The Mysterious Origins of the Slavic Alphabet  

On Thursday, November 19th, at 6:30pm, Slavic Club is sponsoring a lecture by Dr. Marta Deyrup, "The Mysterious Origins of the Slavic Alphabet", via Teams.

In the 9th century a Byzantine monk, most commonly known by his Slavic name, St. Cyril, invented a rudimentary literary language, Old Church Slavonic, along with an alphabet called Glagolitic, which resembled old Nordic runes. Although it is widely agreed the syntax of OCS resembles New Testament Greek, almost every major Slavist has attempted to tease out Glagolitic's antecedents—with less success. It has become almost a parlor game among those in the field.

This lecture will introduce the hagiography or life story of St. Cyril, the Vita Constantini. Dr. Deyrup will give a summary of its narrative; an explanation of the theological and political debates of its time period; and a simple overview of Slavic linguistics.

In the second part of her presentation, Dr. Deyrup will discuss the relationship between Old Church Slavonic and NT Greek grammar and word order; and the influence of Islamic theology on the formation of the language and alphabet.

Lastly, she will ask the audience to form in its own theories about the models for this strange alphabet. Those who speak or study a Slavic language are welcome to contribute to our discussion, although anyone who has a background in another language, particularly in Classical Greek or Arabic, can contribute significantly to our discussion.

Prof. Youssef Yacoubi, representing Seton Hall's Arabic Program, and Prof. Charles George, from the Classical Studies Program, will be participating and contributing to the Q & A session trying their hand at solving this mystery.

To attend the event, click here.

The event is free and open to the public. Everyone is welcome!

For more information, please contact:
Marta.deyrup@shu.edu

Categories: Arts and Culture