Quiz

Old East Slavic Language and its Literature

• Old East Slavic was a language spoken by East Slavs from the 5th to the 16th centuries, from which Belarusian, Russian, Rusyn, and Ukrainian languages later evolved.

• The language is also known as Old Russian, but Old East Slavic is considered to be the more appropriate term.

• The language developed pleophony, which differentiated it from other Slavic dialects.

• Due to the lack of written records, it is difficult to determine the level of its unity. It is probable that there were many dialects of Old East Slavonic.

• The language evolved into several more diversified forms, which were the predecessors of the modern Belarusian, Russian, Rusyn, and Ukrainian languages.

• Until the 14th or 15th century, major language differences were not between the regions occupied by modern Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine, but rather between the north-west and center of the East Slavic territories.

• Russian language developed as a convergence of the Old Novgorodian dialect and the central ones, whereas Ukrainian and Belorusian were a continuation of development of the central dialects of the East Slavs.

• Some scholars deny the existence of a common Old East Slavic language at any time in the past.

• Old East Slavic language developed a certain literature of its own, influenced as regards style and vocabulary by religious texts written in Church Slavonic.

• Surviving literary monuments include the legal code Justice of the Rus, a corpus of hagiography and homily, the epic Song of Igor, and the earliest surviving manuscript of the Primary Chronicle.

• The earliest dated specimen of Old East Slavic must be considered the written Sermon on Law and Grace, by Hilarion, metropolitan of Kiev.

• From the writings of Theodosius, we see that many pagan habits were still in vogue among the people.Overview of Old East Slavic Literature

• Old East Slavic literature includes chronicles, sermons, works of early travelers, and more.

• Many cities had their annalists, such as Novgorod, Kiev, and Volhynia.

• Bishop Cyril of Turov's sermons imitated the Byzantine style and represented Christianity as spring and Paganism and Judaism as winter.

• The Pouchenie, written by Vladimir Monomakh, gives a picture of the daily life of a Slavonic prince.

• The Paterik of the Kievan Caves Monastery is a collection of stories from the lives of monks.

• The Lay of Igor's Campaign is a narrative of Prince Igor Svyatoslavich’s expedition against the Cumans with a mix of Christianity and ancient Slavic religion.

• The Zadonshchina is a prose poem about the battle of Kulikovo.

• Old East Slavic laws include the Russkaya Pravda of Yaroslav the Wise.

• The earliest attempts to compile a comprehensive lexicon of Old East Slavic were undertaken by Alexander Vostokov and Izmail Sreznevsky in the nineteenth century.

• Notable Old East Slavic texts include the works of Nestor the Chronicler, the Lay of Igor's Campaign, and the Zadonshchina.

• Old East Slavic literature provides insight into the daily life of Slavonic princes, monks, and early travelers.

• There are still many untranslated words and meanings in Old East Slavic literature.

• A 24-volume academic dictionary of Old East Slavic was published in 1975-99.