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Old Church Slavonic

Also Known As Church Slavonic · Slavonic
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Old Church Slavonic is the first literary Slavic language, standardized in the ninth century by Cyril and Methodius for their mission to the Slavs. Its later recensions, together called Church Slavonic, remain the liturgical language of the Russian, Serbian, Bulgarian and other Slavic Orthodox churches.

Facts
Origins
Language Family
South Slavic, within the Balto-Slavic branch of Indo-European, based on the Slavic speech of the Thessaloniki region that Cyril and Methodius knew. 1
Place of Origin
Old Church Slavonic was devised by Saints Cyril and Methodius for their ninth century mission to Great Moravia, based on the Slavic dialect spoken around Thessaloniki. 1Tradition: Ethnologue: Languages of the World
Geography
Modern Area
Still used liturgically today, in its later Church Slavonic recensions, by the Russian, Serbian, Bulgarian, Ukrainian and other Slavic Orthodox churches, though no longer anyone's native language. 1
Identity
Native Script
Originally written in Glagolitic script, later Cyrillic 1
Practice
Liturgical and Scriptural Role
First Slavic literary language, devised for Cyril and Methodius's ninth-century mission; still used liturgically by several Slavic Orthodox churches 1
Learn More
A Language Built for a Mission

Old Church Slavonic is the rare case of a literary language created deliberately, for a specific purpose, at a known moment. In 863 the Byzantine emperor sent two brothers from Thessalonica, Constantine, later monk Cyril, and Methodius, to Great Moravia, whose prince had asked for Christian teachers working in the Slavic tongue rather than Latin. Constantine devised an alphabet, the intricate Glagolitic, fitted precisely to Slavic sounds, and the brothers began translating the Gospel lectionary, the Psalter and the liturgy into the Slavic dialect of their home region.

The mission collided with Frankish clergy who held that worship belonged only in Hebrew, Greek and Latin, a position the brothers fought in Venice and Rome, winning papal approval for the Slavic liturgy. After Methodius died in 885 his disciples were expelled from Moravia and received in Bulgaria, where the schools of Ohrid and Preslav flourished, and where the simpler Cyrillic alphabet, built from Greek letters with Glagolitic supplements, took the mission's name. The canon of Old Church Slavonic proper is a small body of tenth and eleventh century manuscripts, but from that seed grew the first literary culture of the Slavic world, and the alphabet now used from Serbia to Mongolia.

From Old Church Slavonic to Church Slavonic

As the language spread it absorbed local colouring, and scholars distinguish the classical Old Church Slavonic of the earliest manuscripts from the later regional recensions, Bulgarian, Serbian, Russian and others, collectively called Church Slavonic. The Russian recension became the most widespread, fixed by printed liturgical books from the sixteenth century and corrected in the seventeenth under Patriarch Nikon, a revision whose resisters, the Old Believers, still preserve the earlier readings. Church Slavonic remains the principal liturgical language of the Russian, Serbian, Bulgarian and Ukrainian Orthodox churches and of Slavic Greek Catholic communities, chanted in a continuous tradition more than a millennium old. Its weight on the written culture of Orthodox Slavdom is hard to overstate.

Literary Russian is shot through with Slavonicisms, doublets in which the Church Slavonic form carries the elevated sense and the native Russian form the everyday one, so that the liturgical language remains audible inside the modern one. Debates over replacing Slavonic with the vernaculars recur in every Slavic church, and some now permit modern language liturgy, but the older register keeps its hold, prized for its music, its precision and its unbroken association with prayer.

Cross-Tradition Connections

Associated With

Old Church Slavonic is the ancestor of the Church Slavonic still used liturgically across Slavic Orthodox and some Byzantine Rite churches.

Source Old Church Slavonic GrammarHorace G. Lunt

The liturgy that came with the conversion was in Old Church Slavonic rather than Greek, so the eastern Slavs heard scripture and served the offices in a Slavonic tongue from the beginning.

Source The Emergence of Rus, 750-1200Simon Franklin and Jonathan Shepard

Named or Composed in This Language

Glagolitic was devised in the 860s so that Greek scripture and liturgy could be read in Slavonic, and Azu belongs to the alphabet of Old Church Slavonic, the language of that translation and of the earliest Slavonic books.

Azu is a letter of the Early Cyrillic alphabet, which was assembled to write Old Church Slavonic and which takes its letter names from that language.

Source Old Church Slavonic GrammarHorace G. Lunt

Glagolitic was devised in the 860s so that Greek scripture and liturgy could be read in Slavonic, and Big Yus belongs to the alphabet of Old Church Slavonic, the language of that translation and of the earliest Slavonic books.

Big Yus is a letter of the Early Cyrillic alphabet, which was assembled to write Old Church Slavonic and which takes its letter names from that language.

Source Old Church Slavonic GrammarHorace G. Lunt

Glagolitic was devised in the 860s so that Greek scripture and liturgy could be read in Slavonic, and Buky belongs to the alphabet of Old Church Slavonic, the language of that translation and of the earliest Slavonic books.

Buky is a letter of the Early Cyrillic alphabet, which was assembled to write Old Church Slavonic and which takes its letter names from that language.

Source Old Church Slavonic GrammarHorace G. Lunt
Source The Orthodox ChurchTimothy Ware (Kallistos Ware)

Cherv is a letter of the Early Cyrillic alphabet, which was assembled to write Old Church Slavonic and which takes its letter names from that language.

Source Old Church Slavonic GrammarHorace G. Lunt

Glagolitic was devised in the 860s so that Greek scripture and liturgy could be read in Slavonic, and Chrivi belongs to the alphabet of Old Church Slavonic, the language of that translation and of the earliest Slavonic books.

Glagolitic was devised in the 860s so that Greek scripture and liturgy could be read in Slavonic, and Djervi belongs to the alphabet of Old Church Slavonic, the language of that translation and of the earliest Slavonic books.

Glagolitic was devised in the 860s so that Greek scripture and liturgy could be read in Slavonic, and Dobro belongs to the alphabet of Old Church Slavonic, the language of that translation and of the earliest Slavonic books.

Dobro is a letter of the Early Cyrillic alphabet, which was assembled to write Old Church Slavonic and which takes its letter names from that language.

Source Old Church Slavonic GrammarHorace G. Lunt

Glagolitic was devised in the 860s so that Greek scripture and liturgy could be read in Slavonic, and Dzelo belongs to the alphabet of Old Church Slavonic, the language of that translation and of the earliest Slavonic books.

Dzelo is a letter of the Early Cyrillic alphabet, which was assembled to write Old Church Slavonic and which takes its letter names from that language.

Source Old Church Slavonic GrammarHorace G. Lunt

Fert is a letter of the Early Cyrillic alphabet, which was assembled to write Old Church Slavonic and which takes its letter names from that language.

Source Old Church Slavonic GrammarHorace G. Lunt

Glagolitic was devised in the 860s so that Greek scripture and liturgy could be read in Slavonic, and Fita belongs to the alphabet of Old Church Slavonic, the language of that translation and of the earliest Slavonic books.

Fita is a letter of the Early Cyrillic alphabet, which was assembled to write Old Church Slavonic and which takes its letter names from that language.

Source Old Church Slavonic GrammarHorace G. Lunt

Glagolitic was devised in the 860s so that Greek scripture and liturgy could be read in Slavonic, and Fritu belongs to the alphabet of Old Church Slavonic, the language of that translation and of the earliest Slavonic books.

Glagol is a letter of the Early Cyrillic alphabet, which was assembled to write Old Church Slavonic and which takes its letter names from that language.

Source Old Church Slavonic GrammarHorace G. Lunt

Glagolitic was devised in the 860s so that Greek scripture and liturgy could be read in Slavonic, and Glagoli belongs to the alphabet of Old Church Slavonic, the language of that translation and of the earliest Slavonic books.

Glagolitic was devised in the 860s so that Greek scripture and liturgy could be read in Slavonic, and Heru belongs to the alphabet of Old Church Slavonic, the language of that translation and of the earliest Slavonic books.

Glagolitic was devised in the 860s so that Greek scripture and liturgy could be read in Slavonic, and I belongs to the alphabet of Old Church Slavonic, the language of that translation and of the earliest Slavonic books.

I І, Alphabet Letters

I is a letter of the Early Cyrillic alphabet, which was assembled to write Old Church Slavonic and which takes its letter names from that language.

Source Old Church Slavonic GrammarHorace G. Lunt

Glagolitic was devised in the 860s so that Greek scripture and liturgy could be read in Slavonic, and Initial Izhe belongs to the alphabet of Old Church Slavonic, the language of that translation and of the earliest Slavonic books.

Glagolitic was devised in the 860s so that Greek scripture and liturgy could be read in Slavonic, and Iotated Big Yus belongs to the alphabet of Old Church Slavonic, the language of that translation and of the earliest Slavonic books.

Glagolitic was devised in the 860s so that Greek scripture and liturgy could be read in Slavonic, and Iotated Small Yus belongs to the alphabet of Old Church Slavonic, the language of that translation and of the earliest Slavonic books.

Iotified A is a letter of the Early Cyrillic alphabet, which was assembled to write Old Church Slavonic and which takes its letter names from that language.

Source Old Church Slavonic GrammarHorace G. Lunt

Iotified Big Yus is a letter of the Early Cyrillic alphabet, which was assembled to write Old Church Slavonic and which takes its letter names from that language.

Source Old Church Slavonic GrammarHorace G. Lunt

Iotified E is a letter of the Early Cyrillic alphabet, which was assembled to write Old Church Slavonic and which takes its letter names from that language.

Source Old Church Slavonic GrammarHorace G. Lunt

Iotified Little Yus is a letter of the Early Cyrillic alphabet, which was assembled to write Old Church Slavonic and which takes its letter names from that language.

Source Old Church Slavonic GrammarHorace G. Lunt

Glagolitic was devised in the 860s so that Greek scripture and liturgy could be read in Slavonic, and Izhe belongs to the alphabet of Old Church Slavonic, the language of that translation and of the earliest Slavonic books.

Izhe is a letter of the Early Cyrillic alphabet, which was assembled to write Old Church Slavonic and which takes its letter names from that language.

Source Old Church Slavonic GrammarHorace G. Lunt

Glagolitic was devised in the 860s so that Greek scripture and liturgy could be read in Slavonic, and Izhitsa belongs to the alphabet of Old Church Slavonic, the language of that translation and of the earliest Slavonic books.

Izhitsa is a letter of the Early Cyrillic alphabet, which was assembled to write Old Church Slavonic and which takes its letter names from that language.

Source Old Church Slavonic GrammarHorace G. Lunt

Glagolitic was devised in the 860s so that Greek scripture and liturgy could be read in Slavonic, and Kako belongs to the alphabet of Old Church Slavonic, the language of that translation and of the earliest Slavonic books.

Kako is a letter of the Early Cyrillic alphabet, which was assembled to write Old Church Slavonic and which takes its letter names from that language.

Source Old Church Slavonic GrammarHorace G. Lunt

Kher is a letter of the Early Cyrillic alphabet, which was assembled to write Old Church Slavonic and which takes its letter names from that language.

Source Old Church Slavonic GrammarHorace G. Lunt

Ksi is a letter of the Early Cyrillic alphabet, which was assembled to write Old Church Slavonic and which takes its letter names from that language.

Source Old Church Slavonic GrammarHorace G. Lunt

Little Yus is a letter of the Early Cyrillic alphabet, which was assembled to write Old Church Slavonic and which takes its letter names from that language.

Source Old Church Slavonic GrammarHorace G. Lunt

Glagolitic was devised in the 860s so that Greek scripture and liturgy could be read in Slavonic, and Ljudije belongs to the alphabet of Old Church Slavonic, the language of that translation and of the earliest Slavonic books.

Lyudiye is a letter of the Early Cyrillic alphabet, which was assembled to write Old Church Slavonic and which takes its letter names from that language.

Source Old Church Slavonic GrammarHorace G. Lunt

Myslete is a letter of the Early Cyrillic alphabet, which was assembled to write Old Church Slavonic and which takes its letter names from that language.

Source Old Church Slavonic GrammarHorace G. Lunt

Glagolitic was devised in the 860s so that Greek scripture and liturgy could be read in Slavonic, and Myslite belongs to the alphabet of Old Church Slavonic, the language of that translation and of the earliest Slavonic books.

Nash is a letter of the Early Cyrillic alphabet, which was assembled to write Old Church Slavonic and which takes its letter names from that language.

Source Old Church Slavonic GrammarHorace G. Lunt

Glagolitic was devised in the 860s so that Greek scripture and liturgy could be read in Slavonic, and Nashi belongs to the alphabet of Old Church Slavonic, the language of that translation and of the earliest Slavonic books.

Omega is a letter of the Early Cyrillic alphabet, which was assembled to write Old Church Slavonic and which takes its letter names from that language.

Source Old Church Slavonic GrammarHorace G. Lunt

On is a letter of the Early Cyrillic alphabet, which was assembled to write Old Church Slavonic and which takes its letter names from that language.

Source Old Church Slavonic GrammarHorace G. Lunt

Glagolitic was devised in the 860s so that Greek scripture and liturgy could be read in Slavonic, and Onu belongs to the alphabet of Old Church Slavonic, the language of that translation and of the earliest Slavonic books.

Glagolitic was devised in the 860s so that Greek scripture and liturgy could be read in Slavonic, and Otu belongs to the alphabet of Old Church Slavonic, the language of that translation and of the earliest Slavonic books.

Glagolitic was devised in the 860s so that Greek scripture and liturgy could be read in Slavonic, and Pe belongs to the alphabet of Old Church Slavonic, the language of that translation and of the earliest Slavonic books.

Glagolitic was devised in the 860s so that Greek scripture and liturgy could be read in Slavonic, and Pokoji belongs to the alphabet of Old Church Slavonic, the language of that translation and of the earliest Slavonic books.

Pokoy is a letter of the Early Cyrillic alphabet, which was assembled to write Old Church Slavonic and which takes its letter names from that language.

Source Old Church Slavonic GrammarHorace G. Lunt

Psi is a letter of the Early Cyrillic alphabet, which was assembled to write Old Church Slavonic and which takes its letter names from that language.

Source Old Church Slavonic GrammarHorace G. Lunt

Glagolitic was devised in the 860s so that Greek scripture and liturgy could be read in Slavonic, and Ritsi belongs to the alphabet of Old Church Slavonic, the language of that translation and of the earliest Slavonic books.

Romanian services were sung in Church Slavonic for centuries, on the pattern the Bulgarian and Serbian churches carried north. Romanian displaced it from the seventeenth century, which left this the only major Eastern Orthodox church whose liturgical language is a Romance one.

Source The Orthodox ChurchTimothy Ware (Kallistos Ware)

Rtsy is a letter of the Early Cyrillic alphabet, which was assembled to write Old Church Slavonic and which takes its letter names from that language.

Source Old Church Slavonic GrammarHorace G. Lunt

The Russian Orthodox Church conducts its liturgy in Church Slavonic, a direct descendant of Old Church Slavonic.

Source Service Book of the Holy Orthodox-Catholic Apostolic ChurchIsabel Florence Hapgood (compiler and translator)

The Serbian Orthodox Church conducts its liturgy in Church Slavonic in its traditional form.

Source Service Book of the Holy Orthodox-Catholic Apostolic ChurchIsabel Florence Hapgood (compiler and translator)

Glagolitic was devised in the 860s so that Greek scripture and liturgy could be read in Slavonic, and Sha belongs to the alphabet of Old Church Slavonic, the language of that translation and of the earliest Slavonic books.

Sha is a letter of the Early Cyrillic alphabet, which was assembled to write Old Church Slavonic and which takes its letter names from that language.

Source Old Church Slavonic GrammarHorace G. Lunt

Glagolitic was devised in the 860s so that Greek scripture and liturgy could be read in Slavonic, and Shta belongs to the alphabet of Old Church Slavonic, the language of that translation and of the earliest Slavonic books.

Shta is a letter of the Early Cyrillic alphabet, which was assembled to write Old Church Slavonic and which takes its letter names from that language.

Source Old Church Slavonic GrammarHorace G. Lunt
Slavs, Cultures

Old Church Slavonic, the first written Slavic language, remains the liturgical tongue of Orthodox Slavs.

Source Old Church Slavonic GrammarHorace G. Lunt

Glagolitic was devised in the 860s so that Greek scripture and liturgy could be read in Slavonic, and Slovo belongs to the alphabet of Old Church Slavonic, the language of that translation and of the earliest Slavonic books.

Slovo is a letter of the Early Cyrillic alphabet, which was assembled to write Old Church Slavonic and which takes its letter names from that language.

Source Old Church Slavonic GrammarHorace G. Lunt

Glagolitic was devised in the 860s so that Greek scripture and liturgy could be read in Slavonic, and Small Yus belongs to the alphabet of Old Church Slavonic, the language of that translation and of the earliest Slavonic books.

Glagolitic was devised in the 860s so that Greek scripture and liturgy could be read in Slavonic, and Small Yus With Tail belongs to the alphabet of Old Church Slavonic, the language of that translation and of the earliest Slavonic books.

Glagolitic was devised in the 860s so that Greek scripture and liturgy could be read in Slavonic, and Spidery Ha belongs to the alphabet of Old Church Slavonic, the language of that translation and of the earliest Slavonic books.

Glagolitic was devised in the 860s so that Greek scripture and liturgy could be read in Slavonic, and Tsi belongs to the alphabet of Old Church Slavonic, the language of that translation and of the earliest Slavonic books.

Tsy is a letter of the Early Cyrillic alphabet, which was assembled to write Old Church Slavonic and which takes its letter names from that language.

Source Old Church Slavonic GrammarHorace G. Lunt

Tverdo is a letter of the Early Cyrillic alphabet, which was assembled to write Old Church Slavonic and which takes its letter names from that language.

Source Old Church Slavonic GrammarHorace G. Lunt

Glagolitic was devised in the 860s so that Greek scripture and liturgy could be read in Slavonic, and Tvrido belongs to the alphabet of Old Church Slavonic, the language of that translation and of the earliest Slavonic books.

Uk is a letter of the Early Cyrillic alphabet, which was assembled to write Old Church Slavonic and which takes its letter names from that language.

Source Old Church Slavonic GrammarHorace G. Lunt

The Ukrainian Orthodox Church uses Church Slavonic liturgically alongside growing Ukrainian-language practice.

Source Service Book of the Holy Orthodox-Catholic Apostolic ChurchIsabel Florence Hapgood (compiler and translator)

Glagolitic was devised in the 860s so that Greek scripture and liturgy could be read in Slavonic, and Uku belongs to the alphabet of Old Church Slavonic, the language of that translation and of the earliest Slavonic books.

Glagolitic was devised in the 860s so that Greek scripture and liturgy could be read in Slavonic, and Vede belongs to the alphabet of Old Church Slavonic, the language of that translation and of the earliest Slavonic books.

Vedi is a letter of the Early Cyrillic alphabet, which was assembled to write Old Church Slavonic and which takes its letter names from that language.

Source Old Church Slavonic GrammarHorace G. Lunt

Yat is a letter of the Early Cyrillic alphabet, which was assembled to write Old Church Slavonic and which takes its letter names from that language.

Source Old Church Slavonic GrammarHorace G. Lunt

Glagolitic was devised in the 860s so that Greek scripture and liturgy could be read in Slavonic, and Yati belongs to the alphabet of Old Church Slavonic, the language of that translation and of the earliest Slavonic books.

Yer is a letter of the Early Cyrillic alphabet, which was assembled to write Old Church Slavonic and which takes its letter names from that language.

Source Old Church Slavonic GrammarHorace G. Lunt

Glagolitic was devised in the 860s so that Greek scripture and liturgy could be read in Slavonic, and Yeri belongs to the alphabet of Old Church Slavonic, the language of that translation and of the earliest Slavonic books.

Yeri is a letter of the Early Cyrillic alphabet, which was assembled to write Old Church Slavonic and which takes its letter names from that language.

Source Old Church Slavonic GrammarHorace G. Lunt

Glagolitic was devised in the 860s so that Greek scripture and liturgy could be read in Slavonic, and Yeru belongs to the alphabet of Old Church Slavonic, the language of that translation and of the earliest Slavonic books.

Yery is a letter of the Early Cyrillic alphabet, which was assembled to write Old Church Slavonic and which takes its letter names from that language.

Source Old Church Slavonic GrammarHorace G. Lunt

Yest is a letter of the Early Cyrillic alphabet, which was assembled to write Old Church Slavonic and which takes its letter names from that language.

Source Old Church Slavonic GrammarHorace G. Lunt

Glagolitic was devised in the 860s so that Greek scripture and liturgy could be read in Slavonic, and Yestu belongs to the alphabet of Old Church Slavonic, the language of that translation and of the earliest Slavonic books.

Glagolitic was devised in the 860s so that Greek scripture and liturgy could be read in Slavonic, and Yo belongs to the alphabet of Old Church Slavonic, the language of that translation and of the earliest Slavonic books.

Glagolitic was devised in the 860s so that Greek scripture and liturgy could be read in Slavonic, and Yu belongs to the alphabet of Old Church Slavonic, the language of that translation and of the earliest Slavonic books.

Yu is a letter of the Early Cyrillic alphabet, which was assembled to write Old Church Slavonic and which takes its letter names from that language.

Source Old Church Slavonic GrammarHorace G. Lunt

Glagolitic was devised in the 860s so that Greek scripture and liturgy could be read in Slavonic, and Zemlja belongs to the alphabet of Old Church Slavonic, the language of that translation and of the earliest Slavonic books.

Zemlya is a letter of the Early Cyrillic alphabet, which was assembled to write Old Church Slavonic and which takes its letter names from that language.

Source Old Church Slavonic GrammarHorace G. Lunt

Glagolitic was devised in the 860s so that Greek scripture and liturgy could be read in Slavonic, and Zhivete belongs to the alphabet of Old Church Slavonic, the language of that translation and of the earliest Slavonic books.

Zhivete is a letter of the Early Cyrillic alphabet, which was assembled to write Old Church Slavonic and which takes its letter names from that language.

Source Old Church Slavonic GrammarHorace G. Lunt

Related To

Old Church Slavonic is the ninth century original of which this is the East Slavic recension.

Source Ethnologue: Languages of the WorldDavid M. Eberhard, Gary F. Simons and Charles D. Fennig (eds.)
Russian, Languages

The liturgical language of Russian Orthodox Christianity is Church Slavonic, a distinct and older literary language, and not the modern Russian offered here as an interface locale.

Source Encyclopaedia Britannica (online academic reference)Encyclopaedia Britannica editors
Sources
1. Ethnologue: Languages of the World
David M. Eberhard, Gary F. Simons and Charles D. Fennig (eds.), SIL International, 2024On the Thessaloniki dialect base and the Great Moravian missionView the Source
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