Such a Strange Alphabet Has the Russian Language
In the first lesson of our series, “Why Do Many Persons Decide to Learn the Russian Language?”, we learned how to read and pronounce 24 of the 33 letters of the Russian language. I thought you might be interested in learning more about this strange, sing-song alphabet.
Progenitors of the Russian alphabet: Cyrillic and Glagolitic
You probably know that it is called Cyrillic. Perhaps you also know that it was created by the Byzantine educator and missionary Constantine the Philosopher, Saint Cyril, with the support of his brother Methodius in order to translate the Bible into a language that was Old Slavonic then. That is, it is not quite similar to modern Russian, although it is relatively well understood by the reader.
You think that the brothers were indiscreet and named the alphabet after one of them. But it wasn’t quite like that. In fact, the very first alphabet that the brothers came up with was called Glagolitic. From the word глаголить, “to speak”. The somewhat revised alphabet was already named Cyrillic by the followers of the brothers.
The last fact that I will mention today about the Cyrillic alphabet is that it had many more letters than the modern alphabet: 46.
Solve the Linguistic Riddle of the Russian Alphabet
Now I will tell you one linguistic riddle related to the Russian alphabet. More precisely, to Cyrillic alphabet. In the old alphabet, each letter had a name-word. Now the letters are called like sounds: for example B (= w) we call “weh” but in Cyrillic its “name” was “wedi” (similar to “Ayurveda”). The word means “knowledge”.
And so each letter of the alphabet has its meaning and all the letters taken together form a kind of text: Аз Буки Веди Глаголи Добро Есть (I letters/Scripture know word property/wealth is)… It is possible that the monks placed the letters in order to help their pupils remember the alphabet. But many linguists and not only them have heated discussions on the sacral meaning of this text, saying it is an encrypted message to posterity.
We can recall here that from ancient times writing itself, the written word was always considered as belonging to secret, sacred knowledge, which was owned only by the priests, and elite. Many who belonged to the upper classes wanted to be depicted with a book, or a pen, to show what great people they were. The Scripture was the most sacred book in many civilizations.
In any case, no one can know the truth anymore, and we can only assume what the brother monks meant.
Curiosities Of The Russian Alphabet
The modern Russian language as we said earlier has 33 letters. Of these, two are signs of hardness and softness — “Ь” (softness) and “Ъ” (hardness). Others are sounds.
All my foreign pupils love the letter Ё. But this letter is the newest in the alphabet. It was invented by a female scientist, Princess Dashkova, in 1783 but was introduced into mandatory use only in 1942. It is rarely used in Russian books, but it is often difficult for foreigners to understand when it is necessary to pronounce E, and when Ё, so they love the letter Ё very much.
Do you know which letter is the most often used in Russian, and not only in the Russian alphabet? Practically everyone answers this question “A”. But this is not correct. A is not the most commonly used letter. In Russian, this is O. In English, U. In Italian, I, in German, E. Consonants: in Russian, N, in English, T, in Italian, R, in German, N.
Exercises
N1
And finally, here is the Russian alphabet. We have already learned 24 letters. Which ones are we missing? Write in the comments. :-)
N2
Here are 3 YouTube videos that can help you to learn Russian letters. You can learn correctly some words, too
N3
This exercise is essential, and fundamental for your study. You can’t continue if you do not do it with all attention and diligence you need.
WRITE and pronounce letters and words you see and hear in these videos
I hope you have a very nice week :-)
