View source for Early Cyrillic alphabet

{{Short description|Writing system developed in 9th century Bulgaria}}
{{Main|Cyrillic alphabets|Cyrillic script}}
{{Further|List of Cyrillic letters|Old Church Slavonic}}
{{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 [[First Bulgarian Empire|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]]<br />[[Coptic alphabet]]<br />[[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 alphabet.svg
| imagesize   = 300px
| direction   = Varies
}}

{{South Slavic languages sidebar}}
{{Cyrillic alphabet navbox}}

The '''Early Cyrillic alphabet''', also called '''classical Cyrillic''' or '''paleo-Cyrillic''', is an [[Alphabet|alphabetic]] [[writing system]] that was developed in Medieval Bulgaria in the [[Preslav Literary School]] during the late 9th century. 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 language|Russian]]), and for [[East Europe]]an and [[Asia]]n languages that have experienced a great amount of Russian cultural influence.

== History ==
The earliest form of manuscript Cyrillic, known as ''[[Ustav (script)|ustav]]'', was based on [[Uncial script|Greek uncial script]], augmented by [[typographic ligature|ligatures]] and by letters from the [[Glagolitic alphabet]] for consonants 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 alphabet was created by the Byzantine monk [[Saints Cyril and Methodius|Saint Cyril]], possibly with the aid of his brother [[Saints Cyril and Methodius|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/><blockquote>''Unlike the Churchmen in Ohrid, Preslav scholars were much more dependent upon Greek models and quickly abandoned the [[Glagolitic script]]s in favor of an adaptation of the Greek uncial to the needs of Slavic, which is now known as the Cyrillic alphabet.''</blockquote>The earliest Cyrillic texts are found in northeastern Bulgaria, in the vicinity of Preslav—the Krepcha inscription, dating back to 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> 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 Glagolitic well into the 12th century, the School at Preslav was using Cyrillic in the early 900s.<ref>[http://www.promacedonia.org/en/sr/sr_app9.htm Steven Runciman, ''A history of the First Bulgarian Empire'', Appendix IX – The Cyrillic and Glagolitic alphabets, (G. Bell & Sons, London 1930)]</ref> The systematization of Cyrillic may have been undertaken at the [[Council of Preslav]] in 893, when the Old Church Slavonic 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>

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 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 [[Cyrillic numerals|numerals]] as well as phonetic signs; the values of the numerals were directly borrowed from [[Greek numerals|their Greek-letter analogues]].<ref name=Lunt/> Letters without Greek equivalents mostly had no numeral values, whereas one letter, [[Koppa (Cyrillic)|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]].

The form of the Russian alphabet underwent a change when Tsar [[Peter the Great]] introduced the [[Reforms of Russian orthography|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 [[Church 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]].
{{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 manuscript|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 sortable"
|- valign=bottom
! Image
! [[Unicode]]
! Name<br />([[Cyrillic script|Cyrillic]])
! Name<br />([[transliteration|translit.]])
! [[transliteration|Translit.]] international system<ref name="Lunt" /><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>
!Translit. ALA-LC<ref>{{Cite web|date=2011|title=Church Slavic (ALA-LC Romanization Tables)|url=https://www.loc.gov/catdir/cpso/romanization/churchsl.pdf|access-date=2020-11-18|website=The Library of Congress}}</ref>
! IPA
! Numeric value
! Origin
! Meaning of name
! Notes
|-
| style="background: white;" | [[File:Early-Cyrillic-letter-Azu.svg|40px]]
| [[A (Cyrillic)|А а]]
| {{Script|Cyrs|азъ}}
| azŏ
| a
|a
| {{IPA|[ɑː]}}
| 1
| Greek [[alpha]] Α
| me (spiritually)
|
|-
| style="background: white;" | [[File:Early Cyrillic letter Buky.svg|40px]]
| [[Be (Cyrillic)|Б б]]
| {{Script|Cyrs|боукꙑ}}
| buky
| b
|b
| {{IPA|[b]}}
|
| Greek [[beta]] in Thera form {{GrGl|Beta 10}}
| letters
|
|-
| style="background: white;" | [[File:Early-Cyrillic-letter-Vedi.svg|40px]]
| [[Ve (Cyrillic)|В в]]
| {{Script|Cyrs|вѣдѣ}}
| vědě
| v
|v
| {{IPA|[v]}}
| 2
| Greek [[Beta]] Β
| know
|
|-
| style="background: white;" | [[File:Early-Cyrillic-letter-Glagol.svg|40px]]
| [[Ge (Cyrillic)|Г г]]
| {{Script|Cyrs|глаголи}}
| glagoli
| g
|g
| {{IPA|[ɡ]}}<ref name=Lunt/>
| 3
| Greek [[Gamma]] Γ
| talk
|When marked with a palatalization mark, this letter is pronounced {{IPA|[ɟ]}}; this occurs only rarely, and only in borrowings.<ref name="Lunt" />
|-
| style="background: white;" | [[File:Early-Cyrillic-letter-Dobro.svg|40px]]
| [[De (Cyrillic)|Д д]]
| {{Script|Cyrs|добро}}
| dobro
| d
|d
| {{IPA|[d̪]}}
| 4
| Greek [[Delta (letter)|Delta]] Δ
| good
| When marked with a palatalization mark or followed by a palatalizing vowel ([[ю]], [[ѭ]], or [[ꙗ]], and sometimes [[ѣ]]), this letter is pronounced {{IPA|[dʲ]}}; some manuscripts do not mark palatalization, in which case it must be inferred from context.
|-
| style="background: white;" | [[File:Early-Cyrillic-letter-Est.svg|40px]]
| [[Ye (Cyrillic)|Є є]]
| {{Script|Cyrs|єсть}}
| jest’
| e
|e
| {{IPA|[ɛ̠]}}
| 5
| Greek [[Epsilon]] Ε
| is - exists, world
| Pronounced {{IPA|[jɛ]}} when not preceded by a consonant.
|-
| style="background: white;" | [[File:Early-Cyrillic-letter-Zhivete.svg|40px]]
| [[Zhe (Cyrillic)|Ж ж]]
| {{Script|Cyrs|живѣтє}}
| živěte
| ž
|zh
| {{IPA|[ʒ]}}
|
| Glagolitic ''Zhivete'' Ⰶ
| live
|
|-
| style="background: white;" | [[File:Early-Cyrillic-letter-Zelo.svg|40px]]
| [[Dze|Ѕ ѕ]]
| {{Script|Cyrs|ѕѣло}}
| dzělo
| d︠z︡
|ż
| {{IPA|[d̪z̪]}}
| 6
| Greek [[stigma (letter)|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''.&nbsp;— СПб. : Типографія Императорской Академіи наукъ, 1904.&nbsp;— Т. I, с. 14.&nbsp;— [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;" | [[File:Early-Cyrillic-letter-Zemlia.svg|60px]]
| [[Ze (Cyrillic)|З з]], Ꙁ ꙁ
| {{Script|Cyrs|зємлꙗ}}
| zemlja
| z
|z
| {{IPA|[z̪] ~ [z]}}
| 7
| Greek [[Zeta]] Ζ
| earth
| The first form developed into the second.
|-
| style="background: white;" | [[File:Early-Cyrillic-letter-Izhe.svg|40px]]
| [[I (Cyrillic)|И и]]
| {{Script|Cyrs|ижє}}
| íže
| í,j
|í,ĭ
| {{IPA|[iː]}}
| 8
| Greek [[Eta]] Η
| harmony, balance
|
|-
| style="background: white;" | [[File:Early-Cyrillic-letter-Izhei.svg|40px]]
| [[Decimal I|І і, Ї ї]]
| {{Script|Cyrs|іжеи, їнить}}
| īžei,ìnit'
| ī,ì
|ī,ì
| {{IPA|[i] ~ [j]}}
| 10
| Greek [[Iota]] Ι
| and
|
|-
| style="background: white;" | [[File:Early-Cyrillic-letter-Kako.svg|40px]]
| [[Ka (Cyrillic)|К к]]
| {{Script|Cyrs|како}}
| kakó
| k
|k
| {{IPA|[k]}}
| 20
| Greek [[Kappa]] Κ
| as
| When marked with a palatalization mark, this letter is pronounced {{IPA|[c]}}; this occurs only rarely, and only in borrowings.<ref name=Lunt/>
|-
| style="background: white;" | [[File:Early-Cyrillic-letter-Ludi.svg|40px]]
| [[El (Cyrillic)|Л л]]
| {{Script|Cyrs|людїѥ}}
| ljudìjĕ
| l
|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;" | [[File:Early-Cyrillic-letter-Myslete.svg|40px]]
| [[Em (Cyrillic)|М м]]
| {{Script|Cyrs|мꙑслитє}}
| myslite
| m
|m
| {{IPA|[m]}}
| 40
| Greek [[mu (letter)|Mu]] Μ
| think
| 
|-
| style="background: white;" | [[File:Early-Cyrillic-letter-Nash.svg|40px]]
| [[En (Cyrillic)|Н н]]
| {{Script|Cyrs|нашь}}
| našĕ
| n
|n
| {{IPA|[n]}}; sometimes {{IPA|[ɲ]}}<ref name=Lunt/>
| 50
| Greek [[nu (letter)|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;" | [[File:Early-Cyrillic-letter-Onu.svg|40px]]
| [[O (Cyrillic)|О о]]
| {{Script|Cyrs|онъ}}
| onŏ
| o
|o
| {{IPA|[o]}}
| 70
| Greek [[Omicron]] Ο
| he/it
|
|-
| style="background: white;" | [[File:Early-Cyrillic-letter-Pokoi.svg|40px]]
| [[Pe (Cyrillic)|П п]]
| {{Script|Cyrs|покои}}
| pokoj
| p
|p
| {{IPA|[p]}}
| 80
| Greek [[pi (letter)|Pi]] Π
| calm
| 
|-
| style="background: white;" | [[File:Early-Cyrillic-letter-Rtsi.svg|40px]]
| [[Er (Cyrillic)|Р р]]
| {{Script|Cyrs|рьци}}
| r'ci
| r
|r
| {{IPA|[r]}}; sometimes {{IPA|[rʲ]}}<ref name=Lunt/>
| 100
| Greek [[Rho]] Ρ
| language
| 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;" | [[File:Early-Cyrillic-letter-Slovo.svg|40px]]
| [[Es (Cyrillic)|С с]]
| {{Script|Cyrs|слово}}
| slovo
| s
|s
| {{IPA|[s]}}
| 200
| Greek [[Sigma#Lunate sigma|lunate Sigma]] Ϲ
| word/speech
| 
|-
| style="background: white;" | [[File:Early-Cyrillic-letter-Tverdo.svg|40px]]
| [[Te (Cyrillic)|Т т]]
| {{Script|Cyrs|твєрдо}}
| tverdo
| t
|t
| {{IPA|[t]}}
| 300
| Greek [[Tau]] Τ
| hard
| When marked with a palatalization mark or followed by a palatalizing vowel ([[ю]], [[ѭ]], or [[ꙗ]], and sometimes [[ѣ]]), this letter is pronounced {{IPA|[c]}}; some manuscripts do not mark palatalization, in which case it must be inferred from context.
|-
| style="background: white;" | [[File:Early-Cyrillic-letter-Uk.svg|60px]]
| [[Uk (Cyrillic)|Ѹ ѹ, Ꙋ ꙋ]]
| {{Script|Cyrs|Оукъ, ꙋкъ}}
| oukŏ/ukŏ
| ou/u
| оу/ꙋ=ou,     у=u
| {{IPA|[ou/u]}}
|
| Greek [[Omicron]]-[[Upsilon]] ΟΥ / Ꙋ
| learning
| The first form developed into the second, a vertical [[ligature (typography)|ligature]]. A less common alternative form was a digraph with [[izhitsa]]: Оѵ оѵ.
|-
| style="background: white;" | [[File:Early-Cyrillic-letter-Fert.svg|40px]]
| [[Ef (Cyrillic)|Ф ф]]
| {{Script|Cyrs|фѣртъ}}
| fěrtŏ
| f
|f
| {{IPA|[f]}} or possibly {{IPA|[p]}}<ref name=Lunt/>
| 500
| Greek [[Phi]] Φ
| pride
| 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 [[Pi (letter)|π]].<ref name=Lunt/>
|-
| style="background: white;" | [[File:Early-Cyrillic-letter-Kher.svg|40px]]
| [[Kha (Cyrillic)|Х х]]
| {{Script|Cyrs|хѣръ}}
| chěrŏ
| ch
|kh
| {{IPA|[x]}}
| 600
| Greek [[chi (letter)|Chi]] Χ
|
| When marked with a palatalization mark, this letter is pronounced {{IPA|[ç]}}; this occurs only rarely, and only in borrowings.<ref name=Lunt/>
|-
| style="background: white;" | [[File:Early-Cyrillic-letter-Omega.svg|40px]]
| [[Omega (Cyrillic)|Ѡ ѡ  Ѿ ѿ]]
| {{Script|Cyrs|ѡмъ ѡть}}
| ōmŏ  ōtŏ
| ѡ=ō  ѿ=ō͡t 
|[[Omega (Cyrillic)|ѡ]]=ō  ѿ=ō͡t
| {{IPA|[o]}}
| 800
| Greek [[Omega]] ω
| great, 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;" | [[File:Early-Cyrillic-letter-Tsi.svg|60px]]
| [[Tse (Cyrillic)|Ц ц]]
| {{Script|Cyrs|це}}
| ce
| c
|t͡s
| {{IPA|[ts]}}
| 900
| Glagolitic ''Tsi'' Ⱌ
| goal, objective
| See also: [[Reversed Tse|Ꙡ ꙡ]].
|-
| style="background: white;" | [[File:Early-Cyrillic-letter-Cherv.svg|60px]]
| [[Che (Cyrillic)|Ч ч]]
| {{Script|Cyrs|чєрвль}}
| červl'
| č
|ch
| {{IPA|[tʃ]}}
| 90
| Glagolitic ''Cherv'' Ⱍ
| edge
| This letter replaced [[Koppa (Cyrillic)|koppa]] as the numeral for 90 after about 1300.<ref name=Lunt/>
|-
| style="background: white;" | [[File:Early-Cyrillic-letter-Sha.svg|40px]]
| [[Sha (Cyrillic)|Ш ш]]
| {{Script|Cyrs|ша}}
| ša
| š
|sh
| {{IPA|[ʃ]}}
|
| Glagolitic ''Sha'' Ⱎ
| space
|
|-
| style="background: white;" | [[File:Early-Cyrillic-letter-Shta.svg|40px]]
| [[Shcha (Cyrillic)|Щ щ]]
| {{Script|Cyrs|ща}}
| šta
| št
|sht
| {{IPA|[ʃt]}}
|
| Glagolitic ''Shta'' Ⱋ
| protection
| 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;" | [[File:Early-Cyrillic-letter-Back-Yer.svg|40px]]
| [[Yer|Ъ ъ]]
| {{Script|Cyrs|ѥръ}}
| jerŏ
| ŏ/ŭ
|″
| {{IPA|[ŏ]}} or {{IPA|[ŭ]}}<ref name="Lunt" />
|
| Glagolitic ''Yer'' Ⱏ<ref name="Auty" />
| process of creation
| 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;" | [[File:Early-Cyrillic-letter-Yery.svg|40px]]
| [[Yery|Ꙑ ꙑ]]
| {{Script|Cyrs|ѥрꙑ}}
| jery
| y
|y
| {{IPA|[ɯ]}} or {{IPA|[ɯji]}} or {{IPA|[ɯjĭ]}}<ref name="Lunt" />
|
| Ъ + І ligature.
| ongoing process
| Ꙑ was the more common form; rarely, a third form, [[ы]], appears.<ref name="Lunt" />
|-
| style="background: white;" | [[File:Early-Cyrillic-letter-Yer.svg|40px]]
| [[Soft sign|Ь ь]]
| {{Script|Cyrs|ѥрь}}
| jerĕ
| ĕ/ĭ
|'
| {{IPA|[ĕ]}} or {{IPA|[ĭ]}}<ref name="Lunt" />
|
| Glagolitic ''Yerj'' Ⱐ<ref name="Auty" />
| ended process
|This letter loses its pronunciation and becomes a palatalization mark when it follows these letters: д,л,н,р,т.
|-
| style="background: white;" | [[File:Early-Cyrillic-letter-Yat.svg|40px]]
| [[Yat|Ѣ ѣ]]
| {{Script|Cyrs|ѣть}}
| jat'
| ě
|i͡e
| {{IPA|[ije]}}<ref name="Lunt" />
|
| Glagolitic ''yat'' Ⱑ<ref name="Auty" />
| unity of heaven and earth
| Pronounced [ja] when not preceded by a consonant. 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 written only after a consonant; in all other positions, [[ꙗ]] was used instead.<ref name="Lunt" /> An exceptional document is [[Pages of Undolski]], where [[ѣ]] is used instead of [[ꙗ]].
|-
| style="background: white;" | [[File:Early-Cyrillic-letter-Iotated-A.svg|40px]]
| [[Iotated A|Ꙗ ꙗ]]
| {{Script|Cyrs|ꙗрь}}
| jar'
| ja/ă
|i͡a/ă
| {{IPA|[ja:/ă]}}
|
| І-А ligature
| specific group,things
| This letter was probably not present in the original Cyrillic alphabet.<ref name="Auty" />
|-
| style="background: white;" | [[File:Early-Cyrillic-letter-Iotated-E.svg|40px]]
| [[E iotified|Ѥ ѥ]]
| {{Script|Cyrs|ѥдо}}
| jĕdo/edo
| jĕ/e
|i͡e/e
| {{IPA|[jɛ꙼/ɛ]}}
|
| І-Є ligature
| touch with the entire
| This letter was probably not present in the original Cyrillic alphabet.<ref name="Auty" />
|-
| style="background: white;" | [[File:Early-Cyrillic-letter-Yu.svg|40px]]
| [[Yu (Cyrillic)|Ю ю]]
| {{Script|Cyrs|юнъ}}
| junŏ
| ju
|i͡u
| {{IPA|[ju]}}
|
| І-ОУ ligature, dropping У
| motion against flow
| 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;" | [[File:Early-Cyrillic-letter-Big-Yus.svg|40px]]
| [[Big Yus|Ѫ ѫ]]
| {{Script|Cyrs|ѫдь}}
| ǫd'
| ǫ
|ǫ
| {{IPA|[ɔ̃]}}
|
| Glagolitic ''Ons'' Ⱘ
| wisdom given as heritage
| Called юсъ большой (big ''yus)'' in Russian.
|-
| style="background: white;" | [[File:Early-Cyrillic-letter-Iotated-Big-Yus.svg|40px]]
| [[Big Yus iotified|Ѭ ѭ]]
| {{Script|Cyrs|ѭта}}
| jǫta
| jǫ
|i͡ǫ
| {{IPA|[jɔ̃]}}
|
| І-Ѫ ligature
| rejection
| 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;" | [[File:Early Cyrillic letter Yusu Maliy.svg|40px]]
| [[Little Yus|Ѧ ѧ]]
| {{Script|Cyrs|ѧнъ}}
| jęnŏ
| ę
|ę
| {{IPA|[ɛ̃]}}
| 900
| Glagolitic ''Ens'' Ⱔ
| image
| Pronounced {{IPA|[jɛ̃]}} when not preceded by a consonant.<ref name="Lunt" /> Called юсъ малый (little ''yus)'' in [[Russian language|Russian]].
|-
| style="background: white;" | [[File:Early-Cyrillic-letter-Iotated-Lesser-Yus.svg|40px]]
| [[Little Yus iotified|Ѩ ѩ]]
| {{Script|Cyrs|ѩта}}
| jęta
| ję
|i͡ę
| {{IPA|[jɛ̃]}}
|
| І-Ѧ ligature
| expansion of understanding
| 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;" | [[File:Early-Cyrillic-letter-Ksi.svg|40px]]
| [[Ksi (Cyrillic letter)|Ѯ ѯ]]
| {{Script|Cyrs|ѯи}}
| ksi
| ks
|k͡s
| {{IPA|[ks]}}
| 60
| Greek [[Xi (letter)|Xi]] Ξ
|[[Xi (letter)|''xi'']] (letter name)
| rowspan="2" | These two letters were not needed for Slavic but were used to transcribe Greek and as numerals.
|-
| style="background: white;" | [[File:Early-Cyrillic-letter-Psi.svg|40px]]
| [[Psi (Cyrillic)|Ѱ ѱ]]
| {{Script|Cyrs|ѱи}}
| psi
| ps
|p͡s
| {{IPA|[ps]}}
| 700
| Greek [[psi (letter)|Psi]] Ψ
|[[Psi (letter)|''psi'']] (letter name)
|-
| style="background: white;" | [[File:Early-Cyrillic-letter-Fita.svg|40px]]
| [[Fita|Ѳ ѳ]]
| {{Script|Cyrs|ѳита}}
| Thita
| f̀/th
|ḟ
| {{IPA|[t]}}, or {{IPA|[f]}}, or possibly {{IPA|[θ]}}
| 9
| Greek [[Theta]] Θ
|''[[theta]]'' (letter name), nature
| 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;" | [[File:Early-Cyrillic-letter-Izhitsa.svg|40px]]
| [[Izhitsa|Ѵ ѵ]]
| {{Script|Cyrs|ижица}}
| ižica
| ỳ/ü/v/t
|ẏ/ü/v/t
| {{IPA|[i]}}, {{IPA|[y]}}, {{IPA|[v]}}
| 400
| Greek [[Upsilon]] Υ
| small yoke/''Izhe''
| This letter was used to transcribe Greek [[upsilon]] and as a numeral. It also formed part of the digraph оѵ.
|-
| style="background: white;" | [[File:Early-Cyrillic-letter-Koppa.svg|40px]]
| [[Koppa (Cyrillic)|Ҁ ҁ]]
| {{Script|Cyrs|ҁоппа}}
| qopa
| —
|
|''none''
| 90
| Greek [[Koppa (letter)|Koppa]] Ϙ
|[[Koppa (letter)|''koppa'']] (letter name)
| This letter had no phonetic value, and was used only as a numeral. After about 1300, it was replaced as a numeral by [[Che (Cyrillic)|črĭvĭ]].<ref name="Lunt" />
|}

In addition to the basic letters, there were a number of scribal variations, combining ligatures, and regionalisms used, all of which varied over time.

Sometimes the Greek letters that were used in Cyrillic mainly for their numeric value are transcribed with the corresponding Greek letters for accuracy: [[Fita|ѳ]] = [[Theta|θ]], [[Ksi (Cyrillic)|ѯ]] = [[Xi (letter)|ξ]], [[Psi (Cyrillic)|ѱ]] = [[Psi (Greek)|ψ]], [[Izhitsa|ѵ]] = [[Upsilon|υ]], and [[Omega (Cyrillic)|ѡ]] = [[Omega|ω]].<ref name=":0" />

== Numerals, diacritics and punctuation ==

Each letter had [[Cyrillic numerals|a numeric value]] also, inherited from the corresponding [[Greek alphabet|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 [[place value|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.

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 [[diacritic]]s, adopted from [[Polytonic orthography|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|а&#x0308;}}</big>&nbsp; ''[[Umlaut (diacritic)|trema]]'', diaeresis (U+0308)
: <big>{{Script|Cyrs|а̀}}</big>&nbsp; ''varia'' ([[grave accent]]), indicating stress on the last syllable (U+0300)
: <big>{{Script|Cyrs|а́}}</big>&nbsp; ''oksia'' ([[acute accent]]), indicating a stressed syllable ([[Unicode]] U+0301)
: <big>{{Script|Cyrs|а҃}}</big>&nbsp; ''[[titlo]]'', indicating [[abbreviation]]s, or letters used as [[Numeral (linguistics)|numeral]]s (U+0483)
: <big>{{Script|Cyrs|а҄}}</big>&nbsp; ''[[kamora (diacritic)|kamora]]'' ([[circumflex accent]]), indicating [[Palatalization (phonetics)|palatalization]]{{Citation needed|date=October 2009}} (U+0484); in later Church Slavonic, it disambiguates plurals from homophonous singulars.
: <big>{{Script|Cyrs|а҅}}</big>&nbsp; ''dasia'' or ''[[dasy pneuma]]'', rough breathing mark (U+0485)
: <big>{{Script|Cyrs|а҆}}</big>&nbsp; ''psili'', ''zvatel'tse'', or ''[[psilon pneuma]]'', soft breathing mark (U+0486). Signals a word-initial vowel, at least in later Church Slavonic.
: <big>{{Script|Cyrs|а҆̀}}</big>&nbsp; Combined ''zvatel'tse'' and ''varia'' is called ''apostrof''.
: <big>{{Script|Cyrs|а҆́}}</big>&nbsp; Combined ''zvatel'tse'' and ''oksia'' is called ''iso''.
: <big>{{Script|Cyrs|д꙽, д̾}}</big>&nbsp; {{ill|Yerok|ru|Ерок}} or ''payerok'' (U+A67D, U+033E), 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>&nbsp; ''[[ano teleia]]'' (U+0387), a middle dot used to separate phrases, words, or parts of words<ref name=Lunt/>
: <big>{{Script|Cyrs|.}}</big>&nbsp; [[Full stop]], used in the same way<ref name=Lunt/>
: <big>{{Script|Cyrs|։}}</big>&nbsp; [[Armenian alphabet|Armenian]] [[full stop]] (U+0589), resembling a [[colon (punctuation)|colon]], used in the same way<ref name=Lunt/>
: <big>{{Script|Cyrs|჻}}</big>&nbsp; [[Georgian alphabet|Georgian]] paragraph separator (U+10FB), used to mark off larger divisions
: <big>{{Script|Cyrs|⁖}}</big>&nbsp; triangular colon (U+2056, added in Unicode 4.1), used to mark off larger divisions
: <big>{{Script|Cyrs|⁘}}</big>&nbsp; diamond colon (U+2058, added in Unicode 4.1), used to mark off larger divisions
: <big>{{Script|Cyrs|⁙}}</big>&nbsp; quintuple colon (U+2059, added in Unicode 4.1), used to mark off larger divisions
: <big>{{Script|Cyrs|;}}</big>&nbsp; [[Greek alphabet|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>&nbsp; [[comma]] (U+002C)
: <big>{{Script|Cyrs|.}}</big>&nbsp; [[full stop]] (U+002E)
: <big>{{Script|Cyrs|!}}</big>&nbsp; [[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|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| [[Lectionary 1|'''ℓ''' ''1'']]
File:Lectionary_5_(GA)%2C_f.115r.jpg| [[Lectionary 5|'''ℓ''' ''5'']]
File:Codex_Harcleianus.PNG|[[Lectionary 150|'''ℓ''' ''150'']]
File:Lectionary 152 K051435.JPG|[[Lectionary 152|'''ℓ''' ''152'']]
File:Lectionary_179_(Gen_1).JPG|[[Lectionary 179|'''ℓ''' ''179'']] Old Testament, Genesis
File:Lectionary_183_folio_2.JPG|[[Lectionary 183|'''ℓ''' ''183'']] folio 2
File:Lectionary_269_(Matth._8%2C32-9%2C1.9).JPG|[[Lectionary 269|'''ℓ''' ''269'']]
File:Lectionary 296 f.6v.JPG|[[Lectionary 296|'''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>

== See also ==
{{commons-inline|Early Cyrillic}}
* [[Relationship of Cyrillic and Glagolitic scripts]]
* [[Reforms of Russian orthography]]
* [[Nationalism in the Middle Ages#Eastern Orthodox Church, Byzantium, Slavs and Greeks]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== 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}}.
* [[Michael Everson|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 }}, 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], 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 &#91;Стара Славянска Език&#93; 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.

{{European calligraphy}}
{{list of writing systems}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Early Cyrillic Alphabet}}
[[Category:Cyrillic alphabets]]
[[Category:Preslav Literary School]]
[[Category:History of writing]]
[[Category:1st-millennium establishments in Europe]]
[[Category:Western calligraphy]]
[[Category:Golden Age of medieval Bulgarian culture]]
[[Category:Medieval scripts]]
[[Category:Eastern Orthodox Christian culture]]