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Early Cyrillic alphabet

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Early Cyrillic alphabet
Словѣньска азъбоукꙑ
Script type
Time period
From c. 893 in Bulgaria[1]
DirectionVaries
LanguagesOld Church Slavonic, Church Slavonic, old versions of many Slavic languages
Related scripts
Parent systems
Egyptian hieroglyphs[2]
Child systems
Cyrillic script
Sister systems
Latin alphabet
Coptic alphabet
Armenian alphabet
ISO 15924
ISO 15924Cyrs (221), ​Cyrillic (Old Church Slavonic variant)
Unicode
 This article contains phonetic transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. For the distinction between [ ], / / and ⟨ ⟩, see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters.
The Cyrillic script
Slavic letters
АА́А̀А̂А̄ӐӒБ
ВГҐДЂЃЕЕ́
ЀЕ̂Е̄ЁЄЄ́ЖЗ
З́ЅИІІ́ЇИ́
ЍИ̂ӢЙӤЈКЛ
ЉМНЊОО́О̀О̂
ŌӦПРСС́ТЋ
ЌУУ́У̀У̂ӮЎӰ
ФХЦЧЏШЩ
ЪЪ̀ЫЫ́ЬѢЭЭ́
ЮЮ́Ю̀ЯЯ́Я̀
Non-Slavic letters
А̊А̃Ӓ̄ӔӘӘ́Ә̃Ӛ
В̌ԜГ̑Г̇Г̣Г̌Г̂Г̆
Г̈г̊ҔҒӺҒ̌ғ̊
ӶГ̡Д́Д̌Д̈Д̣Д̆Ӗ
Е̃Ё̄Є̈ԐԐ̈ҖӜӁ
Ж̣ҘӞЗ̌З̣З̆ӠИ̃
ҊҚӃҠҞҜК̣к̊
қ̊ԚЛ́ӅԮԒЛ̈
ӍН́ӉҢԨӇҤ
О̆О̃Ӧ̄ӨӨ̄Ө́Ө̆Ӫ
ԤП̈Р̌ҎС̌ҪС̣С̱
Т́Т̈Т̌Т̇Т̣ҬУ̃
ӲУ̊Ӱ̄ҰҮҮ́Х̣Х̱
Х̮Х̑Х̌ҲӼх̊Ӿӿ̊
ҺҺ̈ԦЦ̌Ц̈ҴҶҶ̣
ӴӋҸЧ̇Ч̣ҼҾ
Ш̣Ы̆Ы̄ӸҌҨ
Э̆Э̄Э̇ӬӬ́Ӭ̄Ю̆Ю̈
Ю̄Я̆Я̄Я̈Ӏʼˮ
Archaic or unused letters
А̨Б̀Б̣Б̱В̀Г̀Г̧
Г̄Г̓Г̆Ҕ̀Ҕ̆ԀД̓
Д̀Д̨ԂЕ̇Е̨
Ж̀Ж̑Џ̆
Ꚅ̆З̀З̑ԄԆ
ԪІ̂І̣І̨
Ј̵Ј̃К̓К̀К̆Ӄ̆
К̑К̇К̈К̄ԞК̂
Л̀ԠԈЛ̑Л̇Ԕ
М̀М̃Н̀Н̄Н̧
Н̃ԊԢН̡Ѻ
П̓П̀
П́ҦП̧П̑ҀԚ̆Р́
Р̀Р̃ԖС̀С̈ԌҪ̓
Т̓Т̀ԎТ̑Т̧
Ꚍ̆ѸУ̇
У̨ꙋ́Ф̑Ф̓Х́Х̀Х̆Х̇
Х̧Х̾Х̓һ̱ѠѼ
ѾЦ̀Ц́Ц̓Ꚏ̆
Ч́Ч̀Ч̆Ч̑Ч̓
ԬꚆ̆Ҽ̆Ш̀
Ш̆Ш̑Щ̆Ꚗ̆Ъ̄Ъ̈
Ъ̈̄Ы̂Ы̃Ѣ́Ѣ̈Ѣ̆
Э̨Э̂Ю̂
Я̂Я̨ԘѤѦѪ
ѨѬѮѰѲѴѶ

The Early Cyrillic alphabet, also called classical Cyrillic or paleo-Cyrillic, is an alphabetic writing system that was developed in Medieval Bulgaria in the Preslav Literary School during the late 9th century. It is used to write the Church Slavonic language, and was historically used for its ancestor, Old Church Slavonic. It was also used for other languages, but between the 18th and 20th centuries was mostly replaced by the modern Cyrillic script, which is used for some Slavic languages (such as Russian), and for East European and Asian languages that have experienced a great amount of Russian cultural influence.

History

[edit]

The earliest form of manuscript Cyrillic, known as ustav, was based on Greek uncial script, augmented by ligatures and by letters from the Glagolitic alphabet for consonants not found in Greek.[3]

The Glagolitic alphabet was created by the Byzantine monk Saint Cyril, possibly with the aid of his brother Saint Methodius, around 863.[3] Most scholars agree that Cyrillic, on the other hand, was created by Cyril's students at the Preslav Literary School in the 890s as a more suitable script for church books, based on uncial Greek but retaining some Glagolitic letters for sounds not present in Greek.[4][5][6][7] At the time, the Preslav Literary School was the most important early literary and cultural center of the First Bulgarian Empire and of all Slavs:[6]

Unlike the Churchmen in Ohrid, Preslav scholars were much more dependent upon Greek models and quickly abandoned the Glagolitic scripts in favor of an adaptation of the Greek uncial to the needs of Slavic, which is now known as the Cyrillic alphabet.

The earliest Cyrillic texts are found in northeastern Bulgaria, in the vicinity of Preslav—the Krepcha inscription, dating back to 921,[8] and a ceramic vase from Preslav, dating back to 931.[6] Moreover, unlike the other literary centre in the First Bulgarian Empire, the Ohrid Literary School, which continued to use Glagolitic well into the 12th century, the School at Preslav was using Cyrillic in the early 900s.[9] The systematization of Cyrillic may have been undertaken at the Council of Preslav in 893, when the Old Church Slavonic liturgy was adopted by the First Bulgarian Empire.[1]

American scholar Horace Lunt has alternatively suggested that Cyrillics emerged in the border regions of Greek proselytization to the Slavs before it was codified and adapted by some systematizer among the Slavs. The oldest Cyrillic manuscripts look very similar to 9th and 10th century Greek uncial manuscripts,[3] and the majority of uncial Cyrillic letters were identical to their Greek uncial counterparts.[1]

The Cyrillic alphabet was very well suited for the writing of Old Church Slavic, generally following a principle of "one letter for one significant sound", with some arbitrary or phonotactically-based exceptions.[3] Particularly, this principle is violated by certain vowel letters, which represent [j] plus the vowel if they are not preceded by a consonant.[3] It is also violated by a significant failure to distinguish between /ji/ and /jĭ/ orthographically.[3] There was no distinction of capital and lowercase letters, though manuscript letters were rendered larger for emphasis, or in various decorative initial and nameplate forms.[4] Letters served as numerals as well as phonetic signs; the values of the numerals were directly borrowed from their Greek-letter analogues.[3] Letters without Greek equivalents mostly had no numeral values, whereas one letter, koppa, had only a numeric value with no phonetic value.[3]

Since its creation, the Cyrillic script has adapted to changes in spoken language and developed regional variations to suit the features of national languages. It has been the subject of academic reforms and political decrees. Variations of the Cyrillic script are used to write languages throughout Eastern Europe and Asia.

The form of the Russian alphabet underwent a change when Tsar Peter the Great introduced the civil script (Russian: гражданский шрифт, romanizedgraždanskiy šrift, or гражданка, graždanka), in contrast to the prevailing church typeface, (Russian: церковнославя́нский шрифт, romanizedcerkovnoslavjanskiy šrift) in 1708. (The two forms are sometimes distinguished as paleo-Cyrillic and neo-Cyrillic.) Some letters and breathing marks which were used only for historical reasons were dropped. Medieval letterforms used in typesetting were harmonized with Latin typesetting practices, exchanging medieval forms for Baroque ones, and skipping the western European Renaissance developments. The reform subsequently influenced Cyrillic orthographies for most other languages. Today, the early orthography and typesetting standards remain in use only in Church Slavonic.

A comprehensive repertoire of early Cyrillic characters has been included in the Unicode standard since version 5.1, published April 4, 2008. These characters and their distinctive letterforms are represented in specialized computer fonts for Slavistics.

Alphabet

[edit]
Image Unicode Name
(Cyrillic)
Name
(translit.)
Translit. international system[3][12] Translit. ALA-LC[13] IPA Numeric value Origin Meaning of name Notes
А а азъ azŏ a a [ɑː] 1 Greek alpha Α me (spiritually)
Б б боукꙑ buky b b [b] Greek beta in Thera form letters
В в вѣдѣ vědě v v [v] 2 Greek Beta Β know
Г г глаголи glagoli g g [ɡ][3] 3 Greek Gamma Γ talk When marked with a palatalization mark, this letter is pronounced [ɟ]; this occurs only rarely, and only in borrowings.[3]
Д д добро dobro d d [d̪] 4 Greek Delta Δ good When marked with a palatalization mark or followed by a palatalizing vowel (ю, ѭ, or , and sometimes ѣ), this letter is pronounced [dʲ]; some manuscripts do not mark palatalization, in which case it must be inferred from context.
Є є єсть jest’ e e [ɛ̠] 5 Greek Epsilon Ε is - exists, world Pronounced [jɛ] when not preceded by a consonant.
Ж ж живѣтє živěte ž zh [ʒ] Glagolitic Zhivete live
Ѕ ѕ ѕѣло dzělo d︠z︡ ż [d̪z̪] 6 Greek Stigma Ϛ very The form had the phonetic value [dz] and no numeral value, whereas the form ѕ was used only as a numeral and had no phonetic value.[3] Since the 12th century, ѕ came to be used instead of .[14][15] In many manuscripts з is used instead, suggesting lenition had taken place.[3]
З з, Ꙁ ꙁ зємлꙗ zemlja z z [z̪] ~ [z] 7 Greek Zeta Ζ earth The first form developed into the second.
И и ижє íže í,j í,ĭ [iː] 8 Greek Eta Η harmony, balance
І і, Ї ї іжеи, їнить īžei,ìnit' ī,ì ī,ì [i] ~ [j] 10 Greek Iota Ι and
К к како kakó k k [k] 20 Greek Kappa Κ as When marked with a palatalization mark, this letter is pronounced [c]; this occurs only rarely, and only in borrowings.[3]
Л л людїѥ ljudìjĕ l l [l]; sometimes [ʎ][3] 30 Greek Lambda Λ people When marked with a palatalization mark or followed by a palatalizing vowel (ю, ѭ, or , and sometimes ѣ), this letter is pronounced [ʎ]; some manuscripts do not mark palatalization, in which case it must be inferred from context.[3]
М м мꙑслитє myslite m m [m] 40 Greek Mu Μ think
Н н нашь našĕ n n [n]; sometimes [ɲ][3] 50 Greek Nu Ν ours When marked with a palatalization mark or followed by a palatalizing vowel (ю, ѭ, or , and sometimes ѣ), this letter is pronounced [ɲ]; some manuscripts do not mark palatalization, in which case it must be inferred from context.[3]
О о онъ onŏ o o [o] 70 Greek Omicron Ο he/it
П п покои pokoj p p [p] 80 Greek Pi Π calm
Р р рьци r'ci r r [r]; sometimes [rʲ][3] 100 Greek Rho Ρ language When marked with a palatalization mark or followed by a palatalizing vowel (ю or ѭ), this letter is pronounced [rʲ]; some manuscripts do not mark palatalization, in which case it must be inferred from context.[3] This palatalization was lost rather early in South Slavic speech.[3]
С с слово slovo s s [s] 200 Greek lunate Sigma Ϲ word/speech
Т т твєрдо tverdo t t [t] 300 Greek Tau Τ hard When marked with a palatalization mark or followed by a palatalizing vowel (ю, ѭ, or , and sometimes ѣ), this letter is pronounced [c]; some manuscripts do not mark palatalization, in which case it must be inferred from context.
Ѹ ѹ, Ꙋ ꙋ Оукъ, ꙋкъ oukŏ/ukŏ ou/u оу/ꙋ=ou, у=u [ou/u] Greek Omicron-Upsilon ΟΥ / Ꙋ learning The first form developed into the second, a vertical ligature. A less common alternative form was a digraph with izhitsa: Оѵ оѵ.
Ф ф фѣртъ fěrtŏ f f [f] or possibly [p][3] 500 Greek Phi Φ pride This letter was not needed for Slavic but used to transcribe Greek Φ and Latin ph and f.[3] It was probably, but not certainly, pronounced as [f] rather than [p]; however, in some cases it has been found as a transcription of Greek π.[3]
Х х хѣръ chěrŏ ch kh [x] 600 Greek Chi Χ When marked with a palatalization mark, this letter is pronounced [ç]; this occurs only rarely, and only in borrowings.[3]
Ѡ ѡ Ѿ ѿ ѡмъ ѡть ōmŏ ōtŏ ѡ=ō ѿ=ō͡t ѡ=ō ѿ=ō͡t [o] 800 Greek Omega ω great, from This letter was rarely used, mostly appearing in the interjection "oh", in the preposition ‹otŭ›, in Greek transcription, and as a decorative capital.[3]
Ц ц це ce c t͡s [ts] 900 Glagolitic Tsi goal, objective See also: Ꙡ ꙡ.
Ч ч чєрвль červl' č ch [tʃ] 90 Glagolitic Cherv edge This letter replaced koppa as the numeral for 90 after about 1300.[3]
Ш ш ша ša š sh [ʃ] Glagolitic Sha space
Щ щ ща šta št sht [ʃt] Glagolitic Shta protection This letter varied in pronunciation from region to region; it may have originally represented the reflexes of [tʲ].[3] It was sometimes replaced by the digraph шт.[3] Pronounced [ʃtʃ] in Old East Slavic. Later analyzed as a Ш-Т ligature by folk etymology, but neither the Cyrillic nor the Glagolitic glyph originated as such a ligature.[3]
Ъ ъ ѥръ jerŏ ŏ/ŭ [ŏ] or [ŭ][3] Glagolitic Yer[1] process of creation After č, š, ž, c, dz, št, and žd, this letter was pronounced identically to ь instead of its normal pronunciation.[3]
Ꙑ ꙑ ѥрꙑ jery y y [ɯ] or [ɯji] or [ɯjĭ][3] Ъ + І ligature. ongoing process Ꙑ was the more common form; rarely, a third form, ы, appears.[3]
Ь ь ѥрь jerĕ ĕ/ĭ ' [ĕ] or [ĭ][3] Glagolitic Yerj[1] ended process This letter loses its pronunciation and becomes a palatalization mark when it follows these letters: д,л,н,р,т.
Ѣ ѣ ѣть jat' ě i͡e [ije][3] Glagolitic yat[1] unity of heaven and earth Pronounced [ja] when not preceded by a consonant. In western South Slavic dialects of Old Church Slavonic, this letter had a more closed pronunciation, perhaps [ɛ] or [e].[3] This letter was written only after a consonant; in all other positions, was used instead.[3] An exceptional document is Pages of Undolski, where ѣ is used instead of .
Ꙗ ꙗ ꙗрь jar' ja/ă i͡a/ă [ja:/ă] І-А ligature specific group,things This letter was probably not present in the original Cyrillic alphabet.[1]
Ѥ ѥ ѥдо jĕdo/edo jĕ/e i͡e/e [jɛ꙼/ɛ] І-Є ligature touch with the entire This letter was probably not present in the original Cyrillic alphabet.[1]
Ю ю юнъ junŏ ju i͡u [ju] І-ОУ ligature, dropping У motion against flow There was no [jo] sound in early Slavic, so І-ОУ did not need to be distinguished from І-О. After č, š, ž, c, dz, št, and žd, this letter was pronounced [u], without iotation.
Ѫ ѫ ѫдь ǫd' ǫ ǫ [ɔ̃] Glagolitic Ons wisdom given as heritage Called юсъ большой (big yus) in Russian.
Ѭ ѭ ѭта jǫta i͡ǫ [jɔ̃] І-Ѫ ligature rejection After č, š, ž, c, dz, št, and žd, this letter was pronounced [ɔ̃], without iotation. Called юсъ большой йотированный (iotated big yus) in Russian.
Ѧ ѧ ѧнъ jęnŏ ę ę [ɛ̃] 900 Glagolitic Ens image Pronounced [jɛ̃] when not preceded by a consonant.[3] Called юсъ малый (little yus) in Russian.
Ѩ ѩ ѩта jęta i͡ę [jɛ̃] І-Ѧ ligature expansion of understanding This letter does not exist in the oldest (South Slavic) Cyrillic manuscripts, but only in East Slavic ones.[3] It was probably not present in the original Cyrillic alphabet.[1] Called юсъ малый йотированный (iotated little yus) in Russian.
Ѯ ѯ ѯи ksi ks k͡s [ks] 60 Greek Xi Ξ xi (letter name) These two letters were not needed for Slavic but were used to transcribe Greek and as numerals.
Ѱ ѱ ѱи psi ps p͡s [ps] 700 Greek Psi Ψ psi (letter name)
Ѳ ѳ ѳита Thita f̀/th [t], or [f], or possibly [θ] 9 Greek Theta Θ theta (letter name), nature This letter was not needed for Slavic but was used to transcribe Greek and as a numeral. It seems to have been generally pronounced [t], as the oldest texts sometimes replace instances of it with т.[3] Normal Old Church Slavonic pronunciation probably did not have a phone [θ].[3]
Ѵ ѵ ижица ižica ỳ/ü/v/t ẏ/ü/v/t [i], [y], [v] 400 Greek Upsilon Υ small yoke/Izhe This letter was used to transcribe Greek upsilon and as a numeral. It also formed part of the digraph оѵ.
Ҁ ҁ ҁоппа qopa none 90 Greek Koppa Ϙ koppa (letter name) This letter had no phonetic value, and was used only as a numeral. After about 1300, it was replaced as a numeral by črĭvĭ.[3]

In addition to the basic letters, there were a number of scribal variations, combining ligatures, and regionalisms used, all of which varied over time.

Sometimes the Greek letters that were used in Cyrillic mainly for their numeric value are transcribed with the corresponding Greek letters for accuracy: ѳ = θ, ѯ = ξ, ѱ = ψ, ѵ = υ, and ѡ = ω.[12]

Numerals, diacritics and punctuation

[edit]

Each letter had a numeric value also, inherited from the corresponding Greek letter. A titlo over a sequence of letters indicated their use as a number; usually this was accompanied by a dot on either side of the letter.[3] In numerals, the ones place was to the left of the tens place, the reverse of the order used in modern Arabic numerals.[3] Thousands are formed using a special symbol, ҂ (U+0482), which was attached to the lower left corner of the numeral.[3] Many fonts display this symbol incorrectly as being in line with the letters instead of subscripted below and to the left of them.

Titlos were also used to form abbreviations, especially of nomina sacra; this was done by writing the first and last letter of the abbreviated word along with the word's grammatical endings, then placing a titlo above it.[3] Later manuscripts made increasing use of a different style of abbreviation, in which some of the left-out letters were superscripted above the abbreviation and covered with a pokrytie diacritic.[3]

Several diacritics, adopted from Polytonic Greek orthography, were also used, but were seemingly redundant[3] (these may not appear correctly in all web browsers; they are supposed to be directly above the letter, not off to its upper right):

ӓ  trema, diaeresis (U+0308)
а̀  varia (grave accent), indicating stress on the last syllable (U+0300)
а́  oksia (acute accent), indicating a stressed syllable (Unicode U+0301)
а҃  titlo, indicating abbreviations, or letters used as numerals (U+0483)
а҄  kamora (circumflex accent), indicating palatalization[citation needed] (U+0484); in later Church Slavonic, it disambiguates plurals from homophonous singulars.
а҅  dasia or dasy pneuma, rough breathing mark (U+0485)
а҆  psili, zvatel'tse, or psilon pneuma, soft breathing mark (U+0486). Signals a word-initial vowel, at least in later Church Slavonic.
а҆̀  Combined zvatel'tse and varia is called apostrof.
а҆́  Combined zvatel'tse and oksia is called iso.
д꙽, д̾  Yerok [ru] or payerok (U+A67D, U+033E), indicating an omitted 'jerŭ' (ъ) after a letter.[16]

Punctuation systems in early Cyrillic manuscripts were primitive: there was no space between words and no upper and lower case, and punctuation marks were used inconsistently in all manuscripts.[3]

·  ano teleia (U+0387), a middle dot used to separate phrases, words, or parts of words[3]
.  Full stop, used in the same way[3]
։  Armenian full stop (U+0589), resembling a colon, used in the same way[3]
  Georgian paragraph separator (U+10FB), used to mark off larger divisions
  triangular colon (U+2056, added in Unicode 4.1), used to mark off larger divisions
  diamond colon (U+2058, added in Unicode 4.1), used to mark off larger divisions
  quintuple colon (U+2059, added in Unicode 4.1), used to mark off larger divisions
;  Greek question mark (U+037E), similar to a semicolon

Some of these marks are also used in Glagolitic script.

Used only in modern texts

,  comma (U+002C)
.  full stop (U+002E)
!  exclamation mark (U+0021)
[edit]

Old Bulgarian examples

[edit]

Medieval Greek Uncial manuscripts from which early Cyrillic letter forms take their shapes

[edit]

Early Cyrillic manuscripts

[edit]

See also

[edit]

Media related to Early Cyrillic at Wikimedia Commons

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Auty, R. Handbook of Old Church Slavonic, Part II: Texts and Glossary. 1977.
  2. ^ Himelfarb, Elizabeth J. "First Alphabet Found in Egypt", Archaeology 53, Issue 1 (Jan./Feb. 2000): 21.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at au av aw ax ay az ba Lunt, Horace Gray (2001). Old Church Slavonic Grammar. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. ISBN 3-11-016284-9.
  4. ^ a b Cubberley 1994
  5. ^ Dvornik, Francis (1956). The Slavs: Their Early History and Civilization. Boston: American Academy of Arts and Sciences. p. 179. The Psalter and the Book of Prophets were adapted or „modernized" with special regard to their use in Bulgarian churches, and it was in this school that glagolitic writing was replaced by the so-called Cyrillic writing, which was more akin to the Greek uncial, simplified matters considerably and is still used by the Orthodox Slavs.
  6. ^ a b c Curta, Florin (2006). Southeastern Europe in the Middle Ages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 221–222. ISBN 978-0-521-81539-0.
  7. ^ Hussey, J. M.; Louth, Andrew (2010). The Orthodox Church in the Byzantine Empire. Oxford History of the Christian Church. Oxford University Press. p. 100. ISBN 978-0-19-161488-0.
  8. ^ Провежда се международна конференция в гр. Опака за св. Антоний от Крепчанския манастир. Добротолюбие – Център за християнски, църковно-исторически и богословски изследвания, 15.10.2021.
  9. ^ Steven Runciman, A history of the First Bulgarian Empire, Appendix IX – The Cyrillic and Glagolitic alphabets, (G. Bell & Sons, London 1930)
  10. ^ Провежда се международна конференция в гр. Опака за св. Антоний от Крепчанския манастир. Добротолюбие – Център за християнски, църковно-исторически и богословски изследвания, 15.10.2021.
  11. ^ Карадаков, Ангел. "Провежда се международна конференция в гр. Опака за св. Антоний от Крепчанския манастир". Добротолюбие (in Bulgarian). Retrieved April 9, 2022.
  12. ^ a b Matthews, W. K. (1952). "The Latinisation of Cyrillic Characters". The Slavonic and East European Review. 30 (75): 531–548. ISSN 0037-6795. JSTOR 4204350.
  13. ^ "Church Slavic (ALA-LC Romanization Tables)" (PDF). The Library of Congress. 2011. Retrieved November 18, 2020.
  14. ^ Памятники Старославянскаго языка / Е. Ѳ. Карскій. — СПб. : Типографія Императорской Академіи наукъ, 1904. — Т. I, с. 14. — Репринт
  15. ^ "Simonov" (PDF) (in Russian). Retrieved August 11, 2023.
  16. ^ Berdnikov and Lapko 2003, p. 12

Sources

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