Slavonic language

Old Church Slavonic (also termed Old Slavic, Old Church Slavic or Old Bulgarian) is the first literary and liturgical Slavic language taken over (or developed, depending on the point of view) by the 9th century missionaries Saints Cyril and Methodius. It was used by them for translation of the Bible and other church books from Greek. It is important in Eastern Orthodoxy and in most countries of the Slavic peoples. (See also liturgical language.)

History

The language was standardized for the mission of the two apostles to Great Moravia around 863 (see Glagolithic alphabet for details). For that purpose, Cyril and Methodius based the Old Church Slavonic on the Slavic dialect spoken in the Solun (Thessaloniki) region of the Byzantine Empire.

In Great Moravia the language was taught at the Great Moravian Academy (Veľkomoravské učilište) and was used for government and religious documents and books between 863 and 885 AD. The texts written during this phase contain characteristics of the Slavic vernaculars in Great Moravia.

Students of the two apostles, who were expelled from Great Moravia in 886, brought the language to Bulgaria where it was adopted as the official language of the church and the state. The language was taught at two academies in Ohrid (in present-day Macedonia) and Preslav. The texts written during this phase contain characteristics of the vernaculars in Bulgaria. There are some linguistic differences between texts written in the two academies.

Then the language spread to other Eastern European Slavic territories, most notably to Croatia, Serbia, Bohemia, Lesser Poland and Russia. The texts written there contain characteristics of the of the respective Slavic vernacular.

A redaction of Old Church Slavonic, made much later, is known Church Slavonic (ru: церковнославя́нский язы́к), but these terms are often confused.

Church Slavonic maintained a prestige status, particularly in Russia, for many centuries — among Slavs in the East it had a status analogous to that of the Latin language in western Europe, but had the advantage of being less divergent from the vernacular tongues of average parishioners. Some Eastern Orthodox churches, such as the Russian and Serbian churches, still use Church Slavonic in their services and chants. Additionally, several Eastern Rite Catholic churches use Church Slavonic.

Script

Initially Old Church Slavonic language was written with the Glagolitic alphabet, but later it was superseded by the Cyrillic alphabet.

Names

The original name of the language in the Old Church Slavonic texts was simply "the Slavic language", therefore the present-day Slavic names of the language are derived from the old or new word for Slavs. The intuitive pronunciation of the old word for Slavs can be given as appr. slovaeneh [ae stands for a very open e] or sloveneh at that time.

Here are some of the modern names in alphabetic order:

• Bulgarian Старобългарски (Староцърковнославянски)
• Czech staroslověnština
• Polish staro-cerkiewno-słowiański
• Russian старославя́нский язы́к
• Serbian староцрквенословенски (starocrkvenoslovenski)
• Slovak staroslovienčina
• Slovene starocerkvenoslovanščina
• Ukrainian старослов’янська

Bulgarian linguists call the language Old Bulgarian, because it was used as literary language in Bulgaria. This designation was used, besides Old Slavic, by many other linguists till the 19th century.