What were the first two alphabets called. The last stage in the development of the Russian language: small changes

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 Russia: writing

Many scholars argue that until the ninth century there was no written language at all. This means that at the time 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 rather strong countries, writing was also necessary for Russia.

Another group of scholars and researchers proved that there was a written language, and this conclusion was supported by a number of historical documents and facts: Brave wrote the legends "On the Writings". Also "in the Lives of Methodius and Constantine" it is mentioned that the Eastern Slavs have a written language. Ibn Fadlan's notes are also cited as evidence.

So when did writing appear in Russia? The answer to this question is still controversial. But the main argument for society confirming the emergence of writing in Russia is the treaties between Russia and Byzantium, which were written in 911 and 945.

Cyril and Methodius: a huge contribution to the Slavic writing

The contribution of Slavic educators is invaluable. It was with the beginning of their work that they had their own alphabet, which was much simpler in its pronunciation and spelling than the previous version of the language.

It is known that the enlighteners with their students did not preach among the East Slavic peoples, but researchers say that, perhaps, Methodius and Cyril set themselves such a goal. Accession to their views would allow not only to expand the range of their interests, but also would simplify the introduction of a simplified language into the East Slavic culture.

In the tenth century, the books and lives of the great enlighteners came to the territory of Russia, where they began to enjoy real success. It is to this moment that researchers attribute the emergence of writing in Russia, the Slavic alphabet.

Russia since the appearance of its language alphabet

Despite all these facts, some researchers are trying to prove that the alphabet of the Enlighteners appeared in the days of Kievan Rus, that is, even before baptism, when Rus was a pagan land. Despite the fact that most of the historical documents are written in Cyrillic, there are papers that contain information written in verb. Researchers say that, probably, the Glagolitic alphabet was also used in Ancient Russia precisely in the period of the ninth-tenth centuries - before the adoption of Christianity by Russia.

More recently, this assumption has been proven. Researchers found a document that contained the records of a certain priest Upir. In turn, Upir wrote that in 1044 the Glagolitic alphabet was used in Russia, 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 much the culture of Ancient Rus was different at that time. The emergence of writing in Russia, as is commonly believed, began precisely from the moment of the widespread distribution of the books of the enlighteners, despite the facts suggesting that writing was an important element for pagan Russia.

The rapid development of Slavic writing: the baptism of the pagan land

The rapid pace of development of the writing 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 Russia, children, who were considered the social elite, began to be taught by letter books. It was at the same time that church books appeared in writing, inscriptions on cylinder locks, there were also written expressions that blacksmiths knocked out on order, on swords. Texts appear on princely seals.

Also, it is important to note that there are legends about coins with inscriptions used by princes Vladimir, Svyatopolk and Yaroslav.

And in 1030, birch bark letters became widely used.

First written records: birch bark letters and books

The first written records were notes on birch bark letters. Such a letter 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 it is possible to learn the features of the Slavic language, the writing on the birch bark can tell about important events that took place during the eleventh to fifteenth centuries. Such records became an important element for the study of the history of Ancient Rus.

In addition to Slavic culture, birch bark letters were also used among the cultures of other countries.

At the moment there are many birch bark documents in the archives, the authors of which are Old Believers. In addition, with the advent of birch bark "paper", people were taught to exfoliate birch bark. This discovery was the impetus for writing books in Slavic writing in Russia began to develop more and more.

A find for researchers and historians

The first letters made on birch bark paper, which were found in Russia, were located in the city of Veliky Novgorod. Everyone 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 a major achievement

The southern Slavs had a huge influence on writing in Russia.

Under Prince Vladimir in Russia, books and documents were translated from the South Slavic language. And under Prince Yaroslav the Wise, a literary language began to develop, thanks to which such a literary genre as church literature appeared.

The ability to translate texts from foreign languages \u200b\u200bwas 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 Russia began to change, the writing of which became more and more complicated.

Reforms of Peter the Great: Towards a Simple Language

With the arrival 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 Russia in antiquity immediately complicated an already complicated one. In 1708, Peter the Great introduced the so-called "civil script". Already in 1710, Peter the Great personally revised every letter of the Russian language, after which a new alphabet was created. The ABC 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 writing.

Significant changes in the 18th century: the 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 denote 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 no longer used. Soon it also ceased to be part of the Russian alphabet.

The last stage in the development of the Russian language: small changes

The final reform that changed the writing system in Russia was the reform of 1917, which lasted until 1918. It meant the exclusion of all letters, the sound of which was either too similar, or even repeated. It is thanks to this reform that today the hard sign (b) is separative, and the soft (b) has become separative when denoting a soft consonant sound.

It is important to note that this reform caused enormous discontent on the part of many prominent literary figures. For example, Ivan Bunin strongly criticized this change in his native language.

Az - this is the initial letter of the Slavic alphabet, which denotes the pronoun I. However, its root meaning is the word “initially”, “to begin” or “beginning”, although in everyday life the Slavs most often used Az in the context of the pronoun. Nevertheless, in some Old Slavonic writings one can find Az, which meant "one", for example, "I'll go to Vladimir"... Or "Start from scratch" signified "Start over"... Thus, the Slavs designated with the beginning of the alphabet the entire philosophical meaning of life, where there is no end without beginning, without darkness there is no light, and without good there is no evil. The main emphasis in this is placed on the duality of the order of the world.

Actually, the alphabet itself is built on the principle of duality, where it is conditionally divided into two parts: higher and lower, positive and negative, a part located at the beginning and a 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. At the same time, odd numbers were the embodiment of everything positive, kind and light. In turn, even numbers represented darkness and evil. At the same time, the unit was considered the beginning of all beginnings and was very revered by the Slavic tribes. From the point of view of erotic numerology, it is believed that 1 is a phallic symbol from which the continuation of the race begins. This number has several synonyms: 1 is one, 1 is one, 1 is times.

Gods (b), which was later replaced by Buki. This letter has no numerical value, since there can be many Gods. The image of this letter: a set, a superior form, which prevails over something. There is a concept, and this prevails over it.
BA (remember the exclamation “Ba - all familiar faces!) -“ superior (b) the original (a), ie above"... Therefore, the expression "ba" sounds in an amazing form. A person is surprised: how is it ?! There is something, and something else has appeared beyond what existed in the beginning and something else on top of it.
BA-BA (we agree with the same form). Here A influences B, i.e. human (a) to something (b); surprised, but at the same time the divine (b) began to influence the human (a), and again the image changed, surprised by something. Namely, a Divine creation, which manifested a surprisingly new plurality with the addition of one. Therefore, Baba: what has produced in addition to what we have, a new, the same Divine form of life. And in the opposite direction: the abab is the source of the divine human multiplication. They say that a woman will be dumbed down, will become a "woman" when she gives birth to a successor, ie. boy. If she gave birth to a girl, she was called a young girl. But these forms also exist in other languages.
BA-B - the divine (plural) gathers through the divine, and a single source (a) is between two matching systems. "A" in this case is the transition point, the gate. The Asyrians, the city where the gates of God were located, called Babel, Babylon.
Abbreviated form of writing: B. - "Predominant, more"... Example: constellation B. Medveditsa. But since there is more, then there is also something less. Such forms are embedded in our ancestral memory and any person, wherever he lives, can understand them. Because it all comes from a single proto-language. Since the set cannot be concretized, the letter “B” has no numerical value.

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. Meaning implies secret knowledge, knowledge as the highest divine gift. If you add Az, Buki and Vedi in one phrase, you will get a phrase that means "I will know!" ... Thus, a person who opens the alphabet created by him will subsequently have some kind of knowledge. The numerical load of this letter is no less important. After all, 2 - two, two, a 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, two was a symbol of the confrontation between the 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 is two that opens 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 carried a kind of illness and misfortune. In addition, among the Slavs, it was considered a bad sign to rock the cradle together, for two people to wipe themselves with one towel and generally to perform any action together. Despite such a negative attitude towards the number 2, the Slavs recognized its magical power. So, for example, many rituals of exorcism were carried out using two identical objects or with the participation of twins.

Verb - a letter, the meaning of which is the performance of an action or the pronunciation of speech. The synonyms of the letter-word Verb are: verb, speak, conversation, speech, and in some contexts the word verb has been used in the meaning of “to write”. For example, the phrase "May he give us a verb and a word, and a thought, and a deed" means that "Intelligent speech gives us words, thoughts, and deeds"... The verb was always used only in a positive context, and its numerical value was the number 3 - three. The three or triad, as our ancestors often called it, was considered a divine number.

Firstly, the three is a symbol of spirituality and the union of the soul with the Holy Trinity.
Secondly, the triple / triad was an expression of the union of heaven, earth and the underworld.
Thirdly, the triad symbolizes the completion of a logical sequence: beginning - middle - end.

Finally, the triad symbolizes the past, present and future.

If you look at most of the Slavic rituals and magical actions, you will see that they all ended with a threefold repetition of a ritual. The simplest example is three times baptism after prayer.

Good - the fifth letter in the Slavic alphabet, which is a symbol of purity and goodness. The true meaning of this word "Good, virtue"... At the same time, in the letter Good is not only purely human traits of character, but also a virtue, which must be adhered to by all people who love the Heavenly Father. Under Good, scientists, first of all, see virtue from the point of view of maintaining a person's religious canons, which symbolize the Commandments of the Lord. For example, an Old Church Slavonic phrase: "By virtue and living the truth, by diligence" carries in itself the meaning that a person should observe virtue in real life.

The numerical value of the letter Good is indicated by the number 4, i.e. four. What did the Slavs put into this number? First of all, the four symbolized the four elements: fire, water, earth and air, four ends of the sacred cross, four cardinal points and four corners in the room. Thus, the four was a symbol of stability and even inviolability. Despite the fact that this is an even number, the Slavs did not treat it negatively, because it was this, together with the three, that gave the divine number 7.

One of the most versatile words of the Old Church Slavonic alphabet is Yes. This word is denoted by such words as "is", "wealth", "presence", "presence", "being", "nature", "nature" and other synonyms that express the meaning of these words. Surely, hearing this letter-word, many of us will immediately remember a phrase from the movie "Ivan Vasilievich changes his profession", which has already become winged: "I am the king!" ... With such a clear example, it is easy to understand that the person who said this phrase positions himself as a king, that is, the king is his real essence. Numeric puzzle of the letter There is hiding in the five. Five refers to the most controversial numbers in Slavic numerology. After all, it is both a positive and a negative number, like, probably, a figure that is made up of the "divine" triad and the "satanic" two.

If we talk about the positive aspects of the five, which is the numerical value of the letter Yes, then, first of all, it should be noted that this number carries a great religious potential: in the Holy Scriptures, the five is a symbol of grace and mercy. The oil for the sacred anointing consisted of 5 parts, which included 5 ingredients, and during the “fumigation” ritual, 5 different ingredients are also used, such as incense, stakt, onih, lebanon and halvan.

Other philosophers-thinkers argue that the five is an identification with the five human senses: sight, hearing, smell, touch and taste. There are also negative qualities in the top five that were found by some researchers of Old Church Slavonic culture. In their opinion, among the ancient Slavs, the five was a symbol of risk and war. Striking evidence of this is the conduct of battles by the Slavs mainly on Fridays. Friday among the Slavs was a symbol of the number five. However, there are some contradictions here, since other numerologists believe that the Slavs preferred to hold battles and battles on Fridays solely because they considered five a lucky number and, thanks to this, hoped to win the battle.

Live - letter-word, which is designated today as the letter J. The meaning of the meaning of this letter is quite simple and clear and is expressed by such words as “living”, “life” and “living”. In this letter, put a word that everyone understands, which meant the existence of all life on the planet, as well as the creation of new life. It explains that life is a great gift that a person possesses, and this gift should be directed towards doing good deeds. If you combine the meaning of the letter Live with the meaning of the previous letters, then you get the phrase: "I will know and say that good is inherent in all living things ..." The letter Live is not endowed with a numerical characteristic, and this remains another mystery that our ancestors left behind.

Zelo - a letter that is a combination of two sounds [d] and [h]. The main meaning of this letter for the Slavs was in the words "strong" and "strong". The very letter-word Zelo was used in Old Slavonic writings as "zelo", which meant strong, strong, very, very, and it could often be found in a sentence as "evil", i.e. strong, strong, or abundant. If we consider this letter in the context of the word "very", then we can cite as an example the lines of the great Russian poet Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin, who wrote: "Now I must apologize to you for the long silence."... In this expression "Very sorry" can be easily rephrased into a phrase "Very sorry"... Although the expression "Change a lot".

* the sixth paragraph of the Lord's Prayer speaks of sin;
* the sixth commandment says about the most terrible human sin - murder;
* the family of Cain ended with the sixth generation;
* the notorious mythical snake had 6 names;
* The number of the devil is presented in all sources as three sixes "666".

The list of unpleasant associations associated with the number 6 among the Slavs can be continued. However, it can be concluded that in some Old Slavonic sources, philosophers noticed the mystical attractiveness of the six. So the love that arises between a man and a woman was also associated with the six, which is a combination of two triads.

Earth - the ninth letter of the Old Church Slavonic alphabet, the meaning of which is represented as "land" or "country". Sometimes in sentences the letter-word Earth was used in such meanings as "land", "country", "people", "earth", or this word meant the human body. Why is the letter named this way? Everything is very simple! After all, we all live on earth, in our own country, and belong to any nationality. Therefore, the word-letter Earth is a concept behind which the community of the people is hidden. And it all starts small, and ends with something big and immense. That is, in this letter he embodied the following phenomenon: each person is a part of the family, each family belongs to the community, and each community in the aggregate represents a people who lives in a certain territory called their native land. And these scraps of land, which we call our native land, are united into a huge country where there is one God. However, besides a deeply philosophical meaning, the letter Earth hides a number. This number is 7 - seven, seven, seven. What can today's youth know about the number 7? Only that the seven brings good luck. However, for the ancient Slavs, the seven was a very significant number.

The number seven for the Slavs denoted the number of spiritual perfection on which God's seal was laid. Moreover, we can see the seven almost everywhere in everyday life: a week consists of seven days, a musical alphabet of seven notes, etc. In religious books and scriptures, it is also not complete without mentioning the number seven.

Izhe - a letter, the meaning of which can be expressed by the words "if", "if" and "when". The meaning of these words has not changed to this day, just in everyday life modern Slavs use synonyms Izhe: if and when. The figure 10 corresponds to it - ten, ten, ten days, as we call this number today. Among the Slavs, the number ten is considered the third number, which denotes divine perfection and ordered completeness. If you turn to history and various sources, you will see that a dozen has a deep religious and philosophical meaning:

* 10 commandments - this is the complete God's code, which reveals to us the basic rules of a benefactor;
* 10 generations represent the complete cycle of a family or nation;

Kako - a letter-word of the Slavic alphabet, which means "how" or "like". A simple example of the use of this word "how is he" today sounds simply "like him". This word expresses the similarity of man with God. After all, God created man in his own image and likeness. The numerical characteristic of this letter corresponds to twenty.

People- a letter of the Slavic alphabet, which speaks for itself about the meaning that is embedded in it. The true meaning of the letter People was used to designate people of any class, gender and gender. From this letter came such expressions as the human race, to live like a human. But perhaps the most famous phrase that we use today is “go out into the people,” which meant going out to the square for meetings and festivities. Thus, our ancestors worked for a whole week, and on Sunday, which was the only day off, they dressed up and went out to the square to "To look at others and show yourself"... The letter-word People corresponds to the number 30 - thirty.

Thought - a very important letter-word, the true meaning of which means "think", "thinker", "think", "reflect" or, as our ancestors said, "think with the mind." For the Slavs, the word "think" meant not just sitting and thinking about eternity, spiritual communication with God was put into this word. A thought is a letter that corresponds to the number 40 - forty. In Slavic thinking, the number 40 had a special meaning, because when the Slavs said "a lot" they meant 40. Apparently, in ancient times this was the highest number. For example, remember the phrase "forty forties." She says that the Slavs represented the number 40, as we are today, for example, the number 100 is one hundred. If we turn to the Sacred Writings, then it is worth noting that the Slavs considered 40 to be another divine number, which denotes a certain period of time that the human soul passes from the moment of temptation to the moment of punishment. Hence the tradition of commemorating the deceased on the 40th day after death.

Letter-word Our also speaks for itself. It contains two meanings "our" and "brother". That is, this word expresses kinship or affinity in spirit. Synonyms for the true meaning of the letter were such words as "own", "native", "close" and "Belonging to our family"... Thus, the ancient Slavs divided all people into two castes: "theirs" and "strangers". Letter-word Our has its own numerical value, which, as you probably already guessed, is equal to 50 - fifty.

The next word in the alphabet is represented by the modern letter O, which in the Old Church Slavonic alphabet is denoted by the word It... The true meaning of this letter is "face". Besides the fact that He denoted a personal pronoun, He was used to denote any person, person or person. The number that corresponds to this word is 70 - seventy.

Rest - the letter of spirituality of the Slavic people. The true meaning of Peace is peace and quiet. A special peace of mind or spiritual harmony was put into this letter. A person who does good deeds, has pure thoughts and honors the commandments, lives in harmony with himself. He does not need to pretend to anyone, because he is in harmony with himself. The number corresponding to the letter Peace is 80 - eighty.

Rtsy - this is an ancient Slavic letter, which we know today as the letter R. Of course, asking a simple modern person about whether he knows what this word means, you are unlikely to hear an answer. Nevertheless, the letter-word Rtsy was well known to those who held the first Slavic alphabet in their hands or saw on the walls of churches. The true meaning of Rtsy lies in such words as "you will speak", "you will say", "you will say" and other words that are close in meaning. For example, the expression "The same wisdom" denotes "Speak words of wisdom"... This word was often used in ancient writings, but today its meaning has lost its significance for modern man. The numerical value of Ptsy is 100 - one hundred.

Word - a letter about which we can say that it is she who gives the name to our entire speech. Since the man came up with the word, the surrounding objects got their names, and people ceased to be a faceless mass and got names. In the Slavic alphabet, the Word has many synonyms: legend, speech, sermon. All these synonyms were often used in the preparation of both official letters and the writing of scholarly treatises. In colloquial speech, this letter is also widely used. The numerical analogue of the letter Word is 200 - two hundred.

The next letter of the alphabet today is known to us as the letter T, but the ancient Slavs knew it as a letter-word Firmly... As you can imagine, the true meaning of this letter speaks for itself, and it means “solid” or “true”. It was from this letter that the famous expression went "I stand firm on my word"... This means that a person clearly understands what he is saying and confirms the correctness of his thoughts and words. Such firmness is the lot of either very wise people or complete fools. However, the letter Firmly indicated that the person saying something or doing something felt right. If we talk about the numerical self-affirmation of the letter Firmly, then it should be said that the number 300 - three hundred corresponds to it.

Oak - another letter in the alphabet, which today has been transformed into the letter U. Of course, it is difficult for an unknowing person to understand what this word means, but the Slavs knew it as "law". Ouk was often used in the meaning of "decree", "to fasten", "legalist", "to indicate", "to strengthen", etc. Most often, this letter was used to designate state decrees, laws passed by officials and was rarely used in a spiritual context.

Completes the galaxy of "higher" letters of the alphabet Firth... This unusual letter-word means nothing but glory, top, top. But this concept is not addressed to human glory, which denotes the fame of any person, but gives the glory of eternity. Note that Firth is the logical ending of the "higher" part of the alphabet and represents a conditional ending. But this end gives us food for thought that there is still an eternity that we must glorify. Firth's numerical value is 500 - five hundred.

Having examined the higher part of the alphabet, we can state the fact that it is a secret message to descendants. "Where can you see it?" - you ask. Now try to read all the letters, knowing their true meaning. If we take several subsequent letters, then edifying phrases are formed:

* Lead + The verb means "know the teaching";
* Rtsy + Word + Firmly can be understood as a phrase "Speak the true word";
* Firm + Oak can be interpreted as "Strengthen the law".

If you look closely at other letters, you can also find the cryptography that our ancestors left behind.

Have you ever wondered why the letters in the alphabet are in this order, and not some other? The order of the "upper" part of the Cyrillic letters can be viewed from two positions.

Firstly, the fact that each letter-word is folded into a meaningful phrase with the next one may mean a non-random pattern that was invented for the speedy memorization of the alphabet.

Secondly, the Old Church Slavonic alphabet can be considered in terms of numbering numbers. That is, each letter also represents a number. Moreover, all letters-numbers are arranged in ascending order. So, the letter A - "az" corresponds to one, B - 2, G - 3, D - 4, E - 5 and so on up to ten. Dozens 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 fit perfectly with cursive writing, and the person did not experience any difficulty in depicting these letters. And many philosophers see in the numerical arrangement of the alphabet the principle of the triad and spiritual harmony, which a person achieves, striving for good, light and truth.

Literal truth, the "lower" part of the alphabet

Good cannot exist without evil. Therefore, the "lower" part of the Old Church Slavonic alphabet is the embodiment of everything base and evil that is in man. So, let's get acquainted with the letters of the "lower" part of the alphabet, which do not have a numerical value. By the way, pay attention, there are not many, not few 13!

The "lower" part of the alphabet begins with a letter Sha... The true meaning of this letter can be expressed with words such as "trash", "insignificance" or "liar". Often in sentences, they were used to indicate the entire lowland of a person who was called shabala, which means a liar and a talker. Another word derived from the letter Sha is shabendat, which means to fuss over trifles. And especially vile people were called the word "shaveren", that is, a trash or an insignificant person.

The following letter is very similar to Sha. Shcha... What associations do you have when you hear this letter? But our ancestors used this letter in the case when they talked about vanity or mercy, however, only one word “mercilessly” can be chosen as a root synonym for the letter Ша. For example, a simple Old Church Slavonic phrase "Betray without mercy"... Its modern meaning can be expressed in the phrase "Mercilessly betray".

EP... In ancient times, Erami was called thieves, swindlers and rogues. Today we know this letter as b. Ep is not endowed with any numerical value, like the other twelve letters of the lower part of the alphabet.

Era Is a letter that has survived to this day and flaunts in our alphabet, like Y. As you can imagine, it also has an impartial meaning and denotes a drunkard, after all, in ancient times, revelers and drunks who hung around idle were called jerks. In fact, there were such people who did not work, but only walked and drank intoxicated drinks. They were in great disfavor with the entire community and were often driven by stones.

Yer represents b in the modern alphabet, but the meaning of this letter is unknown to many contemporaries. Yer had several meanings: "heresy", "heretic" "enemy", "sorcerer" and "renegade". If this letter stood for "renegade", then the person was called "erik". In other definitions, a person was called a "heretic."

Yat - this is the letter for which the synonym "accept" is most appropriate. In Old Slavonic texts it was most often used as "imat" and "yatny". Amazing words, especially for modern people. Although I think that some of the slang words used by our teenagers would not have been understood by the ancient Slavs. "Have" was used in the context of catch or take. "Yatny" was used in Old Slavonic texts when they talked about something accessible or an easily achievable goal.

Yu [y]- the letter of sorrow and sorrow. Its root meaning is a bitter lot and an unhappy fate. The Slavs called a vale a bad fate. From the same letter came the word "holy fool", which means a mad person. The holy fools in the alphabet were designated exclusively from a negative point of view, but one should not forget who the holy fools were originally.

[AND I- a letter that does not have a name, but it contains a deep and frightening meaning. The true meaning of this letter is several concepts such as "exile", "outcast" or "torture". Both an exile and an outcast are synonyms of the same concept that has deep ancient Russian roots. Behind this word was hiding an unhappy person who fell out of the social environment and does not fit into the existing society. It is interesting that in the ancient Russian state there was such a concept as an outcast prince. Outcast princes are people who have lost their inheritance due to the premature death of relatives who did not have time to transfer their possessions to them.

[AND] E - one more letter of the "lower" part of the alphabet that has no name. The ancient Slavs had absolutely unpleasant associations with this letter, because it meant "torment" and "mayania". Often this letter was used in the context of the eternal torment experienced by sinners who do not recognize the laws of God and do not keep the 10 Commandments.

Two more interesting letters of the Old Church Slavonic alphabet are Yus small and Yus large. They are very similar in form and meaning. Let's see what the difference is.

Yus small resembles tied hands in shape. The most interesting thing is that the root meaning of this letter is "bonds", "fetters", "chains", "knots" and words similar in meaning. Often Yus small was used in texts as a symbol of punishment and was designated by the following words: bonds and knots.

Yus big was a symbol of a dungeon or prison, as a more severe punishment for atrocities committed by a person. It is interesting that this letter was similar in shape to a dungeon. Most often, in ancient Slavic texts, you can find this letter in the form of the word prison, which meant a prison or prison. The derivatives of these two letters are the letters Iotov yus small and Iotov yus large. The graphic image of Iotov yus small in Cyrillic is similar to the image of Yus small, however, in the glagolitic alphabet these two letters have completely different forms. The same can be said about Iotovyus large and Yusus large. What is the secret of such a striking difference?

After all, the semantic meaning that we know about today is very similar for these letters, and is a logical chain. Let's take a look at each graphic of these four letters in Glagolitic.

Small Yus, denoting bonds or fetters, is depicted in Glagolitic in the form of a human body, with shackles on its arms and legs. Yus small is followed by Iotov yus small, which means confinement, imprisonment of a person in prison or prison. This letter is depicted in the Glagolitic alphabet as some substance, similar to a cell. What happens next? And then comes the Big Yus, which is a symbol of dungeon and is depicted in Glagolitic as a crooked figure. It is amazing, but after Yus large there is Iotov yus large, which means execution, and its graphic image in Glagolitic is nothing more than a gallows.

Now let's consider separately the semantic meanings of these four letters and their graphic analogies. Their meaning can be reflected in a simple phrase that indicates a logical sequence: first, a person is put on shackles, then they are imprisoned in prison, and finally the logical conclusion of the punishment is execution. What comes out of this simple example? And it turns out that creating the "lower" part of the alphabet, a certain hidden meaning was also put into it and ordered all the signs according to a certain logical criterion. If you look at all thirteen letters of the lower row of the alphabet, you will see that they are a conditional edification of the Slavic people. By combining all thirteen letters in meaning, we get the following phrase: "Insignificant liars, thieves, swindlers, drunks and heretics will take a bitter share - they will be tortured by outcasts, shackled in chains, thrown into prison and executed!" Thus, the Slavs are given edification that all sinners will be punished.

In addition, graphically, all the letters of the "lower" part are much more difficult to reproduce than the letters of the first half of the alphabet, and it is immediately striking that many of them do not have a name and numerical identification.

The most interesting thing is that the letters X - Her and W - Omega stand in the center of the alphabet and are enclosed in a circle, which, you see, expresses their superiority over the other letters of the alphabet. The right side of these letters is a reflection of the left side, thus emphasizing their polarity. The letter X stands for the Universe, and even its numerical value 600 - six hundred corresponds to the word "space".

Considering the letter W, which corresponds to the number 800 - eight hundred, I would like to focus on the fact that it means the word "faith". Thus, these two letters, enclosed in a circle, symbolize faith in God, are the image of the fact that somewhere in the Universe there is a cosmic sphere where the Lord lives, who has determined from beginning to end the fate of man.

In addition, a special meaning was put into the letter Her, which can be reflected by the word "cherub" or "Ancestor"... Slavic words derived from the letter Her, have only a positive meaning: cherub, heroism, which means heroism, heraldry (respectively, heraldry), etc.

In turn, Omega, on the contrary, had the meaning of final, end or death. This word has many derivatives, so "adjacent" means eccentric, and disgusting means something very bad.

Thus, Her and Omega, enclosed in a circle, were the symbol of this circle. Look at their meanings: beginning and end. But a circle is a line that has no beginning or end. However, at the same time, it is both the beginning and the end.

There are two more letters in this "enchanted" circle, which we know in the Old Church Slavonic alphabet as Tsi and Worm. The most interesting thing is that these letters have a dual meaning in the Old Church Slavonic alphabet.

Thus, the positive meaning of Tsi can be expressed in the words church, kingdom, king, caesar, cycle, and in many more synonymous words of these meanings that are similar in meaning. At the same time, the letter Tsi meant both the kingdom of the earth and the kingdom of heaven. At the same time, it was consumed with a negative connotation. For example, "hush!" - shut up, stop talking; "To circulate" - to shout, shout and "tsyba", which meant an unstable thin-legged person and was considered an insult.

The letter Worm also has both positive and negative traits. From this letter came such words as monk, that is, monk; brow, bowl, child, person, etc. All the negativity that could be thrown out with this letter can be expressed in such words as a worm - a vile, reptile creature, a worm - a belly, a devil - an offspring and others.

The Proto-Slavic alphabet is the first textbook in the history of modern civilization. A person who has read and understood the alphabetical message masters not only the universal method of storing information, but also acquires the ability to transfer accumulated knowledge, i.e. becomes a Teacher.

From the editor. To what has been said, it must be added that the basis of the Russian alphabet is two varieties of the Old Church Slavonic alphabet: the Glagolitic alphabet, or the trade letter, and the holy Russian images, or the letter. The evidence of ancient tales and chronicles, notes of foreign travelers, archeological data allow us to assert that writing in Russia existed long before the appearance of Christianity. Cyril and Methodius created their alphabet, apparently, on the basis of ancient Slavic writing with the addition of Greco-Byzantine letters for the convenience of translating Christian texts.

List of references:

1.K. Titarenko "The Secret of the Slavic Alphabet", 1995
2. A. Zinoviev Cyrillic cryptography, 1998
3.M. Krongauz "Where did the Slavic writing come from?", j-l "Russian language" 1996, No. 3
4.E. Nemirovsky "In the footsteps of the first printer", Moscow: Sovremennik, 1983

The second letter of the alphabet is not "beeches", but "Gods".
This alphabet cannot be “invented” by a person, even by such supposedly saints as Cyril and Methodius. Ostensibly - because a holy person will never throw out of the Divine alphabet given to a person from above, the key word is the word "GOD" and will not replace it with the faceless "BUKI".
Az Gods Veda. The verb is good naturally ...
AZ (man) LEADS GOD, THE VERB IS GOOD, THAT IS LIFE (EXISTENCE).
Etc.
In addition, Cyril and Methodius threw out several initial letters from the alphabet, that is, they interfered with God's creation.
This is why I call them "supposed saints."
The Old Slavonic alphabet is all saturated with God.
The alphabet of Cyril and Methodius is saturated with knowledge. But knowledge without God is dead. That is why the Orthodox Church has been stalling in Russia for so many centuries - because its foundations are distorted.

At the end of 862, the prince of Great Moravia (the state of Western Slavs) Rostislav turned to the Byzantine emperor Michael with a request to send preachers to Moravia who could spread Christianity in the Slavic language (sermons in those parts were read in Latin, unknown and incomprehensible to the people).

Emperor Michael sent the Greeks to Moravia - the scientist Constantine the Philosopher (the name Cyril Constantine received when he accepted monasticism in 869, and with this name went down in history) and his older brother Methodius.

The choice was not random. The brothers Constantine and Methodius were born in Thessaloniki (Greek Thessaloniki) in the family of a military leader, received a good education. Cyril studied in Constantinople at the court of the Byzantine emperor Michael III, knew Greek, Slavic, Latin, Hebrew, Arabic languages \u200b\u200bwell, taught philosophy, for which he received the nickname Philosopher. Methodius was in military service, then for several years he ruled over one of the regions inhabited by the Slavs; subsequently retired to a monastery.

In 860, the brothers 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, the alphabet that could convey Slavic speech did not exist at that time.

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 turned out to be completely different and the creators of writing abandoned their works.

Who created Slavic writing in the 9th century? They 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 \u200b\u200bof 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 to work on the creation of the Slavic alphabet, was in Chersonesos (today it is Crimea), from where he could get 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 one wonder: who created the Slavic writing system, Cyril and Methodius really wrote the alphabet or took a finished work?

However, in addition to the fact that Cyril brought the ready-made alphabet from Chersonesos, there is other evidence that the creators of the 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. There is also another serious fact proving that the creation of the Slavic writing took place even earlier than the announced 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 years of the IX century.

Another, but also important, fact of proving the more ancient origin of Slavic writing is in the statement of Catherine II, who, during her reign, wrote that the Slavs are an older people than it is commonly believed, and they have had a written language since the days preceding the Nativity of Christ.

Evidence of antiquity among other peoples

The creation of Slavic writing before 863 can be proved 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 lot of such sources, and they are found in the Persian historian named Ibn Fodlan, in El Massoudi, as well as in slightly later creators in fairly well-known works, which say that the Slavic script was formed before the Slavs had books.

The 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 evidence he cited some monuments that allow determining the antiquity of the origin of the Slavic people and their writing.

And the last fact that can seriously affect 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 alleged creators of Slavic writing "missed" a little with one thing: they did not leave any books and documents written on this. However, for many scientists it is enough that the 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 the study of historical achievements in the writing of the Slavs, however, a senior researcher by the name of Grinevich was able to reach almost the very source, and his work made it possible to decipher any text written in the Old 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 great job, during which he discovered that it was not based on letters, but had a more complex system that worked at the expense of 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, separating symbols, drawing and limiting signs.

For his research, Grinevich used about 150 different inscriptions that were present on all kinds of objects, and all his achievements were based on decoding these particular symbols.

Grinevich, during his research, found out that the history of Slavic writing is older, and the ancient Slavs used 74 signs. However, there are too many characters for the alphabet, 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" - the syllable "lo"

His approach made it possible to decipher the inscriptions that many scientists fought over and could not understand what they mean. But it turned out that everything is quite simple:

1. The pot, which was found near Ryazan, had an inscription - instructions, which said that it must be put in the oven and closed.
2. The sinker, which was found near Trinity City, had a simple inscription: "Weighs 2 ounces."

All of the above evidence fully refutes the fact that the creators of Slavic writing - Cyril and Methodius, and prove the antiquity of our language.

Slavic runes in the creation of Slavic writing

The one who created the Slavic writing was a rather intelligent and courageous person, because such an idea at that time could destroy the creator due to the ignorance of all other people. But besides the letter, other options for spreading information to people were invented - Slavic runes.

In total, 18 runes have been found in the world, which are present on a large number of various ceramics, stone statues and other artifacts. Examples include ceramics from the village of Lepesovka, located in southern Volyn, as well as an earthen vessel in the village of Voyskovo. In addition to the evidence located on the territory of Russia, there are monuments that are in Poland and were discovered back in 1771. They also have Slavic runes. We should not forget the Temple of Radegast, located in Retra, where the walls are decorated with precisely Slavic symbols. The last place, which scientists learned about from Titmar 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 given for the corresponding period of their life, which is described in some detail. They touch upon the meaning of their activities, as well as the reasons for working on the creation of new symbols.

Cyril and Methodius to the creation of the alphabet led to the conclusion that other languages \u200b\u200bcan not fully reflect the Slavic speech. This constraint is proved by the works of the monk-man Khrabr, 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 at that time it became clear that they could not reflect all the sounds that fill our speech ...

Political influence on the Slavic alphabet

Politics began its impact on society from the very beginning of the birth of countries and religions, and it also had its hand in as well as other aspects of human life.

As described above, services for the baptism of the Slavs were conducted either in Greek or in Latin, which allowed other churches to influence the minds and strengthen the thought of their leading role in the minds of the Slavs.

Those countries where liturgies were conducted not in Greek, but in Latin, received an increase in the influence of German priests on the faith of people, and for the Byzantine Church this was unacceptable, and she took a retaliatory step, entrusting Cyril and Methodius to create a writing system in which it will be written service and sacred texts.

The Byzantine Church reasoned correctly at that moment, and its intentions were such that the one who 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 viewed as motivated by self-interest.

Who created the Slavic writing based on the Greek alphabet? Cyril and Methodius were created, and for this work they were not chosen by the Byzantine Church by chance. Cyril grew up in the city of Soluni, which, although it was Greek, but about half of its residents spoke Slavic fluently, and Cyril himself was well versed in it, and also had an excellent memory.

Byzantium and its role

There are quite serious disputes about when work began on the creation of the Slavic writing system, because May 24 is an official date, but there is a large gap in history that creates a discrepancy.

After Byzantium gave this difficult task, Cyril and Methodius began to develop 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 an assignment from the Byzantine Church, Cyril and Methodius go to Morvia. During their journey, they are engaged in writing the alphabet and translating the texts of the Gospel into the Slavic language, and already upon arrival in the city, they have the finished works in their hands. However, the road to Moravia does not take that long. Perhaps this time period allows creating the alphabet, but it is simply impossible to translate the letters of the Gospel in such a short time, which indicates the advance work on the Slavic language and the translation of texts.

Cyril's disease and his departure

After three years of work in his own school of Slavic writing, Cyril abandons this business and leaves for Rome. This turn of events was caused by the disease. Cyril left everything for a quiet death in Rome. Methodius, finding himself alone, continues to pursue his goal and does not step 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 discontent, however, 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 scripts originated earlier, and there is no exact information about who created the Slavic and to which of the two possible Kirill had his hand. 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 as we write now.

The Cyrillic alphabet has 43 letters in its composition, and the fact that its creator is Cyril proves the presence of 24 in it, while the other 19 the creator of the Cyrillic alphabet based on the Greek alphabet included only 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. However, there were moments that at first made it difficult to write, for example, the letter "e", which is an analogue of "e", the letter "y" is an analogue of "and". These letters made spelling difficult at first, but reflected the corresponding sounds.

Glagolitic, in fact, was an analogue of the Cyrillic alphabet and used 40 letters, and 39 of them were taken from the Cyrillic alphabet. The main difference between the Glagolitic alphabet is that it has a more rounded writing style and is not angular, unlike the Cyrillic one.

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 a more rounded verb for writing, while the Croatian tended to write more angularly.

Despite the number of hypotheses and even the absurdity of some of them, each is worthy of attention, and it is impossible to answer exactly who the creators of Slavic writing are. 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 labors, which allowed the alphabet to spread and transform to its present form.

The word "ABC" 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 brothers Cyril and Methodius were the creators of the Slavic Alphabet. 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 Mikhail sent to the Slavs two brothers, Constantine and Methodius, who lived in Byzantium in the city of Solun (now Soloniki, Greece), to tell the Slavs about the holy Christian books, unknown words and their meaning. Both brothers received a good education. They were wise people and knew different languages \u200b\u200bwell. Methodius was even the ruler of one Slavic region, but soon left the world and settled in a monastery on Mount Olympus. From childhood, Cyril gravitated towards God and made the decision to also settle in a monastery with his brother.

Slavic writing "is born" in one of the monasteries in Constantinople.

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

There is no consensus among historians and scholars as to 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, glagolic and Cyrillic letters were used to denote not only the sounds of speech, but also numbers. Most of the letters of the Old Church Slavonic alphabet are letters-numbers. Studying the Old Church Slavonic alphabet, many scientists come to the conclusion that in fact the first "ABC" is a cryptography, which has a deep religious and philosophical meaning. If you read into 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 alphabetical 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 988, Prince Vladimir officially announced the introduction of Christianity.

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

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