b, soft sign, the thirtieth letter of the Russian alphabet. According to the outline, it goes back to the letter (“er”) in Cyrillic. In the Glagolitic alphabet, it corresponded to the letter (Ⱐ). It had no digital meaning in Cyrillic and Glagolitic. In modern writing, it does not denote sound. She writes:
1) at the end of words and before consonants, denoting the softness of the preceding consonants (“stranded”, “darkness”);
2) how to share. a sign before the letters e, e, i, u, i (“linen”, “streams”, “blizzard”, “guest”), in borrowed words and before “o” (“companion”);
3) is an indicator of grammatical forms (the 3rd declension of nouns - “lie”, “mouse”, the imperative form of the verb - “cut”, “cut”, the indefinite form of verbs on “h” - “lie down”, “save”, 2 th person singular of verbs - “read”, “laugh”).
Great Soviet Encyclopedia.
b- the twenty-ninth letter of the Russian alphabet, dating back to the Old Slavonic (Old Bulgarian) Cyrillic, one of the new signs of the Slavic alphabet, which were absent in the Greek alphabet and invented by the inventors of the Slavic letter to express special Slavic sounds alien to the Greek sound system. The pronunciation of the ancient and his fate in separate Slavic languages have much in common with the pronunciation and history of the ancient (see Er). Like this last, Old Slavonic, ascending to the identical Proto-Slavic sound, was a short, obscure, in common terminology, a "deaf" vowel, similar to the vowel that is in place of our unstressed e And And in words like helicopter, guilty or coast, walking i.e. palatal, or palatal, "sliding sound" (English glide, German Gleitlaut). The origin of Proto-Slavic is different. Its most common source is the Indo-European short ĭ (cf. Skt. agni-, staroslav. fire, lat. linum, old-timer. flax). Besides, b it turned out: 1) from the Lithuanian-Slavic ĭ, which developed before the Indo-European syllabic ŗ ļ ņ m (smooth and nasal "sonants"): Sansk. mrtis, lit. mirtis, Proto-Slavic and Old Russian s-die, Old Church Slavonic to die, to die; lit. tìles = the bottom of the boat, staroslav. rotten- base (Russian) to the ground); lit. minu, staroslav. (Russian mnu); lit. imù, imtì, staroslav. etc.; 2) from Indo-European. short ĕ when it is not accented: Skt. razú-cattle, domestic animal, lat. pecus, pecu cattle, staroslav. ps(cf. Russian accent dog, dog, pl. number dogs etc.). Some scholars suggest that it was pronounced as a short ĭ, but the fate of Proto-Slavic in certain Slavic languages speaks in favor of its wider pronunciation, because in Russian, Polish, Czech, Lusatian and some Slovene dialects it is in certain conditions (in closed syllables, and in Russian - and in open, after several consonants) gave e(old-timer day, r Russian day, Polish dzień, in.-lusatian dźeń, n.-lusatian źeń, Czech and Slovenian dialect den; Old Church Slavonic tear, Russian a tear) in Serbian and in most Slovenian dialects - a(Serb. and words. dan). Like b, b disappeared in open syllables, and especially at the end of words; at the same time, in Russian, Polish and Lusatian, in most cases, it left the softness of the previous consonant (see above, old slug. day and its correspondences in individual Slavic languages). Exceptions are explained by the later hardening of some consonants (for example, Russian. true from rubbish, filth from ugly, female from zhensk, losh = lie, t "ish = quiet, at" ez = father, old-timer otts etc.). On the basis of Russian writing, the use arose from here b as a so-called "soft sign", what is the meaning b had at the end of words, probably already in the most ancient Old Slavonic monuments of the XI century. (the disappearance of the finite under similar conditions, like y, occurred even earlier - in the 10th century). Softness of the preceding consonant b denotes within words, e.g. V blood= blood "ju, I drink= p "ju, only =tol "ka etc. Before letters e, p, u, i letter b equivalent to Latin j: drinks = njom, Daria = gift "je, drink = p "jy, Daria = gift "ja etc. In addition, b has a symbolic meaning in modern Russian spelling, denoting feminine in words like night(coincides with the actual softness of the consonant), game(Same), silence(sounds: t "ish), lie(sounds: losh), and 2nd person singular. numbers - in forms like go, burn(sounds: id "osh, gar" ish). Like b, sign b could, without any damage to the accuracy and clarity of pronunciation, be skipped in a number of cases where it has no phonetic meaning, for example. V night, hush, go, lies instead of the usual night, silence, walking, lie. Attempts in this direction have already been made, but without much success (for their history, see Grotto, "Controversial Issues of Russian Spelling from Peter the Great to the Present"). Pass b in ancient monuments, like a pass b, was designated by a special superscript, like an apostrophe "- the so-called parkcom. ancient name b - er - is now giving way to the more and more new term "soft sign", which owes its origin to the sound method of teaching reading and writing. Digital value sign b, like a number of other new signs that did not have Greek prototypes, they did not have either Cyrillic or Glagolitic.
Encyclopedic Dictionary. Brockhaus and Efron.
“Where does the Motherland begin,” as is sung in an old and soulful song? And it starts small: with love for the native language, 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 it arise. 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 centuries are lost specific names creators of the writing of a particular people. But in the Slavic context, this did not happen. And those who invented the Russian alphabet are still known. Let's find out more about these people.
The very word "alphabet" comes from the first two letters: alpha and beta. It is known that the ancient Greeks put a lot of effort into the development and spread of writing in many European countries. Who first invented the alphabet in world history? There are scholarly debates about this. The main hypothesis is the Sumerian "alphabet", which appears about five thousand years ago. Egyptian is also considered one of the most ancient (of the 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. The language of the people, its writing reflected life, way of life and knowledge, historical and mythological characters. Thus, by reading ancient inscriptions, modern scientists can recreate what our ancestors lived.
History of the Russian alphabet
It has, one might say, a unique origin. Its history is about a thousand years old, it keeps many secrets.
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 ninth century. In those days (830-906) Great Moravia (a region of the Czech Republic) was one of the major European states. And Byzantium was the center of Christianity. The Moravian prince Rostislav in 863 addresses Michael the Third, Byzantine Emperor at that time, with a request to conduct services in the Slavic language to strengthen the influence of Byzantine Christianity in the region. In those days, it is worth noting, the cult was sent only in those languages that were displayed on the Jesus cross: Hebrew, Latin and Greek.
The Byzantine ruler, in response to the proposal of Rostislav, sends a Moravian mission to him, consisting of two monk brothers, sons of a noble Greek who lived in Saluny (Thessaloniki). Michael (Methodius) and Constantine (Cyril) and are considered the official creators of the Slavic alphabet for church service. She is in honor church name Cyril and received the name "Cyrillic". Konstantin himself was younger than Michael, but even his brother recognized his intelligence and superiority in knowledge. Cyril knew many languages and owned 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 connect and summarize 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 their departure, the brothers had already created the Slavic alphabet, well adapted to convey the speech of the Slavs. It was called Glagolitic (it was recreated on the basis of Greek writing with elements of Coptic and Hebrew characters).
Glagolitic or Cyrillic?
Today scientists different countries for the most part, they recognize the fact that the Glagolitic alphabet, created by Cyril back in 863 in Byzantium, was the first. He introduced her in pretty short time. And another, different from the previous one, the Cyrillic alphabet was invented in Bulgaria, a little later. And there are still disputes about the authorship of this, undoubtedly, a cornerstone invention for the pan-Slavic history. After a brief history of the Russian alphabet (Cyrillic) is as follows: in the tenth century it penetrates into Rus' from Bulgaria, and its written fixation is fully formalized only in the XIV century. In more modern form- With late XVI V.
Az is the first letter Slavic alphabet, which denotes the pronoun I. However, its main meaning is conveyed by the words “originally”, “begin” or “beginning”. True, in everyday life the Slavs most often used Az in the context of a pronoun.
Unit
Az has a numerical value, which is expressed by the number 1. Among the ancient Slavs, the number 1 was the beginning of everything joyful, charitable.
"Bull" origin
The letter "A" is of Phoenician origin, as, indeed, are most other letters of European and Semitic languages. In the graphics of most alphabets capital letter"A" has the shape of a triangle with a crossbar in the middle. Some scientists believe that this mark depicts the head of a bull, which was especially revered by the Phoenicians.
Seven Wounds of Christ
In Christian theology, the letter "A", both in Cyrillic and Latin, corresponds to the five wounds of Christ.
"A" in everything
Many symbologists believe that all other letters are derived from the sound "A". This is probably why this letter comes first in many alphabets.
Main sound
The vowel sound "A" is the most common in the languages of the world. There is no language that does not have such a sound. For example, in the Ubykh language "A" is the only vowel. In addition, the first sound of a newborn is precisely "a".
And the first became the last
After a series of reforms in Russian XVIII and XIX centuries, the name "Az" in the alphabet was replaced by the sound "A". Thus, the personal pronoun of the 1st person singular began to correspond to the last letter of the alphabet - "I".
b, b (called: soft sign) is one of the letters of most Cyrillic Slavic alphabets (in Bulgarian - 28th, in Belarusian - 29th, in Russian - 30th and in Ukrainian - 31st (it was the last, but in the current place moved in 1990), was excluded from Serbian in the middle of the 19th century, and was not introduced into Macedonian, created after the example of the new Serbian). Bulgarian name: er malk (i.e. "small er"), usual: er).
It does not denote an independent sound, sometimes it is considered as a diacritical mark that modifies the meaning of the previous letter. It is used in the Ukrainian language in the combination of letters ё, similar to the Russian Ё, standing after consonants; in the orthography of modern Bulgarian it is used only for this.
It also exists in the alphabets of a number of non-Slavic languages, where it can be used in writing in an unexpected position: for example, after vowels. It is usually considered in the order of the 31st in Cyrillic and looks like; The 32nd in a row in the Glagolitic, has the form (in the late Croatian Glagolitic, this sign is replaced by a simple vertical line called "štapić" - means "wand, staff"). Has no numerical value.
In the Church and Old Slavonic alphabets, it is called “er” (ts.-s.) or “er” (s.-s.), the meaning of which is not clear, but is undoubtedly associated with the names of the letters Y- “ery” and b - "er". The hypothesis that links the names “er”, “ery”, “er” with the similarity of the forms of the Cyrillic letter b and P in the Glagolitic alphabet (which sometimes looks absolutely identical:) looks very plausible.
The origin of the letter in the Glagolitic is usually explained by the modification of the letter O (); Cyrillic is also associated with O, with a wand drawn on top (in the most ancient Cyrillic writings, similar forms are found).
In ancient times, it meant an ultra-short variation of the sound [and]; then this sound disappeared in all Slavic languages, often leaving a softening of the previous consonant, as a memory of oneself, or there was a coincidence with one of the full vowels (everything is different in different languages).
In Russian, the presence of this sound is reminiscent of alternations like a finger - a finger, a lion - a lion.
When the Russian civil script was introduced, lowercase letter b was first made high, by analogy with the Latin b, but this style lasted only a few years (compared to the high b, which prevailed before mid-eighteenth V.).
"b" in Slavic languages
Russian language
The soft sign in Russian is used:
To indicate the softness of most consonants, being after them (elm - ligature, hornbeam - rob, fret - rook, they say - mole, shelter - blood, crowbar - crowbar, flail - chain, horse - horse, heat - fry, bit - beat, weight - all, graph - graph);
In position before vowels, in addition, it performs the function separating mark; moreover, e, u, ё, i (and - optional) are pronounced iotized; sometimes other vowels are also ioted (for example, broth - bu [l'јo] n);
It does not denote softness after hissing (it depends on the letter itself - either it is or not), but according to tradition (even without a separating meaning), it is used in a number of well-known categories of words:
In female nouns. kind of names. and wine. case. units hours: ink, rye, thing, twist, etc.;
In the imperative mood of a number of verbs: destroy, cut, wrinkle, hide (also in the plural: cut, etc.; in reflexive forms: cut, cut, etc.);
In a number of dialects: backhand, wide open, away;
For verbs, the ending -sh has the 2nd person: you take, say, anger, give, etc., including their reflexive form (give, etc.);
A number of verbs end in -ch indefinite form: oven, shear, cherish, etc. (the same in the reflexive form: take care, etc.);
After r, k, x, guttural is written only in borrowed words (Chianti, Alighieri, Donahue), but it is not used in native Russian words (in connection with this imperative mood of the verb to lie down is to lie down - the word is an exception, according to general rule not ending in -b);
It does not denote softness after q and also happens only in borrowings (for example, Zamość), sometimes it corresponds to what is dropped out in colloquial speech and in foreign words (for example, revolutionary).
In principle, it is not possible to use a soft sign after vowels and й, and at the beginning of a word.
In the proposals for reforming the spelling of the Russian language, which then led to the reform of writing in 1917-1918, there was also the idea of abolishing the spelling after the hissing soft sign. But she was not accepted. This proposal later also surfaced, including in the early 1960s in a discussion about the simplification of spelling.
Church Slavonic
The system of using the letter b in the Church Slavonic language is basically similar to the Russian language. Main differences:
Usually, in masculine nouns, after hissing soft u and h, it is written not ъ, but ь (horsetail, sword);
In the endings of passive short participles in the present tense, -ь is used to distinguish with the personal form of verbs: on to see (visible), but - we see;
in adjectives and short participles after the hissing difference of the endings -ъ and -ь corresponds to different cases: for example, creating (named after the fall), creating (vin. falling);
Very often, writing between consonants is allowed both with and without: creating / creating (analogue of the Russian created), darkness / darkness, etc.
The letter b in a number of cases in Church Slavonic early printed books could be replaced by yerkom (superscript); at 300 recent years this is not practiced: only the letter b is replaced with Yerkom.
An article dedicated to the secret of the Slavic alphabet invites you to plunge into the world of our ancestors and get acquainted with the message embedded in the alphabet. Your attitude to the ancient message may be ambiguous, but it is safe to say that after reading the article you will look at the alphabet with different eyes.
The Old Slavonic alphabet got its name from a combination of two letters “az” and “beeches”, which denoted the first letters of the alphabet A and B. An interesting fact is that the Old Slavonic alphabet was graffiti, i.e. graffiti scrawled on the walls. The first Old Slavonic letters appeared on the walls of churches in Pereslavl around the 9th century. And by the 11th century, ancient graffiti appeared in Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv. It was on these walls that the letters of the alphabet were indicated in several styles, and below was the interpretation of the letter-word.
In 1574 there was major event, which contributed to a new round of development of Slavic writing. The first printed "Azbuka" appeared in Lviv, which was seen by Ivan Fedorov - the man who printed it.
ABC structure
If you look back, you will see that Cyril and Methodius created not just an alphabet, they discovered Slavic people a new path leading to the perfection of man on earth and the triumph of the new faith. If you look at historical events, the difference between which is only 125 years, you will understand that in fact the path of establishing Christianity on our land is directly related to the creation of the Slavic alphabet. After all, literally in one century, the Slavic people eradicated archaic cults and adopted new faith. The connection between the creation of the Cyrillic alphabet and the adoption of Christianity today is beyond doubt. The Cyrillic alphabet was created in 863, and already in 988, Prince Vladimir officially announced the introduction of Christianity and the overthrow of primitive cults.
Studying the Old Slavonic alphabet, many scientists come to the conclusion that in fact the first "ABC" is a cryptography that has a deep religious and philosophical meaning, and most importantly, that it is built in such a way that it is a complex logical and mathematical organism. In addition, comparing many finds, the researchers came to the conclusion that the first Slavic alphabet was created as a holistic invention, and not as a creation that was created in parts by adding new letter forms. It is also interesting that most of the letters of the Old Slavonic alphabet are letters-numbers. Moreover, if you look at the entire alphabet, you will see that it can be conditionally divided into two parts, which are fundamentally different from each other. In this case, we will conditionally call the first half of the alphabet the “higher” part, and the second “lower”. The upper part includes letters from A to F, i.e. from “az” to “fert” and is a list of letter-words that carry a meaning understandable to the Slav. The lower part of the alphabet begins with the letter "sha" and ends with "izhitsa". The letters of the lower part of the Old Slavonic alphabet do not have a numerical value, unlike the letters of the higher part, and carry a negative connotation.
In order to understand the secret writing of the Slavic alphabet, it is necessary not only to skim through it, but to read each letter-word. After all, each letter-word contains a semantic core that Konstantin put into it.
Literal truth, the highest part of the alphabet
Az- This initial Slavic alphabet, which denotes the pronoun I. However, its fundamental meaning is the word “originally”, “begin” or “beginning”, although in everyday life the Slavs most often used Az in the context of the pronoun. Nevertheless, in some Old Church Slavonic writings one can find Az, which meant "one", for example, "I'll go to Vladimir". Or, “starting from the basics” meant “starting from the beginning.” Thus, with the beginning of the alphabet, the Slavs denoted the entire philosophical meaning of being, where without beginning there is no end, without darkness there is no light, and without good there is no evil. At the same time, the main emphasis in this is placed on the duality of the dispensation of the world. Actually, the alphabet itself is built on the principle of duality, where it is conditionally divided into two parts: the highest and the lowest, positive and negative, the part located at the beginning and the part that is at the end. Moreover, 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 all that is 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 bright. 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 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 family begins. This number has several synonyms: 1 is one, 1 is one, 1 is times.
Beeches (Beeches) is the second letter in the alphabet. It has no numerical meaning, but it has no less deep philosophical meaning than Az. Beeches- means "to be", "will be" was most often used in turnovers in the future form. For example, “bodie” means “let it be”, and “bowdo”, as you probably already guessed, means “future, upcoming”. In this word, our ancestors expressed the future as an inevitability that could be both good and rosy, or gloomy and terrible. It is still unknown why Bukam Constantine did not give a numerical value, however, many scholars suggest that this is due to the duality of this letter. After all, according to by and large it denotes the future, which each person imagines for himself in a rainbow light, but on the other hand, this word also denotes the inevitability of punishment for committed low deeds.
Lead- the most interesting letter of the Old Slavonic alphabet, which has a numerical value of 2. This letter has several meanings: to know, to know and to own. When Constantine invested in Lead this meaning, he meant the secret knowledge, knowledge - as the highest divine gift. If you fold Az, Beeches And Lead in one phrase, you get a phrase that means "I will know!". Thus, Constantine showed that a person who discovered the alphabet created by him would subsequently have some kind of knowledge. No less important is the numerical load of this letter. After all, 2 - two, two, a couple 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, the deuce was a symbol of the confrontation between the two sides, heavenly and earthly balance. Moreover, it is worth noting that the Slavs considered the two to be a devilish number and attributed to it a lot of negative properties, believing that it was the two that opened the number series of negative numbers that brought death to a person. That is why the birth of twins in Old Slavic families was considered bad sign who brought sickness and misfortune to the family. In addition, among the Slavs, it was considered a bad sign to rock the cradle together, two people to dry themselves with one towel and generally perform any action together. Despite this negative attitude to number 2, the Slavs recognized him magical power. So, for example, many rituals of exorcism were carried out with the help of 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 a speech. Synonyms of letters-words verb are: verb, speak, conversation, speech, and in some contexts the word verb was used in the meaning of "write". For example, the phrase “Let him give us a verb and a word, and a thought, and doing” means that “reasonable speech gives us both words, and thoughts, and deeds.” verb was always used only in a positive context, and its numerical value was the number 3 - three. The triple or triad, as our ancestors often called it, was considered a divine number.
Firstly, three is a symbol of spirituality and the unity of the soul with the Holy Trinity.
Secondly, the three / triad was an expression of the unity of heaven, earth and underworld.
Third, the triad symbolizes the completion of a logical sequence: beginning - middle - end.
And 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 triple repetition of a ritual. The simplest example is threefold 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 is "goodness, virtue." At the same time, in a letter Good Konstantin invested not only purely human features character, but also the virtue that all people should adhere to, loving Father heavenly. Under Good scientists, first of all, see virtue in terms of a person's maintenance of religious canons, which symbolize the commandments of the Lord. For example, the Old Slavonic phrase: “Virtue and living true diligence” carries the meaning that a person must observe virtue in real life.
The numerical value of the letter Dobro 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, the four ends of the sacred cross, the four cardinal points and the 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 it, together with the three, that gave the divine number 7.
One of the most versatile words of the Old Slavonic alphabet is Eat. This word is denoted by such words as "is", "prosperity", "presence", "inherence", "being", "nature", "nature" and other synonyms that express the meaning of these words. Surely, having heard this letter-word, many of us will immediately remember the phrase from the movie “Ivan Vasilyevich is changing his profession”, which has already become winged: “Az is the king!”. Using 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. Numerical letter puzzle Eat hides in five. Five is one of the most controversial numbers in Slavic numerology. After all, it is both a positive and a negative number, as, probably, a figure that consists of a “divine” triad and a “satanic” two.
If speak about positive aspects five, which is numerical value letters Eat, 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 in the implementation of the rite of "fumigation" 5 different ingredients are also used, such as: frankincense, stact, onych, levan and halvan.
Other philosophers and 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, which were found by some researchers of Old Slavonic culture. In their opinion, among the ancient Slavs, the five was a symbol of risk and war. A vivid 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, as other numerologists believe that the Slavs preferred to conduct battles and battles on Fridays solely because they counted the five lucky number and by this they hoped to win the battle.
live- letter-word, which is denoted today as a letter AND. The meaning of the meaning of this letter is quite simple and understandable and is expressed in such words as "living", "life" and "living". The wise Constantine put into this letter an understandable word for everyone, which meant the existence of all life on the planet, as well as the creation of new life. In many of his writings, Constantine showed 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 will get the phrase conveyed by Constantine to the descendants: “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 the great scientist left behind, philosopher, orator and linguist Konstantin.
Zelo- a letter that is a combination of two sounds [d] and [z]. The main meaning of this letter for the Slavs was in the words "strongly" and "strongly". The letter itself is the word Zelo was used in Old Slavonic writings as “green”, which meant strong, strong, very, very, and it could also often be found in a sentence as “green”, 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 a long silence." In this expression, "severely apologize" can be easily paraphrased into the phrase "very sorry." Although the expression "change a lot" would also be appropriate here.
- the sixth paragraph of the Lord's Prayer speaks of sin;
- the sixth commandment speaks of the most terrible sin of man - murder;
- the race of Cain ended with the sixth generation;
- the notorious mythical serpent 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 also noticed the mystical attraction 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 Slavonic alphabet, the meaning of which is presented as "land" or "country". Sometimes in sentences a letter-word Earth was used in such meanings as “land”, “country”, “people”, “land”, or this word meant the body of a person. Why did Constantine name the letter in this way? Everything is very simple! After all, we all live on earth, in our own country, and belong to some nationality. Therefore, the word-letter Earth is a concept behind which the community of the people is hidden. And everything starts small, and ends with something big and immense. That is, Constantine in this letter embodied the following phenomenon: each person is part of a family, each family belongs to a community, and each community in the aggregate represents a people who live in a certain territory called their native land. And these patches of land, which we call our native land, are combined into huge country where there is only one God. However, in addition to deeply philosophical sense in letter Earth hides a number that is directly related to the life of Constantine himself. This is the number 7 - seven, seven, seven. What can modern youth know about the number 7? Only that the seven brings good luck. However, for the ancient Slavs, and in particular for Constantine, the seven was a very significant number.
Firstly Konstantin was the seventh child in the family.
Secondly, it was at the age of seven that Konstantin dreamed of the Beautiful Sofia. If you go a little deeper into history, then I want to talk about this dream. Sophia the Wise in the beliefs of the Byzantines was a deity like Athena among the ancient Greeks. Sophia was considered a symbol of Divine Wisdom and revered as the supreme deity. And then one day, seven-year-old Konstantin had a dream in which the Lord turned to him and said: “Choose any girl for your wife.” At the same time, Konstantin examined all the girls in the city and saw Sophia, who in his dream appeared as a beautiful rosy-cheeked girl. He approached her, took her by the hand and led her to the Lord. Having told this dream to his father in the morning, he heard the following words in response: “Keep, son, the law of your father and do not reject punishment from the hand of your mother, then you will speak wise words ...” righteous path. However, Constantine understood that in life there is not only a righteous or correct path, but also a path that lies in wait for those who do not honor the Divine commandments.
The number seven for the Slavs and Constantine in particular denoted the number of spiritual perfection, on which God's seal lay. 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, the number seven is also mentioned.
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. Konstantin was more interested not in the verbal decoding of this letter-word, but in the numerical one. After all Izhe corresponds to the number 10 - ten, ten, decade, as we call this number today. Among the Slavs, the number ten is considered the third number, which denotes divine perfection and orderly completeness. If you turn to history and various sources, you will see that the ten has a deep religious and philosophical meaning:
- The 10 commandments are God's complete code, which reveals to us the basic rules of beneficence;
- 10 generations represent full cycle family or nation;
- in the prayer "Our Father!" contains 10 moments that represent a complete cycle of acceptance of God, respect for the Almighty, a prayer for deliverance, and the logically final moment is the recognition of His eternity.
And this is only an incomplete cycle of references to the number 10 in various sources.
Kako- the letter-word of the Slavic alphabet, which means "like" or "like". A simple example of the use of this word "how is he" today sounds simply "like him." In this word, Constantine tried to express 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- the letter of the Slavic alphabet, which speaks for itself about the meaning that is inherent in it. The true meaning of the letter People used to refer to people of any class, gender and gender. From this letter came such expressions as the human race, to live like a human being. But perhaps the most famous phrase that we still use today is “go out to 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 “look at others and show themselves”. Letter-word People corresponds to the number 30 - thirty.
Thinking- a very important letter-word, the true meaning of which means “think”, “thinking”, “thinking”, “thinking” or, as our ancestors said, “thinking with the mind”. For the Slavs, the word “think” meant not just sitting and thinking about eternity, spiritual communication with God was invested in this word. Thinking- this is the letter that corresponds to the number 40 - forty. In Slavic thinking, the number 40 had special meaning, after all, saying “a lot” the Slavs meant 40. Apparently, in ancient times it was highest number. For example, remember the phrase "forty forty". She says that the Slavs represented the number 40, as we do today, for example, the number 100 is one hundred. If we turn to the Holy Scriptures, then it is worth noting that the Slavs considered 40 to be another divine number, which denotes certain period the time that passes human soul from the moment of temptation to the moment of punishment. Hence the tradition on the 40th day after death to commemorate the deceased.
letter-word Our also speaks for itself. Konstantin the Philosopher put into it two meanings "our" and "brother". That is, this word expresses kinship or closeness in spirit. Synonyms for the true meaning of the letter were such words as “our own”, “native”, “close” and “belonging to our family”. Thus, the ancient Slavs divided all people into two castes: “ours” and “strangers”. letter-word Our has its own numerical value, which, as you probably already guessed, is 50 - fifty.
The next word in the alphabet is represented by modern letter ABOUT, which in the Old Slavonic alphabet is indicated by the word He. true value this letter is "face". Besides that He denoted a personal pronoun, it was used to refer to a person, person or person. The number that corresponds to this word is 70 - seventy.
peace- the letter of the spirituality of the Slavic people. true meaning rest lies in peace and quiet. Constantine the Philosopher put a special peace of mind or spiritual harmony into this letter. He often in various works focused people's attention on the fact that only having grace in the soul, one can find peace of mind. Agree, he is right! The person making good deeds who 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 equals 80 - eighty.
Rtsy is the Old Slavic letter that we know today as the letter R. Of course, by asking a simple modern man about whether he knows what this word means, you are unlikely to hear the answer. However, the letter-word Rtsy was well known to those who held or saw the first Slavic alphabet on the walls of churches. true meaning Rtsy consists in such words as “you will speak”, “you will say”, “you will express” and other words that are close in meaning. For example, the expression "the words of wisdom" means "speak wise words." This word was often used in ancient writings, but today its meaning has lost its significance for a modern person. The numerical value of Rtsy is 100 - one hundred.
Word- a letter about which we can say that it is she who gives the name of our entire speech. Since man invented the word, the surrounding objects have received their names, and people have ceased to be a faceless mass and have received names. In the Slavic alphabet Word has many synonyms: legend, speech, sermon. All these synonyms were often used in compilation as official letters and writing scientific treatises. In colloquial speech, this letter is also widely used. Numeric analogue of a letter Word is 200 - two hundred.
The next letter of the alphabet today is known to us as the letter T, however, the ancient Slavs knew it as a letter-word Firmly. As you understand, the true meaning of this letter speaks for itself, and it means "solid" or "true". It is from this letter that the well-known expression "I stand firm on my word" came from. This means that a person clearly understands what he is saying and affirms the correctness of his thoughts and words. Such hardness is a lot or very wise people or complete fools. However, the letter Firmly indicated that a person who says something or performs actions feels right. If we talk about the numerical self-affirmation of the letter Firmly, then it is worth saying that the number 300 - three hundred corresponds to it.
Ok- another letter in the alphabet, which today has transformed into the letter U. Of course, it is difficult for an ignorant person to understand what this word means, but the Slavs knew it as "law". Ok often used in the meaning of "decree", "fasten", "lawyer", "indicate", "strengthen", etc. Most often, this letter was used to denote government decrees, laws adopted by officials, and was rarely used in a spiritual context.
Completes a galaxy of "higher" letters of the alphabet firth. This unusual letter-word means nothing more than glory, top, top. But this concept is addressed not 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 is a conditional end. But this end gives us food for thought that there is still an eternity that we must glorify. numeric value firth is 500 - five hundred.
Having considered the highest part of the alphabet, we can state the fact that it is secret message Constantine to posterity. "Where is it seen?" - you ask. And now you try to read all the letters, knowing their true meaning. If you take several subsequent letters, then phrases-edifications are added:
- Lead + The verb means "lead the teaching";
- Rtsy + Word + Firmly can be understood as the phrase "speak the true word";
- Firmly + Ouk can be interpreted as "strengthen the law."
If you look closely at other letters, you can also find the secret script that Constantine the Philosopher left behind.
Have you ever wondered why the letters in the alphabet are in this order, and not some other? The order of the "higher" part of the Cyrillic letters can be considered from two positions.
Firstly, the fact that each letter-word is formed into a meaningful phrase with the next one may mean a non-random pattern that was invented to quickly memorize the alphabet.
Secondly, the Old Slavonic alphabet can be considered from the point of view of numbering. That is, each letter is also 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. The letter K begins with tens, which are listed here in the same way as 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 perfectly suited cursive writing, and the person did not experience any difficulties 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 goodness, light and truth.
Literal truth, the "lower" part of the alphabet
As a man of education and striving for the truth, Constantine could not lose sight of the fact that good cannot exist without evil. Therefore, the "lower" part of the Old Slavonic alphabet is the embodiment of everything vile 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 the letter Sha. The true meaning of this letter can be expressed in such words as "trash", "insignificance" or "liar". Often in sentences they were used to indicate the whole lowland of a person who was called shabala, which means a liar and idler. Another word derived from the letter Sha, "shabendat", which means to fuss over trifles. And especially vile people were called the word "shaveren", that is, trash or an insignificant person.
very similar to Sha letter is the next letter shcha. What associations do you have when you hear this letter? But our ancestors used this letter when they talked about vanity or mercy, but the root synonym for the letter shcha you can only pick one word "mercilessly". For example, a simple Old Slavonic phrase "betray without mercy." His modern sense can be expressed in the phrase "mercilessly betray".
yer. In ancient times, thieves, swindlers and rogues were called Yerami. Today we know this letter as Ъ. yer is not endowed with any numerical value, like the other twelve letters of the lower part of the alphabet.
era- this is a letter that has survived to this day and flaunts in our alphabet, like Y. As you understand, it also has an impartial meaning and denotes a drunkard, because, in ancient times, revelers and drunkards who hung around idle were called erigs. In fact, there were people who did not work, but only walked and drank intoxicating drinks. They were in great disfavor with the whole community and were often stoned.
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 appeared in the meaning of "renegade", then the person was called "erik". In other definitions, a person was called a "heretic".
This word was perhaps the most terrible of all Slavic insults. After all, we all know very well from history what happened to heretics ...
Yat- this is the letter to which the synonym "accept" is most suitable. In Old Church Slavonic texts, it was most often used as "to have" and "yatny". Amazing words, especially for modern people. Although I think some of the slang words used by our teenagers, and the ancient Slavs would not understand. "Have" was used in the context of catching or taking. “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 sadness. Its root meaning is a bitter lot and an unhappy fate. The Slavs called a bad fate a vale. From the same letter came the word holy fool, which means an ugly and insane person. The holy fools in the alphabet of Constantine were designated exclusively from a negative point of view, but one should not forget who the holy fools were originally. After all, if you look at history, you will see that wandering monks and associates of Jesus were called holy fools, who imitated the Son of God, accepting ridicule and mockery.
[AND I- a letter that does not have a name, but a deep and awesome meaning is hidden in it. The true meaning of this letter is several concepts, such as "exile", "outcast" or "torture". Both an exile and an outcast are synonyms for one concept that has deep ancient Russian roots. Behind this word was an unfortunate person who fell out of the social environment and does not fit into the existing society. Interestingly, in ancient Russian state there was such a thing as "prince-outcast". Outcast princes are people who have lost their inheritance due to premature death relatives who did not have time to transfer their possessions to them.
[I]E- another letter of the "lower" part of the alphabet, which does not have a name. The ancient Slavs had completely unpleasant associations with this letter, because it meant "torment" and "torment". Often this letter was used in the context of eternal torment experienced by sinners who do not recognize the laws of God and do not keep the 10 commandments.
Two more interesting letters Old Slavonic alphabet Yus small And Yus big. They are very similar in form and meaning. Let's take a look at what their difference is.
Yus small shaped like tied hands. 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 denoted by such 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 in form this letter was similar to a dungeon. Most often, in ancient Slavic texts, you can find this letter in the form of the word prison, which meant jail or prison. The derivative of these two letters are the letters Iotov yus small And Iotov yus big. Graphic image Iotov Yusa small in Cyrillic is similar to the image Yusa small, however, in the Glagolitic alphabet, these two letters have completely different forms. The same can be said about Iotov Yus big and Yus big. 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 image these four letters in the Glagolitic alphabet.
Yus small, denoting bonds or fetters, is depicted in the Glagolitic in the form human body, on whose hands and feet, as it were, shackles are dressed. Behind Yusom small goes Iotov yus small, which means imprisonment, the conclusion of a person in a dungeon or prison. This letter is depicted in the Glagolitic alphabet as some substance similar to a cell. What happens next? And then it goes Yus big, which is a symbol of the dungeon and is depicted in the Glagolitic as a twisted figure. Amazing, but Yusom big goes Iotov yus big, which means execution, and its graphic image in the Glagolitic is nothing more than a gallows. And now let's consider separately the semantic meanings of these four letters and their graphic analogies. Their meaning can be displayed in a simple phrase that indicates a logical sequence: first, fetters are put on a person, then they are imprisoned, and finally, execution is the logical conclusion of punishment. What comes out of this a simple example? And it turns out that Constantine, creating the "lower" part of the alphabet, also put into it a certain hidden meaning and ordered all the signs according to a certain logical attribute. If you look at all thirteen letters of the lower row of the alphabet, you will see that they are a conditional admonition to the Slavic people. Combining all thirteen letters by meaning, we get the following phrase: “Insignificant liars, thieves, swindlers, drunkards and heretics will take a bitter share - they will be tortured by outcasts, shackled in shackles, thrown into prison and executed!” Thus, Constantine the Philosopher gives the Slavs an 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.
And finally, about the second half of the Old Slavonic alphabet, it can be said that most of the letters-words do not have the positive beginning that is inherent in the letters of the "higher" part. Almost all of them are expressed in hissing and chirping syllables. The letters of this part of the alphabet are tongue-tied and devoid of melody, unlike those located at the beginning of the table.
Divine part of the alphabet
Having studied the true meaning of the two parts of the Old Slavonic alphabet, we receive two advice-edifications from the sage. However, do not think that the secrets of the alphabet end there. After all, we have a few more letters that stand, as it were, apart from all the others. These characters include the letters dick, Omega, Tsy And Worm.
The most interesting thing is that the letters X - Kher And W - Omega stand in the center of the alphabet and are enclosed in a circle, which, you will agree, expresses their superiority over the rest of the letters of the alphabet. The main features of these two letters is that they migrated to the Old Slavonic alphabet from the Greek alphabet and have a dual meaning. Look at them carefully. Right side of these letters is a reflection of the left side, thus emphasizing their polarity. Perhaps Constantine not accidentally, but deliberately borrowed these letters from the Greeks? Indeed, in the Greek sense, the letter X denotes the Universe, and even its numerical value 600 - six hundred corresponds to the word "cosmos". Constantine invested in the letter X the unity of God and man.
Considering the letter W, which corresponds to the number 800 - eight hundred, I would like to focus on the fact that it stands for the word "faith". Thus, these two letters, circled, symbolize faith in God, they are an image of the fact that somewhere in the Universe there is a cosmic sphere where the Lord lives, who determined the fate of man from beginning to end.
In addition, Constantine to the letter dick invested a special meaning, which can be reflected in the word "cherub" or "ancestor". Cherubim were considered higher angels, which were closest to God and surrounded the Throne of the Lord. Slavic words derived from the letter dick, have only positive value: cherub, heroism, which means heroism, heraldry (respectively, heraldry), etc.
In its turn, Omega on the contrary, the end, the end or death mattered. This word has many derivatives, so "omega" means eccentric, and disgusting means something very bad.
Thus, dick And Omega, enclosed in a circle, and were a symbol of this circle. Look at their meanings: start and end. But a circle is a line that has neither beginning nor 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 Slavonic alphabet as Tsy And Worm. The most interesting thing is that these letters have a dual meaning in the Old Slavonic alphabet.
So positive Tsy can be expressed in the words church, kingdom, king, caesar, cycle, and in many more similar in meaning synonymous words for these meanings. At the same time, the letter Tsy meant both the kingdom of the earth and the kingdom of heaven. At the same time, it was used with a negative connotation. For example, “poop!” - shut up, stop talking; “tsiryukat” - screaming, wailing and “tsyba”, which meant an unstable thin-legged person and was considered an insult.
Letter Worm also has both positive and negative features. From this letter came such words as chernets, that is, a monk; forehead, bowl, child, person, etc. All the negativity that could be splashed out with this letter can be expressed in such words as a worm - a base, reptile creature, a worm - a belly, a devil - an offspring and others.
Having studied the alphabet from the very beginning, we can come to the conclusion that Constantine left to his descendants main value- a creation that encourages us to strive for self-improvement, learning, wisdom and love, traversing the dark paths of malice, envy and enmity.
Now, opening the alphabet, you will know that the creation that came into being thanks to the efforts of Constantine the Philosopher is not just a list of letters from which words begin, expressing our fear and indignation, love and tenderness, respect and delight.
Bibliography:
- K. Titarenko "The Secret of the Slavic Alphabet", 1995
- A. Zinoviev "Cyrillic cryptography", 1998
- M. Krongauz "Where did the Slavic writing come from", j-l "Russian language" 1996, No. 3
- E. Nemirovsky "In the footsteps of the first printer", M .: Sovremennik, 1983
