When was the alphabet created? Political influence on the Slavic alphabet

Koloskova Kristina

The presentation was created on the topic: "The creators of the Slavic alphabet: Cyril and Methodius" Purpose: to involve students in an independent search for information, the development of students' creative abilities.

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Cyril and Methodius. The work was done by a student of the 4th "a" class of the Municipal Educational Institution "Secondary School No. 11", Kimry, Tver Region Koloskova Kristina

"And native Russia will glorify the Holy Apostles of the Slavs"

Page I “In the beginning was the word…” Cyril and Methodius Cyril and Methodius, Slavic educators, creators of the Slavic alphabet, preachers of Christianity, the first translators of liturgical books from Greek into Slavonic. Cyril (before becoming a monk in 869 - Constantine) (827 - 02/14/869) and his older brother Methodius (815 - 04/06/885) were born in Thessalonica in the family of a military leader. The boys' mother was Greek, and their father was Bulgarian, so from childhood they had two native languages - Greek and Slavic. The characters of the brothers were very similar. Both read a lot, loved to study.

Holy Brothers Cyril and Methodius, Enlighteners of the Slavs. In 863-866, the brothers were sent to Great Moravia to present the Christian teaching in a language understandable to the Slavs. The great teachers translated the books of the Holy Scriptures, based on the Eastern Bulgarian dialects, and created a special alphabet - Glagolitic - for their texts. The activities of Cyril and Methodius had a common Slavic significance and influenced the formation of many Slavic literary languages.

Saint Equal-to-the-Apostles Cyril (827 - 869), nicknamed the Philosopher, Slovenian teacher. When Konstantin was 7 years old, he saw a prophetic dream: “The father gathered all the beautiful girls of Thessalonica and ordered to choose one of them as his wife. After examining everyone, Konstantin chose the most beautiful; her name was Sophia (Greek wisdom). So even in childhood, he became engaged to wisdom: for him, knowledge, books became the meaning of his whole life. Constantine received an excellent education at the imperial court in the capital of Byzantium - Constantinople. He quickly learned grammar, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, music, knew 22 languages. Interest in the sciences, perseverance in learning, diligence - all this made him one of the most educated people in Byzantium. It is no coincidence that he was called the Philosopher for his great wisdom. Saint Equal-to-the-Apostles Cyril

Methodius of Moravia Saint Equal-to-the-Apostles Methodius Methodius entered the military early. For 10 years he was the ruler of one of the regions inhabited by Slavs. Around 852, he took monastic vows, renouncing the rank of archbishop, and became hegumen of the monastery. Polychron on the Asian coast of the Sea of Marmara. In Moravia, he was imprisoned for two and a half years, in severe frost they dragged him through the snow. The Enlightener did not renounce serving the Slavs, and in 874 he was released by John VIII and restored to the rights of a bishopric. Pope John VIII forbade Methodius to celebrate the Liturgy in the Slavic language, but Methodius, visiting Rome in 880, succeeded in lifting the ban. In 882-884 he lived in Byzantium. In the middle of 884 Methodius returned to Moravia and was busy translating the Bible into Slavonic.

Glagolitic is one of the first (along with Cyrillic) Slavic alphabets. It is assumed that it was the Glagolitic alphabet that was created by the Slavic educator St. Konstantin (Kirill) Philosopher for recording church texts in Slavonic. Glagolitic

The Old Slavonic alphabet was compiled by the scientist Cyril and his brother Methodius at the request of the Moravian princes. That's what it's called - Cyrillic. This is the Slavic alphabet, it has 43 letters (19 vowels). Each has its own name, similar to ordinary words: A - az, B - beeches, C - lead, G - verb, D - good, F - live, Z - earth and so on. Alphabet - the name itself is formed from the name of the first two letters. In Russia, the Cyrillic alphabet became widespread after the adoption of Christianity (988). The Slavic alphabet turned out to be perfectly adapted to accurately convey the sounds of the Old Russian language. This alphabet is the basis of our alphabet. Cyrillic

In 863, the word of God sounded in the Moravian cities and villages in their native, Slavic language, letters and secular books were created. Slavic chronicle writing began. The Soloun brothers devoted their entire lives to teaching, knowledge, and serving the Slavs. They did not attach much importance to either wealth, or honors, or fame, or career. The younger one, Konstantin, read a lot, meditated, wrote sermons, and the older one, Methodius, was more of an organizer. Konstantin translated from Greek and Latin into Slavonic, wrote, having created the alphabet, in Slavonic, Methodius - "published" books, led the school of students. Konstantin was not destined to return to his homeland. When they arrived in Rome, he fell seriously ill, took tonsure, received the name Cyril, and died a few hours later. With this name, he remained to live in the bright memory of his descendants. Buried in Rome. The beginning of the Slavic chronicle.

The spread of writing in Russia In ancient Russia, reading and writing and books were revered. Historians and archaeologists believe that the total number of handwritten books before the 14th century was approximately 100,000 copies. After the adoption of Christianity in Russia - in 988 - writing began to spread faster. The liturgical books were translated into Old Church Slavonic. Russian scribes rewrote these books, adding features of their native language to them. Thus, the Old Russian literary language was gradually created, the works of Old Russian authors appeared, (unfortunately, often unnamed) - "The Tale of Igor's Campaign", "Instructions of Vladimir Monomakh", "The Life of Alexander Nevsky" and many others.

Yaroslav the Wise Grand Duke Yaroslav “loved books, read them often both at night and during the day. And he gathered many scribes and they translated from Greek into Slavonic and they wrote many books ”(Chronicle of 1037) Among these books were chronicles written by monks, old and young, secular people, these are “lives”, historical songs, “teachings” , "messages". Yaroslav the Wise

“The ABC is taught in the whole hut shouting” (V.I. Dal “Explanatory Dictionary of the Living Great Russian Language”) V.I. Dal chants. The names of the letters were learned by heart. When learning to read, the letters of the first syllable were first called, then this syllable was pronounced; then the letters of the second syllable were called, and the second syllable was pronounced, and so on, and only after that the syllables formed a whole word, for example BOOK: kako, ours, ilk - KNI, verb, az - GA. That's how hard it was to learn to read.

Page IV “The Revival of the Slavic Holiday” Macedonia Ohrid Monument to Cyril and Methodius Already in the 9th-10th centuries, the first traditions of glorifying and honoring the creators of Slavic writing began to emerge in the homeland of Cyril and Methodius. But soon the Roman Church began to oppose the Slavic language, calling it barbaric. Despite this, the names of Cyril and Methodius continued to live among the Slavic people, and in the middle of the XIV century they were officially ranked among the saints. In Russia it was different. The memory of the Enlightenment Slavs was already celebrated in the 11th century; here they were never considered heretics, that is, atheists. But still, only scientists were more interested in it. Broad festivities of the Slavic word began in Russia in the early 60s of the last century.

On the holiday of Slavic writing on May 24, 1992, in Moscow on Slavyanskaya Square, the grand opening of the monument to Saints Cyril and Methodius by the sculptor Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Klykov took place. Moscow. Slavyanskaya Square

Kyiv Odessa

Soloniki Mukachevo

Chelyabinsk Saratov The monument to Cyril and Methodius was opened on May 23, 2009. Sculptor Alexander Rozhnikov

On the territory of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, near the Far Caves, a monument was erected to the creators of the Slavic alphabet Cyril and Methodius.

Monument to Saints Cyril and Methodius The holiday in honor of Cyril and Methodius is a public holiday in Russia (since 1991), Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and the Republic of Macedonia. In Russia, Bulgaria and the Republic of Macedonia, the holiday is celebrated on May 24; in Russia and Bulgaria it bears the name of the Day of Slavic Culture and Literature, in Macedonia - the Day of Saints Cyril and Methodius. In the Czech Republic and Slovakia, the holiday is celebrated on July 5th.

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Introduction. Brief history of writing

1. The origins of Russian writing

1.1 Slavic alphabet and Greek alphabet

1.2 How and where did our alphabet come from and why is it called Cyrillic?

1.3 How Cyril and Methodius created the alphabet

2. "The Tale of Bygone Years" about the beginning of Slavic writing

3. From the biographies of Cyril and Methodius

4. Cyrillic letters and their names

5. The composition of the Russian alphabet

Conclusion

Literature

Introduction

Brief history of writing

When we try to imagine the beginning of Russian literature, our thought necessarily turns to the history of writing. The importance of writing in the history of the development of civilization is difficult to overestimate. Language, like a mirror, reflects the whole world, our whole life. And when reading written or printed texts, we seem to sit in a time machine and can be transported both to recent times and to the distant past.

The possibilities of writing are not limited by time or distance. But people have not always mastered the art of writing. This art has been developing for a long time, over many millennia.

At first, picture writing (pictography) appeared: some event was depicted in the form of a drawing, then they began to depict not an event, but individual objects, first observing the similarity with the depicted, and then in the form of conventional signs (ideography, hieroglyphs), and, finally, they learned not to depict objects, but to convey their names with signs (sound writing). Initially, only consonants were used in the sound letter, and vowels were either not perceived at all, or were indicated by additional signs (syllabary). The syllabary was in use among many Semitic peoples, including the Phoenicians.

The Greeks created their alphabet on the basis of the Phoenician script, but significantly improved it by introducing special signs for vowel sounds. The Greek alphabet formed the basis of the Latin alphabet, and in the 9th century the Slavonic alphabet was created by using the letters of the Greek alphabet.

The great work of creating the Slavic alphabet was accomplished by the brothers Konstantin (who took the name Cyril at baptism) and Methodius. The main merit in this matter belongs to Cyril. Methodius was his faithful assistant. Compiling the Slavic alphabet, Cyril was able to catch in the sound of the Slavic language familiar to him from childhood (and it was probably one of the dialects of the ancient Bulgarian language) the main sounds of this language and find letter designations for each of them. When reading in Old Slavonic, we pronounce the words the way they are written. In the Old Church Slavonic language, we will not find such a discrepancy between the sound of words and their pronunciation, as, for example, in English or French.

The Slavic bookish language (Old Church Slavonic) became widespread as a common language for many Slavic peoples. It was used by the southern Slavs (Bulgarians, Serbs, Croats), Western Slavs (Czechs, Slovaks), Eastern Slavs (Ukrainians, Belarusians, Russians).

In memory of the great feat of Cyril and Methodius, on May 24, the Day of Slavic Literature is celebrated all over the world. It is especially solemnly celebrated in Bulgaria. There are festive processions with the Slavic alphabet and icons of the holy brothers. Starting from 1987, the holiday of Slavic writing and culture began to be held in our country on this day. The Russian people pays tribute to the memory and gratitude of “Slavic countries to teachers...”

writing alphabet cyrillic Slavic

1. The origins of Russian writing

1.1 Slavsskai alphabet and greek alphabet

Do you know how Russian writing originated? If you don't know, we can tell you. But first answer this question: what is the difference between the alphabet and the alphabet?

The word "alphabet" comes from the names of the first two letters of the Slavic alphabet: A (az) and B (beeches):

ALPHABET: AZ + BUKI

and the word "alphabet" comes from the name of the first two letters of the Greek alphabet:

ALPHABET: ALPHA + VITA

The alphabet is much older than the alphabet. In the 9th century there was no alphabet, and the Slavs did not have their own letters. And so there was no writing. The Slavs could not write books or even letters to each other in their own language.

1.2 How and where did our alphabet come from and why is it called Cyrillic?

In the 9th century in Byzantium, in the city of Solun (now it is the city of Thessaloniki in Greece), there lived two brothers - Constantine and Methodius. They were wise and very educated people and knew the Slavic language well. The Greek Tsar Michael sent these brothers to the Slavs in response to the request of the Slavic prince Rostislav. (Rostislav asked to send teachers who could tell the Slavs about the holy Christian books, unknown to them book words and their meaning).

And so the brothers Constantine and Methodius came to the Slavs to create the Slavic alphabet, which later became known as the Cyrillic alphabet. (In honor of Constantine, who, having taken monasticism, received the name Cyril).

1.3 howCyril and Methodius created the alphabet

Cyril and Methodius took the Greek alphabet and adapted it to the sounds of the Slavic language. So our alphabet is the “daughter” of the Greek alphabet.

Many of our letters are taken from Greek, which is why they look like them.

2. "The Tale of Bygone Years" aboutthe beginning of Slavic writing

From our main witness to the original history of Russia - "The Tale of Bygone Years" - we learn that once the Slavic princes Rostislav, Svyatopolk and Kotsel sent ambassadors to the Byzantine Tsar Michael with these words:

“Our land is baptized, but we do not have a teacher who would instruct and instruct us and explain the holy books. For we know neither Greek nor Latin; some teach us in this way, and others in another way, because of this we do not know either the outline of the letters or their meaning. And send us teachers who could tell us about book words and their meaning.

Then Tsar Michael called to himself two learned brothers - Constantine and Methodius and “the king persuaded them, and sent them to the Slavic land to Rostislav, Svyatopolk and Kotsel. When these brothers came, they began to compose the Slavic alphabet and translated the Apostle and the Gospel.

This happened in 863. This is where Slavic writing originated.

However, there were people who began to blaspheme Slavic books and said that “no nation should have its own alphabet, except for Jews, Greeks and Latins, as in the inscription of Pilate, who wrote on the cross of the Lord only in these languages.”

To protect the Slavic writings, the brothers Constantine and Methodius went to Rome. The Bishop of Rome condemned those who grumble against the Slavic books, saying this: “Let the word of Scripture be fulfilled: “Let all nations praise God!” That is, let every nation pray to God in its own mother tongue”. Thus, he approved Divine services in the Slavic language.

3. Frombiographies of Cyril and Methodius

Among the most ancient monuments of Slavic writing, a special and honorable place is occupied by the biographies of the creators of the Slavic letters - Saints Cyril and Methodius, such as "The Life of Constantine the Philosopher", "The Life of Methodius" and "Eulogy to Cyril and Methodius".

From these sources we learn that the brothers were from the Macedonian city of Thessalonica. Now it is the city of Thessaloniki on the Aegean Sea. Methodius was the eldest of seven brothers, and the youngest was Constantine. He received the name Cyril when he was tonsured a monk just before his death. The father of Methodius and Constantine held the high post of assistant governor of the city. There is an assumption that their mother was a Slav, because the brothers from childhood knew the Slavic language as well as Greek.

The future Slavic enlighteners received an excellent upbringing and education. Constantine from infancy showed extraordinary mental gifts. Studying at the Thessalonica school and not yet reaching the age of fifteen, he already read the books of the most thoughtful of the fathers of the Church - Gregory the Theologian (4th century). The rumor about the talent of Constantine reached Constantinople, and then he was taken to the court, where he studied with the emperor's son from the best teachers of the capital of Byzantium. The famous scholar Photius, the future Patriarch of Constantinople, Constantine studied ancient literature. He also studied philosophy, rhetoric (oratory), mathematics, astronomy and music. Constantine was expected to have a brilliant career at the imperial court, wealth and marriage to a noble beautiful girl. But he preferred to retire to the monastery “on Olympus to Methodius, his brother,” says his biography, “he began to live there and constantly pray to God, doing only books.”

However, Konstantin could not spend long periods of time in solitude. As the best preacher and defender of Orthodoxy, he is often sent to neighboring countries to participate in disputes. These trips were very successful for Konstantin. Once, traveling to the Khazars, he visited the Crimea. Having baptized up to two hundred people and taking with him the captive Greeks released to freedom, Constantine returned to the capital of Byzantium and began to continue his scientific work there.

Poor health, but imbued with a strong religious feeling and love for science, Konstantin from childhood dreamed of solitary prayer and book studies. His whole life was filled with frequent difficult trips, severe hardships and very hard work. Such a life undermined his strength, and at the age of 42 he became very ill. Anticipating his near end, he became a monk, changing his worldly name Konstantin to the name Cyril. After that, he lived for another 50 days, read the confessional prayer himself for the last time, said goodbye to his brother and disciples, and quietly died on February 14, 869. It happened in Rome, when the brothers once again came to seek protection from the Pope of Rome for their cause - the spread of Slavic writing.

Immediately after the death of Cyril, his icon was painted. Cyril was buried in Rome in the church of St. Clement.

4. Cyrillic letters and their names

Figure 1 - "Cyrillic letters and their names"

The Cyrillic alphabet, shown in Figure 1, has been gradually improved as it is used in the Russian language.

The development of the Russian nation at the beginning of the 18th century, the emerging need for the printing of civil books necessitated the need to simplify the outlines of the letters of the Cyrillic alphabet.

In 1708, a Russian civil font was created, and Peter I himself took an active part in the production of 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 the Petrine reform was to simplify the composition of the Russian alphabet by excluding from it such obsolete and unnecessary letters as "psi", "ksi", "omega", "izhitsa", "earth", "like", "yus small". However, later, probably under the influence of the clergy, some of these letters were restored to use. The letter E ("E" reverse) was introduced in order to distinguish it from the iotized letter E, as well as the letter I instead of the small iotized yus.

For the first time, uppercase (large) and lowercase (small) letters are established in the civil font.

The letter Y (and short) was introduced by the Academy of Sciences in 1735. The letter Y was first used by N. M. Karamzin in 1797 to denote the sound [o] under stress after soft consonants, for example: palate, dark.

In the XVIII century. in the literary language, the sound denoted by the letter b (yat) coincided with the sound [ uh]. Bush, thus, practically turned out to be unnecessary, but according to tradition, it remained in the Russian alphabet for a long time, until 1917-1918.

The spelling reform of 1917-1918. two letters that duplicated each other were excluded: "yat", "fita", "and decimal". The letter Ъ (ep) was retained only as a separator, b (er) as a separator and to indicate the softness of the preceding consonant. With regard to Yo, the decree contains a clause on the desirability, but not the obligatory use of this letter. Reform 1917-1918 simplified Russian writing and thereby facilitated literacy.

5. Composition of the Russian alphabet

There are 33 letters in the Russian alphabet, of which 10 denote vowel sounds, 21 are consonants, and 2 letters do not denote special sounds, but serve to convey certain sound features. The Russian alphabet, shown in Table 1, has uppercase (large) 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 "superfluous" letters, culminating in a partial victory in the reform of graphics by Peter I (1708-1710) and a final victory in the spelling reform of 1917-1918.

In my work, I understood the historical role of Cyril and Methodius in the creation of Slavic writing. Comparing the Cyrillic alphabet and the modern Russian alphabet, I saw different styles of letters and their location, a different number of letters, found doublet letters, observed the history of the loss of individual letters from the alphabet and the appearance of new letters in it.

Literature

1. Vetvitsky V.G. Modern Russian writing. /V.G. Vetvitsky//- M.: Enlightenment, 1994. -143s.

2. Vetvitsky V.G. Modern Russian writing. Optional course. A guide for students /V.G. Vetvitsky//- M.: Enlightenment, 1999. -127p.

3. Gorbachevich K.S. Russian language. Past. The present. Future: a book for extracurricular reading (grades 8-10) / K.S. Gorbachevich / / - M .: Education, 1996. - 191s.

4. Dal V.I. Dictionary of the Living Great Russian Language. In four volumes./V.I. Dal. - M.: AST-ASTREL, 2009. - 834s.

5. Kolesov V.V. The history of the Russian language in stories / V.V. Kolesov//- M.: "Enlightenment", 1996-175p.

6. Z. N. Lyustrov, L. I. Skvortsov, and V. Ya. Conversations about the Russian word / Z.N. Lustrova, L.I. Skvortsov, V.Ya. Deryagin//- M.: "Knowledge", 1976-144p.

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Introduction

slavic writing enlightener antique

Since childhood, we get used to the letters of our Russian alphabet and rarely think about when and how our writing arose. The creation of the Slavic alphabet is a special milestone in the history of every nation, in the history of its culture. In the depths of millennia and centuries, the names of the creators of the writing of a particular people or language family are usually lost. But the Slavic alphabet has an absolutely amazing origin. Thanks to a number of historical testimonies, we know about the beginning of the Slavic alphabet and about its creators - Saints Cyril and Methodius.

Language and writing are perhaps the most important cultural factors. If the people are deprived of the right or opportunity to speak their native language, then this will be the most severe blow to their native culture. If a person is deprived of books in his native language, then he will lose the most important treasures of his culture. An adult, for example, being abroad, probably will not forget his native language. But his children and grandchildren will have great difficulties in mastering the language of their parents and their people. The Russian emigration of the 20th century, based on their hard experience, to the question “What place do the native language and native literature occupy in the national culture?” gives a very unambiguous answer: "Paramount!".

Creation of the Slavic alphabet

The contemporaries and students of the first teachers of the Slavs compiled their lives in Church Slavonic. These biographies have been tested for authenticity for centuries, and to this day Slavists of all countries are recognized as the most important sources on the history of Slavic literature and culture. The best edition of the oldest lists of biographies of Cyril and Methodius, prepared jointly by Russian and Bulgarian scientists, was published in 1986. It contains lists of lives and laudatory words of Cyril and Methodius of the XII-XV centuries. The facsimile edition in this book of the most ancient lives of the Enlighteners of the Slavs gives it special significance. Facsimile - “accurately reproduced” (from Latin fac simile “do the same”). Reading the handwritten lives and words of praise to Cyril and Methodius, we penetrate deep into the centuries and approach the origins of the Slavic alphabet and culture.

In addition to hagiographic literature, the most interesting testimony of the ancient Bulgarian writer of the late 9th-early 10th century Chernorizet Khrabr, who wrote the first essay on the history of the creation of Slavic writing, has been preserved.

If you ask the Slavic literate people like this:

Who created the letters for you or translated the books,

Everyone knows that and, answering, they say:

Saint Constantine the Philosopher, named Cyril,

He created letters for us and translated books.

The birthplace of the brothers Constantine (that was the name of St. Cyril before he became a monk) and Methodius was the Macedonian region of Byzantium, namely the main city of the region - Thessaloniki, or in Slavic Solun. The father of the future enlighteners of the Slavic peoples belonged to the highest stratum of Byzantine society. Methodius was the eldest and Constantine the youngest of his seven sons. The year of birth of each of the brothers is not exactly known. Researchers attribute the birth year of Methodius to the second decade of the 9th century. Konstantin learned to read very early and surprised everyone with his ability to master other languages. He received a comprehensive education at the imperial court in Constantinople under the guidance of the best mentors in Byzantium, among whom stood out the future Patriarch Photius of Constantinople - a connoisseur of ancient culture, the creator of a unique bibliographic code known as the Myriobiblion - and Leo Grammatik - a man who surprising compatriots and foreigners with his deep learning, a connoisseur of mathematics, astronomy and mechanics.

In the Life of Constantine, his education is reported: “In three months he studied all the grammar and took up other sciences. He studied Homer, geometry, and from Leo and Photius he studied dialectics and other philosophical teachings, in addition - rhetoric, arithmetic, astronomy, music and other Hellenic sciences. And so he studied all this, as no one else studied these sciences. The ancient heritage and all modern secular science were considered by the teachers of Constantine to be an indispensable preliminary stage to the comprehension of the highest wisdom - Theology.

This also corresponded to the ancient church Christian scientific tradition: the famous fathers of the Church of the 4th century, Basil the Great and Gregory the Theologian, before entering the church service, were educated in the best educational institutions of Constantinople and Athens. Basil the Great even wrote a special instruction: "To young men, on how to benefit from pagan writings." “The Slavic alphabet taught by St. Cyril contributed not only to the development of an original Slavic culture, but was also an important factor in the development of young Slavic nations, their revival and liberation from spiritual guardianship, turning into oppression, foreign neighbors. What Saints Cyril and Methodius did served as the foundation on which the beautiful building of the current Slavic culture was built, which has taken its place of honor in the world culture of mankind ”Metropolitan Nikodim (Rotov). From the speech “Equal to the Apostles”, delivered on the occasion of the 1100th anniversary of the death of St. Cyril. Hagiographic literature, which has preserved for us precious information about the life and scientific activities of the Thessalonica brothers, assigned to Constantine the name of Filos (i.e., “lover of wisdom”). In this regard, of particular interest is an episode from childhood, the future enlightener of the Slavs. As a seven-year-old boy, Konstantin had a dream that he told his father and mother. The stratig (head of the region), having gathered all the girls of Thessalonica, said to him: “Choose for yourself from among them, whoever you want, as a wife, to help (you) and your peer.” “But I,” Konstantin said, “having examined and examined them all, I saw one more beautiful than all, with a radiant face, adorned with golden necklaces and pearls and all beauty, her name was Sophia, that is, Wisdom, and her (I) chose." Having occupied the chair of philosophy at the Magnavra High School of Constantinople after completing the course of sciences, where he had previously studied himself, Constantine the Philosopher also performed the duties of the patriarchal librarian. And, in the "books of diligence," he more and more rose from bookish wisdom to the highest Wisdom, preparing for a great mission - the enlightenment of the Slavic peoples.

Epochal significance for the entire Slavic world was the embassy of Constantine to Moravia in 863. The Moravian prince Rostislav asked the Byzantine emperor Michael III to send preachers to him who knew the Slavic language: “Our land is baptized, but we do not have a teacher who would instruct and teach us, and who explained the holy books. For we know neither Greek nor Latin; some teach us in this way, and others in another way, because of this we do not know either the outline of the letters or their meaning. And send us teachers who could tell about book words and their meaning.

“To teach without the alphabet and without books is like writing a conversation on the water,” Constantine the Philosopher answered Emperor Michael when he invited him to go on an educational mission to the Moravian Christians. Konstantin the Philosopher compiled the alphabet for the Slavs and, together with his brother, translated the first texts from the Gospel and the Psalter. Thus, the year 863 in the history of Slavic culture is marked as the year of the creation of the Slavic alphabet, which marked the beginning of Slavic enlightenment. The Gospel of John stands out from among all biblical books with an abundance of religious and philosophical concepts and categories. Through the Church Slavonic translation of this Gospel, made by Cyril and Methodius, many philosophical (ontological, epistemological, aesthetic, ethical) and other terms entered the Slavic language and everyday life of Slavic philosophy: “light”, “enlightenment”, “truth”, “man”, "grace", "life" ("belly"), "peace", "testimony", "power", "darkness", "fullness", "knowledge", "faith", "glory", "eternity" and many other. Most of these terms are firmly entrenched in the language and literature of the Slavic peoples.

The creation of Slavic writing was not only the invention of the alphabet with all the signs characteristic of the written expression of speech, and the creation of terminology. Colossal work was also done to create a new toolkit for Slavic writing. The books that Cyril and Methodius translated from Greek and wrote in Slavonic contained examples of a whole range of literary genres. For example, biblical texts included historical and biographical genres, monologues and dialogues, as well as samples of the most exquisite poetry. The liturgical Slavic texts that came out from the pen of the first teachers were mostly intended for chanting or even for choral performance, and thereby served to develop the musical culture of the Slavs. The first translations of patristic texts (creations of the Holy Fathers) into Slavonic included works of a philosophical nature. The very first ecclesiastical canonical Slavic collections contained translations of monuments of Byzantine legislation, that is, they laid the foundation for the legal literature of the Slavs.

Each literary genre has its own characteristics and requires its own verbal forms and visual means. To create a full-fledged toolkit of Slavic writing, which, on the one hand, would preserve the natural beauty of the Slavic language, and on the other hand, convey all the literary virtues and subtleties of the Greek originals, is truly a task for several generations. But historical sources testify that this huge philological work was done by the Thessalonica brothers and their direct students in an amazingly short time. This is all the more surprising because the Orthodox missionaries Cyril and Methodius, although they had an excellent knowledge of the Slavic dialect, had neither scientific grammar, nor dictionaries, nor samples of highly artistic Slavic writing.

Here is what is said in one of the many reviews of modern scientists about the philological feat of Cyril and Methodius: “Unlike other methods of recording Slavic speech practiced in that era, the Slavic writing of Constantine-Cyril was a special complete system, created with careful consideration of the specific features of the Slavic language. Translations of works in which Constantine and Methodius tried to find an adequate expression for all the features of these monuments meant not just the emergence of the literary language of the medieval Slavs, but its addition immediately in those mature, developed forms that were developed in the Greek text of the originals as a result of centuries of literary development ".

Maybe someone before Cyril and Methodius made experiments on the creation of Slavic writing, but there are only hypotheses on this score. And numerous historical sources testify specifically to Cyril and Methodius as the creators of the Slavic alphabet, writing and bookishness. However, the history of the creation of Slavic writing has one very interesting riddle. In the 9th century, the Slavs appeared almost simultaneously two writing systems: one was called Glagolitic, and the other - Cyrillic. Which alphabet - Cyrillic or Glagolitic - was invented by Constantine the Philosopher? Many scholars tend to believe that the first Slavic alphabet was the Glagolitic alphabet. Others believe that Saint Cyril invented the Cyrillic alphabet. Perhaps the first teachers of the Slavs created both of these writing systems, but later the Cyrillic alphabet became the most widespread, which became the basis of the modern Russian alphabet. But no matter how later these questions are resolved by science, the evidence of historical sources about the brothers Cyril and Methodius as the creators of Slavic writing and book culture remains unchanged. The Orthodox mission of Cyril and Methodius also became a decisive factor in the formation of a common cultural space of the Slavic peoples. In the 19th century, the famous Russian archeographer, Archimandrite Leonid Kavelin, in the book depository of the Hilendar (Serbian) monastery on Mount Athos, found and published the manuscript “The Word of Our Teacher Konstantin the Philosopher.” In it, Konstantin the Philosopher addresses all Slavic peoples: the whole people ... Behold, all of us, brethren of Slovenia, contemplating, speak the light appropriately.

To whom was the word of the Enlighteners Cyril and Methodius addressed? To all the peoples of the Slavic world, which in the 9th century was not as divided linguistically as in subsequent centuries. From the Baltic Sea in the north to the Aegean Sea and the Adriatic in the south, from the Laba (Elbe) and the Alps in the west and to the Volga in the east, Slavic tribes settled, the names of which were conveyed by our "initial chronicle": Moravians, Czechs, Croats, Serbs, Horutans, Glade, Drevlyans, Mazovshans, Pomeranians, Dregovichi, Polochans, Buzhans, Volhynians, Novgorodians, Dulebs, Tivertsy, Radimichi, Vyatichi. All of them spoke the “Slovenian language” and all received enlightenment and native literature from their first teachers.

Constantine the Philosopher, having accepted monasticism with the name Cyril shortly before his death, died in 869. Methodius outlived his younger brother by 16 years. Before his death, Cyril bequeathed to his brother: “You and I, like two oxen, led the same furrow. I am exhausted, but don’t you think to leave the work of teaching and retire again to the mountain (to the monastery).” Saint Methodius fulfilled the order of his brother and until the end of his earthly life worked on the translation of the Bible, liturgical books and church-legal collections. Methodius died in 885, leaving behind many successors who knew and loved Church Slavonic books.

“Translating a Byzantine text into Russian is a grateful and joyful work, because the modern translator is energetically assisted by his ancient predecessors; the historical fate of the Russian language opened it up to Byzantium-specific opportunities to link and intertwine words. In English or French, the same text can only be retold, recklessly sacrificing its verbal fabric, and even a German translation can only come close to the genuine warehouse of Hellenic ornateness at a respectful distance. The tradition of Russian culture embodied in the language is connected with the Byzantine heritage in a very tenacious, very real and concrete connection. We shouldn't forget about it."

The greatest merit of Cyril and Methodius to the Slavic world also consisted in the fact that they everywhere tried to leave their students - the successors of the cause of enlightenment of the Slavic peoples. Their disciples continued the Orthodox mission in Moravia and Panonnia, and through the next chain of successors, the Cyrillic and Methodian book traditions reached southern Poland, Slovenia, Croatia, and Bulgaria.

The Cyril and Methodius Orthodox missionary tradition, in contrast to the Western Catholic one, was characterized by the fact that the oral preaching of the Gospel, church services and schooling were all done in the native language of those peoples to whom the followers of Cyril and Methodius brought Orthodoxy and Orthodox culture. The introduction of the Slavic language into worship was especially important, because at that time the liturgical language was at the same time the language of literature. With the Baptism of Russia, books in the Slavic language began to spread very quickly in the Russian land. “In The Tale of Bygone Years, which is attentive to all the events of Russian culture, there are no names or dates associated with Russian writing itself. And this is undoubtedly because Cyril and Methodius were, in the minds of the scribes of Russia, the true creators of a single written language for all the Eastern and Southern Slavs. The Russian “Legend about the transposition of books into Slavonic”, placed in the “Tale of Bygone Years”, begins with the words: “There is one language Slovene”. Further in this “Tale” it is said: “But the Slovene language and Russian are one,” and a little lower it repeats again: “... and the Slovene language is one””.

Currently, in Russian culture, the Church Slavonic language is most often recognized as the language of prayer and Orthodox worship. But its significance does not end there. “In general, the significance of the Church Slavonic language for Russian lies in the fact that it represents the entire history of the Russian language placed in one plane, for in Church Slavonic there are simultaneously functioning monuments dating back to the activities of the Slavic first teachers - St. Nestor, Metropolitan Hilarion, Cyril of Turov, St. Maxim Greek and beyond to the present day. M.V. wrote about the fateful significance of the Church Slavonic language and Church Slavonic writing for Russian culture in his “Foreword on the Usefulness of Church Books in the Russian Language”. Lomonosov: “The Russian language, in full strength, beauty and wealth, is not subject to change and decline, it will be established as long as the Russian Church is adorned with the praise of God in the Slovenian language.”

The Russian Orthodox Church to this day sacredly preserves the Church Slavonic language as the language of its worship. Consequently, the Russian language, despite all the trials, is not in danger of decline. The high cultural bar supported by the Church Slavonic language will help preserve the beauty, richness and strength of the Russian language and native literature.

On May 24, the Russian Orthodox Church celebrates the memory of Saints Equal-to-the-Apostles Cyril and Methodius.

The name of these saints is known to everyone from school, and it is to them that all of us, native speakers of the Russian language, owe our language, culture, and writing.

Incredibly, all European science and culture was born within the monastic walls: it was at the monasteries that the first schools were opened, children were taught to read and write, and vast libraries were collected. It was for the enlightenment of peoples, for the translation of the Gospel, that many writing systems were created. So it happened with the Slavic language.

The holy brothers Cyril and Methodius came from a noble and pious family that lived in the Greek city of Thessalonica. Methodius was a warrior and ruled the Bulgarian principality of the Byzantine Empire. This gave him the opportunity to learn the Slavic language.

Soon, however, he decided to leave the secular way of life and became a monk in a monastery on Mount Olympus. Constantine from childhood expressed amazing abilities and received an excellent education together with the young emperor Michael III at the royal court

Then he took monastic vows in one of the monasteries on Mount Olympus in Asia Minor.

His brother Konstantin, who took the name of Cyril in monasticism, from an early age was distinguished by great abilities and perfectly comprehended all the sciences of his time and many languages.

Soon the emperor sent both brothers to the Khazars for the gospel sermon. According to legend, on the way they stopped in Korsun, where Konstantin found the Gospel and the Psalter, written in "Russian letters", and a man who spoke Russian, and began to learn to read and speak this language.

When the brothers returned to Constantinople, the emperor again sent them on an educational mission - this time to Moravia. The Moravian prince Rostislav was oppressed by the German bishops, and he asked the emperor to send teachers who could preach in their native language for the Slavs.

The first of the Slavic peoples who converted to Christianity were the Bulgarians. In Constantinople, the sister of the Bulgarian prince Bogoris (Boris) was held as a hostage. She was baptized with the name Theodora and was brought up in the spirit of holy faith. Around the year 860, she returned to Bulgaria and began to persuade her brother to accept Christianity. Boris was baptized, taking the name Michael. Saints Cyril and Methodius were in this country and by their preaching they greatly contributed to the establishment of Christianity in it. From Bulgaria, the Christian faith spread to neighboring Serbia.

To fulfill the new mission, Constantine and Methodius compiled the Slavonic alphabet and translated the main liturgical books (Gospel, Apostle, Psalter) into Slavonic. This happened in 863.

In Moravia, the brothers were received with great honor and began to teach Divine Liturgy in the Slavic language. This aroused the anger of the German bishops, who celebrated divine services in Latin in the Moravian churches, and they filed a complaint with Rome.

Taking with them the relics of St. Clement (the Pope), discovered by them back in Korsun, Constantine and Methodius set off for Rome.
Upon learning that the brothers were carrying holy relics, Pope Adrian met them with honor and approved worship in the Slavic language. He ordered the books translated by the brothers to be placed in Roman churches and to celebrate the liturgy in the Slavic language.

Saint Methodius fulfilled his brother's will: having returned to Moravia already in the rank of archbishop, he worked here for 15 years. From Moravia Christianity penetrated into Bohemia during the life of Saint Methodius. The Bohemian prince Borivoj received holy baptism from him. His example was followed by his wife Lyudmila (who later became a martyr) and many others. In the middle of the 10th century, the Polish prince Mieczyslaw married the Bohemian princess Dąbrowka, after which he and his subjects adopted the Christian faith.

Subsequently, these Slavic peoples, through the efforts of Latin preachers and German emperors, were cut off from the Greek Church under the rule of the Pope, with the exception of the Serbs and Bulgarians. But among all the Slavs, despite the past centuries, the memory of the great Equal-to-the-Apostles Enlighteners and the Orthodox faith that they tried to plant among them is still alive. The sacred memory of Saints Cyril and Methodius serves as a connecting link for all Slavic peoples.

The material was prepared on the basis of information from open sources

The word "Azbuka" comes from the names of the first two letters of the Slavic alphabet: A (az) and B (beeches).

Much older than the alphabet is the word "Alphabet", which comes from the name of the first two letters of the Greek alphabet: Alpha + Vita. It is generally accepted that the creators of the Slavic alphabet were the brothers Cyril and Methodius. Back in the 9th century there was no ABC, and the Slavs did not have their own letters, there was no written language.

At the request of the Slavic prince Rostislav, the Greek Tsar Michael sent the Slavs two brothers, Constantine and Methodius, who lived in Byzantium in the city of Thessalonica (now Thessaloniki, Greece), to tell the Slavs about the holy Christian books, words unknown to them and their meaning. Both brothers received a good education. They were wise people and knew different languages well. Methodius was even the ruler of one Slavic region, but soon left the world and settled in a monastery on Mount Olympus. Cyril gravitated toward God from childhood and decided to also settle in a monastery with his brother.

Slavic writing "originates" in one of the monasteries in Constantinople.

Cyril creates the Slavic alphabet in the image and likeness of the Greek.

Among historians and scientists there is no consensus on what kind of alphabet Cyril created - Cyrillic or Glagolitic. The names in Glagolitic and Cyrillic are the same, only the graphics are different.

Like the letters of the Greek alphabet, Glagolitic and Cyrillic letters were used to denote not only speech sounds, but also numbers. Most of the letters of the Old Slavonic alphabet are letters-numbers. Studying the Old Slavonic alphabet, many scientists come to the conclusion that in fact the first "ABC" is a cryptography that has a deep religious and philosophical meaning. If you read each letter, you can understand the meaning that Konstantin put into it.

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. Today, there is no doubt about the connection between the creation of the Cyrillic alphabet and the adoption of Christianity. The Cyrillic alphabet was created in 863, (it is interesting to note that Konstantin the Philosopher composed an alphabetic acrostic for the first Slavic alphabet he invented - a poem, each line of which begins with the corresponding letter of the alphabet (in alphabetical order). And already in the 988th year, Prince Vladimir officially announced the introduction of Christianity.

Initially, the Old Slavonic alphabet consisted of 43 letters. It contained all the necessary letters for the transmission of basic sounds, but at the same time, the Cyrillic alphabet included 6 Greek letters not needed for the transmission of Slavic speech. Therefore, during the reforms of Russian writing in the 18-20 centuries, these 6 letters were excluded from the alphabet.

From the foregoing, it can be argued that the modern alphabet is a direct descendant of what was created by the great enlighteners Cyril and Methodius.