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The language we speak and write today originated over a thousand years ago. Two preacher brothers from Greece, whose names are familiar to us from school, helped him to take shape – Cyril and Methodius. It is to them that we and other speakers of the languages of the Slavic group should be grateful for the way we speak and write.
Of course, , Ukrainian, Belarusian, Bulgarian and other Slavic languages developed individually, acquiring new rules and forms, and now they are very different from each other. However, if you listen carefully to the speech, peer into the letter, it is easy to notice the common roots of the language that all the Slavs of the world spoke hundreds of years ago.
The Day of Slavic Writing and Culture in 2023 will be widely celebrated in Our Country and other countries. Let’s talk about the history and meaning of this holiday.
When is the Day of Slavic Literature and Culture celebrated?
Every year, the Day of Slavic Literature and Culture is celebrated 24 May, in 2023 celebrations will be held in Our Country and other countries: Belarus, Ukraine, Bulgaria, etc.
history of the holiday
The celebration of the Day of Slavic Literature and Culture is directly related to the names of Saints Equal-to-the-Apostles Cyril and Methodius. May 24, according to the new style, is the day of memory of the creators of Slavic writing, this is the reason for choosing the date.
The roots of the Day of Slavic Literature and Culture go back to Bulgaria. Here this holiday is a state holiday and has been celebrated since the beginning of the XNUMXth century.
In Our Country, an analogue of the celebration was first held in 1863 – the year of the millennium of the creation of the Slavic alphabet by Cyril and Methodius. Then the Holy Synod decided to honor the memory of the holy brothers every year.
With the advent of Soviet power, the holiday was forgotten for many years – until 1985, the year of the 1100th anniversary of the repose of St. Methodius. At the same time, a modern wording appeared – the Day of Slavic Writing and Culture. A few years later – in 1991 – the holiday received the official status of the state. Every year, one of the cities of Our Country was chosen as the center of celebrations. This tradition ceased after 2010 – since this year, the main festive events have been held in Moscow.
Holiday traditions
The holiday is accompanied by various events: scientific conferences, concerts, festivals and fairs. In schools, lessons of native speech are held, at which children are introduced to the contribution of Cyril and Methodius to the language and culture of our country.
Immediately after the Day of Slavic Literature and Culture, on May 25, another important holiday for connoisseurs of the language is celebrated – Philologist’s Day.
A major literary event is timed to coincide with the Day of Slavic Literature and Culture – the presentation of the Patriarchal Prize named after Cyril and Methodius, established by the Holy Synod of the Orthodox Church. The laureates of the award are contemporary authors who have made a significant contribution to the development of literature.
Another important event organized annually in honor of the holiday is Cyril and Methodius Readings. This conference brings together specialists in the field of Slavic culture to exchange knowledge and discuss the problems of the modern language.
The figures
- 8 countries celebrate the Day of Slavic Literature and Culture: Our Country, Ukraine, Belarus, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Serbia, Czech Republic, Moldova. In some of them, the holiday falls on other dates.
- 13 languages (according to various estimates from 10 to 18) are included in the Slavic group.
- 400+ million people in the world they speak the languages of the Slavic group.
Interesting facts about Slavic languages
- The languages of the Slavic group have a thousand-year history, complex geography and many similarities and differences. We will tell you some interesting facts from the history of the Slavic languages.
- In modern science, the opinion prevails that the inventors of the Cyrillic alphabet were not Cyril and Methodius at all. They compiled an earlier alphabet – Glagolitic. And the Cyrillic alphabet was written by their students.
- Slavic languages are considered one of the most difficult languages in the world to learn. All because of the intricate grammar and word-formation features. Although the Old language was even more difficult than the modern one.
- In the modern languages of the Slavic group, the familiar Cyrillic alphabet, on which the language is built, is not predominant. The Cyrillic alphabet is used by residents of several countries: Our Country, Ukraine, North Macedonia, Belarus, Serbia, Bulgaria. Other Slavic languages will sound unfamiliar to the ear. And, for example, the Polish language, which has Slavic roots, will be more difficult for a Belarusian to learn than Macedonian – all because of belonging to different language groups.
- The Old Slavic alphabet consists of 29 letters, each of which has a name: Az, Buki, Vede, Verb, Dobro … There is a hypothesis: if you read the entire alphabet in order, endowing each letter with its original meaning, you can find an encrypted message. In modern language, it sounds something like this: “I Know God. I speak and do good. Good Is Life. Live by the Earth, she is our nurse. And as we people think, so is our world.
- Residents of border regions often use a mixture of languages in everyday speech: native and neighboring. These mixed languages have their own names:
+ Ukrainian = surzhik;
+ Norwegian = Russenorsk;
Ukrainian + Polish = balak;
Belarusian + = trasyanka.
- The Slavic languages also have their own “Esperanto” – one that is understood by residents of different countries approximately equally well. This is Slovak. Slovakia is geographically located in the center of Eastern Europe, and therefore its language is approximately equally close to Polish and Ukrainian, Czech and . In Slovakia, you will probably easily understand the announcements on the buses and the signs on the streets.
- In the Old Slavonic language there was no form of the present tense, but there were four forms of the past, and three of the future. This is justified quite logically: the future comes every second, what kind of present can we talk about at all. Echoes of this approach are preserved in modern . For example, the phrase “I will do it now,” although it has the word “now” binding us to the present, most often implies an indefinite period of time: “I will do it later.”
- Enantiosemy is not uncommon in Slavic languages - when words similar in pronunciation mean diametrically opposed things. For example:
uroda (Polish) — beauty;
zapominać (Polish) – to forget;
fresh (Češsk.) — страний;
úžasný (Czech) – magnificent.