The alphabet is also a set of symbols used to convey written speech in a certain language, otherwise the alphabet; and a book for mastering the alphabet and the basics of written literacy.
Wikimedia Commons()
Therefore, answering the question of what the first Slavic alphabet was called, we should talk about both the symbolic corpus and the book.
Cyrillic or Glagolitic?
Traditionally, the first Slavic alphabet is called the Cyrillic alphabet. We still use it to this day. Also, the official version says that the creators of the first Slavic alphabet were Methodius and Constantine (Cyril) the Philosopher - Christian preachers from the Greek city of Thessaloniki.
In 863, they allegedly streamlined the Old Church Slavonic writing and, using a new alphabet - the Cyrillic alphabet (named Kirill) - began to translate Greek religious texts into Slavic (Old Bulgarian). This activity led to a significant spread of Orthodoxy.
For a long time it was believed that the brothers created the alphabet, which became the basis for 108 modern languages - Russian, Montenegrin, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Serbian, a number of Caucasian, Turkic, Uralic and others. However, now most scientists consider the Cyrillic alphabet to be a later formation, and its predecessor is the Glagolitic alphabet.
It was the Glagolitic alphabet that was developed by Kirill the Philosopher to translate religious texts (“books without which Divine services are not performed”) into Old Church Slavonic. There is several evidence for this:
- Glagolitic inscription of 893 (exact date) in the church of Preslavl; 
Wikimedia Commons / Lapot () - palimpsests - parchment manuscripts, on which the old - Glagolitic - text has been scraped off, and the new one is written in Cyrillic: parchments were very expensive, therefore, for the sake of economy, more important things were written down, scraping off records that had lost their relevance;
— absence of palimpsests, on which the Cyrillic alphabet is the first layer;
- the presence of negative references to the Glagolitic alphabet in the context of the need to replace it with “Slavic Pimen”, in which there is “more holiness and honor”, for example, in the essay of Chernorizets Khrabra “On Letters”.
In Old Russian writing, as a later Glagolitic alphabet, it was used extremely rarely, usually as secret writing or individual inclusions in texts in Cyrillic.
Who is the author of the Cyrillic alphabet?
According to scientists, the creator of the Cyrillic alphabet is Kliment of Ohrid, a student of Cyril the Philosopher, a resident of the Bulgarian city of Ohrid (now Macedonia). In 893, a national council in Great Preslav unanimously voted to elect Clement “bishop of the Slavic language” - this is further evidence in favor of his authorship of the Cyrillic alphabet.
The first printed alphabet
The first printed alphabets, or primers, appeared in the 16th century. In 1574, the first printer Ivan Fedorov published his “ABC” in Lvov, the addressee of the book was “beloved honest Christian Russian people.” 
The circulation, together with the second building - the Ostrog building, amounted to about 2,000 copies. The second edition contained not only letters (symbols), but also exercises for practicing reading.
Only three books from Fedorov’s first ABCs have survived. One “ABC” of 1574 belonged to S. P. Diaghilev (1872 – 1929) - a Russian theater figure, organizer of the Parisian “Russian Seasons” and the “Russian Diaghilev Ballet”. When the owner died, the relic became the property of the Harvard University Library.
Two other ABCs from 1578 are kept in the Copenhagen Royal Library and the State Library in Gotha in Germany.
“ABC” by Ivan Fedorov is built on the Roman and Greek letter-subjunctive system of education. First, it contains an alphabet of 46 letters. Next is the reverse alphabet (from “Izhitsa” to “az”), the alphabet in eight vertical columns. Behind it are syllables of two letters, syllables of three letters (possible combinations of all vowels with all consonants).
This arrangement of material in the book reflects a system of teaching literacy, in which images and names of symbols were first firmly memorized, then syllables, and only after that the student began reading texts taken from the Bible.
The texts were not just religious, but always instructive and educational. We must pay tribute to the pioneer printer; the teachings were addressed not only to children, but also to parents, for example: do not irritate your children. Perhaps this to some extent determined the general direction of Russian literature to this day. 
Wikimedia Commons / Anntinomy () In 1596, the first primer “The Science of Reading...” by Lavrentiy Zizaniya was published in Vilna. In 1634, Vasily Burtsov published the Primer of the Slovenian Language in Moscow. Since then, the printing of alphabet books has become widespread.
Kuban State University
Faculty of Management and Psychology
on document management on the topic:
"History of the Russian alphabet: from antiquity to the present day"
Completed by a student
2nd year preschool educational institution:
Teterleva Elena
Krasnodar 2010
Introduction
1. The emergence of the Slavic alphabet
2. Cyrillic letters and their names
3. Composition of the Russian alphabet
Conclusion
INTRODUCTION
When conveying speech in writing, letters are used, each of which has a specific meaning. A set of letters arranged in a prescribed order is called alphabet or ABC .
Word alphabet comes from the name of the first two letters of the Greek alphabet: α- alpha; β - beta(in modern Greek - vita).
Word ABC comes from the name of the first two letters of the ancient Slavic alphabet - Cyrillic: A - az; B - beeches.
How did the alphabet come about? How did it develop in Rus'? The answers to these questions can be found in this abstract.
1. THE APPEARANCE OF THE SLAVIC ABC
Alphabet is a system of letters that convey the sounds or phonemes of a language. Almost all known alphabetic writing systems have a common origin: they go back to the Semitic writing of Phenicia, Syria, Palestine of the 2nd millennium BC.
The Phoenicians, who lived on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea, were famous sailors in ancient times. They conducted active trade with the states of the Mediterranean. In the 9th century. BC e. The Phoenicians introduced their writing to the Greeks. The Greeks slightly modified the styles of Phoenician letters and their names, while maintaining the order.
In the 1st millennium BC. e. Southern Italy was colonized by the Greeks. As a result of this, various peoples of Italy became acquainted with the Greek letter, including the Latins, the Italic tribe that founded Rome. The classical Latin alphabet was finally formed in the 1st century. BC e. Some Greek letters were not included in the Latin alphabet. During the era of the Roman Empire, the Latin language and writing became widespread. Its influence intensified in the Middle Ages due to the transition to. Christianity of all peoples of Europe. The Latin language became the liturgical language in all states of Western Europe, and the Latin script became the only acceptable script for liturgical books. As a result, Latin was the international language for centuries.
In the territory of Central Eastern Europe, inhabited by the Slavs, starting from the 6th-7th centuries. Separate unions of Slavic tribes and state associations appear.
19th century the state union of the Western Slavs was known - the Moravian Principality, located on the territory of present-day Slovakia. German feudal lords sought to subjugate Moravia politically, economically, and culturally. German missionaries were sent to Moravia to preach Christianity in Latin. This threatened the political independence of the state. In an effort to maintain independence, the far-sighted Moravian prince Rostislav sent an embassy to the Byzantine Emperor Michael III with a request to send teachers (preachers of Christianity according to the Byzantine rite) to Moravia who would teach the inhabitants of Moravia Christianity in their native language. Michael III entrusted the Moravian mission to Constantine (monastic name - Cyril) and his brother Methodius. The brothers were natives of the city of Thessaloniki (now Thessaloniki), which at that time was part of the Slavic (Bulgarian) territory and was the cultural center of Macedonia. Ancient Thessaloniki was a bilingual city in which, in addition to the Greek language, a Slavic dialect was heard.
Konstantin was a very educated man for his time. Even before his trip to Moravia, he compiled the Slavic alphabet and began to translate the Gospel into the Slavic language. In Moravia, Constantine and Methodius continued to translate church books from Greek into the Slavic language, teaching the Slavs to read, write and conduct worship in the Slavic language. The brothers stayed in Moravia for more than three years, and then went with their disciples to Rome to the Pope. There they hoped to find support in the fight against the German clergy, who did not want to give up their positions in Moravia and hindered the spread of Slavic writing. On the way to Rome, they visited another Slavic country - Pannonia (the area of Lake Balaton, Hungary). And here the brothers taught the Slavs books and worship in the Slavic language.
In Rome, Constantine became a monk, taking the name Cyril. There, in 869, Cyril was poisoned. Before his death, he wrote to Methodius: “You and I are like two oxen; one fell from a heavy burden, the other must continue the journey.” Methodius with his disciples, who received the priesthood, returned to Pannonia, and later to Moravia.
By that time, the situation in Moravia had changed dramatically. After the death of Rostislav, his captive Svyatopolk became the Moravian prince, who submitted to German political influence. The activities of Methodius and his disciples took place in very difficult conditions. The Latin-German clergy in every way prevented the spread of the Slavic language as the language of the church.
Methodius was sent to prison, where he dies in 885, and after that his opponents managed to achieve the ban on Slavic writing in Moravia. Many students were executed, some moved to Bulgaria and Croatia. In Bulgaria, Tsar Boris converted to Christianity in 864. Bulgaria becomes the center of the spread of Slavic writing. Here Slavic schools are created, the original Cyril and Methodius liturgical books (Gospel, Psalter, Apostle, church services) are copied, new Slavic translations from Greek are made, original works appear in the Old Slavonic language (“0 writings of the Chrnoritsa Brave”).
The widespread use of Slavic writing, its “golden age,” dates back to the reign of Simeon (893-927), the son of Boris, in Bulgaria. Later, the Old Church Slavonic language penetrates Serbia, and at the end of the 10th century. becomes the language of the church in Kievan Rus.
The Old Church Slavonic language, being the language of the church in Rus', was influenced by the Old Russian language. It was the Old Slavonic language of the Russian edition, as it included elements of living East Slavic speech.
The Old Church Slavonic alphabets with which monuments that have survived to this day are written are called Glagolitic And Cyrillic. The first Old Slavonic monuments were written in the Glagolitic alphabet, which was supposedly created by Constantine based on the Greek cursive script of the 9th century. with the addition of some letters from other eastern alphabets. This is a very unique, intricate, loop-shaped letter, which was used by the Croats for a long time in a slightly modified form (until the 17th century). The appearance of the Cyrillic alphabet, which dates back to the Greek statutory (solemn) letter, is associated with the activities of the Bulgarian school of scribes. Cyrillic is the Slavic alphabet that underlies the modern Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Bulgarian, Serbian and Macedonian alphabet.
2. CYRILLIC LETTERS AND THEIR NAMES
Figure 1 – “Cyrillic letters and their names”
The Cyrillic alphabet, shown in Figure 1, has undergone gradual improvement as it has been used in the Russian language.
The development of the Russian nation at the beginning of the 18th century and the emerging needs for the printing of civil books necessitated the need to simplify the lettering of the Cyrillic alphabet.
In 1708, a Russian civil font was created, and Peter I himself took an active part in making sketches of letters. In 1710, a sample of a new alphabet font was approved. This was the first reform of Russian graphics. The essence of Peter's reform was to simplify the composition of the Russian alphabet by excluding from it such outdated and unnecessary letters as “psi”, “xi”, “omega”, “izhitsa”, “earth”, “izhe”, “yus small”. However, later, probably under the influence of the clergy, some of these letters were restored to use. The letter E (“E” is reverse) was introduced in order to distinguish it from the yotized letter E, as well as the letter Y instead of the small yotized yus.
In the civil font, uppercase (capital) and lowercase (small) letters are established for the first time.
Letter Y ( and short) was introduced by the Academy of Sciences in 1735. The letter Yo was first used by N.M. Karamzin in 1797 to designate the sound [o] under stress after soft consonants, for example: palate, dark .
In the 18th century in a literary language, a sound denoted by the letter Ъ ( yat), coincided with the sound [ uh ]. Bush, Kommersant, thus, practically turned out to be unnecessary, but according to tradition, it was kept in the Russian alphabet for a long time, until 1917-1918.
Spelling reform of 1917-1918. two letters that duplicated each other were excluded: “yat”, “fita”, “and decimal”. Letter b ( er) was saved only as a delimiter, b ( er) - as a dividing sign and to indicate the softness of the preceding consonant. Regarding Yo, the decree contains a clause on the desirability, but not obligatory nature, of using this letter. Reform 1917-1918 simplified Russian writing and thereby facilitated learning to read and write.
3. COMPOSITION OF THE RUSSIAN ALPHABET
The Russian alphabet has 33 letters, of which 10 indicate vowels, 21 consonants, and 2 letters do not indicate special sounds, but serve to convey certain sound features. The Russian alphabet, shown in Table 1, has uppercase (capital) and lowercase (small) letters, printed and handwritten letters.
Table 1 - Russian alphabet and letter names
CONCLUSION
Throughout the history of the Russian alphabet, there was a struggle with “extra” letters, culminating in a partial victory during the reform of graphics by Peter I (1708-1710) and a final victory during the spelling reform of 1917-1918.
Not all people know what May 24 is famous for, but it is even impossible to imagine what would have happened to us if this day in 863 had turned out to be completely different and the creators of writing abandoned their work.
Who created Slavic writing in the 9th century? These were Cyril and Methodius, and this event happened on May 24, 863, which led to the celebration of one of the most important events in the history of mankind. Now the Slavic peoples could use their own writing, and not borrow the languages of other peoples.
The creators of Slavic writing - Cyril and Methodius?
The history of the development of Slavic writing is not as “transparent” as it might seem at first glance; there are different opinions about its creators. There is an interesting fact that Cyril, even before he began working on the creation of the Slavic alphabet, was in Chersonesus (today it is Crimea), from where he was able to take the sacred writings of the Gospel or the Psalter, which at that moment turned out to be written precisely in the letters of the Slavic alphabet. This fact makes you wonder: who created the Slavic writing; did Cyril and Methodius really write the alphabet or take a finished work?
However, in addition to the fact that Cyril brought a ready-made alphabet from Chersonese, there is other evidence that the creators of Slavic writing were other people, who lived long before Cyril and Methodius.
Arab sources of historical events say that 23 years before Cyril and Methodius created the Slavic alphabet, namely in the 40s of the 9th century, there were baptized people who held books written in the Slavic language in their hands. There is also another serious fact that proves that the creation of Slavic writing occurred even earlier than the stated date. The bottom line is that Pope Leo IV had a diploma issued before 863, which consisted precisely of the letters of the Slavic alphabet, and this figure was on the throne in the interval from 847 to 855 of the 9th century.
Another, but also important, fact of proof of the more ancient origin of Slavic writing lies in the statement of Catherine II, who during her reign wrote that the Slavs are a more ancient people than is commonly believed, and they have had writing since the times before the birth of Christ.
Evidence of antiquity from other nations
The creation of Slavic writing before 863 can be proven by other facts that are present in the documents of other peoples who lived in ancient times and used other types of writing in their time. There are quite a few such sources, and they are found in the Persian historian named Ibn Fodlan, in El Massudi, as well as in slightly later creators in fairly well-known works, which say that Slavic writing was formed before the Slavs had books.
A historian who lived on the border of the 9th and 10th centuries argued that the Slavic people are more ancient and more developed than the Romans, and as proof he cited some monuments that make it possible to determine the antiquity of the origin of the Slavic people and their writing.
And the last fact that can seriously influence the train of thought of people in search of an answer to the question of who created the Slavic writing is coins with different letters of the Russian alphabet, dated earlier than 863, and located in the territories of such European countries like England, Scandinavia, Denmark and others.
Refutation of the ancient origin of Slavic writing
The supposed creators of Slavic writing missed the mark a little: they did not leave any books and documents written in this language. However, for many scientists it is enough that Slavic writing is present on various stones, rocks, weapons and household items that were used by the ancient inhabitants in their Everyday life.
Many scientists worked on studying historical achievements in the writing of the Slavs, but a senior researcher named Grinevich was able to get almost to the very source, and his work made it possible to decipher any text written in the ancient Slavic language.
Grinevich's work in the study of Slavic writing
In order to understand the writing of the ancient Slavs, Grinevich had to do a lot of work, during which he discovered that it was not based on letters, but had a more complex system that worked through syllables. The scientist himself absolutely seriously believed that the formation of the Slavic alphabet began 7,000 years ago.
The signs of the Slavic alphabet had a different basis, and after grouping all the symbols, Grinevich identified four categories: linear, dividing symbols, pictorial and limiting signs.
For the study, Grinevich used about 150 different inscriptions that were present on all kinds of objects, and all his achievements were based on deciphering these particular symbols.
During his research, Grinevich found out that the history of Slavic writing is older, and the ancient Slavs used 74 characters. However, for an alphabet there are too many characters, and if we talk about whole words, then there cannot be only 74 of them in the language. These reflections led the researcher to the idea that the Slavs used syllables instead of letters in the alphabet.
Example: “horse” - syllable “lo”
His approach made it possible to decipher the inscriptions that many scientists struggled with and could not understand what they meant. But it turned out that everything is quite simple:
- The pot, which was found near Ryazan, had an inscription - instructions that said that it should be put in the oven and closed.
- The sinker, which was found near the city of Trinity, had a simple inscription: “Weighs 2 ounces.”
All of the above-described evidence completely refutes the fact that the creators of Slavic writing are Cyril and Methodius, and prove the antiquity of our language.
Slavic runes in the creation of Slavic writing
The one who created Slavic writing was a rather smart and brave person, because such an idea at that time could destroy the creator due to the lack of education of all other people. But besides writing, other options for disseminating information to people were invented - Slavic runes.
A total of 18 runes have been found in the world, which are present on a large number of different ceramics, stone statues and other artifacts. Examples include ceramic products from the village of Lepesovka, located in southern Volyn, as well as a clay vessel in the village of Voiskovo. In addition to evidence located on the territory of Russia, there are monuments that are located in Poland and were discovered back in 1771. They also contain Slavic runes. We should not forget the temple of Radegast, located in Retra, where the walls are decorated with Slavic symbols. The last place that scientists learned about from Thietmar of Merseburg is a fortress-temple and is located on an island called Rügen. There are a large number of idols, whose names are written using runes of Slavic origin.
Slavic writing. Cyril and Methodius as creators
The creation of writing is attributed to Cyril and Methodius, and in support of this, historical data are provided for the corresponding period of their lives, which is described in some detail. They touch on the meaning of their activities, as well as the reasons for working on the creation of new symbols.
Cyril and Methodius was led to the creation of the alphabet by the conclusion that other languages cannot fully reflect Slavic speech. This constraint is proven by the works of the monk Khrabra, in which it is noted that before the adoption of the Slavic alphabet for general use, baptism was carried out either in Greek or in Latin, and already in those days it became clear that they cannot reflect all the sounds that fill our speech .
Political influence on the Slavic alphabet
Politics began its influence on society from the very beginning of the birth of countries and religions, and it also had its hand in other aspects of people's lives.
As described above, the baptism services of the Slavs were conducted in either Greek or Latin, which allowed other churches to influence the minds and strengthen the idea of their dominant role in the minds of the Slavs.
Those countries where the liturgies were conducted not in Greek, but in Latin, received increased influence of German priests on the faith of the people, but for the Byzantine Church this was unacceptable, and it took a reciprocal step, entrusting Cyril and Methodius with the creation of writing, in which it would be written service and sacred texts.
The Byzantine Church reasoned correctly at that moment, and its plans were such that whoever created the Slavic writing based on the Greek alphabet would help weaken the influence of the German Church on all Slavic countries at the same time and at the same time help bring the people closer to Byzantium. These actions can also be seen as motivated by self-interest.
Who created Slavic writing based on the Greek alphabet? They were created by Cyril and Methodius, and it was not by chance that they were chosen by the Byzantine Church for this work. Kirill grew up in the city of Thessaloniki, which, although Greek, about half of its inhabitants spoke fluent Slavic, and Kirill himself was well versed in it and also had an excellent memory.
Byzantium and its role
There is quite a serious debate about when the work on creating Slavic writing began, since May 24 is the official date, but there is a large gap in history that creates a discrepancy.
After Byzantium gave this difficult task, Cyril and Methodius began developing Slavic writing and in 864 arrived in Moravia with a ready-made Slavic alphabet and a fully translated Gospel, where they recruited students for the school.
After receiving a task from the Byzantine Church, Cyril and Methodius head to Morvia. During their journey, they are engaged in writing the alphabet and translating the texts of the Gospel into the Slavic language, and upon arrival in the city, the finished works are in their hands. However, the road to Moravia does not take that much time. Perhaps this time period makes it possible to create an alphabet, but it is simply impossible to translate the Gospel letters in such a short period of time, which indicates advance work on the Slavic language and translation of texts.
Kirill's illness and care
After three years of working in his own school of Slavic writing, Kirill abandoned this business and left for Rome. This turn of events was caused by illness. Kirill left everything for a peaceful death in Rome. Methodius, finding himself alone, continues to pursue his goal and does not retreat back, although now it has become more difficult for him, because the Catholic Church has begun to understand the scale of the work done and is not delighted with it. The Roman Church imposes bans on translations into the Slavic language and openly demonstrates its dissatisfaction, but Methodius now has followers who help and continue his work.
Cyrillic and Glagolitic - what laid the foundation for modern writing?
There are no confirmed facts that can prove which of the writing systems originated earlier, and there is no exact information about who created the Slavic one and which of the two possible ones Cyril had a hand in. Only one thing is known, but the most important thing is that it was the Cyrillic alphabet that became the founder of today’s Russian alphabet and only thanks to it we can write the way we write now.
The Cyrillic alphabet has 43 letters, and the fact that its creator was Cyril proves the presence of 24 in it. And the remaining 19 were included by the creator of the Cyrillic alphabet based on the Greek alphabet solely to reflect complex sounds that were present only among peoples who used the Slavic language for communication.
Over time, the Cyrillic alphabet has been transformed, almost constantly influenced in order to simplify and improve it. However, there were moments that made writing difficult at first, for example, the letter “ё”, which is an analogue of “e”, the letter “th” - an analogue of “i”. Such letters made spelling difficult at first, but reflected their corresponding sounds.
Glagolitic, in fact, was an analogue of the Cyrillic alphabet and used 40 letters, 39 of which were taken specifically from the Cyrillic alphabet. The main difference between the Glagolitic alphabet is that it has a more rounded writing style and is not inherently angular, unlike Cyrillic.
The disappeared alphabet (Glagolitic), although it did not take root, was intensively used by the Slavs living in the southern and western latitudes, and, depending on the location of the inhabitants, it had its own writing styles. The Slavs living in Bulgaria used the Glagolitic alphabet with a more rounded style to write, while the Croatians gravitated towards an angular script.
Despite the number of hypotheses and even the absurdity of some of them, each is worthy of attention, and it is impossible to accurately answer who the creators of Slavic writing were. The answers will be vague, with many flaws and shortcomings. And although there are many facts that refute the creation of writing by Cyril and Methodius, they are honored for their work, which allowed the alphabet to spread and transform into its present form.
The creators of the Slavic alphabet are Methodius and Cyril.
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, unfamiliar and incomprehensible to the people).
Emperor Michael sent the Greeks to Moravia - the scientist Constantine the Philosopher (he received the name Cyril Constantine when he became a monk in 869, and with this name he went down in history) and his older brother Methodius.
The choice was not random. Brothers Constantine and Methodius were born in Thessaloniki (Thessaloniki in Greek) into the family of a military leader and received a good education. Cyril studied in Constantinople at the court of the Byzantine Emperor Michael III, knew Greek, Slavic, Latin, Hebrew, and Arabic well, taught philosophy, for which he received the nickname Philosopher. Methodius was in military service, then for several years he ruled one of the regions inhabited by the Slavs; subsequently retired to a monastery.
In 860, the brothers had already made a trip to the Khazars for missionary and diplomatic purposes.
To be able to preach Christianity in the Slavic language, it was necessary to translate the Holy Scriptures into the Slavic language; however, there was no alphabet capable of conveying Slavic speech at that moment.
Constantine set about creating the Slavic alphabet. Methodius, who also knew the Slavic language well, helped him in his work, since many Slavs lived in Thessalonica (the city was considered half-Greek, half-Slavic). In 863, the Slavic alphabet was created (the Slavic alphabet existed in two versions: the Glagolitic alphabet - from verb - “speech” and the Cyrillic alphabet; until now, scientists do not have a consensus 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 not only acquired 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.
The secret of the Slavic alphabet
The Old Slavic alphabet got its name from the combination of two letters “az” and “buki”, which designated the first letters of the alphabet A and B. An interesting fact is that the Old Slavic alphabet was graffiti, i.e. messages scrawled on the walls. The first Old Slavonic letters appeared on the walls of churches in Pereslavl around the 9th century. And by the 11th century, ancient graffiti appeared in the St. Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv. It was on these walls that the letters of the alphabet were indicated in several styles, and below was the interpretation of the letter-word.
In 1574, a most important event occurred that contributed to a new round of development of Slavic writing. The first printed “ABC” appeared in Lvov, which was seen by Ivan Fedorov, the man who printed it.
ABC structure
If you look back, you will see that Cyril and Methodius created not just an alphabet, they opened a new path for the Slavic people, leading to the perfection of man on earth and the triumph of a new faith. If you look at historical events, the difference between which is only 125 years, you will understand that in fact the path to establishing Christianity on our land is directly related to the creation of the Slavic alphabet. After all, literally in one century, the Slavic people eradicated archaic cults and adopted a new faith. The connection between the creation of the Cyrillic alphabet and the adoption of Christianity today does not raise any doubts. The Cyrillic alphabet was created in 863, and already in 988, Prince Vladimir officially announced the introduction of Christianity and the overthrow of primitive cults.
Studying the Old Church Slavonic alphabet, many scientists come to the conclusion that in fact the first “ABC” is a secret writing that has a deep religious and philosophical meaning, and most importantly, that it is constructed in such a way that it represents a complex logical-mathematical organism. In addition, by comparing many finds, the researchers came to the conclusion that the first Slavic alphabet was created as a complete invention, and not as a creation that was created in parts by adding new letter forms. It is also interesting that most of the letters of the Old Church Slavonic alphabet are number letters. Moreover, if you look at the entire alphabet, you will see that it can be conditionally divided into two parts, which are fundamentally different from each other. In this case, we will conditionally call the first half of the alphabet the “higher” part, and the second “lower”. The highest part includes the letters from A to F, i.e. from “az” to “fert” and is a list of letter-words that carry a meaning understandable to a Slav. The lower part of the alphabet begins with the letter “sha” and ends with “izhitsa”. The letters of the lower part of the Old Church Slavonic alphabet do not have a numerical value, unlike the letters of the higher part, and carry a negative connotation.
In order to understand the secret writing of the Slavic alphabet, it is necessary not just to skim through it, but to read carefully into each letter-word. After all, each letter-word contains a semantic core that Konstantin put into it.
Literal truth, the highest part of the alphabet
Az is the initial letter of the Slavic alphabet, which denotes the pronoun Ya. However, its root meaning is the word “initially”, “begin” or “beginning”, although in everyday life the Slavs most often used Az in the context of a pronoun. Nevertheless, in some Old Slavonic letters one can find Az, which meant “one”, for example, “I will go to Vladimir”. Or “starting from scratch” meant “starting from the beginning.” Thus, the Slavs denoted with the beginning of the alphabet the entire philosophical meaning of existence, where without beginning there is no end, without darkness there is no light, and without good there is no evil. At the same time, the main emphasis in this is placed on the duality of the structure of the world. Actually, the alphabet itself is built on the principle of duality, where it is conventionally divided into two parts: higher and lower, positive and negative, the part located at the beginning and the part that is at the end. In addition, do not forget that Az has a numerical value, which is expressed by the number 1. Among the ancient Slavs, the number 1 was the beginning of everything beautiful. Today, studying Slavic numerology, we can say that the Slavs, like other peoples, divided all numbers into even and odd. Moreover, odd numbers were the embodiment of everything positive, good and bright. Even numbers, in turn, represented darkness and evil. Moreover, the unit was considered the beginning of all beginnings and was highly revered by the Slavic tribes. From the point of view of erotic numerology, it is believed that 1 represents the phallic symbol from which procreation begins. This number has several synonyms: 1 is one, 1 is one, 1 is times.
Beeches(Beech) is the second letter-word in the alphabet. It has no digital meaning, but has no less deep philosophical meaning than Az. Buki means “to be”, “will be” was most often used when using phrases in the future form. For example, “boudi” means “let it be,” and “boudous,” as you probably already guessed, means “future, upcoming.” In this word, our ancestors expressed the future as an inevitability, which could be either good and rosy or gloomy and terrible. It is still not known for certain why Constantine did not give a numerical value to Bukam, however, many scientists suggest that this is due to the duality of this letter. Indeed, by and large, it denotes the future, which every person imagines for himself in a rosy light, but on the other hand, this word also denotes the inevitability of punishment for committed low deeds.
Lead- an interesting letter of the Old Church Slavonic alphabet, which has a numerical value of 2. This letter has several meanings: to know, to know and to own. When Constantine put this meaning into the Vedi, he meant secret knowledge, knowledge as the highest divine gift. If you put Az, Buki and Vedi into one phrase, you will get a phrase that means “I will know!”. Thus, Constantine showed that a person who discovered the alphabet he created would subsequently possess some kind of knowledge. The numerical load of this letter is no less important. After all, 2 - deuce, two, pair were not just numbers among the Slavs, they took an active part in magical rituals and in general were symbols of the duality of everything earthly and heavenly. The number 2 among the Slavs meant the unity of heaven and earth, the duality of human nature, good and evil, etc. In a word, the deuce was a symbol of the confrontation between two sides, heavenly and earthly balance. Moreover, it is worth noting that the Slavs considered two to be a devilish number and attributed a lot of negative properties to it, believing that it was the two that opened the numerical series of negative numbers that bring death to a person. That is why the birth of twins in Old Slavic families was considered a bad sign, which brought illness and misfortune to the family. In addition, the Slavs considered it a bad sign for two people to rock a cradle, for two people to dry themselves with the same towel, and generally to perform any action together. Despite such a negative attitude towards the number 2, the Slavs recognized its magical power. For example, many exorcism rituals were performed using two identical objects or with the participation of twins.
Having examined the highest part of the alphabet, we can state the fact that it is Constantine’s secret message to his descendants. “Where is this visible?” - you ask. Now try to read all the letters, knowing their true meaning. If you take several subsequent letters, then edifying phrases are formed:
Vedi + Verb means “know the teaching”;
Rtsy + Word + Firmly can be understood as the phrase “speak the true word”;
Firmly + Oak can be interpreted as “strengthen the law.”
If you look closely at other letters, you can also find the secret writing that Constantine the Philosopher left behind.
Have you ever wondered why the letters in the alphabet are in this particular order and not in any other? The order of the “highest” part of the Cyrillic letters can be considered from two positions.
Firstly, the fact that each letter-word forms a meaningful phrase with the next one may mean a non-random pattern that was invented to quickly memorize the alphabet.
Secondly, the Old Church Slavonic alphabet can be considered from the point of view of numbering. That is, each letter also represents a number. Moreover, all letter-numbers are arranged in ascending order. So, the letter A - “az” corresponds to one, B - 2, D - 3, D - 4, E - 5, and so on up to ten. Tens begin with the letter K, which are listed here similarly to units: 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 70, 80 and 100.
In addition, many scientists have noticed that the outlines of the letters of the “higher” part of the alphabet are graphically simple, beautiful and convenient. They were perfect for cursive writing, and a person did not experience any difficulties in depicting these letters. And many philosophers see in the numerical arrangement of the alphabet the principle of the triad and spiritual harmony that a person achieves, striving for good, light and truth.
Having studied the alphabet from the very beginning, we can come to the conclusion that Constantine left his descendants the main value - a creation that encourages us to strive for self-improvement, learning, wisdom and love, remembering the dark paths of anger, envy and enmity.
Now, revealing the alphabet, you will know that the creation that was born thanks to the efforts of Constantine the Philosopher is not just a list of letters with which words begin that express our fear and indignation, love and tenderness, respect and delight.
Modern Russian is based on Old Church Slavonic, which, in turn, was previously used for both writing and speech. Many scrolls and paintings have survived to this day.
Culture of Ancient Rus': writing
Many scientists claim that before the ninth century there was no trace of writing. This means that during the times 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 it was also part of a number of fairly strong countries, writing was also necessary for Rus'.
Another group of scientific researchers proved that there was writing, and this conclusion was supported by a number of historical documents and facts: Brave wrote the legend “About Writings”. Also “in the Lives of Methodius and Constantine” it is mentioned that the Eastern Slavs had a written language. The records of Ibn Fadlan are also cited as evidence.
So when did writing appear in Rus'? The answer to this question is still controversial. But the main argument for society, confirming the emergence of writing in Rus', are the treaties between Russia and Byzantium, which were written in 911 and 945.
Cyril and Methodius: a huge contribution to Slavic writing
The contribution of Slavic enlighteners is invaluable. It was with the beginning of their work that they developed their own alphabet, which was much simpler in pronunciation and writing than the previous version of the language.
It is known that the enlighteners and their disciples did not preach among the East Slavic peoples, but researchers say that, perhaps, Methodius and Cyril set such a goal for themselves. Sharing your views would not only allow you to expand your range of interests, but would also simplify the introduction of a simplified language into East Slavic culture.
In the tenth century, books and lives of great enlighteners came to the territory of Rus', where they began to enjoy real success. It is to this moment that researchers attribute the emergence of writing in Rus', the Slavic alphabet.
Rus' since the appearance of its language alphabet
Despite all these facts, some researchers are trying to prove that the alphabet of the enlighteners appeared during the times of Kievan Rus, that is, even before baptism, when Rus' was a pagan land. Despite the fact that most historical documents are written in Cyrillic, there are papers that contain information written in Glagolitic. Researchers say that, probably, the Glagolitic alphabet was also used in Ancient Rus' precisely in the period of the ninth-tenth centuries - before Russia adopted Christianity.
More recently, this assumption has been proven. Research scientists found a document that contained records of a certain priest of Upir. In turn, Upir wrote that in 1044 the Glagolitic alphabet was used in Rus', but the Slavic people perceived it as the work of the enlightener Cyril and began to call it “Cyrillic.”
It is difficult to say how different the culture of Ancient Rus' was at that time. The emergence of writing in Rus', as is commonly believed, began precisely from the moment of widespread dissemination of the books of the Enlightenment, despite the facts indicating that writing was an important element for pagan Rus'.
The rapid development of Slavic writing: the baptism of a pagan land
The rapid pace of development of the written language of the East Slavic peoples began after the baptism of Rus', when writing appeared in Rus'. In 988, when Prince Vladimir converted to Christianity in Rus', children who were considered the social elite began to be taught using alphabetic books. It was at this same time that church books appeared in written form, inscriptions on cylinder locks, and there were also written expressions that blacksmiths embossed to order on swords. Texts appear on princely seals.
Also, it is important to note that there are legends about coins with inscriptions that were used by princes Vladimir, Svyatopolk and Yaroslav.
And in 1030, birch bark letters became widely used.
The first written records: birch bark letters and books
The first written records were those on birch bark letters. Such a document is a written record on a small fragment of birch bark.
Their uniqueness is that today they are perfectly preserved. For researchers, such a find is of great importance: in addition to the fact that thanks to these letters one can learn the features of the Slavic language, writing on birch bark can tell about important events that took place during the period of the eleventh to fifteenth centuries. Such records have become an important element for studying the history of Ancient Rus'.
In addition to Slavic culture, birch bark letters were also used among cultures of other countries.
At the moment, the archives contain many birch bark documents, the authors of which are Old Believers. In addition, with the advent of birch bark “paper”, people learned to peel birch bark. This discovery was the impetus for writing books on Slavic writing in Rus' began to develop more and more.
A find for researchers and historians
The first writings made on birch bark paper that were found in Russia were in the city of Veliky Novgorod. Anyone who has studied history knows that this city was of no small importance for the development of Rus'.
A new stage in the development of writing: translation as the main achievement
The southern Slavs had a huge influence on writing in Rus'.
Under Prince Vladimir, books and documents from the South Slavic language began to be translated in Rus'. And under Prince Yaroslav the Wise, the literary language began to develop, thanks to which such a literary genre as church literature appeared.
The ability to translate texts from foreign languages was of great importance for the Old Russian language. The first translations (of books) that came from the Western European side were translations from Greek. It was the Greek language that largely 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 Rus' began to change, the writing of which became increasingly more complex.
Reforms of Peter the Great: on the way to simple language
With the advent of Peter I, who reformed all the structures of the Russian people, significant amendments were made even to the culture of the language. The appearance of writing in Rus' in ancient times immediately complicated the already complex In 1708, Peter the Great introduced the so-called “civil font”. Already in 1710, Peter the Great personally revised every 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, thereby simplifying not only spoken language, but also written language.
Significant changes in the 18th century: introduction of new symbols
The main change during 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 indicate the sound “yo”.
By the end of the 18th century, the letter “yat” lost its meaning, because its sound coincided with the sound of “e”. It was at this time that the letter “yat” was stopped being used. Soon it also ceased to be part of the Russian alphabet.
The last stage of development of the Russian language: minor changes
The final reform that changed the written language in Rus' was the reform of 1917, which lasted until 1918. It meant the exclusion of all letters whose sound was either too similar or even repeated. It is thanks to this reform that today the hard sign (Ъ) is a dividing sign, and the soft (b) has become a dividing sign when denoting a soft consonant sound.
It is important to note that this reform caused enormous dissatisfaction on the part of many prominent literary figures. For example, Ivan Bunin strongly criticized this change in his native language.
