Cyrillic alphabet

The Cyrillic alphabet (in Russian: кириллица; in Ukrainian: кирилиця; in Belorusse: Кірыліца; in Ruthène: кырилиця; in Serb: ћирилица; in Bulgarian: кирилица; in Macedonian: кирилица) is a bicameral Alphabet thirty-three letter S (in its modern version Russian), created at the 9th century by disciples of the brother Cyrille (perhaps Clément d' Ohrid), starting from the Greek in its C-W communication Onciale and of the glagolitic Alphabet.

It is notable that the phonetic value of the borrowed letters corresponds, mutatis-mutandis , with that which they had in the Greek of the time. For example, the Β beta (delivery in traditional Greek but in medieval Greek) became the Russian В ve ; it was thus necessary to create a letter in order to obtain a Graphème for the Phonème, in fact a modification of the ve , that is to say Б .

Uses of the Cyrillic alphabet

The Cyrillic one is mainly used to write the Russian (Russian alphabet) and several Slavic languages (in fact, Slavic languages orthodoxe people, catholics having preferred the Latin alphabet):

He is also used to write many nonSlavic and nonIndo-European languages spoken on the territory about the Russia, like the Oudmourte, the Khanty, the Nénètse or the Ossète, as well as the Mongolian or even the doungane, a dialect of the Mandarin. For these languages, it is often supplemented by Diacritics or special characters, intended to note Phonème S which do not exist in Russian. One can consult Diacritiques on this subject Cyrillic alphabet .

In this article, only the aspects of the Cyrillic alphabet will be treated being used to write Russian. Indeed, in the other languages using it, the letters can have very an other value. For example, in Bulgare ъ (known as ерголям ) decides like the Rumanian ă and the щ is worth št .

Origin

The fact that Constantin Cyrille, known as the Philosopher, created the alphabet and the first translations in Slavon is undeniable. But one of the questions of most interesting, remained without univocal answer still currently, relates to creation during one relatively short time of two Slavic alphabets, namely the Cyrillic alphabet and the glagolitic Alphabet. The opinions do not agree all to affirm which of both were created by Constantin Cyrille.

According to the most widespread assumption on the creation of the two alphabets, the Cyrillic one would chronologically make its appearance after the glagolitique one. From an acoustic point of view and graph the Cyrillic one is based on uncial Greek. It would be Bulgarian the Clément d' Okhrid, one of the disciples of Constantin Cyrille, who would have created it and the name of its professor would have given him, in mark of respect. The majority of the scientists allot the alphabet glagolitic to Constantin Cyrille. It corresponds to the phonetic composition of the Bulgarian language and has an original C-W communication; certain researchers indicate that the drawing of the letters follows the rules of the gilded section (the reports/ratios of small and the large side to the unit are identical). So between the alphabet glagolitic and the Cyrillic alphabet there exists a certain continuity, they do not comprise of them less significant differences. The Cyrillic alphabet replaced the alphabet quickly glagolitic, initially in Eastern Bulgaria and in particular in the capital of the time, Preslav. At the school of Ohrid (Western Bulgaria, currently in Macedonia) the alphabet glagolitic more largely was spread and employed longer. There exist some monasteries at the edge of the Adriatic Sea, in Croatia, where the glagolitique one was used in cryptography until the 19th century.

According to the second assumption, Constantin Cyrille would be the author of the two alphabets, which would mean that it would have translated the principal liturgical books twice. In 855, it would have created the Cyrillic alphabet derived from the Greek writing by adapting it to the Slavic language to then translate the liturgical books for the needs for Slavic Bulgarian for the area for the river for Brégalnitsa (Macedonia of the North-West). Later, in 862-863, it would have created the alphabet glagolitic, recopying the books already translated in order to give to its mission into Large-Moravie a universal Christian expression. Nowadays the Cyrillic alphabet is employed not only by the Bulgarian ones, but also by the Serb ones, the Montenegrins, the Russians, the Belorusses as well as by much of other not-Slavic people of the ex-USSR, like by the Mongols: approximately 200 million people in all. The work of Cyrille and Méthode was continued by their disciples Clément, Naoum, Anguélarii, Gorazd and Sava which, on their arrival in Bulgaria, received the support of the Bulgarian king Boris I {{er}}. Each of the five students has his own religious holiday, but moreover, on July 27th one celebrates jointly the two saints Cyrille and Method and their five pupils. The festival is called " Sveti Sedmotchislenitzi" (Seven Saints). The saints Cyrille and Method were proclaimed Co-owners of Europe in December 1980.

The ecclesiastics living especially in the area of the Adriatic of north continued to use the glagolitic writing until the end of the 17th century (from which it was maintained only in the liturgy), and the last document in glagolitic date completion of the 19th century.

The Cyrillic alphabet must, more or less directly, several of its characteristics innovating compared to the Greek model, even some of its letters, with the glagolitique one.

In the orthodoxe religion , the May 24th, day of the Slavic alphabet and saints brothers Cyrille and Méthode, is a festival which has only few analogues: day of the writing, education and the culture. It is the festival of the spiritual awakening, the aspiration to the improvement through science and the culture. The letters created by Cyrille and Method, their translations of the liturgical books in Slavon, the defense of the right of each people to glorifier God in his own language, have a historical importance which exceeds the formation and the prosperity of the Bulgarian nation. Their work is humane and democratic, commune with all the Slavic ones and the service of the great human idea of equality of all in the spiritual field.

Letters

The Cyrillic alphabet used for the Russian thirty-three account letters since 1917. Before this date, the alphabet known as “prérévolutionnaire” included/understood four of more of them. Those are located in the table by a coloured bottom.

This writing being bicameral, there exist two alternatives for each letter, capital and tiny. The following table details the current alphabet; it is read as follows:

  • Capital and tiny;
  • name of the letter such as marked when it is spelled; one adopted here a transcription and not a transliteration in order to return clarifies the name in question;
  • Transliteration : the first sign indicated follows the standard ISO 9 of 1995; the following if the uses diverge, comes from other systems frequently used;
  • Phonetic pronunciation according to the API;
  • picturesque pronunciation spelled according to the French uses.

The system official Bulgare of the Translittération was conceived in 1995, and was approved with the use of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the ministry for the interior, and the ministry for the public administration.

Handwritten and cursive C-W communication

The cursive handwritten C-W communication of the Cyrillic letters differs as much from the printed C-W communication as our Latin letters does it. Moreover, in certain editions the Italic printed tiny follows the layout of the letters cursive (what, typographically, watch the difference between obliques and italics). Certain cursive are however not identical according to whether they are handwritten or printed (these letters are located by the blue color):
Legend
Rangée 1: block letters as a Roman; line 2: block letters in italic; line 3: handwritten characters cursifs.

Lastly, in Serb and Macedonian, the italics cursive of tiny the бгдпт still have another eye, sometimes nearer still to the handwritten C-W communication:

Note: in these languages, the letter д into small Roman traces δ.

Operation of the alphabet and orthography

The notation of Russian by means of the Cyrillic one relatively clear and is facilitated by the low frequency of words marked differently than they are written, so at least one looks at only the Consonne S. Although there exist many archaisms in the pronunciation (the final consonants, for example, all are dévoisées but the orthography does not indicate it, either that the others assimilation S like the devoicing of the consonants the ones in contact with the others), the Orthographe of Russian does not have anything comparable with those, very complex and not very regular, of languages like the English or the French. The History of the Cyrillic alphabet, however, is as long as that of the Latin letters as used to note the modern languages. However, the notation of Russian, during time, summer simplified, so that its reading and its orthography are easy with an average Russian speaker.

Ambiguous vowels

In spite of a proven effectiveness of the notation of the consonants, the direct reading of a text is however not possible: the reader must know for each word of more than two Syllabes the place of the tonic Accent in order to interpreting the vowels correctly: those, indeed, know a apophony by lifelessness comparable with that of the Portuguese, the Catalan or the Occitan and other languages, among which still the Germanic languages: the dull vowels tend to being neutralized and lose their initial stamp. The Cyrillic alphabet, however, except in the didactic works, does not note the place of this accent. As illustration, let us take the word хорошо ; according to the place of the accent, it will be carried out:
  • хорошо́ =;
  • хоро́шо =;
  • хо́рошо =.
Note: with the imitation of the walk followed in the didactic works, the vowels accentuated in this article will be marked of a Acute accent.

Only the first meaning returns to meant of “good”. These mechanisms are treated in detail in accented Apophonie in Russian .

This apophony as exists in oneself in Ukrainian Bulgare or , but is marked as in Russian.

Notation of palatalization

One treats here phonology of Russian to explain certain orthographical mechanisms. The detail of the explanations is however in the article devoted to on this subject.

Syllabic writing

One of the principal characteristics of the Slavic languages, namely the Palatalisation of the consonants (distributed between not palatalized, and “wet” “hard” consonants), is noted in this alphabet in an original way. In the majority of the cases, it is the vowel according to a consonant which indicates the presence or not palatalization and there does not exist sign noting the yod (phoneme of there aourt ) in all the positions. The reading is thus relatively syllabic: it is necessary, to read the consonant, to also read the following vowel. One finds this process with certain letters of the Latin alphabet used in French, like C or G whose realization (resulting besides from an old palatalization in the Romance languages) in front of vowels of before is worth and instead of and. Only the value of the following vowel (or the absence of vowel, of the remainder) makes it possible to read the consonant. In Russian, the mechanism is used for almost all the consonants.

Chaque fundamental vocalic stamp perhaps written in two ways (table opposite). Each one indicates if the preceding consonant is hard (in front of vowel of first series) or wet (in front of vowel of second series). If no written consonant precedes in the syllable (at the beginning of word or after another vowel: Плеяды Pleâdy “Pleiads”), it is necessary to compensate a yod in front of a vowel of second series (except for /i/ и, which preserves a yod at initial only in the derivatives of the pronoun of 3rd person, are им, их and ими), nothing in front of a vowel first series. The Phonème /i/ is notable: the two alternatives constitute two allophones carried out /i/ after consonant wet, after hard. The other vowels undergo a change of similar conditioned stamp although, by far, less important. Moreover, the vowels of second series are divided into two categories: naturally palatal vowels (е and и) and “yodized”, i.e. nonpalatal vowels being the result of a secondary palatalization (я, alternative of а after wet consonant, and ю, that of у).

Contrary to appearances, ё/ʲo/is not the alternative of /o/. It is about the result of the Vélarisation of tonic in front of an old hard consonant. The orthography generally does not note this secondary modification: Горбачёв Gorbačëv is generally written Горбачев . The Dieresis, however, is used for raising ambiguities, as in the pair все “all” (plural) ~ всё (neutral singular). To be thus marked, a е must be tonic in any case.

This notation should not let believe that there exist ten Russian vowels; in fact, the language has only six stamps, (knowing that the sixème, is secondary and comes from a centralization of /i/ in front of consonant lasts). It is the writing of these vowels which is double and complex. In certain cases, the alternative of second series indicates the presence of a palatalized consonant preceding even, when the vowel is at the beginning of word, that of a consonant. In others, it has only one role orthographical, mainly when the consonant which precedes does not exist under of the two alternatives, soft or wet. The consonants thus come per pair from Allophone S: last ~ soft, except ш š , ж ž , and ц C , which is always hard; щ ŝ and ч č , which is always soft (but not wet). The alphabet does not write it however by means of an external sign of wetting (except in some cases recquérant the use of the jer ь, whose employment is described hereafter) but indicates it by the desired C-W communication of the following vowel: is noted by т in front of vowel of first series (та, тэ, ты, то, ту), consequently letter in front of vowel of second series (тя, те, ти, тё, тю).

Use of the jer

When no vowel follows a wet consonant, one writes a “soft sign” ь after it: ть, if the consonant is hard, a “hard sign” ъ: тъ, except at the end of the word where all the hard signs were eliminated since the reform from 1917. These two signs, in the past of the vowels (in Old Slavic and, still, in Bulgarian), are named jer . One notes that the vowel ы there is consisted of the union of both jers , which, unlike ы, not being able to be employed with initial of a word, do not have a Majuscule; in a text in capitals with length, however, one will write Ь and Ъ well: ШЕСТЬ šest' “six”, СЪЕЗД S” ezd “congress”.

The vocalic past of these two signs (ь ǐ was worth, ъ ǔ ) is detectable in words where them use seems superfluous, especially for ь.

Their elimination as vocalic phonemes is old and appeared by a Amuïssement (mainly when these two vowels were weak, i.e. dull or after a jer in strong position in the preceding syllable); the old soft vowel ь, however, left a trace while wetting, if possible, the preceding consonant: возьму́ voz' driven . The disappearance is of rule at the end of the words: щипа́ть ŝipátǐ > ŝipat' “to grip”. In fact, the letter ь became an auxiliary sign without clean phonetic value. The hard jer ъ, as for him, does not have, at the end of the word, left any detectable trace in addition to the nonsoft character (thus hard) of the preceding consonant. Still used as auxiliary sign before 1917, its use was obliterated by that of an orthographical new rule providing that any final consonant not followed by a vowel is hard. It thus became useless in this position: домъ domǔ > домъ dom” > дом dom “house”. Inside a word, however, it continues to note the hard character of the consonant which precedes it: объя́ть ob” ât' “to embrace”.

In addition, these two vowels in strong position (tonic or in the syllable precedent a jer in weak position) could vocalize in е for the soft one, о for the hard one:

  • дьнь dǐnǐ > день den' “day”;
  • плъть plǔtǐ > плоть stud' “flesh”.

Lastly, the soft jer can replace old in front of yodized vowel; he decides then after the soft consonant: судья́ southern ' â “judge”, пью p' U “I drink”.

Incompatibilities

It was said, ш š , ж ž , and ц C is always hard; щ ŝ and ч č always soft. The reasons are that these consonants are already the result of a palatalization: the yod not written mingled with a first consonant to give one of the five consonants in question. Thus, there does not exist hard щ ŝ or of ž wet.

Since these consonants have one allophone, the notation by means of the two series of vowels is superfluous. She obeys indeed rules depending on grammar, which specify which C-W communication to use for the same vocalic phoneme (even for the absence of vowel which can, at the end of the word, being noted by a soft sign ь dumb). There exists a remarkable incompatibility between the yodized vowels (whose wetting is less stable than that of the other soft vowels) я â and ю U and hushing the ш š , ж ž , ч č and щ ŝ . For each consonant concerned, there exist two ambiguous C-Ws communication: in front of /o/ (one can write the phoneme by means of о or ё), at the end of the word (consonant alone or with soft sign ь):

The consonant ц C as for it is followed only by hard vowels (and never by the soft sign ь) except for /e/, writing е and not э. There exist also some etymological C-Ws communication with a и instead of ы; one pronounces however well: цифра. The table below recapitulates the possible orthographies: Legend:
Unit “#” is read “phomene at the end of the word”.

It should be noted that the notation of I after ш, ж and ц is complex: one employs и after the two first but ы after the third. In all the cases, these consonants being hard, the phoneme is carried out. Always for reasons related to palatalization, the following incompatibilities are notable:

  • the dull /o/ phoneme cannot follow ж, ц, ч, ш and щ in the only endings; it is replaced by е;
  • the graphème ы (but not the phoneme) cannot follow к, г, х, ж, ч, ш and щ; it is replaced by и, noting or after the necessarily hard consonants;
  • the graphèmes я and ю cannot follow к, г, х, цж, ч, ш and щ; they are replaced by а and у.

Others

  • Code ISO 15924: Cyrl
  • extension Firefox to write into Cyrillic on a European keyboard: here

Related articles

Cyrillic alphabet

Bonds

  • Cyrillic alphabet - pronunciation
  • comparative Table of the transcriptions of Cyrillic in various European languages, in Arabic, géorgien, Braille and Morse

Be-X-old: Кірыліца Simple: Cyrillic alphabet Zh-classical: 西里爾字母

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