Fastennating. As for the dettractions in the comments: this is a one hour primary introduction. Dr. Nelson could not put every bit of her research and learning here, nor all the subtle details and theories that exist. The simplicity of the lesson , with its spirituality makes this more than accedemic, but rather a nourishment. Quite a profound accomplishment.
Little more in depth: King Svatopluk I of Great Moravia expelled the Byzantine missionary contingent in 886. Exiled students of the two apostles, (including Clement of Ohrid and Saint Naum) then brought the Glagolitic alphabet to the First Bulgarian Empire. Boris I of Bulgaria (r. 852-889) received and officially accepted them; he established the two literary schools: the Preslav Literary School and the Ohrid Literary School. Both schools originally used the Glagolitic alphabet, though the Cyrillic script developed early on at the Preslav Literary School, where it superseded Glagolitic as official in Bulgaria in 893. The texts written during this era exhibit certain linguistic features of the vernaculars of the First Bulgarian Empire. Old Church Slavonic spread to other South-Eastern, Central, and Eastern European Slavic territories, most notably Croatia, Serbia, Bohemia, Lesser Poland, and principalities of the Kievan Rus' - while retaining characteristically South Slavic linguistic features. Later texts written in each of those territories began to take on characteristics of the local Slavic vernaculars, and by the mid-11th century Old Church Slavonic had diversified into a number of regional varieties (known as recensions). These local varieties are collectively known as the Church Slavonic language. Old Church Slavonic language is developed in the First Bulgarian Empire and was taught in Preslav and in Ohrid . It did not represent one regional dialect but a generalized form of early eastern South Slavic, which cannot be localized. The existence of two major literary centres in the Empire led in the period from the 9th to the 11th centuries to the emergence of two recensions (otherwise called "redactions"), termed "Eastern" and "Western" respectively. Some researchers do not differentiate between manuscripts of the two recensions, preferring to group them together simply "Bulgarian" recension. Others, as Horace Lunt, have changed their opinion with time. In the mid-1970s, Lunt held that the differences in the initial OCS were neither great enough nor consistent enough to grant a distinction between a 'Macedonian' recension and a 'Bulgarian' one. A decade later, however, Lunt argued in favour of such a distinction, illustrating his point with paleographic, phonological and other differences. The development of Old Church Slavonic literacy had the effect of preventing the assimilation of the South Slavs into neighboring cultures, which promoted the formation of a distinct Bulgarian identity. The manuscripts of the Preslav recension or "Eastern" variant are among the oldest of the Old Church Slavonic language. This recension was centred around the Preslav Literary School. Since the earliest datable Cyrillic inscriptions were found in the area of Preslav, it is this school which is credited with the development of the Cyrillic alphabet which gradually replaced the Glagolic one. A number of prominent Bulgarian writers and scholars worked at the Preslav Literary School, including Naum of Preslav (until 893), Constantine of Preslav, John Exarch, Chernorizets Hrabar, etc.
Very good summary of the whole story. on a side note: Preslav is not "another macedonian city". It was the capital of the Bulgarian Empire, it is in present day North-East Bulgaria.
What a wonderful presentation it was! This was a good primer for me for starting to learn Church slavonic. It has really piqued my interest in learning more about classes at the Seminary. Many thanks! Well done!!
Dr Nelson - I see you learned Russian as a native English speaker. Your pronunciation and enunciation is quite quite good! I am a 67 yr old native Russian speaker who grew up in California. Learned Russian as my primary language. Currently I am a bass in a Russian Orthodox choir in Santa Rosa, California. We of course read and chant Slavonic on a regular basis. I am so glad I found your channel and am interested in learning more. I also have a son named Cyril - or Kyle in the modern vernacular. In our Russian community he is of course Kyril! Thanks! 5/23/21 - just subbed!
hey, I am a Belgian amateur choral singer. The public might well like the famous Italian "open" operatic style and also Orthodox choirs but the Belgian professional classic school promotes a restrained, well tuned voice with almost no vibrato which makes sense for our famous polyphonic tradition. All nice, but the Orthodox style is probably much more lively and fun, vocally speaking??
Fantastic video. Take in considetation the contribution of Bulgaria in the creation and the distribution of the Cyrilic and the Chruch Slavonic language.
For those interested in a Church Slavonic Course, the St. John of Kronstadt Pastoral School of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia in the Mid-West Diocese has this course.
Very interesting and educational video on the Church Slavonic language. I'm articularly interested in the alphabet and pronunciation part. Is there a way to see the letters in order and pronunciation of them? This really helps as attend a Serbian Orthodox church and would greatly improve understanding and enjoyment of the Liturgy. Thank you for sharing and God bless you for doing so!!
Preslav is not another Macedonian town as stated. While Ohrid is indeed in present-day North Macedonia, Preslav was the capital of the First Bulgarian Empire and is today located in the central part of North Bulgaria not far from the town of Shumen. Additionally, it is debatable whether Rus and Russia are the same thing, to say the least. Otherwise, a good job.
Dr Nelson, I got lost in the video until the end a learned to teach at Holy Trinity Seminary. My wife's great uncle is buried behind the church building - Fr. Joseph Kolos.
Byzantium Sailor look up Gamanovich’s (Гаманавич) Grammar of Church Slavonic Language. English translation is on amazon. You can find the original al Russian version online for free as a pdf.
russianmanner.com/church-slavonic-resources/ That's most of what you asked for. Not college level, but definitely teaches every aspect of pronunciation, as well as the unique case it utilizes called the Vocative case.
It's interesting to not that many of those words (e.g. prorok - prophet) are still alive in Roman (Catholic) tradition, Slavic countries. Poland, Slovakia, etc. It is also very curious to see that the language encoded in Greece was so close to the dialects spoken in places such as today's Poland or Ukraine. In fact, even nowadays I find astonishing similarities in grammar and words between CS and Polish.
It is recorded in the Slavonic ‘Life of Methodius’ that Methodius sent two missionaries to Poland - the Slavonic Benedictines Wyszenieg (Výšeněg) and Osława (Osláva) -and that Poland had a Slavonic Diocese based in Kraków that lasted well into the 11th century. Commonalities between Old Church Slavonic and Polish can clearly be seen in the ancient Polish hymn ‘Bogorodzica Dziewica, Bogiem Sławiena Maryja’ and in the 15th century ‘Psałterz Floriański’. See Lańckoronska, K. (1961). ‘Studies on the Roman-Slavonic Rite in Poland’. Pont. Institutum Studiorum Orientalium
The map shown at the beginning says it was the 9th century. In this time, there was no more Western Roman Empire It was overrun by the Lombard barbarians, and later North of Italy was taken over by Charlemagne.
Cultures, i.e., the early Slavs and a world away in the Pacific Polynesia did not have a written alphabet, as in the case of Hawai'i till the western missionaries came in the 18th and 19th centuries. However, the point being that the illiterate can have a rich, vibrant, literary language of oral tradition without writing it down. Stories are passed orally down from one generation to the next, and in some cases, special people were assigned the task. And, in some cases the oral tradition cannot be translated effectively to writing. I prefer, and suggest, the term a non reading culture. Now, after the Hawaiian alphabet came into being in the Hawaiian Kingdom there was in the neighbourhood of 97% literacy, and many Hawaiian Language Newspapers. So, to be a culture of non readers doesn't mean sub-par. And, I believe so for the Slavs as well.
Most certainly, being an "illiterate" language doesn't mean that is was sub-par in any way. Written communication came about as a need to express ideas at distances and to large groups of people at once, and most were developed in larger kingdoms or empires. Non-written languages simply didn't develop writing because there wasn't such need due to oral communication being effective for their needs.
Was Croatia called by another name back then? For example people who lived in Slavonia (part of Croatia) in the 1800's--what was their geographical area called during the time of the early use of Old Church Slavonic?
TH sound doesn't exist in Slavic languages but I don't think that's the reason why Theodore becomes Fyodor, it's because these Christian names are native to all European cultures and they have their own pronunciation such as Elizabeth/Elizabeta/Jelisaveta... or George/Jurij/Djordje... or Matthew/Matej/Matija... these are not translations but native versions of one and the same name. Apologies if I misunderstood.
Having in mind the ongoing political/linguistic turmoil between Bulgaria and North Macedonia and particularly some over-sensitive individuals from these countries, incidental errors can easily turn into world war three.
@@gogalevus What do you mean? This is not about politics. Preslav is in the geographical region of Moesia which is in North Bulgaria. Macedonia is just another geographical region. It's quite simple.
спаcибо,товарищ! Lol I'm learning pусский/Russian now. Having lots of fun! I'm only a beginner but it's been about a year...anyhow this is great I am curious about the abbreviations. On icons and such.
What reason is to learn Russian in the 21st century?? Russian is only а deviative from Church Slavonic(Old Bulgarian). Russian language was created for Muscovy after it stole the name of Rus' from Ukraine in 18th century. Россия is just a Greek name of Rus'. And Rus' was on the territory of Ukraine. Russian Federadion is the last empire on this Earth. All empire fell. And Russian empire will fell. So what is a reason to learn its language? Russia is the past and her language is the past. In all countries where was Soviet Union use of Russian language reduce(maybe except Belarus). And by the way Russian is most distinct language from all other Slavonic languages. For example Ukranian and Belarusian are mutually understandable. And Russian is more distinct from them. I know what I'm talking about. I'm from Ukraine.
On the note of the "Slavic population" located in Thessaloniki was there due to "migration" and that Thessaloni was not always a Greek city, you are completely right. Thessaloniki was invaded many times by the Bulgarian Empire and many Bulgarians still live in Solun today, which is the native city of Cyril and Methodius. By the way, an interesting fact a little bit away from the Old Bulgarian alphabet - which used to be the official name of the script which has fallen out of fashion especially during Communism due to the Greatness of USSR and the bilittleness of Bulgaria - so, the exaple was with Kemal Attaturk, the symbol of Turkey. He is also born in Solun, I have visited his native house, and his mother also being a Bulgarian. Apparently, the Turks are also avoiding to make a reference to Bulgaria, as usually they say that he spoke very well a Slavic language.Which Slavic language, ladies nad gentlemen, could have been in that part of the world? Of course, Bulgarian thanks to a Bulgarian mother livibg there. You mentioned that the Holy Brothers, as we call them, are Greek and spoke an advanced Slavonic so as to be able to produce their literature works. Correct, however, you failed to explain that the mother of the Holy Brothers is Bulgarian and yes, this dialect (in the end) they spoke is a Bulgarian dialect, as much as there could be Greek dialect or Latin dialect, that they elevated to a lingua franca internationally.
This is not correct, Salonika was Slavicized before Bulgarians conquered it. I mean you would know that if you actually watched the 1st 5 minutes of this presentation. Besides, the early Bulgarians had a different language belonging to the Turkic language family, but since they were so few in numbers they couldnt impose their language and culture on the Slavs who were already there. Basically the Bulgars were Slavicized and the Slavs who were conquered by the Bulgars started calling themselves Bulgarians. But to say that the Bulgarians migrated to Salonika is a silly thing to say, because they didnt have a Bulgarian identity when the migrations happened, they were simply Slavs. Bulgarians conquered it well after the fact. Trying to pain them as Bulgarians before they even became part of Bulgaria is a silly thing to say. Recently the Bulgarians tried to push for this narrative and received a huge pushback from pretty much all of the Slavic world, most notably Czechia, I'd suggest you google that. Dont fall for silly Bulgarian propaganda who with their ultra nationalistic regime they have at the moment are trying to even claim the Old Church Slavonic as Bulgarian. Its incredibly idiotic and dishonest. However, you are right that Old Church Slavonic is mostly preserved in today's Bulgarian and I'll add Serbo-Croatian and Macedonian here because all 3 languages are very similar to one another. When it comes to phonetics Old Church Slavonic is basically much more closer to Serbian and Macedonian rather than Bulgarian, because after all its based on the dialects around Salonica and Ohrid.
Not very accurate. The first alphabet is the Glagolitic and after the Bulgarin teachers Kliment Ohridski and Naum Turnovski the Glagolitic alphabet is changed for use only for the Bulgaria kingdom. Surely you can check this, there is a lot of information. After this was done the Bulgarian Kingdom decide to share the new alphabet to the other regions, you will ask why this regions? Check the previous maps of Bulgaria before 9 century. The oldest document for the existing script in Cyrillic is found in Krepcha village around Opaka municipality and it is dated 921 year. The years are not accurate as already mentioned but I like that work that you done.
The video is great and generaly accurate exept the fact that Preslav is located in East North bulgaria not in region of Macedonia whitch is West South Bulgaria and todays Noth Greece and North Macedonian state.
This has a lot of interesting information, particularly on derivation of letters of the alphabet. The Slavic pronunciation seems too Russian and "sacrum/sacra" with the first vowel a long English A is just bizarre.
Well, it's really hard to claim the Slavs in Thessaloniki were totally pagan in the 9th century when the Thessalonians were converted to Christianity in the 1st century by St. Paul. His followers called Paul's people have been living in Bulgaria ever since.
Indeed ... South-salvs are not 8th c. "Slavs" or 4thc. Greko-Romans but first Christians in Europe as Macedonians of course other vulgar people joined whit their culture.
Thanks, but very long video. Many ludes have the problem that Cyril and Methodius began to act at the request of the Slavic "King" Rastislav and in Europe and Great Moravia made a cultural and ecclesiastical revolution, which is still underestimated and misjudged.
Why did you go straight to the Kievan Rus? The Cyrillic alphabet was developed entirely in the context of the Medieval Bulgarian state and the process of its Christianization. Why did you entirely miss the part about the literary schools of Ohrid, Pliska, and Preslav? I am talking about the intro part.
There was no western Roman Empire in the 9th century. The western empire collapsed in the 5th century. Also the "Byzantine Empire" is a modern term. Back then, they called themselves Romans and everybody else called them "the Greeks." And I don't think it's correct to say that Old Church Slavic is to the modern Slavic languages as Latin is the modern Romance languages. That would be COMMON Slavic, not Church Slavic. Also, to say that all the speakers of common Slavic could understand each other is a bit broad. Even at this early stage, the map of common Slavic would have consisted of innumerable dialects that would go on to differentiate into the modern Slavic languages.
How does the "ready made Church Slavonic move" to Russia? Some human beings must have brought it to you? They are part of the Bulgarian clergy and also part of the Bulgarian Royal family in Preslav, the Capital of the Bulgarian Kingdom. The first Russian Patriarch is a Bulgarian and the so called Church Slavonic, which is now politically incorrect to term Old Bulgarian, as it used to be before, was the official language in Russia until the 18th century. Let me pick you up upon Preslav again - the capital of the First Bulgarian Empire. Dear Elena, open a map, it is nowhere close to the geographical region of the Greek province Macedonia, as Preslav still exists today and you can see it on google maps. Further, your map on 9th Century Europe is somewhat wrong - intentionally or not, I dont know, but in the 9th century Bulgaria's main territory in fact is to the north of Danube - what it is today Romania and part of Ukraine, neighbouring with Moravia and later with Russia, as it was not formed as a state yet, here are two references: en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Bulgarian_Empire commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:First_Bulgarian_Empire_before_the_Magyar_invasion.jpg
Old Bulgarian Language (later called Old Church Slavonic) was standartized and developed by Bulgarian monks (students of Cyril and Methodius) in the Preslav Literary School (Preslav, Bulgaria). St. Clement was then sent to Ohrid (in Macedonia) on orders of the Bulgarian Tsar Boris I to christianize and educate the local Slavonic Bulgarian population. The Cyrillic alphabet originated and is the work of medieval Bulgaria (most people confuse this alphabet with the Glagolitic script invented by Byzantine monks Cyril and Methodius). End of history lesson.
@@E_Clip Proto-Bulgarian is the language you mean. Old Bulgarian is the Church Slavonic that was developd in medieval Bulgaria and became official language of the country in 864. Get your facts straight, clown.
@@mihailnikoloff2554 There is no proto Bulgarian language, unless you mean the language of the Turkic Bulgars, but thats not a Slavic language. The Bulgarian language that became official under Boris I came out of Church Slavonic. Church Slavonic is the basis of the Slavic languages and existed before Bulgarian, Bulgarian came out of it. So you cant say Bulgarian predates Church Slavonic, or as you said: "Old Bulgarian Language (later called Old Church Slavonic)" because that's effin ridiculous. A simple timeline for you: 862AD Michael III calls Cyril and Methodius to go on the Moravia Mission and says: "You two are from Salonika, and all Thessalonians speak pure Slavonic." Which means that significant amount of time must have passed prior to that year for all people of Salonika to speak Slavonic. This is the Church Slavonic language and there was no Bulgarian presence in Salonica up until over century in 995 when it was conquered. That's why its referred to as ... you guessed it ... Slavonic, not Bulgarian. So its not effin possible that Bulgarian came before church Slavonic as you claim. In 893 Boris I makes the Church Slavonic language as the official language of Bulgaria and hence Bulgarian language was born. See that makes sense now in respect to timeline , not the retarded bullshit you're claiming. And you call me clown. Clown.
Proto-Bulgarian is the language of the Bulgars which they spoke before 6th century. Modern Bulgarian - 19th century Middle Bulgarian - 12th-14th century, Second Bulgarian Empire Old Bulgarian - 8th-10th century, First Bulgarian Empire The language itself was based on the dialects of the Bulgarian Slavs living around Thessaloniki.
Oh my God. 'Preslav - another Macedonian city' . You mean another Bulgarian city. There was no country Macedonia at that time, it was the name of a region and Preslav is not even located in that region. Both Preslav and Ohrid were Bulgarian capitals at times.
If Old Church Slavonic is artificial whit same logic Greek and Latin are artificial and you teach Old Russian as your pronunciation. Lower case is Armenian alphabet as father of st.brothers was Armenian origin and mother was Christian Macedonian from Solun as bases of language for Christianization was their mother language eventually become Slavic group of languages ... by your logic whit Latin and Greek vocabulary Slavic language?!. Alphabet is not language accept tendency presenting Russian as only Slavic language, as south-slavs have different pronunciation even between themselves. Macedonian Christianity kept traditions before west and east split even before Roman citizens adopted Christianity as Greeks. а ш ГОСПОДИН ГОСПОДИН АНГЕЛ АРХАНГЕЛ - ligature
Please, be more correct when presenting the historical facts to the public! In the 9th century, Macedonia did not exist as a country, much less as the name of a region! Kliment, Naum and the others are solemnly welcomed by the Bulgarian knyaz Boris in the Bulgarian capital Preslav (present day in North-Eastern Bulgaria) where they founded a literary school. Right here the Cyrillic alphabet also appeared, as evidenced by the many inscriptions found in today's North-Eastern Bulgaria. Later after order of knyaz Boris Kliment was sent to the region of Kutmichevitsa (present day North Macedonia) where in Ohrid Saint Kliment founded the second literary school in Bulgaria after the one in the capital Preslav...
Nemôže s tebou súhlasiť! Tvoja mapa je nepresná 863 boli Maďari ešte v stepi na Ukrajine! Veľká Morava sa nachádzala na území Slovenska, časti panónskej nížiny a v Českej republike. V okolí Balatonu sa nachádzalo ďalšie slovanské územie kniežaťa Koceľa ktoré dostal od franských kráľov!
Most of the stuff is good but you seem to have a very thick Russian accent, and, more importantly, are very reductive of pagan and illiterate societies. Importantly, your line about "oral" languages not being able to express complex concepts is completely bogus, minus the obvious lack of adequate vocabulary
