Early Cyrillic alphabet 451033 224749478 2008-07-10T07:06:43Z Stub12718696 7369800 {{Infobox WS | name=Early Cyrillic alphabet | type=[[Alphabet]] | time=from circa [[940]] | languages=[[Old Church Slavonic]], [[Church Slavonic]], old versions of many [[Slavic languages]] | fam1=[[Phoenician alphabet]] | fam2=[[Greek alphabet]] | fam3=[[Glagolitic alphabet]] | sisters=[[Latin alphabet]]<br>[[Coptic alphabet]]<br>[[Armenian alphabet|Armenian]] | unicode= U+0400 to U+04FF <br>U+0500 to U+052F <br>U+2DE0 to U+2DFF <br>U+A640 to U+A69F | iso15924=Cyrs | sample= }} The original '''Cyrillic alphabet''' was a writing system developed in the [[First Bulgarian Empire]] in the [[tenth century]] to write the [[Old Church Slavonic]] [[liturgical language]]. When [[Christianity]] was made the official state religion in [[864]], Knyaz (Prince) [[Boris I of Bulgaria|Boris I]] commissioned the creation of the alphabet. [[Clement of Ohrid]] developed the alphabet and named it after his teacher, [[Saint Cyril|St. Cyril]]. Cyril was a missionary who, along with his brother, [[Saint Methodius|Methodius]], is credited for inventing the [[Glagolitic alphabet]], an earlier [[Slavic languages|Slavic]] alphabet. The Cyrillic alphabet is mostly based on the [[Greek alphabet|Greek]] and [[Hebrew alphabet|Hebrew]] alphabets, and is also influenced by Glagolitic. Since its creation, the [[Cyrillic alphabet]] has adapted to changes in spoken language and developed regional variations to suit the features of national languages. It has been the subject of academic reforms and political decrees. Variations of the Cyrillic alphabet are used to write languages throughout [[Eastern Europe]] and [[Asia]]. == The alphabet == {| border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=2 style="border: 1px solid #999; border-collapse: collapse;" class="Unicode" |- valign=bottom style="background: #f0f0f0;" ! align=left | Image ! align=left | [[Unicode]] ! align=left | Name<br>([[Cyrillic alphabet|Cyrillic]]) ! align=left | Name<br>([[transliteration|translit.]]) ! align=left | Name<br>([[International Phonetic Alphabet|IPA]]) ! align=left | [[transliteration|Trans.]] ! align=left | IPA ! align=left | Origin ! align=left | Notes |- | style="background: white;" | [[Image:Early Cyrillic letter Azu.png]] | [[A (Cyrillic)|А а]] | {{Script|Cyrs|азъ}} | az{{unicode|ŭ}} | {{IPA|[aʒŭ]}} | a | {{IPA|[a]}} | Greek [[alpha (letter)|alpha]] Α, α | |- | style="background: white;" | [[Image:Early Cyrillic letter Buky.png]] | [[Be (Cyrillic)|Б б]] | {{Script|Cyrs|боукы}} | buky | {{IPA|[buky]}}, {{IPA|[bukŭi]}} | b | {{IPA|[b]}} | Greek [[beta (letter)|beta]] Β, β; | |- | style="background: white;" | [[Image:Early Cyrillic letter Viedi.png]] | [[Ve (Cyrillic)|В в]] | {{Script|Cyrs|вѣдѣ}} | vědě | {{IPA|[vædæ]}} | v | {{IPA|[v]}} | Greek [[beta (letter)|beta]] Β, β | |- | style="background: white;" | [[Image:Early Cyrillic letter Glagoli.png]] | [[Ge (Cyrillic)|Г г]] | {{Script|Cyrs|глаголи}} | glagoli | {{IPA|[glagoli]}} | g | {{IPA|[g]}} | Greek [[gamma]] Γ, γ | |- | style="background: white;" | [[Image:Early Cyrillic letter Dobro.png]] | [[De (Cyrillic)|Д д]] | {{Script|Cyrs|добро}} | dobro | {{IPA|[dobro]}} | d | {{IPA|[d]}} | Greek [[Delta (letter)|Delta]] Δ, δ | |- | style="background: white;" | [[Image:Early Cyrillic letter Yesti.png]] | [[Ye (Cyrillic)|Є є]] | {{Script|Cyrs|єсть}} | estĭ | {{IPA|[ɛstĭ]}} | e | {{IPA|[ɛ]}} | Greek [[epsilon]] Ε, ε | |- | style="background: white;" | [[Image:Early Cyrillic letter Zhiviete.png]] | [[Zhe (Cyrillic)|Ж ж]] | {{Script|Cyrs|живѣтє}} | živěte | {{IPA|[ʒivætɛ]}} | ž, zh | {{IPA|[ʒ]}} | Glagolitic zhivete Ⰶ ? | |- | style="background: white;" | [[Image:Early Cyrillic letter Dzelo.png]] | [[Dze|Ѕ ѕ / Ꙃ ꙃ]] | {{Script|Cyrs|ѕѣло}} | dzělo | {{IPA|[ʣælo]}} | dz | {{IPA|[dz]}} | | |- | style="background: white;" | [[Image:Early Cyrillic letter Zemlia.png]] | [[Ze (Cyrillic)|З з / Ꙁ ꙁ]] | {{Script|Cyrs|земля}} | zemlja | {{IPA|[zemlja]}} | z | {{IPA|[z]}} | Greek [[zeta (letter)|zeta]] Ζ, ζ | See note 1 |- | style="background: white;" | [[Image:Early Cyrillic letter Izhe.png]] | [[I (Cyrillic)|И и]] | {{Script|Cyrs|ижє}} | iže | {{IPA|[iʒɛ]}} | i | {{IPA|[i]}} | Greek [[eta (letter)|eta]] Η, η | |- | style="background: white;" | [[Image:Early Cyrillic letter I.png]] | [[Decimal I|І і]] / [[Yi (Cyrillic)|Ї ї]] | {{Script|Cyrs|и/ижеи}} | i/ižei | {{IPA|[i, iʒɛі]}} | i, I | {{IPA|[i]}} | Greek [[iota]] Ι, ι | |- | style="background: white;" | [[Image:Early Cyrillic letter Kako.png]] | [[Ka (Cyrillic)|К к]] | {{Script|Cyrs|како}} | kako | {{IPA|[kako]}} | k | {{IPA|[k]}} | Greek [[kappa (letter)|kappa]] Κ, κ | |- | style="background: white;" | [[Image:Early Cyrillic letter Liudiye.png]] | [[El (Cyrillic)|Л л]] | {{Script|Cyrs|людиѥ}} | ljudije | {{IPA|[ljudijɛ]}} | l | {{IPA|[l]}} | Greek [[lambda]] Λ, λ | |- | style="background: white;" | [[Image:Early Cyrillic letter Myslite.png]] | [[Em (Cyrillic)|М м]] | {{Script|Cyrs|мыслитє}} | myslite | {{IPA|[myslitɛ]}}/{{IPA|[mŭislitɛ]}} | m | {{IPA|[m]}} | Greek [[mu (letter)|mu]] Μ, μ | |- | style="background: white;" | [[Image:Early Cyrillic letter Nashi.png]] | [[En (Cyrillic)|Н н]] | {{Script|Cyrs|нашь}} | našĭ | {{IPA|[naʃĭ]}} | n | {{IPA|[n]}} | Greek [[nu (letter)|nu]] Ν, ν | |- | style="background: white;" | [[Image:Early Cyrillic letter Onu.png]] | [[O (Cyrillic)|О о]] | {{Script|Cyrs|онъ}} | onŭ | {{IPA|[onŭ]}} | o | {{IPA|[o]}} | Greek [[omicron]] Ο, ο | |- | style="background: white;" | [[Image:Early Cyrillic letter Pokoi.png]] | [[Pe (Cyrillic)|П п]] | {{Script|Cyrs|покои}} | pokoi | {{IPA|[pokoj]}} | p | {{IPA|[p]}} | Greek [[pi (letter)|pi]] Π, π | |- | style="background: white;" | [[Image:Early Cyrillic letter Ritsi.png]] | [[Er (Cyrillic)|Р р]] | {{Script|Cyrs|рьци}} | rĭci | {{IPA|[rĭʦi]}} | r | {{IPA|[r]}} | Greek [[rho (letter)|rho]] Ρ, ρ | |- | style="background: white;" | [[Image:Early Cyrillic letter Slovo.png]] | [[Es (Cyrillic)|С с]] | {{Script|Cyrs|слово}} | slovo | [slovo] | s | [s] | Greek [[lunate sigma]] Ϲ, ϲ | |- | style="background: white;" | [[Image:Early Cyrillic letter Tvrido.png]] | [[Te (Cyrillic)|Т т]] | {{Script|Cyrs|тврьдо}} | tvrdo | {{IPA|[tvr̥do]}} | t | {{IPA|[t]}} | Greek [[tau]] Τ, τ | |- | style="background: white;" | [[Image:Early Cyrillic letter Uku.png]] | [[Uk (Cyrillic)|Оу оу / Ꙋ ꙋ]] | {{Script|Cyrs|оукъ}} | ukŭ | {{IPA|[ukŭ]}} | u | {{IPA|[u]}} | Greek [[omicron]]-[[upsilon]] ΟΥ, ου | See note 2 |- | style="background: white;" | [[Image:Early Cyrillic letter Fritu.png]] | [[Ef (Cyrillic)|Ф ф]] | {{Script|Cyrs|фрьтъ}} | frtŭ | {{IPA|[fr̤̥tŭ]}} | f | {{IPA|[f]}} | Greek [[phi (letter)|phi]] Φ, φ | |- | style="background: white;" | [[Image:Early Cyrillic letter Khieru.png]] | [[Kha|Х х]] | {{Script|Cyrs|хѣръ}} | xěrŭ | {{IPA|[xærŭ]}} | x | {{IPA|[x]}} | Greek [[chi (letter)|chi]] Χ, χ | |- | style="background: white;" | [[Image:Early Cyrillic letter Otu.png]] | [[Omega (Cyrillic)|Ѡ ѡ]] | {{Script|Cyrs|отъ}} | otŭ | {{IPA |[otŭ]}} | ō, w | {{IPA |[oː]}} | Greek [[omega]] Ω, ω | |- | style="background: white;" | [[Image:Early Cyrillic letter Tsi.png]] | [[Tse (Cyrillic)|Ц ц]] | {{Script|Cyrs|ци}} | ci | {{IPA |[ʦi]}} | c | {{IPA |[ʦ]}} | Glagolitic tsi Ⱌ ?, from Hebrew final [[Ṣādē|tsadi]] ץ‎ | |- | style="background: white;" | [[Image:Early Cyrillic letter Chrivi.png]] | [[Che (Cyrillic)|Ч ч]] | {{Script|Cyrs|чрьвь}} | črvĭ | {{IPA |[ʧr̤̥vĭ]}} | č, ch | {{IPA |[ʧ]}} | | |- | style="background: white;" | [[Image:Early Cyrillic letter Sha.png]] | [[Sha|Ш ш]] | {{Script|Cyrs|ша}} | ša | {{IPA |[ʃa]}} | š, sh | [ʃ] | Glagolitic sha Ⱎ, from Hebrew [[shin (letter)|shin]] ש (possibly through [[Coptic alphabet|Coptic]] shai Ϣ) | |- | style="background: white;" | [[Image:Early Cyrillic letter Shta.png]] | [[Shcha (Cyrillic)|Щ щ]] | {{Script|Cyrs|шта}} | šta | {{IPA |[ʃta]}} | št, sht | {{IPA |[ʃt]}} | Ш-Т ligature, after Glagolitic shta Ⱋ | |- | style="background: white;" | [[Image:Early Cyrillic letter Yeru.png]] | [[Yer|Ъ ъ]] | {{Script|Cyrs|ѥръ}} | jerŭ | [{{IPA|jɛrŭ}}] | ŭ, u: | [{{IPA|ŭ}}] | | |- | style="background: white;" | [[Image:Early Cyrillic letter Yery.png]] | [[Yery|Ꙑ ꙑ]] | {{Script|Cyrs|ѥры}} | jery | [{{IPA|jɛry}}] | y | [{{IPA|y}}], or possibly [{{IPA|ŭi}}] | ЪI or ЪИ ligature | |- | style="background: white;" | [[Image:Early Cyrillic letter Yeri.png]] | [[Soft sign|Ь ь]] | {{Script|Cyrs|ѥрь}} | jerĭ | [{{IPA|jɛrĭ}}] | ĭ, i: | [{{IPA|ĭ}}] | | |- | style="background: white;" | [[Image:Early Cyrillic letter Yati.png]] | [[Yat|Ѣ ѣ]] | {{Script|Cyrs|ять}} | jatĭ | [{{IPA|jatĭ}}] | ě | [{{IPA|æ}}] | | |- | style="background: white;" | [[Image:Early Cyrillic letter Yu.png]] | [[Yu (Cyrillic)|Ю ю]] | {{Script|Cyrs|ю}} | ju | [ju] | ju | [{{IPA|iu}}] | I-ОУ ligature, dropping У | |- | style="background: white;" | [[Image:Early Cyrillic letter Ya.png]] | [[Ya (Cyrillic)|Ꙗ ꙗ]] | {{Script|Cyrs|я}} | ja | [ja] | ja | [{{IPA|ia}}] | I-А ligature | |- | style="background: white;" | [[Image:Early Cyrillic letter Yusu Maliy.png]] | [[Little Yus|Ѧ ѧ]] | {{Script|Cyrs|ѧсъ}} | ęsŭ | {{IPA |[ɛ̃sŭ]}} | ę, ẽ | {{IPA |[ɛ̃]}} | | See note 3 |- | style="background: white;" | [[Image:Early Cyrillic letter Yusu Maliy Yotirovaniy.png]] | [[Little Yus iotified|Ѩ ѩ]] | {{Script|Cyrs|ѩсъ}} | jęsŭ | {{IPA|[jɛ̃sŭ]}} | ję, jẽ | {{IPA|[jɛ̃]}} | I-Ѧ ligature | See note 4 |- | style="background: white;" | [[Image:Early Cyrillic letter Yusu Bolshiy.png]] | [[Big Yus|Ѫ ѫ]] | {{Script|Cyrs|ѫсъ}} | ǫsŭ | {{IPA|[ɔ̃sŭ]}} | ǫ, õ | {{IPA |[ɔ̃]}} | | See note 5 |- | style="background: white;" | [[Image:Early Cyrillic letter Yusu Bolshiy Yotirovaniy.png]] | [[Big Yus iotified|Ѭ ѭ]] | {{Script|Cyrs|ѭсъ}} | jǫsŭ | {{IPA |[jɔ̃sŭ]}} | jǫ, jõ | {{IPA |[jɔ̃]}} | I-Ѫ ligature | See note 6 |- | style="background: white;" | [[Image:Early Cyrillic letter Ksi.png]] | [[Ksi|Ѯ ѯ]] | {{Script|Cyrs|кси}} | ksi | {{IPA |[ksi]}} | ks | {{IPA |[ks]}} | Greek [[xi]] Ξ, ξ | |- | style="background: white;" | [[Image:Early Cyrillic letter Psi.png]] | [[Psi (Cyrillic)|Ѱ ѱ]] | {{Script|Cyrs|пси}} | psi | {{IPA |[psi]}} | ps | {{IPA |[ps]}} | Greek [[psi (letter)|psi]] Ψ, ψ | |- | style="background: white;" | [[Image:Early Cyrillic letter Fita.png]] | [[Fita|Ѳ ѳ]] | {{Script|Cyrs|фита}} | fita | {{IPA |[fita]}} | θ, th, T, F | {{IPA |[t]}}/{{IPA |[θ]}}/{{IPA |[f]}} | Greek [[theta]] Θ, θ | |- | style="background: white;" | [[Image:Early Cyrillic letter Izhitsa.png]] | [[Izhitsa|Ѵ ѵ]] | {{Script|Cyrs|ижица}} | ižica | [iʒiʦa] | ü | {{IPA |[ɪ]}}, {{IPA |[y]}} | Greek [[upsilon]] Υ, υ | |- | style="background: white;" | [[Image:Early Cyrillic letter Ye.png]] | [[E iotified|Ѥ ѥ]] | {{Script|Cyrs|ѥ}} | jeː | [jɛ] | je | [iɛ] | І-Є ligature | |- | style="background: white;" | [[Image:Early Cyrillic letter Dierv.png]] | [[Tshe|Ћ ћ]] | {{Script|Cyrs|гѥрв}} | gerv, gjerv | {{IPA |[ʤɛrv]}}, {{IPA |[djɛrv]}} | đ, dj | {{IPA |[ʤ]}}, {{IPA |[dj]}} | Serbian [[tshe]] Ћ, ћ | See note 7 |} === Notes === {{Southslavlang}} <div class="Unicode"> # [[Ze (Cyrillic)|Zemlya]]: The first form developed into the second. # [[Uk (Cyrillic)|Ouku]]: The first form developed into a vertical [[ligature (typography)|ligature]], shown in the second form. # [[Yus|Ęsǔ]]: In [[Russian language|Russian]], this glyph is called юсъ малый (jusǔ malūj). # [[Yus|Jęsǔ]]: In [[Russian language|Russian]], this glyph is called юсъ малый йотированный (jusǔ malūj jotirovannūj). This glyph is rare. # [[Yus|Ǫsǔ]]: In [[Russian language|Russian]], this glyph is called юсъ большой (jusǔ bol'šoj). This glyph is rare in Russian, but commonly used in Old Church Slavonic. # [[Yus|Jǫsǔ]]: In [[Russian language|Russian]], this glyph is called юсъ большой йотированный (jusǔ bol'šoj jotirovannūj). This glyph is rare in Russian, but commonly used in Old Church Slavonic. # [[Tshe|Đerv]]: This letter is present in the [[Glagolitic]] alphabet, but its sound had disappeared by the time Cyrillic started to be used. In Russian, ''Gherv'' or ''Dzherv'' is only used in modern scientific texts where Cyrillic is used to transliterate Glagolitic; the character is found in some [[Balkan]] languages, notably the [[Serbocroatian language|languages of the former Yugoslavia]]. </div> In addition to the basic letters, there were a number of scribal variations, combining ligatures, and regionalisms used, all of which varied over time. == Numerals, diacritics and punctuation == Each letter had a numeric value also, inherited from the corresponding [[Greek alphabet|Greek]] letter. A [[titlo]] over a sequence of letters indicated their use as a number. ''See [[Cyrillic numerals]], [[Titlo]]''. Several [[diacritic]]s, adopted from [[Polytonic orthography|Polytonic Greek orthography]], were also used (these may not appear correctly in all web browsers; they are supposed to be directly above the letter, not off to its upper right): : <big>{{Script|Cyrs|а&#x0341;}}</big>&nbsp; ''oksia'' ([[acute accent]]), indicating a stressed syllable ([[Unicode]] U+0341) : <big>{{Script|Cyrs|а&#x0340;}}</big>&nbsp; ''varia'' ([[grave accent]]), indicating stress on the last syllable (U+0340) : <big>{{Script|Cyrs|а҄}}</big>&nbsp; ''[[kamora]]'', indicating [[palatalization]] (U+0484), similar to an inverted [[breve]] : <big>{{Script|Cyrs|а҅}}</big>&nbsp; ''[[dasy pneuma]]'', rough breathing mark (U+0485) : <big>{{Script|Cyrs|а҆}}</big>&nbsp; ''zvatel'tse'', or ''[[psilon pneuma]]'', soft breathing mark (U+0486) : <big>{{Script|Cyrs|а҃}}</big>&nbsp; ''[[titlo]]'', indicating [[abbreviation]]s, or letters used as [[numeral]]s (U+0483) : <big>{{Script|Cyrs|ӓ}}</big>&nbsp; ''[[Umlaut (diacritic)|trema]]'', diaeresis (U+0308) : <big>{{Script|Cyrs|а&#x0486;&#x0341;}}</big>&nbsp; Combined ''zvatel'tse'' and ''oksia'' is called ''iso''. : <big>{{Script|Cyrs|а&#x0486;&#x0340;}}</big>&nbsp; Combined ''zvatel'tse'' and ''varia'' is called ''apostrof''. Punctuation marks: : <big>{{Script|Cyrs|·}}</big>&nbsp; ''[[ano teleia]]'' (U+0387), a middle dot used as a word separator : <big>{{Script|Cyrs|,}}</big>&nbsp; [[comma]] (U+002C) : <big>{{Script|Cyrs|.}}</big>&nbsp; [[full stop]] (U+002E) : <big>{{Script|Cyrs|։}}</big>&nbsp; [[Armenian alphabet|Armenian]] [[full stop]] (U+0589), resembling a [[colon (punctuation)|colon]] : <big>{{Script|Cyrs|჻}}</big>&nbsp; [[Georgian alphabet|Georgian]] paragraph separator (U+10FB) : <big>{{Script|Cyrs|⁖}}</big>&nbsp; triangular colon (U+2056, added in Unicode 4.1) : <big>{{Script|Cyrs|⁘}}</big>&nbsp; diamond colon (U+2058, added in Unicode 4.1) : <big>{{Script|Cyrs|⁙}}</big>&nbsp; quintuple colon (U+2059, added in Unicode 4.1) : <big>{{Script|Cyrs|;}}</big>&nbsp; [[Greek alphabet|Greek]] [[question mark]] (U+037E), similar to a [[semicolon]] : <big>{{Script|Cyrs|!}}</big>&nbsp; [[exclamation mark]] (U+0021) The Unicode Standard for text encoding version 5.1, released [[April 4]], [[2008]], introduces extensive additions for representing the early Cyrillic alphabet.[http://std.dkuug.dk/jtc1/sc2/wg2/docs/n3194.pdf] == See also == {{commons|early Cyrillic alphabet}} * [[Bosnian Cyrillic]] * [[Reforms of Russian orthography]] == References == * [http://www.uni-giessen.de/partosch/eurotex99/berdnikov2.pdf A Berdnikov and O Lapko, "Old Slavonic and Church Slavonic in TEX and Unicode", EuroTEX ’99 Proceedings], September [[1999]] ([[Portable Document Format|PDF]]) * [http://clover.slavic.pitt.edu/~repertorium/resources/unicode_sofia_1_post.pdf DJ Birnbaum, "Unicode for Slavic Medievalists"], [[September 28]], [[2002]] ([[Portable Document Format|PDF]]) * [http://std.dkuug.dk/jtc1/sc2/wg2/docs/n2610r.pdf M Everson and R Cleminson, "Final proposal for encoding the Glagolitic script in the UCS", Expert Contribution to the ISO N2610R], [[September 4]], [[2003]] ([[Portable Document Format|PDF]]) * V Lev, "The history of the Ukrainian script (paleography)", in ''Ukraine: a concise encyclopædia, volume 1''. [[University of Toronto]] Press, [[1963]], [[1970]], [[1982]]. ISBN 0-8020-3105-6 * V Simovyc and JB Rudnyckyj, "The history of Ukrainian orthography", in ''Ukraine: a concise encyclopædia, volume 1'' (''op cit''). * [http://justin.zamora.com/slavonic/alphabet/letter-names.html J Zamora, "Help me learn Church Slavonic", online] * [http://www.synaxis.info/azbuka/ Azbuka], Church Slavonic calligraphy and typography. * [http://www.obshtezhitie.net/ Obshtezhitie.net], Cyrillic and Glagolitic manuscripts and early printed books. * Peter T. Daniels and William Bright, eds. (1996). ''The World's Writing Systems.'' Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-507993-0. * Simon Franklin (2002). ''Writing, Society and Culture in Early Rus, c. 950-1300.'' Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-052181381. [[Category:Cyrillic alphabet]] [[Category:History of Bulgaria]] [[br:Lizherenneg hengirillek]] [[es:Alfabeto cirílico arcaico]] [[ko:초기 키릴 문자]] [[it:Alfabeto cirillico arcaico]] [[mk:Старословенско писмо]] [[nl:Oudcyrillisch alfabet]] [[cu:Климє́нтовица]] [[szl:Klimentowica]] [[zh:早期西里尔字母]]