“What does the Motherland begin with,” as the old and soulful song sings? And it begins with small things: with love for the mother tongue, with the alphabet. Since childhood, we have all become accustomed to a certain type of letters in the alphabet of the Russian language. And as a rule, we rarely think: when and under what conditions did writing emerge, who invented the Russian alphabet? Nevertheless, the presence and emergence of writing is an important and fundamental milestone in the historical maturation of every nation in the world, contributing to the development of its national culture and self-awareness. Sometimes, in the depths of a century, the specific names of the creators of the writing of this or that people are lost. But in a Slavic context, this did not happen. And those who invented the Russian alphabet are still known. Let us and you learn more about these people.
What is an alphabet?
The word "alphabet" itself originates from the first two letters of Greek writing: alpha and beta. It is known that the ancient Greeks put a lot of effort into the development and distribution of writing in many countries of Europe. Who was the first to invent the alphabet in world history? This is a scientific debate. The main hypothesis is the "Sumerian" alphabet, which occurs about five thousand years ago. The Chinese and Egyptian alphabets are considered to be one of the most ancient (known). Writing develops from drawings to signs, turning into graphic systems. And the signs began to display sounds.
The development of writing in the history of mankind is difficult to overestimate. In the language of the people, their writing reflected life, life and knowledge, historical and mythological characters. Thus, by reading ancient inscriptions, modern scholars can recreate what our ancestors lived.
History of the Russian alphabet
Slavic writing has, one might say, a unique origin. Its history totals about one thousand years, keeps many secrets in itself.
- In pagan times, Slavic peoples had letters called traits or cuts. Notches and dashes were made on a tree (special tags).
- After the adoption of Christianity by Vladimir (in fact, this event happened twice: the first - under Olga, in 957, the second - under Vladimir, in 988) Russia could no longer do without the books that were needed in worship (psalms and honor) . However, the Greek confessors did not speak Russian. Thus the need arises for the administration of church services in the native language and the translation of the Bible and other shrines.
- Transitions to worship in Slavic also presupposed the existence of written language, the Slavic literary language, since the translation of divine books into a common everyday language would not lead to an accurate transfer of content.
Cyril and Methodius
The creation of the alphabet is firmly associated with these names in the question of who invented the Russian alphabet. Let's go back to the 9th century. In those days (830-906), Great Moravia (Czech region) was one of the largest European states. And Byzantium was the center of Christianity. Prince of Moravia Rostislav in 863 turned to Michael the Third, the Byzantine emperor at that time, with a request to conduct divine services in the Slavic language to strengthen the influence of Byzantine Christianity in the region. In those days, it is worth noting that the cult was sent only in those languages that were displayed on the Jesus cross: Jewish, Latin and Greek.
In response to a proposal from Rostislav, the Byzantine ruler sends him a Moravian mission consisting of two monk brothers, sons of a noble Greek who lived in Saluni (Thessaloniki). Michael (Methodius) and Constantine (Cyril) and are considered the official creators of the Slavic alphabet for church service. It is in honor of the church name Cyril and received the name "Cyrillic". Konstantin himself was younger than Mikhail, but even his brother recognized his mind and superiority in knowledge. Cyril knew many languages and mastered oratory, participated in religious verbal disputes, was a wonderful organizer. This, according to many scientists, allowed him (together with his brother and other assistants) to combine and generalize the data, creating the alphabet. But the history of the Russian alphabet began long before the Moravian mission. And that's why.
Who invented the Russian alphabet (alphabet)
The fact is that historians have unearthed an interesting fact: even before departure, the brothers had already created the Slavic alphabet, well adapted to transmit the Slavic speech. It was called a glagolitic (it was recreated on the basis of Greek writing with elements of Coptic and Jewish signs).
Glagolitic or Cyrillic?
Today, scientists from different countries for the most part recognize the fact that the first Old Slavonic alphabet was nevertheless the Glagolitic alphabet created by Cyril in 863 in Byzantium. He introduced her in a fairly short time. And another, different from the previous one, the alphabet of Cyrillic was invented in Bulgaria, a little later. And there is still debate about the authorship of this, undoubtedly, cornerstone invention for the common Slavic history. After a brief history of the Russian alphabet (Cyrillic alphabet) is as follows: in the tenth century, it penetrates Russia from Bulgaria, and its written fixation is fully completed only in the XIV century. In a more modern form - from the end of the XVI century.