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The history of russian writing

History of russian script - written languageThe history of slavic and consequently  russian writing forming  differs fundamentally from  the one of  latin language. Virtually it’s known very little about  the time and language forming conditions and thus scientists sayings are controversial .Many questions haven’t been answered even now.

1.Glagolitsa (10-11 c.)

Glagolitsa - written languageAlphabets that became a basis for slavic writing a called glagolitsa and kirillitsa. The history of their emerging is unknown totally. One can judge  upon the ancient form of glagolitsa only approximately as extanted monuments of glagolitsa are  no later than the end of the 10-th century. Looking through glagolitsa one understands that its forms are  very ingenious. Symbols as a rule  are composed of  two elements that are combined one above the other one.

Such like construction can be seen in  the  decoration of kirillitsa.It doesn’t virtually  include simple forms.They are connected with straights. Individual letters (ш, у, м, ч, э) correspond to the modern form. Resting upon the form of letters one can speak about two types of glagolitsa .The firs one  - Bulgarian glagolitsa – has roundish letters and croatian glagolitsa called as well illyrian or dalmatian  has  an angular forms of letters. Neither of the two types has strict boarder zones of spreading. Later glagolitsa borrowed many sounds from kirillitsa. Glagolitsa of west slavic peoples existed for not so long time and was replaced with latin writing.As for other slavonians writing similar to kirillitsa was taken for writing. But glagolitsa  didn’t extinct to the present time at all up. Up to the beginning of the World War Two  it was used or at least even now it’s is being used in croatian settlements  of Italy. The type was used even for newspapers.

 2. Kirillitsa –ustav (11century)

Kirillitsa ustav - written language - письменностьIts origin isn’t found out totally as well.The title appeared later than the alphabet.There are several theories about kirillitsa origin and their believability has different level.Kirill in connection with  his touring across slavic countries

in the middle o the 9-th century had definitely composed some new slavic alphabet.It`s not known whether  it was glagolitsa.It was necessary to translate religious texts into slavic language and to do that one should simplify ingeniously complicated  and difficult-to-write symbols of glagolitsa  and introduce  lacking  letters for sound denotations in slavic language.

 Many sources of that time  tell about it but mention only one slavic alphabet although there were already two of them. Kirillitsa alphabet has 43 letters.24 of them were borrowed from byzantium paternal  writing and the other 19 were invented anew but in the graphic decorations  were similar to the first ones. But not all borrowed letters  survived denotations of the same sound  that is in greek language – some got new denotations peculiar to  slavic phonetic features. Bulgarians survived kirillitsa to a greater extent of all other slavic peoples.But now their writing as the serbian one  is similar to russian writing except several symbols designed to denotate some specific phonetic   features. The ancient form of kirillitsa is called ustav. Ustav and glagolitsa   are types of writing peculiar to a copy-book one.It as well as glagolitsa has  its peculiar trait  - clearness and straightness  of tracings (writings).

Most letters are angular and has  graceless features. Exceptions are narrow roundish letters with round curves  - (О, С, Э, Р and  others) and among other letters they seem  suppressed. Lower elongations  of some letters (Р, У, 3)are peculiar to this type of writing. They appear to be a light decorative element in the whole context. As for diacritical symbols they are still  unknown. Letters of ustav have a large type and are set separately from each other. The old ustav has no intervals between words.

 3. Semi-ustav (14 c.)

Semi-ustav - written languageSemi-ustav  is the second type of writing developing from the 14-th century that later replaced ustav. This type is brighter and more roundish. It’s letters are more shallow : has many superscript marks and the whole system of punctuation marks. Letters are more flexible and wide in comparison with ustav writing and have lower and upper

elongations. The character of wide-tipped  brush  using that was  applied  in writing by ustav type  is noticeable much less .Semi-ustav was used with cursive and ligature in XIV-XVIII centuries along with other writing styles.

To use semi-ustav in writing was much simpler. Feudal atomism caused development of own ustav  styles and  ustav language   in remote districts. Genres of military novels and chronicles becoming the main parts and render events russian people passed through in that period. During Ivan the third ruling when land  integration and consolidation  around Moscow was finished and  the national russian state was created with new autocratic regime

Moscow became not only a national but also a cultural center in the 15-th century. So a district culture of Moscow was getting the nation character. Along with growing demand of everyday life the necessity of a  new and  more simplified   style for  more convenient  writing emerged.

4. Сursive writing (15-17 c.)

Cursive writing - written languageDuring Ivan the third ruling when land  integration and consolidation  around Moscow was finished and  the national russian state was created with new autocratic regime

Moscow became not only a national but also a cultural center in the 15-th century. So a district culture of Moscow was getting the nation character. Along with growing demand of everyday life the necessity of a  new and  more simplified   style for  more convenient  writing emerged. That was cursive writing. The term “cursive writing ” corresponds to the  term of the  latin  cursive one. In the initiatory stage of writing development ancient  greeks had writing in a widespread using and partly south-west  slavic peoples had it. Cursive writing as a separate type of writing emerged in the 15-th century in Russia. Its letters partly  bounded with each other differ from letters of writing types with its bright patterns. But as letters had different marks and signs and pigtails and additional symbols

it was difficult to read texts. Although cursive writing reflects semi-ustav  and there are  little lines that bound letters 
in comparison with semi-ustav this writing is more flexible and fluent in the 15-th century. Letters of cursive writing
were written with elongations.

Cursiva writing - written languageIn the beginning symbols were composed of elongations as it`s peculiar to ustav and semi-ustav. In the second half   of the 16-th and especially in the beginning of the 17-th century semi-roundish lines became  major lines writing .If one takes the whole context one can see some elements of greek cursive writing.

In the second half of the 17-th century when many different variants of writing spread cursive writing shows peculiar to the period traits  - more roundish elements and ligature. Roundish contour of letters became more decorative and smooth in the end of the century. Cursive writing of that time misses elements of greek cursive writing and distracts from semi-ustav forms. Later straights and cursives got a balance and letters became more symmetrical and roundish. That period ustav was transformed into a civil writing cursive writing does the same. As a result one can call it a  civil writing as well.

 

 
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