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THESAURUS DESCRIPTION OF CHURCH SLAVIC VOCABULARY: MATERIALS FOR THE DICTIONARY
Church Slavonic language - DEAD OR ALIVE?
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Church Slavonic language. PRONOUN. THEORETICAL OUTLINE. EXERCISES
AN ESSAY OF THE CHURCH SLAVIC SPELLING. ARTICLE 3. PECULIARITIES OF CHURCH SLAVIC SPELLING
WHO BY READINGS AND WHO BY WAREHOUSES
"CHURCH SLAVIC LANGUAGE IS THE EXPRESSION OF THE FEELINGS OF THE CHRISTIAN SOUL"
SPELLING OF THE CHURCH SLAVIC LANGUAGE THEORETICAL ESSAY. EXERCISES
CONFERENCE "MODERN ORTHODOX HYMNOGRAPHY"
AN ESSAY OF THE CHURCH SLAVIC SPELLING. ARTICLE 2. DIACCRITICS
AN ESSAY OF THE CHURCH SLAVIC SPELLING. ARTICLE 1. DOUBLE LETTERS
ZHI, SHI WITH THE LETTER ... ERY Learn Church Slavonic
HOW PISAKH, PISAKH Learn Church Slavonic
ON THE 10TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE SRETHENSKY THEORY SCHOOL SPEECH DEVELOPMENT: A COLLECTION OF TEXTS
ON THE 10TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE SRETHENSKY SPIRITUAL SCHOOL TEACHING THE SERVICE LANGUAGE
ATHO AND ATHOS. FROM THE NOTES OF A LINGUIST
IT IS NECESSARY TO MAKE MAXIMUM EFFORT TO KNOW THE SERVICE LANGUAGE
BROTHERLY LANGUAGE
Even pisah, pisah
Learn Church Slavonic
Main projects for the popularization of the Church Slavonic language
To the history of book references
(in connection with the draft documents of the Inter-Council Presence on the liturgical language)
Larisa Marsheva: "A shepherd must be contemporary with Christ"
Church Slavonic. Pronoun.
Who according to rumors, and who according to warehouses
Review of I.V. Bugaeva and T.A. Levshenko Church Slavonic language. Educational grammar tables»
"Church Slavonic is an expression of the feelings of the Christian soul"
Conversation with Professor L.I. Marching
Orthography of the Church Slavonic language
Theoretical essay. Exercises
Conference "Modern Orthodox hymnography"
On some features of the language of the writings of Grigory Tsamblak
It is necessary to make every effort to learn the liturgical language
Fraternal language
Liturgical countdown of the Church Slavonic language
Ways of semantization of Church Slavonic vocabulary as a methodological problem
On the eve of the Day of Slavic Literature and Culture, which in recent years has acquired not only church-wide, but also state significance, Candidate of Philological Sciences, Associate Professor, Head of the Department of Theory and History of Language L.I. Marsheva gave an interview to Channel One correspondents. It was devoted to the history and prospects of the Church Slavonic language and its significance for the development of the modern Russian language.
Church Slavonic is one of the few languages in the world that has the status of a sacred language (there are currently about 10 such linguistic systems).
From a genetic point of view, this language is a direct descendant of the Old Church Slavonic language. The latter was created in the middle of the 9th century by the holy brothers Cyril and Methodius and was originally intended for the translation of Greek liturgical books. That is, the liturgical function was incorporated in it primordially and intentionally.
The Old Church Slavonic language spread very quickly in different Slavic territories, and at the end of the 10th century, together with Baptism, it came to Russia, where, as a result of adaptation, it developed into the Church Slavonic language.
In other words, the liturgical language used in modern liturgical practice has more than ten centuries of uninterrupted history, which goes back to the missionary and educational activities of the Slavic First Teachers.
Moreover, the Russian language, which also originated at the end of the 10th century, has always developed in a consistent good neighborhood of two elements: oral-colloquial and book-written, which is represented mainly by Church Slavonic samples.
This circumstance, of course, left an imprint on the general character of the Russian language, into which Old Church Slavonicisms and Church Slavonicisms organically fit in, enriching it. An ordinary participant in communication does not even feel their otherness: being, exclaim, head, exile, dust, beautiful, walking ... Meanwhile, according to scientific and linguistic classifications, they are borrowings.
The Church Slavonic language, performing a liturgical function, is characterized by stylistic homogeneity, since it is focused only on naming "high" matters. At the same time, taken as an autonomous system, it is absolutely neutral, not colored - tuned to one emotional and expressive register.
This circumstance sharply distinguishes the Church Slavonic language from Russian, which is divided into several functional styles, ranging in content and structure. We are talking, first of all, about the demarcation into book and conversational subsystems. Elements of the latter are simply unthinkable in Church Slavonic texts.
It would, of course, be a mistake to say that the liturgical language does not contain everyday, profane vocabulary at all.
It exists, but theological terminology still dominates, sacral words in the broadest sense, for the sake of which, in fact, the first book-written, common Slavonic literary language was invented, which historically developed into four editions, including Russian - Church Slavonic.
Another hasty conclusion can be drawn: such a conceptual and subject limitation affects the small volume of the vocabulary fund.
However, this thesis can be easily debunked: even the main lexical inventory of the liturgical language has one million units - no less than in Russian.
The following objection is also quite expected: “But after all, many units are not used at all in modern practice or have fundamentally changed their meanings: alector, gobzovanie - residence, sometimes.”
This is true. But who among the native speakers of the Russian language can say with confidence that he knows all his words? The lexical minimum turns (if it turns) into a maximum very gradually and with great difficulty. So where is the hurry to master the Church Slavonic language.
From the previous reasoning, it seems to be that the Church Slavonic language is a kind of stable monolith, boringly monotonous and absolutely unpromising. And this is also a false impression.
The Old Church Slavonic language, and then its East Slavic version, existed as literary languages, which endowed them with some typological characteristics.
Until the beginning of the 18th century, Church Slavonic was a multifunctional system. Thus, ancient Russian fiction, official and business monuments, scientific and theological works are mostly written on it.
Book-written language served 167 genres: sacred, memorial, hagiographic…
The Church Slavonic language has the property of normalization, that is, it contains samples of writing, reading, grammar, and vocabulary. Moreover, they are flexible - in more or less strict versions.
Finally, like any other literary form, the liturgical language is codified - its prestigious models are fixed in authoritative sources.
And here, again, specificity is evident: the first and most important mechanism is the so-called exemplary texts - sets of biblical books: to write this or that word correctly meant to write it as it is written in the Bible. Since the 16th century, grammars, dictionaries, etc. have supplemented them.
Of course, all of the above features - functional and genre stratification, the presence of normalization and codification - can, if necessary, either be "reanimated" or adapted to modern conditions.
The liturgical language is a dynamically developing system, which clearly demonstrates the modern times, when akathists and services to the newly glorified saints are intensively written.
It should be emphasized that the genre potentiality of Church Slavonic is one of the fruitful forms of its development, which can have the most life-giving effect on the Russian language, saving the latter from destructive jargon and a catastrophic decline in speech culture.
Those who advocate the transition to the Russian language in worship speak of the intricacies of Church Slavonic syntax and morphology.
But any person who knows the basics of linguistic theory and has logical thinking can find a grammatical basis (subject and predicate) in a sentence, add other members to it, arrange them in the usual order for the modern ear and eye - and catch the semantic thread.
Many morphological phenomena also lose their frightening mystery if they are approached thoughtfully, in accordance with the information from the modern language, in which there are relic remains of the vocative form, the dual number, the aorist, and so on.
After all, it is not for nothing that it has been calculated: Russian and Church Slavonic languages have up to 80 percent of similar syntactic and morphological structures. If you know that grammar is one of the most systematized, abstract language tiers, you can appreciate how big the figure is.
And so, paradoxically, it is precisely the grammatical argument that breaks all the arguments of the supporters of worship in Russian.
It is well known that at present Church Slavonic is the official, "working" language of the Russian Orthodox Church. He is blessed by the highest spiritual hierarchy.
Of course, there is also a counterargument here: why use an incomprehensible Church Slavonic language when there is Russian - a nationwide, commonly used, universally binding for all citizens of the Russian Federation.
Again, we have to remind you: the oral-colloquial and book-written (Church Slavonic) varieties have always been in a relationship of additional distribution: what could be expressed in one code was not verbalized in another. And most importantly, there were no complications during communicative reorientation.
And that is why numerous alternative attempts to celebrate the Liturgy in Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian and other languages each time turned out to be a failure, and therefore are classified by church hierarchs as marginal.
We must honestly and humbly admit that the question of the obscurity of the Church Slavonic language lies not so much in the proper linguistic plane, but in the elementary ignorance of the majority of Orthodox believers.
Yes, it is really difficult to understand Church Slavonic texts. To solve this problem, it is possible to offer multifaceted options: the creation of special Church Slavonic-Russian dictionaries, translations (educational, exegetical, artistic, etc.), teaching aids that would take into account the specifics of different audiences (depending on age, education, liturgical experience, etc.). etc.).
In other words, measures are required for the large-scale popularization of the Church Slavonic language.
And here it is impossible not to mention an extremely important aspect. The language of the Russian Orthodox Church is included in the scientific typology in the category of classical. This is due to its actual and high socio-cultural value. This circumstance, in turn, entails the need to teach the liturgical language - in secondary and higher schools, so that there is a continuous transmission of its knowledge.
The peculiarity of the liturgical language, which is evidently explained from different positions - historical, functional, theological, scientific, and many others. etc. is too obvious. Since the inviolability of its liturgical status is also obvious.
Therefore, there can be no question of replacing it with Russian.
Therefore, every person who comes to the temple and sincerely believes that his prayer will reach the Lord must make every effort to learn the liturgical language.
Press service of PSTGU / Patriarchy.ru
Related materials
The first scientific Internet portal dedicated to the history and current state of the Church Slavonic language is presented
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APPROVE: colonel G.F. Falevich “___” ____________ 200__ Head of the department "Organization of the financial activities of the troops" WTF in BNTU colonel G.F. Falevich “___” ____________ 200__ Head of the department "Organization of the financial activities of the troops" WTF in BNTU colonel G.F. Falevich “___” ____________ 200__ Head of the department "Organization of the financial activities of the troops" WTF in BNTU colonel G.F. Falevich “___” ____________ 200__ Head of the department "Organization of the financial activities of the troops" WTF in BNTU colonel G.F. Falevich “___” ____________ 200__ Head of the department "Organization of the financial activities of the troops" WTF in BNTU colonel G.F. Falevich “___” ____________ 200__ Head of the department "Organization of the financial activities of the troops" WTF in BNTU colonel G.F. Falevich “___” ____________ 200__ |
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Educational and educational goals: |
1. Study with students the main provisions of the combat regulations that determine the movement of units and location on the spot. 2. To study the type of transportation, the principle of the formation of a military echelon, a column. 3. To instill in students a sense of responsibility and initiative in organizing the march and transportation. |
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Conduct method: |
Story, show. |
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Time: | |
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Place: |
Audience |
Introduction - 10 min.
Main part -70 min.
1. March - the conditions for the march and the marching capabilities of units. Walking order. The order of the march by units. The work of the commander of the unit for the preparation of the march and the action in the field guard.
2. Fundamentals of transportation. Military echelon, team, party
3. Local location. Organization of guard and direct protection.
Conclusion - 10 min.
EDUCATIONAL AND MATERIAL SUPPORT:
Audience.
Methodical development.
Working card.
Dictionary of special terms in the discipline.
EDUCATIONAL LITERATURE:
1. Textbook "Tactics" Military publishing house, 1985, book 1, art. 140-166.
2. Textbook "Training of reserve officers of the Ground Forces."
3. Combat regulations, part II, pp. 74 - 88, 117 - 145.
4. Combat regulations, part III, pp. 120-145, 162-184.
Introduction
All prominent commanders considered a successfully organized movement one of the decisive factors in achieving victory. In present-day conditions, when exceptional maneuverability, dynamism, and spatial scope are inherent in troop operations, the importance of movement requires additional forces of its troops, for a continuous build-up of conditions in decisive axes has increased even more.
If earlier movement was used outside the battlefield and was carried out during the preparation of the battle, now it has become an integral part of the battle. A platoon, company, battalion must always be ready to move in any situation. This requires careful preparation of weapons, equipment and personnel, high discipline and training of units.
1. March - the conditions for making a march and the marching capabilities of units. Walking order. The order of the march by units. The work of the commander of the unit for the preparation of the march and the action in the field guard.
March- this is the organized movement of units in columns along roads and column routes in order to reach a designated area or a specified line.
The march can be performed:
1. Outside the threat of a collision with the enemy. The march without the threat of a collision with the enemy is carried out, as a rule, at night or in other conditions of limited visibility, and during the battle and deep in the rear of friendly troops during the day. Basically, it is characterized by a large length.
2. March, in anticipation of entering the battle it is carried out in the case when subunits have to perform a combat mission directly from the march; fight, attack or defend. It, as a rule, is carried out in the area of combat operations, when moving from points of permanent deployment or the area of concentration to the state border, when moving out of the second echelon or reserve for entry into battle, as well as on the last daily transition when making a march over a long distance.
In all cases, the march will be carried out under the constant threat of the use of weapons of mass destruction by the enemy and the impact of his aircraft. Even at a considerable distance from the line of contact, the enemy can detect marching columns and deliver an effective strike with precision weapons. This requires constant reconnaissance of the enemy, dispersal and camouflage of units, reliable air defense, and effective counteraction to enemy reconnaissance equipment.
Column(military) - a system in which the military personnel are located in the back of the head to each other, and the units are one after the other. Used for movement (march).
Road(military) - ground communications, prepared for the movement of troops (units) and the rear on their own, the supply of materiel and evacuation by road.
Column way a route selected off-road and equipped for troop movement.
Movement of units- this is their organized movement in any way from one area to another or to a specified line by a conventional time in full readiness to perform a combat mission.
The march is applied:
When moving units (subdivisions) from the depths to the border areas.
During the regrouping of the main forces. Units and subunits march on full-time combat and transport vehicles, and motorized rifle subunits, if necessary, on foot (on skis).
To perform a combat mission by attacking the enemy.
For staffing, formation of troops that have lost their combat capability, various work and recreation.
March Requirements:
Maintain a high level of combat readiness at all times.
2. The ability to immediately conduct unforeseen military operations.
The ability to covertly march.
The ability to march in conditions of limited visibility.
Timeliness of arrival in the specified area or at the specified boundary.
Under marching capabilities It is customary for subdivisions to understand its ability to move under its own power, from one area to another on time while maintaining combat readiness.
Marching capabilities are:
the average speed of movement of columns of units;
the value of the daily transition.
The main factors affecting marching capabilities are:
Combat and operational qualities of armored and automotive equipment in service with units;
the degree of influence of the enemy;
the level of training of mechanics-drivers and drivers;
the composition of the columns; „
state of traffic routes;
Weather, time of day, as well as the organization of comprehensive support for the march.
Average moving speed is the most important indicator in the production of calculations for the march. It is determined by the ratio of the distance of the daily transition to the total time of movement (excluding the time for halts) and depends on the tasks, marching training of units, the technical condition of vehicles, quantity and terrain, in the mountains, along columns, in conditions of heavy dust, in heat, snowfall.
Thus, average speed- this is the actual speed of the unit on the march without taking into account the time for halts.
The value of the daily transition is determined by the average speeds of transport and combat vehicles, the physical capabilities of the drivers. With an average speed of 25-30 km/h, taking into account the normal duration of the drivers' work, the daily crossing can be several hundred kilometers.
The power reserve depends mainly on the capacity of the fuel tanks of the vehicles, the efficiency of the engines, the state of the routes and traffic conditions. Therefore, during each daily transition, the equipment must be refueled once. Thus, diurnal transition value- this is the distance along the route of movement from the starting point to the most remote point of the area (border) of destination.
Units march in marching order. marching order- this is the construction of units for movement in columns. It is built in such a way as to ensure high speed of movement, rapid deployment of units (subunits) and their entry into battle, saving the strength of personnel and preserving vehicles, and stable control. These requirements for marching order are not equally important in any situation, depending on the specific conditions, one or the other requirement comes to the fore.
For the timely start of the march and the regulation of the speed of movement, as well as in order to maintain a high level of management, discipline and organization appoint are:
Movement route.
Starting point (border).
Point of regulation and time of their passage.
Places and time of halts, day (night) rest.
Movement of units can be done in various ways:
march (on its own);
transportation by various modes of transport: on heavy road trains (trailers), by rail, by river transport, by air;
in a combined way.
The march on combat vehicles takes place in a column with distances between vehicles of 25-50 m.
When driving on dusty roads, in conditions of limited visibility, in icy conditions, on roads with steep ascents, descents and turns, as well as when driving at high speed, the distances between cars increase. When moving in open areas under the threat of the use of high-precision and incendiary weapons by the enemy, air raids, the distances between combat vehicles increase and can be 100-150 m. The method of movement is used depending on the target and distance; time allotted for movement; the state of communications, the availability and capabilities of vehicles; the nature of the tactical and transport situation.
The average speed of mixed and tank columns is 25-30 km/h; automobile - 30-40 km/h and more. The average walking speed is 4-5 km/h;
skiing 5-7 km/h.
The experience of the exercises shows that it will take 15-20 minutes to refuel a battalion. at a pre-deployed gas station.
Driving route- a pre-planned route for the unit to pass through certain points in the area.
Starting point (border) appointed for the timely start of the march, ensuring the ability to quickly take their place in the march order, preventing delays and mixing units.
The time of passage of the starting point (line) by the head of the column of the main forces is considered the beginning of the march. The starting point is assigned at a distance that ensures the extension and set speed of the column on the march, and depending on the depth of the column and terrain conditions, it can be at a distance 5-10 km from the front boundary of the location. Each subsequent unit passes the starting point (line) with the head of the column at exactly the appointed time.
Distances between cars are assigned depending on the speed of movement, visibility conditions and are usually 25-50 m.
Point (line) of regulation are assigned to ensure the planned and organized march of subunits and make it possible to regulate the speed of movement of the columns and thus achieve their timely arrival in the designated area (at the indicated line). Their number and distance may be different and depend on the total duration of the march, the nature of the terrain, the state of the road network and the weather. Points (boundaries) of regulation are usually appointed after 3-4 hours of movement. As a starting point (frontier), they are assigned according to well-marked local subjects. Points (frontiers) of regulation of division pass in strictly established time for each of them.
Places and times of halts. The march requires great physical and moral stress of the personnel, as well as high readiness of combat and transport vehicles. Without constant concern for the preservation of the strength of personnel and equipment, it is difficult to count on the success of the march, on the high combat effectiveness of the subunits and their timely arrival in the assigned area or at the deployment line.
* For the rest of the personnel, checking the condition of weapons and equipment and their maintenance during the march, every 3-4 hours of movement, halts are assigned for up to 1 hour and one halt for up to 2 hours in the second half of the daily transition. Combat and transport vehicles stop at the right roadsides no closer than 10 m from one another or at a distance set by the commander.
At the end of each daily transition, a day (night) rest is assigned. The areas of halts, day (night) rest, as well as daily rest are determined by the senior commander.
They are selected in such a way as to be in the air defense cover zone of the senior commander. The terrain should provide for a dispersed location of units, their camouflage from air and ground enemies, protection from weapons of mass destruction, rapid advancement from the area to continue the march, and also have a sufficient number of water sources. Rest areas are explored in advance in engineering, chemical, radiation and epidemic terms.
On halts, the formation of the battalion columns is not disturbed. All units stop at the same time, the distances between them are maintained. The technical condition of military and transport vehicles is checked, the identified shortcomings are eliminated. Vehicles can be refueled, partial sanitation of personnel, partial degassing, decontamination or disinfection of weapons and equipment can be carried out. The personnel disembark from the vehicles and settle down to rest to the right of the road. Signal observers, duty crews of anti-aircraft weapons and radio operators of unit commanders remain in the vehicles.
When stopping for a rest or upon arriving in a designated area, units immediately clear the carriageway so as not to impede the movement of other units. The units quickly disperse along the front and in depth, organize camouflage.
When making a march at night, special attention is paid to the strict observance of blackout.
The order of work of the unit commander in organizing and preparing the unit for the march.
He must:
understand the problem;
check the knowledge of the personnel of the received task, warning signals, control, interaction, the order of actions on them;
appoint an observer for the signals given by the senior commander, as well as determine sectors for observation during the march by the rest of the personnel;
if necessary, under the guidance of a senior commander, draw up sketches of the route;
organize the preparation of the unit for the task;
check the readiness of equipment and personnel for the march;
Report to the senior commander about the readiness for the march.
Travel guard. Security in a battalion (company) is one of the main types of combat support; it is organized and conducted in any situation. Depending on the nature of the tasks to be solved, the security is divided into: marching - when making a march; combat - in battle; watchdog - when located on the spot.
In addition, direct security is organized in all cases. The main tasks of security in a battalion (company) should be considered:
Prohibition of penetration of enemy reconnaissance to the columns and to the location of protected units.
The exclusion of a surprise attack by a ground enemy on the main forces.
Providing units with favorable conditions for deployment and organized entry into battle.
To solve these problems, specially designated units are allocated. Their composition and reinforcement depend on the task, the removal of the enemy, the time required for the deployment and organized entry into battle of the main forces from which they are detached, as well as on the conditions of the terrain and observation.
field guard organized depending on the position of the enemy in relation to the direction of movement of the main forces.
When moving to the front, units are protected by: vanguards or head outposts - from the front, side outposts - from the flanks, rear outposts - from the rear.
When moving from the front to the rear, they are guarded:
rear guards or rear outposts - from the rear side marching outposts - from the flanks, head marching outposts - ahead along the route of movement.
During a flank march (march along the front), units are protected by:
side marching outposts - from the flank towards the enemy;
avant-gardes or head marching outposts ahead along the route of movement;
rearguard or rear outposts from the rear.
The distance of marching outposts from protected subunits should be such that, in the event of a collision with the enemy, the main forces are provided with time and favorable conditions for deployment and an organized entry into battle.
In the absence of parallel paths of movement, the functions of mobile combat outposts can be performed by fixed side outposts with a force up to a reinforced company (platoon). They are sent to dangerous directions, occupy advantageous lines and hold them for the duration of the passage of guarded columns.
To protect units on the march, in addition to the GPZ, if necessary, they are sent to the flanks - side marching outposts (BPZ) as part of a reinforced platoon at a distance of 3-5 km, as well as to the rear - rear patrol (TD) or rear marching outpost (TPZ) at 3-5 km away.
For direct protection from the vanguard or forward detachment, patrol squads (tanks) can be sent to the flanks and rear if necessary. The head marching outpost with a force up to a platoon and the head patrol send a patrol squad (tank) to a distance, providing observation of it and supporting it with fire.
Depending on the nature of the terrain along the route, head patrols or patrol squads can be sent from battalions that are marching as part of the main forces in anticipation of meeting with the enemy, and a rear patrol or patrol squad can also be sent from the trailing battalion.
Their removal should ensure observation of them, support them with fire, and exclude the surprise of an attack by a ground enemy on a guarded column.
The marching and direct security units of the battalion must ensure the unimpeded movement of the main forces on the march, exclude the surprise of an enemy attack, provide favorable conditions for deployment and entry into battle, and prevent penetration to the protected enemy ground reconnaissance units. The security units on the march are also assigned the task of conducting reconnaissance.
At night, this distance can be up to 400 m, during the day it increases to 1.5 km.
- Larisa Ivanovna, how long have you been teaching Church Slavonic?
I have been teaching Church Slavonic at the Sretensky Theological Seminary for nine years. Teaching this discipline is easy and interesting for me. Firstly, because I was instilled with an interest in the history of the language from my student days. Old Church Slavonic and the historical grammar of the Russian language were my favorite subjects, and I always wondered why it was so difficult for some of my fellow students to restore protoforms and build etymological chains. Secondly, I love my teaching job. Despite all its difficulties, it brings joy, which is even more multiplied when students show a lively, indifferent interest in the subject. And thirdly, and most importantly, I never cease to admire the beauty of Orthodox hymnography, its semantic bottomlessness. And in order to feel and comprehend it, you need to know the Church Slavonic language.
- How much study time is devoted to the study of the Church Slavonic language?
In the Sretensky Seminary, as in most theological schools, the Church Slavonic language is studied for two years (in the first and second years) - four hours a week. For the initial development of the language, this is quite enough. During the first year, introductory topics, a spelling block, as well as all significant parts of speech, with the exception of the participle, are studied. The urgent task here is to form in students a conscious attitude towards the Church Slavonic language. Students must move from the primary level, at which they - still outside the walls of the seminary - learned to read Church Slavonic texts and understand them in general terms, to a qualitatively different level. On it, they need to responsibly comprehend that without a systematic study of the Church Slavonic language - the language of the Russian Orthodox Church - their further ministry is unthinkable. A clergyman cannot understand troparia, kontakia, stichera, etc. approximately. To prevent this from happening, you need to know what an aorist, an imperfect, what four declensions of nouns are made up of, and much more. This theoretical information, without which the Church Slavonic text would be incomprehensible, should not be ignored. I have already said and written more than once that any Orthodox hymn, as the starting and ending point of communion with God, must not only be felt and experienced, but also consistently comprehended. There is no benefit from memorized text, the words of which are not perceived as words, because sometimes a person cannot even distinguish them from each other, but are a set of sounds. Such fetishism, of course, nullifies all Church Slavonic sacredness and testifies to a blasphemous attitude towards godly words. One should think about the fact that the thought of God is secretly present in them: deep, pure, and most importantly, crystal clear. In order to touch this life-giving source, one must diligently study the Church Slavonic language.
Continuing the conversation about the content of the discipline I teach, I will say that in the first year a lot of time is devoted to the formation of students' spelling skills. In this regard, an extremely serious problem immediately arises, connected with the need to restore gaps in the linguistic knowledge of first-year seminarians. Naturally, it takes some time to fill these gaps. However, the systematization of basic theoretical information and the skills of language analysis encourages yesterday's schoolchildren to take a different look at familiar facts, and makes the teacher look for new methodological ways. Ultimately, this clearly demonstrates the creative potential in teaching the Church Slavonic language, which, in turn, has a wonderful didactic effect.
We begin the second course with a detailed analysis of the participles, and then we study the syntax in sufficient detail in its indispensable pairing with the service parts of speech. And only after that we move on to a comprehensive analysis of integral Church Slavonic texts.
- What texts do you parse with your students?
Much here depends on the level of preparation of students, their wishes and the individual specifics of the church year. Traditionally, we consider the Six Psalms, which is read at Matins. It is fraught with many linguistic mysteries and reveals, despite the huge number of interpretations, semantic stereotypes. The canon of Holy Pentecost literally stuns with its multi-layered, purely dogmatic orientation. We also analyze the troparia and kontakia of other twelfth feasts.
- Is it possible to organize the subordination of the sections of the course?
The issue of subordination of sections is an important and difficult one. In modern conditions, it is necessary to pay great attention to topics that reveal the history of the Church Slavonic language. It is fundamentally important to build a correct picture, to show the vectors of development, to outline linguistic relationships. Students must clearly distinguish between Old Church Slavonic, Church Slavonic and Old Russian languages, know their common source and patterns of its genesis. Thus, the most important question arises about the Church Slavonic-Russian correlation, a thoughtful study of which forces one to admit that for seminarians, Church Slavonic becomes a kind of introduction to the Slavic languages - modern and ancient. Turning to spelling and grammatical topics, it is necessary to constantly emphasize that each of them gives an extremely large amount precisely for the semantic interpretation of liturgical texts. For example, you need to distinguish between homoforms of the singular and plural, dual numbers, to see the difference in nouns Word and word, focus on the adjective forms of the plural of the neuter gender, on the pronoun ilk, navigate the semantic and structural nuances of the past tense of verbs, be able to distinguish them from participles, etc. And without a detailed consideration of the specific Church Slavonic syntax, which can be considered a tracing paper from ancient Greek, it is impossible to fully understand a single prayer book. So the Church Slavonic language is a coherent system, where all elements are interconnected, and the levels are isomorphic. I am convinced that a clear understanding of the latter can contribute to a better assimilation of disciplines not only from the linguistic block, but also from other cycles.
Which of the thematic areas of the Church Slavonic language present the greatest difficulties for students, on the one hand, and the greatest interest, on the other?
Difficulties, however, quite objective and easily overcome, are caused by Church Slavonic orthography, which, in addition to lowercase characters, has a branched arsenal of diacritics and requires graphic differentiation of equally sounding forms, which is almost absent in Russian spelling. Without a doubt, the construction of the Church Slavonic text also creates problems: an exceptionally free word order, an overwhelming absence of a subject, an orientation towards rhyme-rhythmic agreement - all this is so unlike the modern structure. To help students, I have written a short memo on the translation of liturgical texts (I note that the term "translation" as applied to the Church Slavonic-Russian situation is not entirely correct for a number of intra-linguistic and extra-linguistic reasons, but is convenient for practical purposes). Seminarians who have mastered the basic principles of translation, as well as theoretical material, can easily cope with even the most difficult cases. I cannot but say that the Church Slavonic text, in addition to structural multi-layeredness, has a unique semantic multi-levelness. It consists of the actual text, hypertext and even extratext. Hymnographic narration allows believers to simultaneously visit different times and places and realize the non-randomness of their roll call. This is especially clearly demonstrated by the irmos and troparia of the canons, in which the events of the Old and New Testaments are conjugated. In order to understand this hypertextuality, one must have historical and theological knowledge, the role of which increases many times over when it comes to non-textual information. It can be connected with liturgy, dogmatic theology, church art, etc. (An example of this is the akathist of the Most Holy Theotokos). Without this, an adequate understanding of the Church Slavonic text is impossible - and I constantly fix the attention of students on these problems.
For non-philologists, the vocabulary of the Church Slavonic language is of great interest. Students ask a lot of questions about the etymology of words, often offering their own solutions - intuitively correct. I remember how we argued heatedly about words rich, strange, teaching, embarrassment, confusion ... In general, I believe that the enthusiasm of a wide audience for etymological digressions, which could be systematized in books for special purposes, is an effective mechanism for popularizing the Church Slavonic language.
- Do seminarians have the possibility of extracurricular classes in Church Slavonic?
I am very pleased that every year there are those who wish to study the Church Slavonic language in more depth. In such classes, seminarians repeat and expand theoretical information, subject liturgical texts to a comprehensive analysis, comparing them with the Greek original source and comparing various translations into Russian. So, in the last academic year, in optional classes, third-year students did a lot of work on comparative transcriptions of the Great Canon of St. Andrew of Crete. In the course of such studies, many curious, unexpected details are revealed ...
A hymnographic circle, which you lead, has been functioning at the Sretensky Theological Seminary for several years.
Yes, and its existence is clear evidence that the interest in the liturgical language on the part of students and graduates of theological school, who selflessly love worship and strive to understand its compositional and substantive subtleties, does not dry out. It pleases me endlessly! We are engaged in proofreading, editing, transliteration of Church Slavonic texts. We also had attempts - quite successful - to write individual stichera, troparia. All this makes it possible to feel the pulsating dynamism of the living Church Slavonic language.
- What, in your opinion, is the specificity of teaching the liturgical language?
First of all, I will say that I am a supporter of a consistently thematic way of teaching Church Slavonic. This is how, gradually, systematically presenting phonetics, spelling, all parts of speech, etc., they teach their native language. This method is adjacent to the lesson principle, which is focused on the portioned presentation of information from different sections in order to quickly learn to read and understand texts. Thus learn foreign languages - modern and ancient. Both techniques are used in teaching practice, and both give good results. Taking the thematic method as a fundamental basis, I am, of course, aware that at present the status of the Church Slavonic language is extremely specific. First of all, it is studied when pushing away from the Russian language, although the historical vector is reversed. In addition, teachers try to learn something useful from the methods of Western European languages, forgetting that there is a lot of experience in teaching new Slavic languages. I encountered this problem at a time when the staff of the Department of Theory and History of Language of the Orthodox St. Tikhon Humanitarian University, which I lead, were preparing programs for a special group that, along with Russian philology, is also studying the Serbian language. It was important for us to find a place for each subject, including the Church Slavonic language, in the new curriculum. And when the Slavonic disciplines became an objective starting point for us, we saw new - extremely vital - vectors of methodical interpretation of the liturgical language of the Russian Orthodox Church.
- And what was the situation with teaching the Church Slavonic language before 1917?
At that time there was no complete, independent course of the modern Church Slavonic language. In educational institutions of the primary level (elementary schools, parochial schools), the subject was studied within the framework of the Law of God. Students were taught reading and general comprehension skills. For these narrowly practical purposes, first the primer was used, then usually the Gospel and Book of Hours, then the Gospel and the Psalter. Church Slavonic was mastered separately from Russian, which was introduced later. At the same time, the information from them was comprehended, as now, in the opposite perspective. However, the then Methodists did not forbid the correct historical direction. In secondary and senior educational institutions (gymnasiums, real schools, teachers' institutes) the liturgical language was taught in connection with Russian grammar. Only those who read Russian fluently were taken to the preparatory class of the gymnasium. Having fulfilled this condition, they could proceed to Church Slavonic reading. Gymnasium students studied the grammar of the Old Church Slavonic (Old Church Slavonic) language, and for analysis they were offered texts from the Ostromir Gospel, which mainly contains examples of the literary language of Ancient Russia. The desired result was not understanding, but awareness of structural phenomena. It is worth saying that only the texts of the Holy Scriptures were analyzed, the liturgical hymnography was not considered at all. As a result, it turned out that the peasants and philistines often did not know Russian at all, they did not know how to read the civil script, but they knew the service quite well. On the contrary, the Church Slavonic language was derived from the educational circle of the nobility. Therefore, many of them, gradually but inevitably breaking away from the Orthodox tradition, preferred to read the Bible in French and advocated for its Russian translation. As for the seminaries, it was assumed that their pupils learned choir reading at home, and the theological school was supposed to provide the minimum information that would allow them to understand and interpret church hymnography. By the way, already in the 20th century, the seminar program included a separate compulsory subject “Church reading”, which, in my opinion, it would be useful to return to the curricula. In conclusion, I note that pre-revolutionary church and public figures express a unanimous opinion that the philological knowledge of a graduate of theological schools was unsatisfactory, which led to deplorable results in everyday liturgical practice. In Soviet and post-Soviet times, the situation with the teaching of the Church Slavonic language in seminaries is being improved - by the efforts of tireless ascetic teachers. Thus, Anatoly Vasilyevich Ushkov, Professor of the MDAiS, published a holistic course of the modern Church Slavonic language, for which he received a master's degree in theology. His highly skilled exposition contains many facts from ancient Greek grammar, which are presented in a very accessible way.
Could you also describe other textbooks on the Church Slavonic language that exist at the present time?
In recent decades, those who want to study Church Slavonic can, in general, find the most suitable textbook for themselves - both from the latest and from reprints. Each educational book is characterized by its indisputable merits. The textbook by Alexandra Andreevna Pletneva and Alexander Gennadyevich Kravetsky, which has already gone through four editions, is very popular. A lot of valuable information can be gleaned from the book of Archbishop Alipiy (Gamanovich) and the synopsis written on its basis. Its author, Hieromonk Andrei (Erastov), compiled a rather convenient working version, which is used in the Holy Trinity Seminary (USA). Recently, a textbook was published at PSTGU, which was written by Alexandra Georgievna Vorobyeva. In other words, there are many textbooks, but they, describing the synchronous section of the Church Slavonic language, almost do not form a historical view of it. Meanwhile, this point of view is now more relevant than ever. It is he who, as I have already said, will help to take a fresh look at the ways of popularizing the liturgical language and begin to correct the difficult situation with the Russian language.
- Please tell us about your methodological developments.
Over the years of my teaching, I hope I managed to develop my own course of the Church Slavonic language. It primarily includes a large amount of theoretical material, the presentation of which I am constantly reviewing. I would like to emphasize that one of my tasks is to ensure that non-philological students master the conceptual and terminological apparatus of modern linguistics, which, of course, correlates with other areas of scientific and theological knowledge. Unfortunately, some teachers do not pay due attention to this, believing that the course of the Church Slavonic language should be distinguished by simplicity, which, however, sometimes turns into unacceptable simplification. Moreover, I believe that the time for average textbooks in the Church Slavonic language, intended for the widest range of users, has passed. There is a need to publish a full-fledged course of the Church Slavonic language, the target audience of which would be exclusively students of higher schools, including theological ones. I am sure that modern teachers can write such a textbook.
Of course, the lecture material is unthinkable in isolation from the seminars. Here I have developed a whole system of practical tasks, home, independent and control work. I change them quite often.
In connection with the methodological support, one cannot but mention the following: teachers and students feel a shortage in the accompanying educational literature written at a high professional level (books of exercises, workbooks, etc.). complex analysis of the Six Psalms, as well as a collection of exercises on the spelling of the Church Slavonic language. This book, recently released by the publishing house of the Sretensky Monastery, summarizes tasks (very detailed) that allow you to practice and control the knowledge, skills and abilities associated with the spelling of doublet letters, diacritics and other spelling features of the liturgical language of the Russian Orthodox Church. If the collection of spelling exercises is intended for the initial stage, then the manual on the Six Psalms, developing students' skills in grammatical and historical-linguistic analysis of texts in Church Slavonic, suggests that they have already fully perceived the basic theoretical information, mastered the conceptual and terminological apparatus, and observations were also made on separate, particular phenomena within the boundaries of disparate sentences.
- Do students of secular universities learn Church Slavonic?
Only within special courses. The program of philological, historical and some other specialties, which are provided in secular higher educational institutions, provides for the disciplines "Old Slavonic Language", "Historical Grammar of the Russian Language", "Old Russian Language", "History of the Russian Literary Language". The emphasis in their study is on the structural features of the Old Slavonic and Old Russian languages, their origin and genesis (therefore, students are offered very detailed information about the Proto-Slavic language). Substantive aspects, as a rule, are withdrawn. Meanwhile, thorough teaching and assimilation of these courses forms in students the only correct view of the language - synchronous-diachronic. The phenomena of modernity are not considered in isolation, without roots - they are integrated into a moving continuum. A graduate endowed with such knowledge will pass it on to his students: schoolchildren and students. But, unfortunately, the historical component is emasculated from humanitarian education, which leads to very sad consequences, including for the language. Not having received the necessary information, some teachers, and even researchers, vaguely navigate the logic of language development and, regrettably, do not fully understand what the modern Church Slavonic language is. Possessing fragmentary knowledge from the courses of the Old Slavonic, Old Russian languages, they give out such a bizarrely timeless symbiosis for the Church Slavonic language, which turns out to be dimensionless, unsteady, non-systematic, and therefore inaccessible to understanding. That is why in the teaching of the Church Slavonic language it is necessary to get away from panchronism.
- What are the current problems of the Church Slavonic language: its functions, textual criticism, theory, methodology?
I am sure that the problems of language in all their diversity and diversity are always relevant. Simply due to the fact that, being almost constantly in a state of verbal communication, we do not notice these problems for a long time, we do not focus our attention on them. And when we discover them, we are surprised and quickly begin to make some efforts to resolve them - not always adequate. This was most evident in a very nervous discussion about four dictionaries and yogurt.
I see one of the main problems in relation to the Church Slavonic language in the loss of the culture of mastering it. Orthodox believers, forcibly torn off for many years from traditional roots, do not know the service very well, they do not fully understand what elements, including hymnographic ones, it is built from. It is quite obvious that this extremely dramatic problem lies not in the language, but in us, in our ecclesiastical lack of culture and worldly inertia. If we overcome it, if we begin to cultivate linguistic piety in ourselves, then the question of the ambiguity of liturgical texts will be removed - at least to some, the most painful degree. In parallel, the problem of the need for a new version of the Slavic translation arises. No one can deny its relevance, because, as has already happened more than once in the history of the Church Slavonic language, in its process editing is certainly carried out, which is always aimed at improving understanding (whether this task is solved is a question that cannot be answered unequivocally). But doubts arise whether we have a sufficient number of specialists who are able to take on the titanic work of translation and produce a worthy result? In addition, all of us, with God's help, must tirelessly improve the teaching of the Church Slavonic language. After all, a lot depends on quality education, as well as on the skillful popularization of hymnographic texts, their competent, accessible interpretations. Teachers and clergy should always remember that the Church Slavonic language is an expression of the feelings of the Christian soul, a soul that has been ennobled and enlightened by Orthodox teaching, revived and sanctified by Christian sacraments.
