Early Cyrillic alphabet

{{Short description|Writing system developed in 9th century Bulgaria}} {{Further|List of Cyrillic letters|Old Church Slavonic}} {{Main|Cyrillic alphabets|Cyrillic script}} {{Use mdy dates|date = February 2019}} {{Use American English|date = February 2019}}

{{Infobox writing system | name = Early Cyrillic alphabet | altname = Словѣньска азъбоукꙑ | type = Alphabet | time = From {{Circa|893}} in Bulgaria<ref name="Auty">Auty, R. ''Handbook of Old Church Slavonic, Part II: Texts and Glossary.'' 1977.</ref> | languages = Old Church Slavonic, Church Slavonic, old versions of many Slavic languages | fam1 = Egyptian hieroglyphs<ref>Himelfarb, Elizabeth J. "First Alphabet Found in Egypt", Archaeology 53, Issue 1 (Jan./Feb. 2000): 21.</ref> | fam2 = Phoenician alphabet | fam3 = Greek alphabet (with influence from the Glagolitic alphabet) | children = Cyrillic script | sisters = Latin alphabet Coptic alphabet Armenian alphabet | unicode = {{ublist |class=nowrap |[https://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U0400.pdf U+0400–U+04FF] {{smaller|Cyrillic}} |[https://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U0500.pdf U+0500–U+052F] {{smaller|Cyrillic Supplement}} |[https://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U2DE0.pdf U+2DE0–U+2DFF] {{smaller|Cyrillic Extended-A}} |[https://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/UA640.pdf U+A640–U+A69F] {{smaller|Cyrillic Extended-B}} |[https://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U1C80.pdf U+1C80–U+1C8F] {{smaller|Cyrillic Extended-C}}}} | iso15924 = Cyrs | sample = Early_cyrillic_script.png | imagesize = 300px | direction = Varies }}

The '''Early Cyrillic alphabet''', also called '''classical Cyrillic''' or '''paleo-Cyrillic''', is an alphabetic writing system that was developed in Bulgaria in the Preslav Literary School during the late 9th century. The systematization of Cyrillic may have been undertaken at the Council of Preslav in 893. It is used to write the Church Slavonic language, and was historically used for its ancestor, Old Church Slavonic.

It was also used for other languages, but between the 18th and 20th centuries was mostly replaced by the modern Cyrillic script, which is used for some Slavic languages (such as Russian), and for East European and Asian languages that have experienced a great amount of Russian cultural influence.

== History ==

The earliest form of manuscript Cyrillic, known as {{ill|Ustav (script)|lt=Ustav|ru|Устав (шрифт)|uk|Устав (письмо)|be|Устаўнае пісьмо|italic=yes}}, was based on Greek uncial script, augmented by ligatures and by letters from the Glagolitic alphabet for phonemes not found in Greek.<ref name="Lunt">{{Cite book|last=Lunt|first=Horace Gray|title=Old Church Slavonic Grammar|publisher=Mouton de Gruyter|year=2001|isbn=3-11-016284-9|location=Berlin}}</ref>

The Glagolitic script was created by the Byzantine monk Saint Cyril, possibly with the aid of his brother Saint Methodius, around 863.<ref name=Lunt/> Most scholars agree that Cyrillic, on the other hand, was created by Cyril's students at the Preslav Literary School in the 890s as a more suitable script for church books, based on uncial Greek but retaining some Glagolitic letters for sounds not present in Greek.<ref name="Cub" /><ref>{{cite book | first=Francis | last=Dvornik |title=The Slavs: Their Early History and Civilization | url=https://archive.org/details/slavstheirearlyh00dvor | quote = The Psalter and the Book of Prophets were adapted or „modernized" with special regard to their use in Bulgarian churches, and it was in this school that glagolitic writing was replaced by the so-called Cyrillic writing, which was more akin to the Greek uncial, simplified matters considerably and is still used by the Orthodox Slavs. | year=1956 |place=Boston | publisher=American Academy of Arts and Sciences |page=[https://archive.org/details/slavstheirearlyh00dvor/page/n184 179]}}</ref><ref name=FCurta>{{Cite book|last=Curta|first=Florin|title= Southeastern Europe in the Middle Ages|publisher=Cambridge University Press.|year=2006|isbn=978-0-521-81539-0|location=Cambridge|pages=221–222}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J-H9BTVHKRMC |title=The Orthodox Church in the Byzantine Empire |first1=J. M. |last1=Hussey |first2=Andrew |last2=Louth |series=Oxford History of the Christian Church |publisher=Oxford University Press |date=2010 |isbn=978-0-19-161488-0 |page=100}}</ref> At the time, the Preslav Literary School was the most important early literary and cultural center of the First Bulgarian Empire and of all Slavs:<ref name=FCurta/>

The earliest Cyrillic texts are found in northeastern Bulgaria, in the vicinity of Preslav—the Krepcha inscription, dating back to 921,<ref name="dobrotoliubie.com">{{Cite web |last=Карадаков |first=Ангел |title=Провежда се международна конференция в гр. Опака за св. Антоний от Крепчанския манастир |url=https://dobrotoliubie.com/2021/10/15/%d0%bf%d1%80%d0%be%d0%b2%d0%b5%d0%b6%d0%b4%d0%b0-%d1%81%d0%b5-%d0%bc%d0%b5%d0%b6%d0%b4%d1%83%d0%bd%d0%b0%d1%80%d0%be%d0%b4%d0%bd%d0%b0-%d0%ba%d0%be%d0%bd%d1%84%d0%b5%d1%80%d0%b5%d0%bd%d1%86%d0%b8/ |access-date=2025-06-12 |website=Добротолюбие |language=bg-BG}}</ref> and a ceramic vase from Preslav, dating back to 931.<ref name=FCurta/> Moreover, unlike the other literary centre in the First Bulgarian Empire, the Ohrid Literary School, which continued to use the Glagolitic script well into the 12th century, the School at Preslav was using Cyrillic in the early 900s.<ref name="promacedonia.org">{{Cite web |title=S. Runciman - A history of the First Bulgarian empire - Appendix 9 |url=http://www.promacedonia.org/en/sr/sr_app9.htm |access-date=2025-06-12 |website=www.promacedonia.org}}</ref> The systematization of Cyrillic may have been undertaken at the Council of Preslav in 893, when the Old Church Slavonic or ''Glagolitic Cyrillic'' liturgy was adopted by the First Bulgarian Empire.<ref name="Auty">Auty, R. ''Handbook of Old Church Slavonic, Part II: Texts and Glossary.'' 1977.</ref><blockquote>''Unlike the Churchmen in Ohrid, Preslav scholars were much more dependent upon Greek models and quickly abandoned the Glagolitic scripts in favor of an adaptation of the Greek uncial to the needs of Slavic, which is now known as the Cyrillic alphabet.''</blockquote>American scholar Horace Lunt has alternatively suggested that Cyrillics emerged in the border regions of Greek proselytization to the Slavs before it was codified and adapted by some systematizer among the Slavs. The oldest Cyrillic manuscripts look very similar to 9th and 10th century Greek uncial manuscripts,<ref name="Lunt" /> and the majority of uncial Cyrillic letters were identical to their Greek uncial counterparts.<ref name="Auty"/>

The early Cyrillic alphabet was very well suited for the writing of Old Church Slavic, generally following a principle of "one letter for one significant sound", with some arbitrary or phonotactically-based exceptions.<ref name=Lunt/> Particularly, this principle is violated by certain vowel letters, which represent {{IPA|[j]}} plus the vowel if they are not preceded by a consonant.<ref name=Lunt/> It is also violated by a significant failure to distinguish between /ji/ and /jĭ/ orthographically.<ref name=Lunt/> There was no distinction of capital and lowercase letters, though manuscript letters were rendered larger for emphasis, or in various decorative initial and nameplate forms.<ref name=Cub>Cubberley 1994</ref> Letters served as numerals as well as phonetic signs; the values of the numerals were directly borrowed from their Greek-letter analogues.<ref name=Lunt/> Letters without Greek equivalents mostly had no numeral values, whereas one letter, koppa, had only a numeric value with no phonetic value.<ref name=Lunt/> Since its creation, the Cyrillic script has adapted to changes in spoken language and developed regional variations to suit the features of national languages. It has been the subject of academic reforms and political decrees. Variations of the Cyrillic script are used to write languages throughout Eastern Europe and Asia.{{cn|date=March 2026}}

The form of the Russian alphabet underwent a change when Tsar Peter the Great introduced the civil script ({{langx|ru|гражданский шрифт|graždanskiy šrift}}, or {{lang|ru|гражданка}}, {{lang|ru-Latn|graždanka}}), in contrast to the prevailing church typeface, ({{langx|ru|церковнославя́нский шрифт| cerkovnoslavjanskiy šrift}}) in 1708. (The two forms are sometimes distinguished as ''paleo-Cyrillic'' and ''neo-Cyrillic''.) Some letters and breathing marks which were used only for historical reasons were dropped. Medieval letterforms used in typesetting were harmonized with Latin typesetting practices, exchanging medieval forms for Baroque ones, and skipping the western European Renaissance developments. The reform subsequently influenced Cyrillic orthographies for most other languages. Today, the early orthography and typesetting standards remain in use only in Slavonic. A comprehensive repertoire of early Cyrillic characters has been included in the Unicode standard since version 5.1, published April 4, 2008. These characters and their distinctive letterforms are represented in specialized computer fonts for Slavistics.{{cn|date=March 2026}}

{{Gallery |height=180 |width=250 |align=center |File:Krepchanski_manastir.jpg|View of the cave monastery near the village of Krepcha, Opaka Municipality in Bulgaria. Here is the oldest Cyrillic inscription dated of 921.<ref>Провежда се международна конференция в гр. Опака за св. Антоний от Крепчанския манастир. [https://dobrotoliubie.com/2021/10/15/провежда-се-международна-конференци/ Добротолюбие – Център за християнски, църковно-исторически и богословски изследвания, 15.10.2021.]</ref> |File:Birch bark alphabet of Novgorod.jpg|The Cyrillic alphabet on birch bark document № 591 from ancient Novgorod (Russia). Dated to 1025–1050 AD. |File:Bb199.gif|A more complete early Cyrillic abecedary (on the top half of the left side), this one written by the boy Onfim between 1240 and 1260 AD (birch bark document № 199).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Карадаков |first=Ангел |title=Провежда се международна конференция в гр. Опака за св. Антоний от Крепчанския манастир |url=https://dobrotoliubie.com/2021/10/15/%d0%bf%d1%80%d0%be%d0%b2%d0%b5%d0%b6%d0%b4%d0%b0-%d1%81%d0%b5-%d0%bc%d0%b5%d0%b6%d0%b4%d1%83%d0%bd%d0%b0%d1%80%d0%be%d0%b4%d0%bd%d0%b0-%d0%ba%d0%be%d0%bd%d1%84%d0%b5%d1%80%d0%b5%d0%bd%d1%86%d0%b8/ |access-date=2022-04-09 |website=Добротолюбие |language=bg-BG}}</ref> }}

== Alphabet ==

{| class="wikitable Unicode" |- valign=bottom ! Image ! Unicode ! Name (Cyrillic) ! Name (translit.) ! Name (IPA) ! Trans. ! IPA ! Numeric value ! Origin ! Meaning of name ! Notes |- | style="background: white;" | 40px | А а | {{Script|Cyrs|азъ}} | azŭ | {{IPA|[azŭ]}} | a | {{IPA|[a]}} | 1 | Greek alpha Α | I | |- | style="background: white;" | 40px | Б б | {{Script|Cyrs|боукꙑ}} | buky | {{IPA|[bukɯ]}} | b | {{IPA|[b]}} | | Greek beta in Thera form {{GrGl|Beta 10}} | letters | |- | style="background: white;" | 40px | В в | {{Script|Cyrs|вѣдѣ}} | vědě | {{IPA|[vædæ]}} | v | {{IPA|[v]}} | 2 | Greek beta Β | know | |- | style="background: white;" | 40px | Г г | {{Script|Cyrs|глаголи}} | glagoli | {{IPA|[ɡlaɡoli]}} | g | {{IPA|[ɡ]}}<ref name=Lunt/> | 3 | Greek gamma Γ | speak |When marked with a palatalization mark, this letter is pronounced {{IPA|[ɟ]}}; this only occurs rarely, and only in borrowings.<ref name="Lunt" /> |- | style="background: white;" | 40px | Д д | {{Script|Cyrs|добро}} | dobro | {{IPA|[dobro]}} | d | {{IPA|[d]}} | 4 | Greek delta Δ | good | |- | style="background: white;" | 40px | Є є | {{Script|Cyrs|єстъ}} | estŭ | {{IPA|[jɛstŭ]}} | e | {{IPA|[ɛ]}} | 5 | Greek epsilon Ε | is | Pronounced {{IPA|[jɛ]}} when not preceded by a consonant.<ref name=Lunt/> |- | style="background: white;" | 40px | Ж ж | {{Script|Cyrs|живѣтє}} | živěte | {{IPA|[ʒivætɛ]}} | ž, zh | {{IPA|[ʒ]}} | | Glagolitic ''zhivete'' Ⰶ | live | |- | style="background: white;" | 40px | Ѕ ѕ / Ꙃ ꙃ | {{Script|Cyrs|ꙃѣло}} | dzělo | {{IPA|[dzælo]}} | dz, ʒ,<ref name=Lunt/> ẑ | {{IPA|[dz]}} | 6 | Greek stigma Ϛ | very | The form ꙃ had the phonetic value {{IPA|[dz]}} and no numeral value, whereas the form ѕ was used only as a numeral and had no phonetic value.<ref name=Lunt/> Since the 12th century, ѕ came to be used instead of ꙃ.<ref name="Памятники Старославянскаго языка">Памятники Старославянскаго языка / ''Е. Ѳ. Карскій''. — СПб. : Типографія Императорской Академіи наукъ, 1904. — Т. I, с. 14. — [http://dlib.rsl.ru/viewer/01003721357#?page=20 Репринт]</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ruslang.ru/doc/lingistoch/1964/02-simonov.pdf|title=Simonov|access-date=2023-08-11|language=ru}}</ref> In many manuscripts з is used instead, suggesting lenition had taken place.<ref name=Lunt/> |- | style="background: white;" | 60px | З з / Ꙁ ꙁ | {{Script|Cyrs|зємл҄ꙗ}} | zemlja | {{IPA|[zɛmʎa]}} | z | {{IPA|[z]}} | 7 | Greek zeta Ζ | earth | The first form developed into the second. |- | style="background: white;" | 40px | И и | {{Script|Cyrs|ижє}} | iže | {{IPA|[jiʒɛ]}} | i | {{IPA|[i]}} | 8 | Greek eta Η | which | Pronounced {{IPA|[ji]}} or {{IPA|[jĭ]}} when not preceded by a consonant and not the particle ‹i› ("and"); the orthography does not distinguish between {{IPA|[ji]}} and {{IPA|[jĭ]}}.<ref name=Lunt/> Speculatively, this letter might have originally been intended to represent {{IPA|[i]}} and {{IPA|[ji]}}.<ref name=Lunt/> |- | style="background: white;" | 40px | І і / Ї ї | {{Script|Cyrs|и}} | i | {{IPA|[i]}} | i, ı, ì | {{IPA|[i]}} | 10 | Greek iota Ι | and | Pronounced {{IPA|[ji]}} or {{IPA|[jĭ]}} when not preceded by a consonant and not the particle ‹i› ("and"); the orthography does not distinguish between {{IPA|[ji]}} and {{IPA|[jĭ]}}.<ref name=Lunt/> Speculatively, this letter might have originally been intended to represent {{IPA|[jĭ]}}.<ref name=Lunt/> |- |- | style="background: white;" | 40px | К к | {{Script|Cyrs|како}} | kako | {{IPA|[kako]}} | k | {{IPA|[k]}} | 20 | Greek kappa Κ | as | When marked with a palatalization mark, this letter is pronounced {{IPA|[c]}}; this only occurs rarely, and only in borrowings.<ref name=Lunt/> |- | style="background: white;" | 40px | Л л | {{Script|Cyrs|людиѥ}} | ljudije | {{IPA|[ʎudijɛ]}} | l | {{IPA|[l]}}; sometimes {{IPA|[ʎ]}}<ref name=Lunt/> | 30 | Greek lambda Λ | people | When marked with a palatalization mark or followed by a palatalizing vowel (ю, ѭ, or ꙗ, and sometimes ѣ), this letter is pronounced {{IPA|[ʎ]}}; some manuscripts do not mark palatalization, in which case it must be inferred from context.<ref name=Lunt/> |- | style="background: white;" | 40px | М м | {{Script|Cyrs|мꙑслитє}} | myslite | {{IPA|[mɯslitɛ]}} | m | {{IPA|[m]}} | 40 | Greek mu Μ | think | |- | style="background: white;" | 40px | Н н | {{Script|Cyrs|нашь}} | našĭ | {{IPA|[naʃĭ]}} | n | {{IPA|[n]}}; sometimes {{IPA|[ɲ]}}<ref name=Lunt/> | 50 | Greek nu Ν | ours | When marked with a palatalization mark or followed by a palatalizing vowel (ю, ѭ, or ꙗ, and sometimes ѣ), this letter is pronounced {{IPA|[ɲ]}}; some manuscripts do not mark palatalization, in which case it must be inferred from context.<ref name=Lunt/> |- | style="background: white;" | 40px | О о | {{Script|Cyrs|онъ}} | onŭ | {{IPA|[onŭ]}} | o | {{IPA|[o]}} | 70 | Greek omicron Ο | he/it | |- | style="background: white;" | 40px | П п | {{Script|Cyrs|покои}} | pokoi | {{IPA|[pokojĭ]}} | p | {{IPA|[p]}} | 80 | Greek pi Π | peace/calm | |- | style="background: white;" | 40px | Р р | {{Script|Cyrs|рьци}} | rĭci | {{IPA|[rĭtsi]}} | r | {{IPA|[r]}}; sometimes {{IPA|[rʲ]}}<ref name=Lunt/> | 100 | Greek rho Ρ | say | When marked with a palatalization mark or followed by a palatalizing vowel (ю or ѭ), this letter is pronounced {{IPA|[rʲ]}}; some manuscripts do not mark palatalization, in which case it must be inferred from context.<ref name=Lunt/> This palatalization was lost rather early in South Slavic speech.<ref name=Lunt/> |- | style="background: white;" | 40px | С с | {{Script|Cyrs|слово}} | slovo | {{IPA|[slovo]}} | s | {{IPA|[s]}} | 200 | Greek lunate sigma Ϲ | word/speech | |- | style="background: white;" | 40px | Т т | {{Script|Cyrs|тврьдо}} | tvrĭdo | {{IPA|[tvrĭdo]}} | t | {{IPA|[t]}} | 300 | Greek tau Τ | hard/surely | |- | style="background: white;" | 60px | Оу оу / Ꙋ ꙋ | {{Script|Cyrs|оукъ}} | ukŭ | {{IPA|[ukŭ]}} | u | {{IPA|[u]}} | 400 | Greek omicron-upsilon ΟΥ / Ꙋ | learning | The first form developed into the second, a vertical ligature. A less common alternative form was a digraph with izhitsa: Оѵ оѵ. |- | style="background: white;" | 40px | Ф ф | {{Script|Cyrs|фрьтъ}} | frĭtŭ | {{IPA|[frrĭtŭ]}} | f | {{IPA|[f]}} or possibly {{IPA|[p]}}<ref name=Lunt/> | 500 | Greek phi Φ | | This letter was not needed for Slavic but used to transcribe Greek Φ and Latin ph and f.<ref name=Lunt/> It was probably, but not certainly, pronounced as {{IPA|[f]}} rather than {{IPA|[p]}}; however, in some cases it has been found as a transcription of Greek π.<ref name=Lunt/> |- | style="background: white;" | 40px | Х х | {{Script|Cyrs|хѣръ}} | xěrŭ | {{IPA|[xærŭ]}} | kh, x,<ref name=Lunt/> h | {{IPA|[x]}} | 600 | Greek chi Χ | | When marked with a palatalization mark, this letter is pronounced {{IPA|[ç]}}; this only occurs rarely, and only in borrowings.<ref name=Lunt/> |- | style="background: white;" | 40px | Ѡ ѡ | {{Script|Cyrs|отъ}} | otŭ | {{IPA|[otŭ]}} | ō, w, o, ô | {{IPA|[o]}} | 800 | Greek omega ω | from | This letter was rarely used, mostly appearing in the interjection "oh", in the preposition ‹otŭ›, in Greek transcription, and as a decorative capital.<ref name=Lunt/> |- | style="background: white;" | 60px | Ц ц | {{Script|Cyrs|ци}} | ci | {{IPA|[tsi]}} | c | {{IPA|[ts]}} | 900 | Glagolitic ''tsi'' Ⱌ | | |- | style="background: white;" | 60px | Ч ч | {{Script|Cyrs|чрьвь}} | črĭvĭ | {{IPA|[tʃrĭvĭ]}} | č, ch | {{IPA|[tʃ]}} | 90 | Glagolitic ''cherv'' Ⱍ | worm | This letter replaced koppa as the numeral for 90 after about 1300.<ref name=Lunt/> |- | style="background: white;" | 40px | Ш ш | {{Script|Cyrs|ша}} | ša | {{IPA|[ʃa]}} | š, sh | {{IPA|[ʃ]}} | | Glagolitic ''sha'' Ⱎ | | |- | style="background: white;" | 40px | Щ щ | {{Script|Cyrs|ща}} | šta | {{IPA|[ʃta]}} | št, sht | {{IPA|[ʃt]}} | | Glagolitic ''shta'' Ⱋ | | This letter varied in pronunciation from region to region; it may have originally represented the reflexes of {{IPA|[tʲ]}}.<ref name=Lunt/> It was sometimes replaced by the digraph шт.<ref name=Lunt/> Pronounced {{IPA|[ʃtʃ]}} in Old East Slavic. Later analyzed as a Ш-Т ligature by folk etymology, but neither the Cyrillic nor the Glagolitic glyph originated as such a ligature.<ref name=Lunt/> |- | style="background: white;" | 40px | Ъ ъ | {{Script|Cyrs|ѥръ}} | jerŭ | {{IPA|[jɛrŭ]}} | ŭ, ъ<ref name=Lunt/> | {{IPA|[ŭ]}} or {{IPA|[ʊ]}}<ref name=Lunt/> | | Glagolitic ''yer'' Ⱏ<ref name=Auty/> | | After č, š, ž, c, dz, št, and žd, this letter was pronounced identically to ь instead of its normal pronunciation.<ref name=Lunt/> |- | style="background: white;" | 40px | Ꙑ ꙑ / Ъи ъи<ref name=Lunt/> | {{Script|Cyrs|ѥрꙑ}} | jery | {{IPA|[jɛrɯ]}} | y | {{IPA|[ɯ]}} or {{IPA|[ɯji]}} or {{IPA|[ɯjĭ]}}<ref name=Lunt/> | | Ъ + І or Ъ + И ligature. | | Ꙑ was the more common form; rarely, a third form, ы, appears.<ref name=Lunt/> |- | style="background: white;" | 40px | Ь ь | {{Script|Cyrs|ѥрь}} | jerĭ | {{IPA|[jɛrĭ]}} | ĭ, ь<ref name=Lunt/> | {{IPA|[ĭ]}} or {{IPA|[ɪ]}}<ref name=Lunt/> | | Glagolitic ''yerj'' Ⱐ<ref name=Auty/> | | |- | style="background: white;" | 40px | Ѣ ѣ | {{Script|Cyrs|ѣть}} | ětĭ | {{IPA|[jætĭ]}} | ě | {{IPA|[æ]}}<ref name=Lunt/> | | Glagolitic ''yat'' Ⱑ<ref name=Auty/> | | In western South Slavic dialects of Old Church Slavonic, this letter had a more closed pronunciation, perhaps {{IPA|[ɛ]}} or {{IPA|[e]}}.<ref name=Lunt/> This letter was only written after a consonant; in all other positions, ꙗ was used instead.<ref name=Lunt/> |- | style="background: white;" | 40px | Ꙗ ꙗ | {{Script|Cyrs|ꙗ}} | ja | {{IPA|[ja]}} | ja | {{IPA|[ja]}} | | І-А ligature | | This letter was probably not present in the original Cyrillic alphabet. Evolved into Я.<ref name=Auty/> |- | style="background: white;" | 40px | Ѥ ѥ | {{Script|Cyrs|ѥ}} | je | {{IPA|[jɛ]}} | je | {{IPA|[jɛ]}} | | І-Є ligature | | This letter was probably not present in the original Cyrillic alphabet. Evolved into E.<ref name=Auty/> |- | style="background: white;" | 40px | Ю ю | {{Script|Cyrs|ю}} | ju | {{IPA|[ju]}} | ju | {{IPA|[ju]}} | | І-ОУ ligature, dropping У | | There was no {{IPA|[jo]}} sound in early Slavic, so І-ОУ did not need to be distinguished from І-О. After č, š, ž, c, dz, št, and žd, this letter was pronounced {{IPA|[u]}}, without iotation. |- | style="background: white;" | 40px | Ѫ ѫ | {{Script|Cyrs|ѫсъ}} | ǫsŭ | {{IPA|[ɔ̃sŭ]}} | ǫ, õ | {{IPA|[ɔ̃]}} | | Glagolitic ''ons'' Ⱘ | | Called юсъ большой (big ''yus)'' in Russian. |- | style="background: white;" | 40px | Ѭ ѭ | {{Script|Cyrs|ѭсъ}} | jǫsŭ | {{IPA|[jɔ̃sŭ]}} | jǫ, jõ | {{IPA|[jɔ̃, ja]}} | | І-Ѫ ligature | | After č, š, ž, c, dz, št, and žd, this letter was pronounced {{IPA|[ɔ̃]}}, without iotation. Called ''юсъ большой йотированный'' (iotated big ''yus)'' in Russian. |- | style="background: white;" | 40px | Ѧ ѧ | {{Script|Cyrs|ѧсъ}} | ęsŭ | {{IPA|[ɛ̃sŭ]}} | ę, ẽ | {{IPA|[ɛ̃]}} | 900 | Glagolitic ''ens'' Ⱔ | | Pronounced {{IPA|[jɛ̃]}} when not preceded by a consonant.<ref name=Lunt/> Called юсъ малый (little ''yus)'' in Russian. |- | style="background: white;" | 40px | Ѩ ѩ | {{Script|Cyrs|ѩсъ}} | jęsŭ | {{IPA|[jɛ̃sŭ]}} | ję, jẽ | {{IPA|[jɛ̃]}} | | І-Ѧ ligature | | This letter does not exist in the oldest (South Slavic) Cyrillic manuscripts, but only in East Slavic ones.<ref name=Lunt/> It was probably not present in the original Cyrillic alphabet.<ref name=Auty/> Called юсъ малый йотированный (iotated little ''yus)'' in Russian. |- | style="background: white;" | 40px | Ѯ ѯ | {{Script|Cyrs|ѯи}} | ksi | {{IPA|[ksi]}} | ks | {{IPA|[ks]}} | 60 | Greek xi Ξ | | rowspan=2 | These two letters were not needed for Slavic but were used to transcribe Greek and as numerals. |- | style="background: white;" | 40px | Ѱ ѱ | {{Script|Cyrs|ѱи}} | psi | {{IPA|[psi]}} | ps | {{IPA|[ps]}} | 700 | Greek psi Ψ | |- | style="background: white;" | 40px | Ѳ ѳ | {{Script|Cyrs|фита}} | fita | {{IPA|[fita]}} | θ, th, T, F | {{IPA|[t]}}, or possibly {{IPA|[θ]}} | 9 | Greek theta Θ | | This letter was not needed for Slavic but was used to transcribe Greek and as a numeral. It seems to have been generally pronounced {{IPA|[t]}}, as the oldest texts sometimes replace instances of it with т.<ref name=Lunt/> Normal Old Church Slavonic pronunciation probably did not have a phone {{IPA|[θ]}}.<ref name=Lunt/> |- | style="background: white;" | 40px | Ѵ ѵ | {{Script|Cyrs|ижица}} | ižica | {{IPA|[jiʒitsa]}} | ü, v, ỳ | {{IPA|[i]}}, {{IPA|[y]}}, {{IPA|[v]}} | 400 | Greek upsilon Υ | small yoke | This letter was used to transcribe Greek upsilon and as a numeral. It also formed part of the digraph оѵ. |- | style="background: white;" | 40px | Ҁ ҁ | {{Script|Cyrs|копа}} | kopa | {{IPA|[kopa]}} | q | no sound value | 90 | Greek koppa Ϙ | | This letter had no phonetic value, and was only used as a numeral. After about 1300, it was replaced as a numeral by črĭvĭ.<ref name=Lunt/> |}

[[File:Cyrillic letter Djerv.svg|thumb|150px|Djerv ({{Script|Cyrs|ꙉєрвъ}}: Ꙉ ꙉ), predecessor to Ћ ћ and Ђ ђ in early Serbian monuments]]

In addition to the basic letters, there were a number of scribal variations, combining ligatures, and regionalisms used (for example, the additional letter ꙉ, which was used officially by the Serbians<ref>{{cite book |last=Maretić |first=Tomislav |title=Gramatika i stilistika hrvatskoga ili srpskoga književnog jezika |trans-title=Grammar and stylistics of the Croatian or Serbian literary language |pages=14–15 |date=1899 }}</ref>), all of which varied over time.

Versions of this initial alphabet where the letters ҁ and ѿ are omitted are also valid, since ҁ did not have a phonetic value nor an official placement in the alphabet with some putting it between п and р to correspond with the placement of the Greek letter ϙ and other putting it right at the end, and ѿ came later as ligature of ѡ and т. The Greek letters that were used in Cyrillic mainly for their numeric value are sometimes transcribed with the corresponding Greek letters for accuracy: ѳ = θ, ѯ = ξ, ѵ = υ, ҁ = ϙ, ѱ = ψ, and ѡ = ω.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Matthews|first=W. K.|date=1952|title=The Latinisation of Cyrillic Characters|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4204350|journal=The Slavonic and East European Review|volume=30|issue=75|pages=531–548|jstor=4204350|issn=0037-6795}}</ref>

== Numerals, diacritics and punctuation ==

Each letter had a numeric value also, inherited from the corresponding Greek letter. A titlo over a sequence of letters indicated their use as a number; usually this was accompanied by a dot on either side of the letter.<ref name=Lunt/> In numerals, the ones place was to the left of the tens place, the reverse of the order used in modern Arabic numerals.<ref name=Lunt/> Thousands are formed using a special symbol, {{Script|Cyrs|҂}} (U+0482), which was attached to the lower left corner of the numeral.<ref name=Lunt/> Many fonts display this symbol incorrectly as being in line with the letters instead of subscripted below and to the left of them.{{cn|date=March 2026}}

Titlos were also used to form abbreviations, especially of nomina sacra; this was done by writing the first and last letter of the abbreviated word along with the word's grammatical endings, then placing a titlo above it.<ref name=Lunt/> Later manuscripts made increasing use of a different style of abbreviation, in which some of the left-out letters were superscripted above the abbreviation and covered with a pokrytie diacritic.<ref name=Lunt/> Several diacritics, adopted from Polytonic Greek orthography, were also used, but were seemingly redundant<ref name=Lunt/> (these may not appear correctly in all web browsers; they are supposed to be directly above the letter, not off to its upper right):

: <big>{{Script|Cyrs|а̀}}</big>  ''varia'' (grave accent), indicating stress on the last syllable (U+0300) : <big>{{Script|Cyrs|а́}}</big>  ''oksia'' (acute accent), indicating a stressed syllable (U+0301) : <big>{{Script|Cyrs|ї}}</big>  ''trema'', diaeresis (U+0308) : <big>{{Script|Cyrs|а̑}}</big>  ''kamora'' (circumflex accent), indicating long falling accent (U+0311); in later Church Slavonic, it disambiguates plurals from homophonous singulars. : <big>{{Script|Cyrs|а҃}}</big>  ''titlo'', indicating abbreviations, or letters used as numerals (U+0483) : <big>{{Script|Cyrs|л҄}}</big>  palatalization sign, indicating palatalization{{Citation needed|date=October 2009}} (U+0484) : <big>{{Script|Cyrs|а҅}}</big>  ''dasia'' or ''dasy pneuma'', rough breathing mark (U+0485) : <big>{{Script|Cyrs|а҆}}</big>  ''psili'', ''zvatel'tse'' or ''psilon pneuma'', smooth breathing mark (U+0486). Signals a word-initial vowel, at least in later Church Slavonic. : <big>{{Script|Cyrs|а҇}}</big>  ''pokrytie'', indicating an abbreviation (U+0487). : <big>{{Script|Cyrs|а҆̀}}</big>  combined ''psili'' and ''varia'' is called ''apostrof''. : <big>{{Script|Cyrs|а҆́}}</big>  combined ''psili'' and ''oksia'' is called ''iso''. : <big>{{Script|Cyrs|д̾, д꙽}}</big>  {{ill|Yerok|ru|Ерок}} (U+033E) and ''payerok'' (U+A67D), indicating an omitted ''jerŭ'' (ъ) after a letter.<ref>Berdnikov and Lapko 2003, p. 12</ref>

Punctuation systems in early Cyrillic manuscripts were primitive: there was no space between words and no upper and lower case, and punctuation marks were used inconsistently in all manuscripts.<ref name=Lunt/>

: <big>{{Script|Cyrs|·}}</big>  ''ano teleia'' (U+0387), a middle dot used to separate phrases, words, or parts of words<ref name=Lunt/> : <big>{{Script|Cyrs|.}}</big>  Full stop, used in the same way<ref name=Lunt/> : <big>{{Script|Cyrs|։}}</big>  Armenian full stop (U+0589), resembling a colon, used in the same way<ref name=Lunt/> : <big>{{Script|Cyrs|჻}}</big>  Georgian paragraph separator (U+10FB), used to mark off larger divisions : <big>{{Script|Cyrs|⁖}}</big>  triangular colon (U+2056, added in Unicode 4.1), used to mark off larger divisions : <big>{{Script|Cyrs|⁘}}</big>  diamond colon (U+2058, added in Unicode 4.1), used to mark off larger divisions : <big>{{Script|Cyrs|⁙}}</big>  quintuple colon (U+2059, added in Unicode 4.1), used to mark off larger divisions : <big>{{Script|Cyrs|&semi;}}</big>  Greek question mark (U+037E), similar to a semicolon

Some of these marks are also used in Glagolitic script. Used only in modern texts

: <big>{{Script|Cyrs|,}}</big>  comma (U+002C) : <big>{{Script|Cyrs|.}}</big>  full stop (U+002E) : <big>{{Script|Cyrs|!}}</big>  exclamation mark (U+0021)

== Gallery ==

=== Old Bulgarian examples ===

<gallery caption="Pictures of Old Bulgarian manuscripts and inscriptions" widths="120px" heights="120px" perrow="4"> File:Codex_Suprasliensis.jpg| Codex Suprasliensis File:Ivan_ALexander_and_his_family_Tetraevangelia.jpg| Gospels of Tsar Ivan Alexander File:Bulgar_Translation_Of_Manasses_Chronicle.png| Bulgar translation of Manasses chronicle File:Tomb_stone_of_Mostich_Boyla.jpg| Mostich tomb stone </gallery>

=== Medieval Greek Uncial manuscripts from which early Cyrillic letter forms take their shapes ===

<gallery caption="Pictures of uncial lectionaries" widths="120px" heights="120px" perrow="4"> File:Codex_Colbertinus_700.jpg| '''ℓ''' ''1'' File:Lectionary_5_(GA)%2C_f.115r.jpg| '''ℓ''' ''5'' File:Codex_Harcleianus.PNG|'''ℓ''' ''150'' File:Lectionary 152 K051435.JPG|'''ℓ''' ''152'' File:Lectionary_179_(Gen_1).JPG|'''ℓ''' ''179'' Old Testament, Genesis File:Lectionary_183_folio_2.JPG|'''ℓ''' ''183'' folio 2 File:Lectionary_269_(Matth._8%2C32-9%2C1.9).JPG|'''ℓ''' ''269'' File:Lectionary 296 f.6v.JPG|'''ℓ''' ''296'' folio 6 verso </gallery>

=== Early Cyrillic manuscripts ===

<gallery caption="Pictures of Old Church Slavonic weekly gospels (aprakos)" widths="100px" heights="100px" perrow="7"> File:Ostromir_Gospel_4.jpg| Ostromir Gospels File:Scepkin1903Sava142ob.jpg| Sava's book File:Khitrovo_Gospels_05.jpg| Khitrovo Gospels File: Miroslav's_Gospel_001.jpg| Miroslav Gospel File: Archangel_Gospel_03.jpg| Arkhangelsk Gospel File: Pogod 18 list 19 ob mt18-15 18-20 mt4-23 4-24.jpg| File:Andronikovo_Gospel_158rev.jpg|Andronikov Gospels </gallery>

== References ==

== Sources == * Berdnikov, Alexander and Olga Lapko, {{cite web |url= http://www.uni-giessen.de/partosch/eurotex99/berdnikov2.pdf |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20030805163244/http://www.uni-giessen.de/partosch/eurotex99/berdnikov2.pdf |url-status= dead |archive-date= 2003-08-05 |title= Old Slavonic and Church Slavonic in TEX and Unicode }}, ''EuroTEX '99 Proceedings'', September 1999 * Birnbaum, David J., {{cite web |url= http://clover.slavic.pitt.edu/~repertorium/resources/unicode_sofia_1_post.pdf |title= ''Unicode for Slavic Medievalists'' |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20040803212724/http://clover.slavic.pitt.edu/~repertorium/resources/unicode_sofia_1_post.pdf |archive-date= 2004-08-03 }}, September 28, 2002 * Cubberley, Paul (1996) "The Slavic Alphabets". In Daniels and Bright, below. * Daniels, Peter T., and William Bright, eds. (1996). ''The World's Writing Systems.'' Oxford University Press. {{ISBN|0-19-507993-0}}. * Everson, Michael and Ralph Cleminson, {{cite web |url= http://std.dkuug.dk/jtc1/sc2/wg2/docs/n2610r.pdf |title= "Final proposal for encoding the Glagolitic script in the UCS", Expert Contribution to the ISO N2610R |access-date= February 3, 2005 |archive-date= June 15, 2006 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20060615235031/http://std.dkuug.dk/jtc1/sc2/wg2/docs/n2610r.pdf |url-status= dead }}, September 4, 2003 * Franklin, Simon. 2002. ''Writing, Society and Culture in Early Rus, c. 950–1300.'' Cambridge University Press. {{ISBN|0-511-03025-8}}. * Iliev, I. Short History of the Cyrillic Alphabet. Plovdiv. 2012/Иван Г. Илиев. Кратка история на кирилската азбука. Пловдив. 2012. [http://ivanilievlogosmaster.blogspot.com/2012/07/scriptura-mundi-cyrillic-alphabet.html Short History of the Cyrillic Alphabet] * Lev, V., "The history of the Ukrainian script (paleography)", in ''Ukraine: a concise encyclopædia, volume 1''. University of Toronto Press, 1963, 1970, 1982. {{ISBN|0-8020-3105-6}} * Simovyc, V., and J. B. Rudnyckyj, "The history of Ukrainian orthography", in ''Ukraine: a concise encyclopædia, volume 1'' (''op cit''). * Zamora, J., ''[http://justin.zamora.com/slavonic/alphabet/letter-names.html Help me learn Church Slavonic]'' * [http://www.synaxis.info/azbuka/ Azbuka] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080514234314/http://www.synaxis.info/azbuka/ |date=May 14, 2008 }}, Church Slavonic calligraphy and typography. * [http://www.obshtezhitie.net/ Obshtezhitie.net], Cyrillic and Glagolitic manuscripts and early printed books.

==External links== * [https://web.archive.org/web/20140222042759/http://andregarzia.on-rev.com/richmond/LANGTOOLS.html Old Cyrillic [Стара Славянска Език] text entry application] * [http://ponomar.net/cu_support.html Slavonic Computing Initiative] * [https://www.ctan.org/pkg/churchslavonic churchslavonic – Typesetting documents in Church Slavonic language using Unicode] * [https://www.ctan.org/pkg/fonts-churchslavonic fonts-churchslavonic – Fonts for typesetting in Church Slavonic language] * [https://www.unicode.org/notes/tn41/tn41-1.pdf Church Slavonic Typography in Unicode] (Unicode Technical Note no. 41), 2015-11-04, accessed 2023-01-04.

Category:Cyrillic alphabets Category:Eastern Orthodox Christian culture Category:Golden Age of Bulgaria Category:History of writing Category:Medieval scripts Category:Preslav Literary School Category:Western calligraphy Category:9th-century establishments in Europe