When the alphabet was invented. Who was the first to create the alphabet for the Russian language? Cyril and Methodius - creators of the Russian alphabet

The Phoenicians, who kept constant trade records, needed a different letter - light, simple and convenient. They came up with an alphabet in which each sign - a letter - denoted only one specific sound of speech.

The Phoenician alphabet consists of 22 simple letters. All of them are consonants, because consonants played the main role in the Phoenician language. To read a word, the Phoenician had to see its skeleton, consisting of consonant letters.

The most ancient inscriptions, composed of the letters of the Phoenician alphabet, were found during excavations in the ancient city of Byblos (now the city of Jebel), at the foot of the Lebanese range. They belong to the XIII century. BC. The Phoenicians wrote from right to left. They made their trade records in ink on shards. Few of such shards have been found. Better preserved are the inscriptions carved in stone: gravestones (on the sarcophagi of kings and priests) and construction, telling about the construction of palaces at the behest of the Phoenician kings.

Since the IX century. BC e. the Phoenician alphabet began to spread rapidly in many countries. The Greek historian Herodotus wrote that the ancient Greeks learned writing from the Phoenicians. Indeed, even the very names of the Greek letters are Phoenician words. For example, the name of the letter "alpha" (A) comes from the Phoenician word "aleph" - bull. (The original shape of this letter resembled the head of a bull.) The name of the Greek letter "beta" comes from the Phoenician word "bet" - house. (This letter was originally a simplified drawing of a house plan.) The word "alphabet" itself is essentially a combination of the Phoenician words "aleph" and "bet".

The letters in the Phoenician alphabet were arranged in a specific order. This order was also adopted by the Greeks. But in Greek, unlike Phoenician, vowel sounds play an important role. At the same time, in the Phoenician language there were many guttural sounds alien to the Greeks. The corresponding Phoenician letters were used by the Greeks to denote vowel sounds. In addition, they came up with some new letters.

The Phoenician alphabet was incomparably simpler and more convenient than any cuneiform or hieroglyphics. But the Greek alphabet is even more perfect: it consists of 24 letters denoting both vowels and consonants. The Greek alphabet formed the basis for Latin, and that, in turn, served as the basis for the alphabets of all Western European languages. The Church Slavonic alphabet also originated from the Greek alphabet, compiled, according to legend, by the natives of Thessaloniki (now the city of Thessaloniki) Cyril and Methodius. Under Peter I, the Church Slavonic alphabet was simplified, an easier-to-read civil alphabet appeared, which we also use.

The Phoenician alphabet was the ancestor of not only Greek, but also Arabic, Hebrew and other alphabets. The invention of the Phoenicians was a great step in the cultural development of human society, making writing accessible to the masses.

“Where does the Motherland begin”, as it is sung in an old and soulful song? And it starts small: with love for the native language, with the alphabet. Since childhood, we are all accustomed to a certain type of letters in the alphabet of the Russian language. And as a rule, we rarely think about: 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 identity. Sometimes, in the depths of centuries, the specific names of the creators of the writing of a particular people are lost. But in the Slavic context, this was not the case. And those who came up with the Russian alphabet are still known. Let us and you and I learn more about these people.

The very word "alphabet" is derived from the first two letters: alpha and beta. It is known that the ancient Greeks put a lot of effort into the development and dissemination of writing in many European countries. Who was the first to invent the alphabet in world history? There is a scientific debate about this. The main hypothesis is the "alphabet" Sumerian, which appears about five thousand years ago. Egyptian is also considered one of the most ancient (of the known). Writing developed from drawings to signs, turning into graphic systems. And the signs began to display sounds.

It is difficult to overestimate the development of writing in the history of mankind. The language of the people, its writing reflected life, everyday 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 9th century. At that time (830-906) Great Moravia (region of the Czech Republic) was one of the largest European states. And Byzantium was the center of Christianity. In 863, Prince of Moravia Rostislav appealed to Michael III, the Byzantine emperor at that time, with a request to hold services in the Slavic language to strengthen the influence of Byzantine Christianity in the region. In those days, it is worth noting that the cult went only in those languages ​​that were displayed on the Jesus cross: Hebrew, Latin and Greek.

The Byzantine ruler, in response to Rostislav's proposal, sends a Moravian mission to him, consisting of two brothers-monks, the sons of a noble Greek who lived in Saluni (Thessaloniki). Michael (Methodius) and Constantine (Cyril) are considered the official creators of the Slavic alphabet for church ministry. It is in honor of the church name Cyril and was named "Cyrillic". Konstantin himself was younger than Mikhail, but even his brother recognized his intelligence and superiority in knowledge. Cyril knew many languages ​​and was fluent in oratory, participated in religious verbal disputes, was a wonderful organizer. This, according to many scientists, allowed him (along with his brother and other assistants) to combine and synthesize 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 a Slavic alphabet, well adapted to transmit the speech of the Slavs. It was called the Glagolitic (it was recreated on the basis of Greek writing with elements of Coptic and Hebrew signs).

Glagolitic or Cyrillic?

Today, scientists from different countries for the most part recognize the fact that the first was still the Glagolitic alphabet, created by Cyril back in 863 in Byzantium. He presented it in a fairly short time frame. And another, different from the previous one, the Cyrillic alphabet was invented in Bulgaria, a little later. And there are still disputes over the authorship of this, undoubtedly, the cornerstone invention for all-Slavic history. After that, a brief history of the Russian alphabet (Cyrillic) is as follows: in the tenth century it penetrates into Russia from Bulgaria, and its written recording was fully formed only in the XIV century. In a more modern form - from the end of the 16th century.

It is probably very difficult to imagine your life without electricity. But before, people used to write and read by candlelight. But to imagine your life without writing is even more difficult. Maybe someone would think that it would be great and not have to write dictations and essays. But in this case, there would be no books, no libraries, no SMS and even e-mail. In the language, as in the mirror, the whole world and the whole life of a person is reflected.

But man was not always able to. The art of writing has been developing for a long time, many millennia. But there is someone who is the creator of the alphabet, someone whom a person should thank for such an invaluable opportunity. Many, probably, have repeatedly wondered who created the alphabet of the Russian language.

Cyril and Methodius - creators of the Russian alphabet

Once upon a time there lived two Byzantine brothers - Cyril and Methodius. It was thanks to them that the Russian alphabet was created, and they became the first creators.

Methodius, the eldest son, who chose the military path, went to serve in one of the Slavic regions. His younger brother Cyril, as a child, was not indifferent to science, the teachers were amazed at his knowledge. At the age of 14, his parents sent him to Constantinople, where he managed to master many knowledge in a short time: grammar, geometry, arithmetic, astronomy, medicine, Arabic, Greek, Hebrew, Slavic.

In 863, ambassadors from Moravia visited Constantinople. They arrived with a request to provide a preacher in their country to study the population of Christianity. The emperor decided that the brothers, Cyril and Methodius, should go to Moravia. Before setting off, Cyril asked the Moravians if they had the alphabet. The answer was negative. The Moravians did not have the alphabet. The brothers did not have much time. Cyril and Methodius worked hard from early morning until late at night. And so they managed to quickly create an alphabet for the Moravians, named after their younger brother - the Cyrillic alphabet.

Thanks to the created Slavic alphabet, the brothers did not find it difficult to translate the main liturgical books from Greek into Slavic. Now we know who was the first to create the alphabet.

After Methodius died in 885, the disciples and followers of the brothers began to continue the work. They defended services in the Slavic language. Somewhere around this time, the students created another Slavic alphabet. Today there is no certainty about which alphabet was developed by Cyril, and which by his students and successors. There is an assumption that Cyril composed the verb, after which, based on it, he developed the Cyrillic alphabet, which was named after the first creator of the alphabet of the Russian language. Perhaps Kirill himself was engaged in the improvement of the primary alphabet, but all his students completed it.

The Russian alphabet was created on the basis of the Cyrillic alphabet, which is a reworking of the Greek alphabet. The creators of the Russian alphabet took into account the phonetic features of the Old Church Slavonic language and them 19 letters were introduced into it, which were absent in the Greek letter.

The originality of the alphabet created by Cyril and Methodius was manifested in the fact that in order to designate one sound one had to use one letter.

As for the writing in Cyrillic letters, they were used only at the beginning of the paragraph. The big capital letter was painted beautifully, so the first line was called "red", that is, a beautiful line.

Thanks to the first creator of the alphabet of the Russian language, people today can also write. And if not for the brothers Cyril and Methodius, then we would not be able to do anything.

Such a sensational discovery was made by the Volgograd scientist Nikolai Taranov.
The author of the book "Runes of the Slavs and Glagolitic", Volgograd scientist Nikolai Taranov is sure: the first alphabet on Earth appeared with us.
Director of the Volgograd Institute of Art Education Taranov is the owner of many titles: Doctor of Pedagogy, Calligrapher, Professor, Candidate of Art History, member of the Union of Artists of Russia. And besides, he also studies symbols. By doing this, just like in the acclaimed novel by Dan Brown, our "Professor Robert Langdon" followed the trail of a medieval church conspiracy and an amazing discovery.

Was the Slavic alphabet invented long before Cyril?

Who invented the Slavic alphabet? Ask any student - he will answer: Cyril and Methodius. For this merit, the Orthodox Church calls the brothers of the monks Equal to the Apostles. But what kind of alphabet did Cyril come up with - Cyrillic or Glagolitic? (Methodius, it is known and proven, supported his brother in everything, but the “brain of the operation” and an educated person who knew many languages ​​was the monk Cyril). There is still debate about this in the scientific world. Some Slavic scholars say: “Cyrillic! It is named after its creator. " Others object: “Glagolitic! The first letter of this alphabet looks like a cross. Cyril is a monk. It's a sign". As an axiom, it is argued that before the work of Cyril, there was no written language in Russia. Volgograd scientist Nikolai Taranov categorically disagrees with this.
- The assertion that there was no written language in Russia before Cyril and Methodius is based on one single document - the "Legend of the Writings" of the monastic Khrabr found in Bulgaria, - says Nikolai Taranov. - There are 73 lists from this scroll. At the same time, different copies due to inaccuracies in translation or errors of scribes are completely different versions of the key phrase for us. In one version we find: "the Slavs before Cyril did not have books", in the other - "letters", but at the same time the author indicates: "they wrote with lines and cuts." It is interesting that Arab travelers who visited Russia in the VIII century, that is, even before Rurik and even more so before Cyril, described the funeral of one Russian prince: “After the funeral, his soldiers wrote something on a white tree (birch) in honor of the prince, and then, riding on horses, they departed. " And in the "Life of Cyril", known to the Russian Orthodox Church, we read: "In the city of Korsun, Cyril met a Rusyn (Russian), who had with him books written in Russian letters." Then Cyril, whose mother was a Slav, took out some of his letters from his bag and with their help began to read the very books of the Rusyns. Moreover, these were not thin books. These were, as stated in the same "Life of Cyril", translated into Russian "Psalter" and "Gospel". There is a lot of evidence that Russia had its own alphabet long before Cyril. And Lomonosov said the same thing. He cited as evidence the testimony of Pope VIII, a contemporary of Cyril, in which it is stated that Cyril did not invent these letters, but rediscovered them.
Then a legitimate question: why did Kirill create the Russian alphabet, if it already existed? Then, that the monk Cyril had a task from the Moravian prince - to create for the Slavs an alphabet suitable for translating church books. Which he did. The letters with which church books are now written, and in a modified form - all our today's print media, textbooks and fiction, this is the work of Cyril, that is, "Cyrillic".

WHY DESTROY THE VERBIT?

“There are 22 points that prove that the Glagolitic alphabet was older than the Cyrillic alphabet,” says Nikolai Taranov.
"Palimpsest" - there is such a concept among archaeologists and philologists. This is the name of an inscription made on top of another inscription scraped out with a knife or destroyed in another way. In the Middle Ages, parchment made of the skin of a young lamb was quite expensive, and for the sake of economy, scribes often destroyed "unnecessary" records and documents, and wrote something new on the scraped sheet. Everywhere in Russian palimpsests Glagolitic is erased, and above it there are inscriptions in Cyrillic. There are no exceptions to this rule.
- There are only five monuments left in the world, written by Glagolitsa. The rest were destroyed. Moreover, in my opinion, the records in Glagolitic were destroyed on purpose, - says Professor Nikolai Taranov. - Since the Glagolitic alphabet was not suitable for writing church books. The numerical meaning of the letters (and then the belief in numerology was very strong) in it was different than what was required in Christianity. Out of respect for the Glagolitic alphabet, Cyril left in his alphabet the same letter names as they were. And they are very, very difficult for the alphabet, "born" in the 9th century, as it is claimed. Even then, all languages ​​sought to simplify, letters in all alphabets of that time denote only sounds. And only in the Slavic alphabet are the names of the letters: "Good", "People," Think "," Earth "and so on. And all because the Glagolitic alphabet is very ancient. It has many signs of pictographic writing.

For reference: pictographic writing is a type of writing, the signs of which (pictograms) denote the object they represent. The latest findings of archaeologists speak in favor of this version. So, tablets with Slavic writing (the so-called Tertiyskaya writing) were found, the age of which dates back to 5000 years BC.

This discovery about the antiquity of our original alphabet is of great importance for the entire Slavic world, - the Volgograd scientist Nikolai Taranov is sure. - So the professor of the Kiev Academy of Arts, calligrapher Vasily Chabanyk, after listening to my theory, became very interested and invited me to lecture in Kiev. After all, whatever you say, our peoples have one alphabet and an ancient history too. But, unfortunately, because of the current political events in Kiev, I cannot go there.
Professor Semchenko from the Minsk Academy of Arts is also very interested and supports this version. I spoke about this at two International Exhibitions of Calligraphy. And even foreign scientists, the French and the British, who, it would seem, are far from the history of the Slavic world and its writing, after listening to a lecture through an interpreter, came up to me and shook my hand. They said: "This is amazing, we have never heard this."

Probably, the world will still talk about the discovery of Professor Taranov. This version, about the antiquity of the Slavic alphabet, was also seriously interested in the chairman of the Russian Union of Calligraphers Pyotr Chibitko. And recently Nikolai Taranov's open lecture on Glagolitic and Cyrillic, on the sacred meaning of the symbols of the most ancient alphabet on Earth, appeared on Youtube.

VERBAL NUMEROLOGY

Each sign in Glagolitic has a sacred meaning and denotes a certain number.

The sign "Az" is a person, number 1.
The sign "I know" is the number 2, the sign is similar to the eyes and nose: "I see, then I know."
The sign "Live" is the number 7, the life and reality of this world.
The sign "Zelo" is the number 8, the reality of a miracle and something supernatural: "too", "very" or "too much".
The sign "Good" is the number 5, the only number that gives birth to its own kind or a decade: "Good begets good."
The sign "People" - number 50, according to numerology - the world from where human souls come to us.
The sign "Our" - the number 70, symbolizes the connection between the heavenly and the earthly, ie. our world, given to us in sensations.
Sign "Omega" - number 700, a kind of divine world, "Seventh Heaven". At the same time, the Omega sign, the Volgograd scientist believes, resembles a star with prominences in an older outline, and in a later, stylized one - a horseshoe. Since among the ancient Slavs, the star, now known as Omega, was called the Horseshoe and was considered a guiding one.
The sign "Earth" - according to Taranov, means a picture: the Earth and the Moon in the same orbit.

"Only a genius could create a Glagolitic"!
All modern alphabets in Europe are descended from the Phoenician alphabet. In it, the letter A, as we were told, denotes the head of a bull, which then turned upside down with its horns.
- And the ancient Greek historian Photius of Sicily wrote: "These letters are called Phoenician, although it is more correct to call them Pelasgic, since they were used by the Pelasgians," Nikolai Taranov says. - Do you know who the Pelasgians are? These are the ancestors of the Slavs, the Proto-Slavic tribes. The Phoenicians stood out among the surrounding swarthy black-haired tribes of farmers, Egyptians and Sumerians, with fair skin and red hair. Moreover, their passion for travel: they were excellent navigators.
In the XII century BC, the Pelasgians participated in the Great Migration of Nations, and some of their groups of desperate conquerors of new lands wandered to the ends of the world. This allows the Volgograd professor to put forward a version: the Phoenicians were familiar with the Slavs and borrowed the alphabet from them. Why else, in the neighborhood of Egyptian hieroglyphs and Sumerian cuneiform, suddenly formed an alphabetic alphabet?

They say that the Glagolitic alphabet was too decorative, complex, so it was gradually replaced by the more rational Cyrillic alphabet. I wrote down the epithets with which the Glagolitsa were “awarded”: “ugly”, “inconvenient”, etc. But Glagolitic was not so bad at all, - Professor Taranov is sure. - I studied the earliest versions: the first letter of the Glagolitic alphabet does not mean a cross, but a person. That is why it is called "Az" - I. Each person is a starting point for himself. I would say: this is the most humane alphabet on Earth. The entire meaning of the letters in Glagolitic is through the prism of human perception.
I painted the first letter of this alphabet on transparent film. Look, if you put it on other letters of the Glagolitic alphabet, you get a pictogram! Not every designer thinks up so that every grapheme falls into the grid. As a specialist, I am telling you this. I am amazed at the artistic integrity of this alphabet. The unknown author of Glagolitic was a genius! There is no other alphabet in the world such a clear connection between the symbol and its digital and sacred meaning!

Known to every bearer of Slavic culture as the creators of the alphabet. Of course, it is they who are at the origins of the Slavic bookishness, but is it only to them that we owe the alphabet that we still use?

The creation of Slavic writing was caused by the need for Christian preaching among the Slavs. In 862 - 863 Prince of Moravia (one of the largest Slavic states at that time) Rostislav sent an embassy to Byzantium with a request to send missionaries to conduct divine services in the Slavic language. The choice of Emperor Michael III and Patriarch Photius fell on the famous apologist of Eastern Christianity Constantine (who later took the name Cyril during monastic tonsure) and his brother Methodius.

For about three years they worked in Moravia: they translated the Bible and liturgical texts from the Greek language, trained scribes from among the Slavs, then went to Rome. In Rome, the brothers and their disciples were solemnly greeted, they were allowed to serve the Liturgy in Slavonic. Constantine-Cyril was destined to die in Rome (in 869), Methodius returned to Moravia, where he continued to engage in translations.

In order to fully appreciate the feat of the "Slovenian teachers", you need to imagine what it meant to translate the Holy Scriptures and liturgical books into a language that had no written language. To do this, it is enough to recall what topics and how we communicate in everyday life, and compare this with the content of the biblical text, the text of the service. In everyday life, we rarely talk about complex cultural, philosophical, ethical, religious concepts.

The spoken language by itself is not able to develop a means of expressing such complex meanings. Today, arguing on abstract topics, we use what has been created for centuries in the philosophical, religious, literary tradition, i.e. a purely bookish tradition. The Slavic language of the 9th century did not possess this wealth.

The unwritten language of the Slavs of the 9th century had practically no means of expressing abstract concepts, let alone theological concepts; complex grammatical and syntactic structures were not developed very much in it. To make divine services understandable for the Slavs, the language needed the finest processing. It was necessary either to find it in the Slavic language itself, or unobtrusively bring from another (this language became Greek) everything necessary for this language to become able to convey the Gospel to people, to discover the beauty and meaning of the Orthodox service. Slavic teachers masterly coped with this task.

Having translated the Bible and liturgical texts into the Slavic language, having opened the Gospel to the Slavs, Cyril and Methodius at the same time presented the Slavs with a book, linguistic, literary and theological culture. They gave the language of the Slavs the right and the opportunity to become the language of communication between man and God, the language of the Church, and then the language of great culture and literature. The significance of the brothers' feat for the entire Orthodox Slavic world is truly impossible to overestimate. But it is worth remembering about the activities of the disciples of Cyril and Methodius, without whom the mission of the First Teachers could not have been completed, but who, unfortunately, remain in the shadow of their great teachers.

The mission of Cyril and Methodius met with resistance. Methodius had to endure about two years of imprisonment in prison, and after his death, opponents of Eastern Christianity expelled the disciples of Cyril and Methodius from Moravia. Slavic books began to be burned, the service in the Slavic language was prohibited. Some of the exiled students went to the territory of what is now Croatia, and some to Bulgaria.

Among those who went to Bulgaria was one of Methodius' outstanding students, Kliment Ohridskiy. It was he, in the opinion of most modern scientists, who was the creator of the alphabet, which we (albeit with minor changes) use to this day.

The fact is that there are two known Slavic alphabet: Glagolitic and Cyrillic. Glagolic letters are very complex, pretentious, and bear little resemblance to the letters of any other alphabet. Apparently, the author of the Glagolitic alphabet used elements of various writing systems, including the eastern ones, and invented some of the symbols himself. A person capable of doing such a complex philological work was Konstantin-Cyril.

The Cyrillic alphabet was created on the basis of the Greek script, while its creator worked hard to adapt the Greek script to the Slavic phonetic system. On the basis of painstaking work with the manuscripts, studying their linguistic features, territory of distribution, paleographic characteristics, the researchers came to the conclusion that the Glagolitic alphabet was created earlier than the Cyrillic alphabet, the Glagolitic alphabet was apparently created by Cyril, and the Cyrillic alphabet was the most talented student of Methodius, Clement Ohridsky.

Clement (c. 840 - 916), fleeing persecution from Moravia, was sent by the Bulgarian king Boris to preach in Ohrid. Here he created the largest school of Slavic writing, one of the most important centers of Slavic culture. Here translations were carried out, original Slavic works of spiritual content (songs, hymns, lives) were compiled. Clement Ohridsky can rightfully be called one of the first Slavic writers. Clement's work on teaching adults and children to read and write was also unusually extensive: according to the most conservative estimates, he introduced about 3500 people to the Slavic alphabet. In 893, Clement was appointed Bishop of Dremvitsa and Velitsa. He became one of the first Slavic church hierarchs, the first Bulgarian hierarch to serve, preach and write in the Slavic language. According to the majority of modern scientists, it was he who created the alphabet, which the Orthodox Slavic peoples still use today.

Clement of Ohrid is glorified in the face of the Equal-to-the-Apostles saints. His memory is celebrated on July 27 (Cathedral of the Bulgarian Enlighteners) and November 25.