Cyrillic Alphabet Quiz: Test Your Knowledge with Flashcards

Study Notes

The Cyrillic script is a writing system used for various languages across Eurasia, with around 250 million people in Eurasia using Cyrillic as the official script for their national languages. The Early Cyrillic alphabet was developed during the reign of Tsar Simeon I the Great in the First Bulgarian Empire, probably by disciples of the two Byzantine brothers Saint Cyril and Saint Methodius, who had previously created the Glagolitic script. The script is named in honor of Saint Cyril. Cyrillic became the third official script of the European Union, following the Latin and Greek alphabets, with the accession of Bulgaria to the European Union on 1 January 2007. The Cyrillic script spread among other Slavic peoples, as well as among non-Slavic Vlachs. The literature produced in Old Church Slavonic soon spread north from Bulgaria and became the lingua franca of the Balkans and Eastern Europe. Cyrillic adapted to changes in spoken language, developed regional variations to suit the features of national languages, and was subjected to academic reform and political decrees. The Cyrillic script used for the modern Church Slavonic language in Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic rites still resembles early Cyrillic. Some currency signs have derived from Cyrillic letters. The development of Cyrillic typography passed directly from the medieval stage to the late Baroque, without a Renaissance phase as in Western Europe. Cyrillic uppercase and lowercase letter forms are not as differentiated as in Latin typography. Cyrillic fonts, as well as Latin ones, have roman and italic types. Similarly to Latin fonts, italic and cursive types of many Cyrillic letters are very different from their upright roman types. In Bulgarian typography, many lowercase letterforms may more closely resemble the cursive forms on the one hand and Latin glyphs on the other hand.Overview of the Cyrillic Script

The Cyrillic script is used to write several languages including Russian, Bulgarian, Serbian, and Ukrainian.
The script was created in the 9th century by two monks, Cyril and Methodius, to write Old Church Slavonic.
There are different variations of the Cyrillic script, including the Western Bulgarian and Southern Serbian/Macedonian forms.
Cyrillic has been used for languages in Alaska, Slavic Europe (except for Western Slavic and some Southern Slavic), the Caucasus, the languages of Idel-Ural, Siberia, and the Russian Far East.
Some languages that use the Cyrillic script have also been written in a Latin alphabet, and some countries have officially transitioned from Cyrillic to Latin, such as Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan.
Standard Serbian uses both the Cyrillic and Latin scripts, with Cyrillic being nominally the official script of Serbia's administration.
There are various systems for Romanization of Cyrillic text, including transliteration and transcription.
Unicode encodes Cyrillic letters, including national and historical alphabets, across several blocks.
Each language has its own standard keyboard layout for Cyrillic script, but there are also transliterating or phonetic/homophonic keyboard layouts for typists who are more familiar with other layouts.
When practical Cyrillic keyboard layouts or fonts are unavailable, computer users sometimes use transliteration or look-alike "volapuk" encoding to type in languages that are normally written with the Cyrillic alphabet.
There are different character encoding systems for Cyrillic, including Unicode and ISO.
Representing other writing systems with Cyrillic letters is called Cyrillization.

Description

Test your knowledge of the Cyrillic script with our quiz! From its origins with Cyril and Methodius to its use in modern languages like Russian and Ukrainian, this quiz will challenge your understanding of the Cyrillic script's history, variations and adaptations. Explore the different languages that use the Cyrillic script, its character encoding systems, and keyboard layouts. Take the quiz to see how much you know about this important writing system that has shaped the communication of millions of people across Eurasia.