Cyrillic script
The Cyrillic script, sometimes called the Slavonic script or Slavic script, is a writing system. It is used to write Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Rusyn, Bulgarian, Macedonian and most South Slavic languages. It was developed in the Bulgarian empire during the reign of Tsar Simeon I. The Soviet Union made many non-Slavic languages in the Caucasus, Siberia, Central Asia and in northern Russia to be written in Cyrillic.
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History
Old Church Slavonic was the original language of the Slavic people, and it was used for Russian Orthodox Church. In the 9th century, two monks, St. Cyril and St. Methodius, were missionaries in Eastern Europe. When they preached to the Slavic peoples, they invented the Glagolitic alphabet, an early form of Cyrillic.[1]
During the 18th century, Nikolay Karamzin added Э, Й and Ё.
In 1708, Peter the Great added lowercase forms to the letters.
After the October Revolution, the Communist Party changed the Cyrillic alphabet for the Russian language so it would be easier for Soviet citizens to learn how to read and write. The letters I/i, Ѣ/ѣ, Ѳ/ѳ, and Ѵ/ѵ were all removed from Russian.[1]
In 1991, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan decided to drop the Cyrillic script and adopt the Latin script.
Cyrillic Script Media
- Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana p169 Serbian Alphabet Serbian Language Serbian Literatue Saint Cyril and Metodius Illyrian 2 pages.png
Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana attributed Cyrillic script to Saint Cyril and Methodius,14th century
- Krepchanski manastir.jpg
View of the cave monastery near the village of Krepcha, Opaka Municipality in Bulgaria. Found here is the oldest Cyrillic inscription, dated to 921.
- Azbuka 1574 by Ivan Fyodorov v3.png
I A page from Буквар (ABC (Reader)), the first Old Slavonic textbook, printed by Ivan Fyodorov in 1574 in Lviv. This page features the Cyrillic alphabet.
- Archive-ugent-be-973E9242-B062-11E1-9EF1-99BDAAF23FF7 DS-375 (cropped).jpg
Example of the Cyrillic script. Excerpt from the manuscript "Bdinski Zbornik". Written in 1360.
- Meletius Smotrisky Cyrillic Alphabet.PNG
A page from the Church Slavonic Grammar of Meletius Smotrytsky (1619)
- Cyrillic alternates.svg
Alternate variants of lowercase Cyrillic letters: Б/б, Д/д, Г/г, И/и, П/п, Т/т, Ш/ш. *Three colored double columns show the locally preferred upright and italic/cursive forms for three regions: default standard Russian (Eastern) forms*
- Cyrillic monument.jpg
Cyrillic Script Monument in Antarctica near the Bulgarian base St. Kliment Ohridski
- Cyrillic Europe.PNG
Cyrillic Script in Europe
Related pages
References
- ↑ "Old Church Slavonic alphabet and language". www.omniglot.com. Retrieved 2017-04-20.
