Departing to God, Saint Cyril commanded his brother Saint Methodius to continue their common work - the enlightenment of the Slavic peoples with the light of true faith.
Before his death, Cyril said to his brother: “You and I, like two oxen, led the same furrow. I was exhausted, but do not think to leave the labors of teaching and retire to your mountain again. " Methodius outlived his brother by 16 years. Enduring hardships and vilification, he continued the great work - the translation of sacred books into the Slavic language, the preaching of the Orthodox faith, the baptism of the Slavic people. Saint Methodius begged the Pope to allow him to take away his brother's body for burial in his native land, but the Pope ordered the relics of Saint Cyril to be placed in the Church of Saint Clement, where miracles began to be performed from them.
After the death of Saint Cyril, the Pope, following the request of the Slavic prince Kotsel, sent Saint Methodius to Pannonia, ordaining him to the rank of Archbishop of Moravia and Pannonia, to the ancient throne of Saint Apostle Andronicus. After the death of Cyril (869) Methodius continued educational activities among the Slavs in Pannonia, where the Slavic books also included features of local dialects. Later, the Old Slavonic literary language was developed by the students of the Solunsk brothers in the Ohrid Lake region, then in Bulgaria proper.
With the death of a talented brother for the modest, but selfless and honest Methodius, a painful, truly cross path begins, strewn with seemingly insurmountable obstacles, dangers and failures. But the lonely Methodius stubbornly, in no way yielding to his enemies, goes this way to the very end.
True, on the threshold of this path, Methodius comparatively easily achieves a new great success. But this success gives rise to an even greater storm of anger and resistance in the camp of the enemies of Slavic writing and culture.
In the middle of 869, Adrian II, at the request of the Slavic princes, sent Methodius to Rostislav, his nephew Svyatopolk and Kotsel, and at the end of 869, when Methodius returned to Rome, elevated him to the rank of Archbishop of Pannonia, allowing worship in the Slavic language. Inspired by this new success, Methodius returns to Kocel. With the constant help of the prince, he develops, together with his students, a large and tireless work on the dissemination of Slavic worship, writing and books in the Principality of Blatene and in neighboring Moravia.
In 870 Methodius was sentenced to imprisonment on charges of violating the hierarchical rights to Pannonia.
He remained in prison, under the most difficult conditions, until 873, when the new Pope John VIII forced the Bavarian episcopate to release Methodius and return him to Moravia. Methodius is prohibited from Slavic worship.
He continues the business church structure Moravia. Contrary to the Pope's prohibition, Methodius continues to worship in the Slavic language in Moravia. This time Methodius also involved other Slavic peoples neighboring with Moravia in the circle of his activities.
All this prompted the German clergy to take new actions against Methodius. German priests turn Svyatopolk against Methodius. Svyatopolk writes a denunciation to Rome against his archbishop, accusing him of heresy, violating the canons of the Catholic Church and disobeying the Pope. Methodius manages not only to justify himself, but even to persuade Pope John to his side. Pope John allows Methodius to worship in the Slavic language, but appoints him as bishop of Viching, one of Methodius's most ardent opponents. Wiching began to spread rumors about the condemnation of Methodius by the Pope, but was exposed.
Tired to the limit and exhausted by all these endless intrigues, forgeries and denunciations, feeling that his health was constantly weakening, Methodius went to rest in Byzantium. Methodius spent almost three years in his homeland. In the middle of 884 he returns to Moravia. Returning to Moravia, Methodius in 883. started translating the full text into Slavic canon books Holy Scripture (except for the Maccabean books). Having finished his hard work, Methodius weakened even more. V last years During his life, Methodius' activities in Moravia proceeded under very difficult conditions. The Latin-German clergy in every possible way prevented the spread of the Slavic language as the language of the church. In the last years of his life, Saint Methodius, with the help of two disciple-priests, translated into the Slavic language the entire Old Testament, except the Maccabean books, as well as the Nomokanon (Rules of the Holy Fathers) and the patristic books (Paterikon).
Foreseeing the approach of death, Saint Methodius pointed to one of his disciples, Gorazd, as a worthy successor to himself. The saint predicted the day of his death and died on April 6, 885 at the age of about 60 years. The funeral service for the saint was performed in three languages - Slavic, Greek and Latin. He was buried in the Cathedral Church of Velehrad.
With the death of Methodius, his work in Moravia approached destruction. With the arrival of Vihing in Moravia, the persecution of the disciples of Constantine and Methodius began, the destruction of their Slavic church. Up to 200 clergy disciples of Methodius were expelled from Moravia. The Moravian people gave them no support. Thus, the case of Constantine and Methodius perished not only in Moravia, but also among the Western Slavs in general. But it got further life and flourishing among the southern Slavs, partly among the Croats, more - among the Serbs, especially among the Bulgarians and, through the Bulgarians - among the Russians, Eastern Slavs who united their destinies with Byzantium. This happened thanks to the disciples of Cyril and Methodius, who were expelled from Moravia.
From the period of activity of Constantine, his brother Methodius and their closest disciples, no written monuments have survived to us, except for the relatively recently discovered inscriptions on the ruins of the Church of Tsar Simeon in Preslav (Bulgaria). It turned out that these ancient inscriptions were made not with one, but with two graphic varieties of Old Church Slavonic writing. One of them received the conventional name "Cyrillic" (from the name of Cyril, adopted by Constantine when he was tonsured a monk); the other got the name "Glagolitic" (from the Old Church Slavonic "verb", which means "word").
Cyrillic and Glagolitic were almost the same in their alphanumeric composition. Cyrillic, according to the surviving manuscripts of the XI century. had 43 letters, and the Glagolitic alphabet had 40 letters. Out of 40 glagolic letters, 39 served to convey almost the same sounds as the letters of the Cyrillic alphabet. Like the letters of the Greek alphabet, the verbal and Cyrillic letters had, in addition to the sound, also a numerical meaning, i.e. were used to denote not only the sounds of speech, but also numbers. At the same time, nine letters were used to designate units, nine - for tens and nine - for hundreds. In the Glagolitic alphabet, moreover, one of the letters denoted a thousand; in the Cyrillic alphabet a special sign was used to denote thousands. In order to indicate that the letter denotes a number, and not a sound, the letter was usually highlighted on both sides with dots and a special horizontal dash was put above it.
In the Cyrillic alphabet, numeric meanings were, as a rule, only letters borrowed from the Greek alphabet: at the same time, the same numerical value was assigned to each of 24 such letters that this letter had in the Greek numeric system. The only exceptions were the numbers "6", "90" and "900".
Unlike the Cyrillic alphabet, in the Glagolitic alphabet, the first 28 letters in a row received a numerical value, regardless of whether these letters corresponded to the Greek ones or served to convey special sounds of Slavic speech. Therefore, the numerical meaning of most of the verbal letters was different from both the Greek and Cyril letters.
The names of the letters in Cyrillic and Glagolitic were exactly the same; however, the time of the origin of these names is unclear. The order of the letters in the Cyril and Glagolic alphabets was almost the same. This order is established, firstly, based on the numerical meaning of the Cyrillic and Glagolitic letters, secondly, on the basis of the acrostics of the 12th-13th centuries that have come down to us, and thirdly, on the basis of the order of the letters in Greek alphabet.
Cyrillic and Glagolitic were very different in the form of their letters. In the Cyrillic alphabet, the shape of the letters was geometrically simple, clear and easy to write. Of the 43 letters of the Cyrillic alphabet, 24 were borrowed from the Byzantine charter, and the remaining 19 were built more or less independently, but in compliance with the uniform style of the Cyril alphabet. The shape of the Glagolitic letters, on the contrary, was extremely complex and intricate, with many curls, loops, etc. But the glagolic letters were graphically more original than the Cyril letters, much less like the Greek ones.
The Cyrillic alphabet is a very skillful, complex and creative reworking of the Greek (Byzantine) alphabet. As a result of careful consideration of the phonetic composition of the Old Church Slavonic language, the Cyril alphabet had all the letters necessary for the correct transmission of this language. The Cyrillic alphabet was also suitable for accurate transmission of the Russian language, in the 9th-10th centuries. the Russian language already differed somewhat phonetically from the Old Church Slavonic. The correspondence of the Cyril alphabet to the Russian language is confirmed by the fact that for more than a thousand years only two new letters had to be introduced into this alphabet; multi-letter combinations and superscripts are not needed and almost never used in Russian. This is what determines the originality of the Cyril alphabet.
Thus, despite the fact that many letters of the Cyrillic alphabet coincide in form with the Greek letters, the Cyrillic alphabet (as well as the Glagolitic alphabet) should be recognized as one of the most independent, creatively and in a new way constructed alpha-sound systems.
The presence of two graphic varieties of Slavic writing still causes great controversy among scientists. Indeed, according to the unanimous testimony of all chronicle and documentary sources, Constantine developed some one Slavic alphabet. Which of these alphabet was created by Constantine? Where and when did the second alphabet come from? Closely related to these questions are others, perhaps even more important. Did the Slavs not have some kind of writing before the introduction of the alphabet developed by Constantine? And if it existed, what was it?
A number of works by Russian and Bulgarian scientists have been devoted to the evidence of the existence of writing in the pre-Cyrillic period among the Slavs, in particular among the eastern and southern ones. As a result of these works, as well as in connection with the discovery of the oldest monuments of Slavic writing, the question of the existence of writing among the Slavs can hardly be doubted. This is evidenced by many of the most ancient literary sources: Slavic, Western European, Arab. This is confirmed by the indications contained in the treaties of the Eastern and Southern Slavs with Byzantium, some archaeological data, as well as linguistic, historical and general socialist considerations.
Fewer materials are available for solving the question of what the most ancient Slavic writing was and how it arose. The pre-Cyril Slavic writing, apparently, could be of only three types. So, in the light of the development of the general laws of the development of writing, it seems almost certain that long before the formation of ties between the Slavs and Byzantium, they had various local varieties of the original primitive pictographic writing, such as the "features and cuts" mentioned by Brave. The emergence of the Slavic writing of the "devil and cut" type should probably be attributed to the first half of the 1st millennium AD. NS. True, the most ancient Slavic writing could only be a very primitive letter, which included a small, unstable and different assortment of the simplest pictorial and conventional symbols for different tribes. This writing could not turn into any developed and ordered logographic system.
The use of the original Slavic writing was also limited. These were, apparently, the simplest counting signs in the form of dashes and notches, generic and personal signs, property signs, signs for fortune telling, maybe primitive route charts, calendar signs that served to date the dates of the beginning of various agricultural work, pagan holidays, etc. NS. In addition to considerations of a sociological and linguistic order, the existence of such a letter among the Slavs is confirmed by quite numerous literary sources of the 9th-10th centuries. and archaeological finds. Having arisen in the first half of the 1st millennium AD, this letter was probably survivally preserved among the Slavs even after Cyril created an ordered Slavic alphabet.
The second, even more undoubted type of pre-Christian writing of the Eastern and Southern Slavs was the letter, which can be conventionally called the "proto-Cyril" letter. The letter of the type "devil and cut", suitable for designating calendar dates, for fortune-telling, counting, etc., was unsuitable for recording military and trade agreements, liturgical texts, historical chronicles and other complex documents. And the need for such records should have appeared among the Slavs simultaneously with the emergence of the first Slavic states. For all these purposes, the Slavs, even before their adoption of Christianity and before the introduction of the alphabet created by Cyril, undoubtedly used Greek letters in the east and south, and Greek and Latin letters in the west.
Greek writing, used by the Slavs for two or three centuries before their official adoption of Christianity, had to gradually adapt to the transmission of the peculiar phonetics of the Slavic language and, in particular, be replenished with new letters. This was necessary for the accurate recording of Slavic names in churches, in military lists, for recording Slavic geographical names etc. The Slavs have made great strides in adapting Greek writing to a more accurate transmission of their speech. For this, ligatures were formed from the corresponding Greek letters, the Greek letters were supplemented with letters borrowed from other alphabets, in particular from the Hebrew, which was known to the Slavs through the Khazars. This is how the Slavic "proto-Cyril" letter was formed. The assumption about such a gradual formation of the Slavic "proto-Cyril" letter is also confirmed by the fact that the Cyril alphabet in its later version, which has come down to us, was so well adapted for accurate transmission of Slavic speech that this could be achieved only as a result of its long development. These are the two undoubted varieties of pre-Christian Slavic writing.
The third, however, not undoubted, but only a possible version of it can be called "protoglagolic" writing.
The process of the formation of the alleged protoglagolic writing could occur in two ways. Firstly, this process could proceed under the complex influence of Greek, Jewish-Khazar, and possibly also Georgian, Armenian and even runic Turkic writing. Under the influence of these writing systems, Slavic "features and cuts" could gradually also acquire an alphabetic and sound meaning, partially retaining their original form. Secondly, and some Greek letters could be graphically changed by the Slavs in relation to the usual forms of "lines and cuts". Like the Cyrillic alphabet, the formation of protoglagolic writing could also begin among the Slavs no earlier than the 8th century. Since this letter was formed on the primitive basis of the ancient Slavic "features and cuts", so far as by the middle of the IX century. it had to remain even less precise and orderly than the proto-Cyril letter. Unlike the proto-Cyrillic alphabet, the formation of which took place in almost the entire Slavic territory, which was under the influence of Byzantine culture, the proto-glagolic writing, if it existed, was first formed, apparently, among the Eastern Slavs. In conditions of insufficient development in the second half of the 1st millennium A.D. political and cultural ties between the Slavic tribes, the formation of each of the three alleged types of pre-Christian Slavic writing should have occurred in different tribes in different ways. Therefore, we can assume the coexistence of not only these three types of writing among the Slavs, but also their local varieties. In the history of writing, cases of such coexistence were very frequent.
At present, the writing systems of all the peoples of Russia have been built on the basis of Cyril. Writing systems built on the same basis are also used in Bulgaria, partly in Yugoslavia and Mongolia. The letter, built on the Cyril basis, is now used by peoples who speak more than 60 languages. The greatest vitality, apparently, is possessed by the Latin and Cyril groups of writing systems. This is confirmed by the fact that all new peoples are gradually switching over to the Latin and Cyril basis of writing.
Thus, the foundations laid by Contantin and Methodius more than 1100 years ago continue to be continuously improved and successfully developed up to the present time. V currently most researchers believe that Cyril and Methodius created the verb, and the Cyrillic alphabet was created by their students based on the Greek alphabet.
From the turn of the X - XI centuries. major centers Slavic writing became Kiev, Novgorod, the centers of other ancient Russian principalities. The oldest Slavic-language handwritten books that have come down to us, having the date of their writing, were created in Russia. These are the Ostromir Gospel of 1056-1057, Izbornik Svyatoslav 1073, Izbornik 1076, Arkhangelsk Gospel of 1092, Novgorod Menaion dated 90s. The largest and most valuable collection of ancient manuscript books dating back to the Cyril and Methodius written heritage, as named, is located in the ancient depositories of our country.
The unyielding faith of two people in Christ and in their ascetic mission for the good of the Slavic peoples - this is what happened driving force the penetration, after all, of writing into Ancient Russia. The exceptional intelligence of one and the stoic courage of the other - the qualities of two people who lived very long before us, turned into the fact that we now write them in writing, and put together our picture of the world according to their grammar and rules.
It is impossible to overestimate the introduction of writing into Slavic society. This is the greatest Byzantine contribution to the culture of the Slavic peoples. And it was created by Saints Cyril and Methodius. Only with the establishment of writing begins true story the people, the history of its culture, the history of the development of its worldview, scientific knowledge, literature and art.
Cyril and Methodius never, in their life conflicts and wanderings, fell into the lands Ancient Rus... They lived more than a hundred years before they were officially baptized here and accepted their letters. It would seem that Cyril and Methodius belong to the history of other peoples. But it was they who radically turned the life of the Russian people upside down. They gave him the Cyrillic alphabet, which became the flesh and blood of his culture. And this is the greatest gift to people of a man-ascetic.
In addition to inventing the Slavic alphabet, during 40 months of their stay in Moravia, Constantine and Methodius managed to solve two problems: some of the liturgical books were translated into Church Slavonic (Old Slavic literary) language, and people who were able to serve on these books were trained. However, this was not enough for the spread of Slavic worship. Neither Constantine nor Methodius were bishops and could not ordain their disciples to priests. Cyril was a monk, Methodius was a simple priest, and the local bishop was opposed to Slavic worship. To give their activities an official status, the brothers and several of their disciples went to Rome. In Venice, Constantine entered into a discussion with opponents of worship in the national languages. The popular idea in Latin spiritual literature was that worship could only be performed in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. The brothers' stay in Rome was triumphant. Constantine and Methodius brought with them the relics of St. Clement, Pope, who, according to legend, was a disciple of the Apostle Peter. Clement's relics were a precious gift, and Constantine's Slavic translations were blessed.
The disciples of Cyril and Methodius were ordained priests, while the Pope sent a message to the Moravian rulers, in which he officially authorized the worship in the Slavic language: reason and true faith, so that he enlightens you, as you yourself asked, explaining to you in your language Holy Scripture, the entire liturgical order and holy mass, that is, services, including baptism, as the philosopher Constantine began to do with God's grace and through the prayers of St. Clement. "
After the death of the brothers, their activities were continued by their disciples, expelled from Moravia in 886, in the South Slavic countries. (In the West, the Slavic alphabet and Slavic literacy did not resist; the Western Slavs - Poles, Czechs ... - still use the Latin alphabet). The Slavic literacy firmly established itself in Bulgaria, from where it spread to the countries of the southern and eastern Slavs (IX century). Writing came to Russia in the X century (988 - the baptism of Russia). The creation of the Slavic alphabet was and still is of great importance for the development of Slavic writing, Slavic peoples, and Slavic culture.
The merits of Cyril and Methodius in the history of culture are enormous. Cyril developed the first ordered Slavic alphabet and thus initiated the widespread development of Slavic writing. Cyril and Methodius translated many books from Greek, which was the beginning of the formation of the Old Slavonic literary language and Slavic book business. Cyril and Methodius for many years carried out great educational work among the Western and South Slavs and greatly contributed to the spread of literacy among these peoples. There is information that Cyril also created original works. Cyril and Methodius for many years carried out great educational work among the Western and South Slavs and greatly contributed to the spread of literacy among these peoples. In the course of all their activities in Moravia and Panionia, Cyril and Methodius fought, in addition, an unceasing selfless struggle against the attempts of the German Catholic clergy to prohibit the Slavic alphabet and books.
Cyril and Methodius were the founders of the first literary-written language of the Slavs - the Old Slavonic language, which in turn was a kind of catalyst for the creation of the Old Russian literary language, the Old Bulgarian and literary languages of other Slavic peoples. The Old Slavonic language was able to fulfill this role primarily due to the fact that it was not initially something solid and stagnant: it itself was formed from several Slavic languages or dialects.
Finally, assessing the educational activities of the Solun brothers, it should be borne in mind that they were not missionaries in the generally accepted sense of the word: they did not engage in the Christianization of the population as such (although they contributed to it), for by the time of their arrival Moravia was already a Christian state.
Can you imagine life without electricity? Of course it's difficult! But it is known that people used to read and write by candlelight and torch. Imagine life without writing. Some of you will now think to yourself, well, well, that would be great: no need to write dictations and essays. But then there will be no libraries, books, posters, letters and even e-mail and SMS. In the language, as in a mirror, the whole world is reflected, our whole life. And reading written or printed texts, we sort of sit in a time machine and can travel back to recent times, and to the distant past.
But people did not always possess the art of writing. This art has been developing for a long time, over many millennia. Do you know to whom we should be grateful for our written word, on which our favorite books are written? For our diploma, which we learn at school? For our great Russian literature, with which you get to know and will still study in high school.
Cyril and Methodius lived in the world,
Two Byzantine monks and suddenly
(No, not a legend, not a myth, not a parody)
Some of them thought: “Friend!
How many Slavs are tongueless without Christ!
It is necessary to create an alphabet for the Slavs ...
It was thanks to the labors of the Holy Brothers Cyril and Methodius that the Slavic alphabet was created.
The brothers were born in the Byzantine city of Soluni in the family of a military leader. Methodius was the eldest son, and, choosing the path of a military man, went to serve in one of the Slavic regions. His brother, Cyril, was born 7-10 years later than Methodius, and already in childhood, passionately falling in love with science, amazed teachers with brilliant abilities. At the age of 14, his parents sent him to Constantinople, where in a short time he studied grammar and geometry, arithmetic, astronomy and medicine, ancient art, mastered Slavic, Greek, Hebrew, Latin and Arabic... Refusing the high administrative position offered to him, Kirill took the modest position of a librarian in the Patriarchal Library and at the same time taught philosophy at the university, for which he received the nickname "philosopher". His older brother Methodius entered military service early. For 10 years he was the ruler of one of the regions inhabited by the Slavs. An honest and straightforward man, intolerant of injustice, he retired from military service and retired to a monastery.
In 863, ambassadors from Moravia arrived in Constantinople to ask them to send preachers to their country and tell the population about Christianity. The emperor decided to send Cyril and Methodius to Moravia. Cyril, before setting off on the journey, asked if the Moravians had an alphabet for their language - "for the enlightenment of the people without writing their language is like trying to write on water," Cyril explained. To which he received a negative answer. The Moravians did not have the ABC, then the brothers began work. They had at their disposal not years, but months. They worked from early morning, barely in bloom, and until late at night, when the eyes were already dazzling with fatigue. In a short time, the alphabet was created for the Moravians. It was named after one of its creators - Cyril - Cyrillic.
With the help of the Slavic alphabet, Cyril and Methodius very quickly translated the main liturgical books from Greek into Slavic. The first book written in Cyrillic was - "Ostromir Gospel", the first words written using the Slavic alphabet was the phrase - "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." And now, for more than a thousand years, the Church Slavonic language has been used in the Russian Orthodox Church during divine services.
The Slavic alphabet has existed in Russia unchanged for more than seven centuries. Its creators tried to make each letter of the first Russian alphabet simple and clear, easy to write. They remembered that the letters should be beautiful, so that a person who barely saw them would immediately want to master writing.
Each letter had its own name - "az" - A; "Beeches" - B; "Lead" - B; "Verb" - Г; "Good" -D.
From here and catch phrases"Az and beeches - that's all the sciences", "" Who knows "Az" and "Beeches" books in hand. " In addition, it was possible to designate numbers with letters. There were 43 letters in Cyrillic.
The Cyrillic alphabet existed in the Russian language unchanged until Peter I, who removed the obsolete letters without which it was quite possible to do without - "yus big", "yus small", "omega", "uk". In 1918, 5 more letters left the Russian alphabet - "yat", "fita", "Izhitsa", "er", "er". For a thousand years, many letters have disappeared from our alphabet, and only two have appeared - "y" and "e". They were invented in the 17th century by the Russian writer and historian Karamzin. And now, finally, 33 letters remain in the modern alphabet.
Where do you think the word "ABC" came from - by the name of the first letters of the alphabet, "az" and "beeches"; in Russia there were several more names for the alphabet - "abevega" and "initial".
Why is the alphabet called the alphabet? The history of this word is interesting. Alphabet. It was born in ancient greece and consists of the names of the first two letters of the Greek alphabet: "alpha" and "beta". The native speakers of Western languages call it “alphabete”. And we pronounce it like "alphabet".
The Slavs were very happy: other peoples of Europe (Germans, Franks, Britons) did not have their own written language. The Slavs now had their own alphabet, and everyone could learn to read a book! “That was a wonderful moment! .. The deaf began to hear, and the dumb began to speak, because until that time the Slavs were like deaf and dumb” - it is written in the annals of those times.
Not only children, but also adults began to study. They wrote with sharp sticks on wooden boards covered with wax. The children fell in love with their teachers Cyril and Methodius. Little Slavs gladly went to classes, because the journey along the roads of Truth was so interesting!
With the advent of the Slavic alphabet, written culture began to develop rapidly. Books appeared in Bulgaria, Serbia, and Rus. And how they took shape! The first letter — a drop cap — began each new chapter. The initial letter is unusually beautiful: in the form of a beautiful bird or flower, it was painted with bright, often red flowers. That is why the term "red line" exists today. A Slavic handwritten book could take six to seven years and was very expensive. In a precious setting, with illustrations, today it is a real monument of art.
A long time ago, when the history of the great Russian state was just beginning, "she" was expensive. One of her could be exchanged for a herd of horses or a herd of cows, for sable fur coats. And the point here is not in the jewelry in which the beautiful and clever girl was dressed up. And she wore only expensive embossed leather, pearls and precious stones! Gold and silver clasps adorned her outfit! Admiring her, people said: "Light, you are ours!" They worked on its creation for a long time, but her fate could be very sad. During the invasion of enemies, she was taken prisoner along with people. She could have died in a fire or flood. She was very dear: she inspired hope, restored the strength of the spirit. What kind of curiosity is this? Yes, guys, this is Her Majesty - The Book. She preserved the Word of God and the traditions of distant years to us. The first books were handwritten. It took months, sometimes years, to rewrite one book. Monasteries have always been the centers of book learning in Russia. There, in fasting and prayer, hardworking monks copied and decorated books. A collection of books of 500-1000 manuscripts was considered a great rarity.
Life goes on, and in the middle of the 16th century book printing appeared in Russia. The printing house in Moscow appeared under Ivan the Terrible. It was led by Ivan Fedorov, who is called the first book printer. As a deacon and serving in the temple, he tried to fulfill his dream - to rewrite the holy books without scribes. And so in 1563 he started typing the first page of the first printed book - "The Apostle". In total, he published 12 books in his life, among them was the complete Slavic Bible.
The Slavic alphabet is amazing and is still considered one of the most convenient writing systems. And the names of Cyril and Methodius, the "first teachers of Slovenian", have become a symbol of spiritual achievement. And every person studying the Russian language should know and keep in his memory the holy names of the first Slavic enlighteners - the brothers Cyril and Methodius.
Across wide Russia - our mother
The bells ringing overflows.
Now the brothers Saints Cyril and Methodius
They are glorified for their labors.
"Learning is light, and ignorance is darkness," says a Russian proverb. Cyril and Methodius, brothers from Solunya, are Slovenian educators, creators of the Slavic alphabet, preachers of Christianity. They are called holy teachers. Enlighteners are those who bring light and illuminate them all. Without the alphabet, there is no writing, and without it there is no book that enlightens people, and therefore moves life forward. Monuments to great enlighteners around the world remind us of the spiritual feat of Cyril and Methodius, who gave the world the Slavic alphabet.
In memory of the great feat of Cyril and Methodius, on May 24, the Day of Slavic Written Language is celebrated all over the world. In the year of the millennium since the creation of Slavic writing in Russia, the Holy Synod adopted a decree establishing "every year, starting from this 1863, on the 11 (24) day of May, a church celebration of the Monks Cyril and Methodius." Until 1917, Russia celebrated the church holiday Day of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Brothers Cyril and Methodius. With the advent of Soviet power, this great holiday was forgotten. It was revived in 1986. This holiday began to be called the Day of Slavic Literature and Culture.
Quiz
1. Who created the Slavic alphabet? (Cyril and Methodius)
2. What year is considered the year of the emergence of Slavic writing and book business? (863)
3. Why Cyril and Methodius are called "The Solunski brothers"? (Birthplace of brothers-educators, the city of Solun in Macedonia)
4. Who was the older brother: Cyril or Methodius? (Methodius)
5. What was the name of the first book written in Cyrillic? (The Ostrom World Gospel ")
6 Which brother was a librarian and who was a warrior? (Cyril is a librarian, Methodius is a military leader)
7.How was Cyril called for intelligence and diligence? (Philosopher)
8.In whose reign the Slavic alphabet was changed - simplified. (Peter 1)
9. How many letters were in Cyrillic before Peter the Great? (43 letters)
10. How many letters are there in the modern alphabet? (33 letters)
11. Who was the first printer in Russia? (Ivan Fedorov)
12. What was the name of the first printed book? ("Apostle")
13. What words were first written in the Slavic language? (In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God)
The emergence of Slavic writing originates in IXcentury ad. In the 50s or early 60s of this century, the Moravian prince Rostislav decided that an alphabet developed especially for the Slavs would contribute to a more convenient conduct of Christian ceremonies. In Moravia (Eastern Bohemia) Christianity was a novelty at that time, and therefore it had to be spread quickly, until small centers of the Christian faith died out under the onslaught of paganism.
With this thought, the prince Rostislav asked the emperor Byzantium Michael III equip someone to compile such an alphabet, and then translate some of the church books into this new language.
Michael III agreed... If the Slavs had their own writing, the spread of Christianity among the Slavic peoples would have been faster. Thus, not only Moravia would have joined the Christian camp, but all the rest of the Slavs (at that time the languages of the Slavs were still quite similar). At the same time, the Slavs would have adopted the Eastern, Orthodox form of this religion, which would only strengthen the position of Byzantium, which was the center of Eastern Christianity until the 15th century. Therefore, he agreed to fulfill Rostislav's request.
The emperor received the task to compose such writing to two monks from Greece - brothers Cyril and Methodius... V 863
brothers formed the Slavic alphabet based on the Greek alphabet... The Cyrillic alphabet, familiar to us and used today, appeared a little later. The first variant of the Old Slavonic language was called the Glagolitic. It differed from the Cyrillic alphabet in the writing of letters (they often differed greatly from their Greek counterparts).
The Greeks tried to inculcate Glagolitic into the Moravian Slavs in their missions, but did not succeed there. This happened because of the Catholic protest. It is known that Catholicism strictly obliges parishioners to conduct services in Latin. Therefore, in Catholic Germany, which was close to Moravia, they immediately condemned the practice of carrying out divine services in the local language. The king of Germany invaded Moravia and began to radically impose Catholic rites. The Catholic tradition is still strong in the Czech Republic thanks to this landmark event.
But the case of Cyril and Methodius did not perish. Immediately after the creation of the Cyrillic alphabet Tsar Boris I of Bulgaria decided to found the world's first Slavic book school - Book school in Preslav. This institution was engaged in translating Christian letters from Greek into Slavic.
As a Christian, Boris wanted, by all means, to extend his faith to all pagan Bulgaria, in order to find an ally in the person of Byzantium. He soon managed to do it. Bulgaria became the center of Slavic writing, from here the Old Slavic language spread to Russia, Serbia, and then to many other Slavic countries. In, for example, Poland and the Czech Republic, the Latin alphabet is used, which has become entrenched in everyday life due to the deep Catholic tradition of these countries.
Church Slavonic language(the Russian version of the Cyrillic alphabet, which has not changed at all for a long time) was fully used in Russia before XVIII century,
when Peter I introduced a new standardized letter to replace the outdated church script. He extracted a few letters from the alphabet, reshaped the spelling and introduced many other rules. Peter the Great actually founded the Russian language, which we still use in a very shabby form. Church Slavonic, however, is still used in churches today. You can watch and listen to how people talked in Ancient Russia in any church during the service.
Cyril and Methodius were canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church. They are still one of the most popular saints in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, even modern youth knows these historical figures.
Greek Christian missionaries are believed to be brothers Cyril and Methodius in 863 they were invited from Byzantium by Prince Rostislav to the Great Moravian state to introduce divine services in the Slavic language.
Constantine the alphabet was created - the so-called "Glagolitic", reflecting the phonetic features of the Slavic language. The oldest surviving Glagolic inscription with an accurate date dates back to 893 and was made in the church of the Bulgarian king Simeon in Preslav.
Cyril and Methodius translated the main liturgical books from Greek into Old Church Slavonic.
Later pupils Methodius created in Bulgaria on the basis of "Glagolitic" a new alphabet, which later received the name "Cyrillic" - in honor of Cyril.
Already in the XX century, the Pope John Paul II“… He emphasized more than once that, being a Slav, he felt especially strongly in his heart the call of those peoples to whom the“ apostles of unity ”- Cyril and Methodius, who took the trouble to“ expound the biblical ideas and concepts of Greek theology in the language the context of a completely different historical experience and tradition ", they must be understood" by those who are intended by God Himself. "
The Pope, who was especially sensitive to any manifestation of national culture, its identity, saw the main merit of the "apostles of the Slavs" in their desire for the Word of God to "find expression in the language of any civilization", in every possible way warning against the imposition of authorities, languages, images on other peoples ...
The mission of the saints, which were especially dear to the Pope, he dedicated to the encyclical "Apostles of the Slavs" ("Slavorum apostoli", 1985) and the apostolic message "Go to the whole world" ("Euntes in mundum universum", 1988), written on the occasion of the Millennium of Baptism Kievan Rus.
“Saints Cyril and Methodius were formed in the bosom of the Byzantine Church at the time when it was in unity with Rome. Proclaiming them together with the saint Benedict patrons of Europe, I tried not only to affirm the historical truth about Christianity on the European continent, but also to put forward another important topic for dialogue between East and West, with which so many hopes are connected in the post-conciliar period.
As in a saint Benedict, so in Saints Cyril and Methodius, Europe found its spiritual origins. And therefore they must be honored together - as patrons of our past and saints, to whom the Churches and peoples of Europe at the end of the second Millennium from the Nativity of Christ entrust their future. "
Elena Tverdislova, And as a sign of love - a rosary as a gift - Preface to the book: John Paul II, M., "Rudomino Book Center", 2011, p. 30-31.
“... the emergence of Slavic writing is associated with the second half of the 9th century (863), when, as a result of the initiative of the rulers of the Great Moravian principality, Greek missionaries Cyril (Constantine) and Methodius having created a very perfect graphic system for one of the types of Slavic speech, they began to translate some parts of the Bible and create other liturgical texts.
Old Church Slavonic became common literary language Slavs of the Middle Ages.
Among all Western Slavs, he was soon ousted. Latin due to Western influence and conversion to Catholicism.
Therefore, the further use of the Old Slavonic language is associated mainly with the Slavic south (Bulgaria, Serbia) and the east (the Kiev state, then Muscovite Rus, Belarusian and Ukrainian lands). The use of the Old Church Slavonic language as a literary language led to the fact that this language was primarily subjected to grammatical processing ”.
Kondrashov N.A., History of linguistic doctrines, M., "Komkniga", 2006, p. 31.
Kostin Pavel 3rd grade
May 24 is the day of Slavic culture and writing. Cyril and Methodius are considered the founders of Slavic writing. The work of a 3rd grade student dedicated to the founders of Slavic writing.
Download:
Preview:
Kostin Pavel, grade 3
Cyril and Methodius - founders of Slavic writing
Celebrated for Slavic writing and culture. Year of birth (creation) of the Slavic
brothers Cyril (before taking monasticism Constantine) and Methodius.
Cyril (year of life - about 827-869) and his older brother Methodius (about 825-885)
were born in the Greek city of Thessaloniki (now Thessaloniki). A father named Lev was
famous Greek official. One of the later sources says about the mother,
that she is from a Slav named Maria. And although, presumably, the family spoke the same
brothers listened to Greek, Slavic words, language music in the house since childhood. Yes and no
only in the house. There were many Slavic merchants in the shopping districts of Soluni. Many
the Slavs settled in Greece several centuries before the birth of the brothers. No wonder many years
later, sending the brothers to Moravia at the request of the Slavic prince to send teachers,
who will teach church reading, singing and writing in their native Slavic language,
Emperor Michael said: “No one can do this better than you.
Together with Abbot Methodius, since you are Solunians, and Solunians all say
purely Slavic "(early 863).
Having received his education in his hometown, Methodius served for ten years as a military leader in
one of the Slavic provinces of Byzantium. Constantine studied in the capital of the empire
Constantinople and showed a brilliant philological talent. He perfectly mastered
several languages, including Latin, Syriac, and Hebrew. When Constantine
graduated from college, he was offered a very honorary position of librarian at
patriarchal book storage. At the same time, he became the secretary of the patriarch. Working
in the library (the best library in the world), he constantly replenished his knowledge, comparing
one language with another, wrote Yuri Loshchits in one of the magazines in the article "Prophetic hearing".
Only having an ear for music, developing it, can you hear in an unfamiliar to
Greek alien speech separate sounds and sound combinations. Konstantin was not shy that
called, to look into the mouth of the speaker in order to figure out in what position
lips, teeth and tongue of the interlocutor, a sound escapes from his mouth, outlandish for
Greek hearing. The sounds "z", "zh", seemed so outlandish to the Greeks"NS",
"u" and others. We, Russian people, and those for whom Russian is a native language, seem funny,
when these and other sounds are difficult to pronounce by foreigners. Sounds in Slavic speech
turned out to be much more than in Greek (later the brothers had to
them to create 14 letters more than in the Greek alphabet). Cyril managed to hear
sounds of Slavic speech, isolate them from a smooth, coherent flow and create under these
sounds signs-letters.
When we talk about the creation of the Slavic alphabet by brothers Cyril and Metholy, then
we call the youngest first. So it was during the life of both. Methodius himself said:
"He served, like a slave, to a younger brother, obeying him." The younger brother was brilliant
the philologist, as we would say now, is a brilliant polyglot. He had to
enter into scientific disputes, and not only scientific ones. Have a new business of creating writing
numerous Slavic people, there were many enemies (in Moravia and Pannonia -
on the lands of modern Hungary, the former Yugoslavia, Austria). After the brothers died
about 200 of their students were sold into slavery, and the closest and most capable of them
comrades-in-arms are thrown into prison.
The tragic personal fates of the students of Cyril and Methodius did not stop
the spread of Slavic writing from one Slavic people to another. From
Moravia and Pannonia, she passed to Bulgaria, and in the X century, after the adoption
Christianity, and in ancient Russia.
What was the Slavic alphabet? This needs to be told in more detail,
since this writing in Russia was used until the 18th century. Under Peter I and
then several more times in the 18th century. the alphabetical composition changed, i.e. number of letters and their
graphics (writing). The last reform of the Cyrillic alphabet took place in 1917-1918. There was a total
12 letters were excluded, and two new ones were introduced - "and" and "ё". If you look at the names of the letters
Cyrillic, the origin of the word "alphabet" will become clear: a - az, b - beeches. Like
the name of the alphabet, the name "alphabet" also originated - from the first two letters of the Greek
languages "alpha" and "vita".
All the Slavs from the Baltic spoke, wrote, created literature in the "Slovenian language"
to the Aegean Sea, from the Alps to the Volga. Six long centuries, up to the 15th century,
only three ancient languages (Slavic, Greek, Latin) were adopted in the world
as the main languages of interethnic communication. And now it's a matter of honor for millions of people
Speakers of Slavic languages - to protect, preserve and develop it.
How did distant ancestors learn to read and write?
The school was taught individually, and each teacher had no more than 6-8
students. The teaching methods were very flawed. Folk proverbs
retained the memory of the difficulty of learning the alphabet: "
bears "," They teach the ABC, they shout at the whole hut. "
Learn old Slavic alphabet was not an easy thing to do. Sounds were not spoken, but
letter names that are complex in themselves. Having memorized the alphabet, they proceeded to the syllables, or
warehouses, at first from two letters: "beeches", "az" - the student called the names of the letters, and
then uttered the syllable "ba"; for the syllable "in" it was necessary to name "vedi", "he". Then
taught syllables of three letters: "beeches", "rtsy", "az" - "bra", etc.
The complicated names of the letters were not taken, as they say, "from the ceiling." Each title
carried a lot of meaning and moral content. The literate absorbed
great depth moral concepts, worked out for himself a line of behavior in
life, got the concept of goodness and morality. I can't even believe it: well, letters and letters.
But no. When a person who taught to read and write repeated after the teacher "az, beeches, lead", he
said a whole phrase: "I know the letters." This was followed by d, d, e - "The verb is good
is. "The listing of these letters in a row contains a commandment to man to
he did not rush with words, did not gossip, because "the Word is good."
Let's see what letters like p meant, s, t. They were called "Rtsy word firmly", i.e.
e. "Speak the word clearly", "answer for your words." It would be good for many of us to do this
learn both in pronunciation and in responsibility for the spoken word.
After memorizing the syllables, the reading began. The second proverb reminds of order
work: the teacher pronounced the letters, and the students in chorus, chanted them until
haven't memorized yet.
Literature:
Great encyclopedia of primary school
Excerpts from historical sources"The Tale of Bygone Years" and "Life of Constantine-Cyril
Loading...