Old Church Slavonic at the University of Toronto
Why Study Old Church Slavonic?
- Old Church Slavonic is the language of the oldest written texts of the Slavic-speaking world, which today is represented by modern Slavic languages including Russian, Serbian, Croatian, Polish, and Czech.
- The texts of Old Church Slavonic were composed in Bulgaria and Macedonia more than a thousand years ago in two distinct alphabets, Cyrillic and Glagolitic. Whereas the old Cyrillic alphabet is quite similar to that of modern Russian or Serbian. Glagolitic bears little resemblance to any modern script. Therefore, texts originally composed in Glagolitic are usually read in a Latin-based transcription which closely resembles the modern Czech, Polish, and Croatian alphabets.
- Knowledge of Old Church Slavonic is important for understanding the cultural, literary, and linguistic history of any modern Slavic language. It is also provides information for comparison with other ancient Indo-European languages, such as Latin, Greek, and Sanskrit.
- The texts of Old Church Slavonic are those of the early Christian church — the gospels, the psalms, and lives of saints and martyrs.
- Visit the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures website for more information.
- Consult the A&S calendar for specific course offerings.
- What are classes in Old Church Slavonic like?
Classes are small (5-10 students) and meet once a week for two hours. Most of the class is devoted to careful reading and translation of the texts into English. One of the goals of the course is to provide students with the ability to use their knowledge of a modern Slavic language as a bridge to understanding the language of the older texts. Although not graded for their pronunciation, students learn to read Old Church Slavonic aloud by imitating their teacher. - What linguistic background do I need to study Old Church Slavonic?
Good reading knowledge of any modern Slavic language will suffice. - Which of the alphabets will I learn?
For most of the Fall term we practice reading texts in Latin-based transcription. Then, for most of the Spring term we read texts in the old Cyrillic alphabet.
