And it is written in all history textbooks who was the first to create the alphabet for the Russian language - these are the brothers Cyril (Konstantin) the Philosopher and Methodius (Michael) of Thessalonica, Greek missionaries, later recognized as Equal-to-the-Apostles saints. In 862, at the behest of the Byzantine emperor Michael III, they went on a mission to Great Moravia. This early feudal Slavic state occupied the territory where today Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic and part of Ukraine are located. The main task that Patriarch Photius of Constantinople set before the brothers was the translation of sacred texts from Greek into Slavic dialects. However, in order for the records not to be forgotten, it was necessary to fix them on paper, and this cannot be done in the absence of their own Slavic alphabet.
The basis for its creation was the Greek alphabet. However, phonetically, Old Slavic dialects were much richer than Greek speech. Because of this, the educators-missionaries of this country were forced to come up with 19 new letters to display on paper the sounds and phonetic combinations that were missing in their language. Therefore, the first alphabet (alphabet), which has survived to this day with minor changes among Belarusians, Bulgarians, Russians, Serbs and Ukrainians, included 43 letters. Today it is known under the name "Cyrillic", and the writing of these peoples belongs to the Cyrillic.
Who was the first to create the alphabet of the Russian language
However, when considering the question of who first created the alphabet of the Slavs, it must be taken into account that in the 9th century there were two alphabets (two alphabets) - Cyrillic and Glagolitic, and which of them appeared earlier, it is impossible to answer. Unfortunately, the original texts written during the time of Cyril and Methodius have not been preserved. According to most researchers, the 38-letter, but more difficult in writing characters, Glagolitic alphabet has an older history. It was called in the Old Slavonic language “kѷrїllovitsa”, and its authorship is attributed to the “creative team” headed by Cyril and Methodius, which included their students Clement, Naum and Angelary. The alphabet was created starting from 856, before the first educational campaign of Cyril in the Khazar Khaganate.
Palimpsests also speak in favor of the originality of the Glagolitic alphabet - texts written on it, later scraped off parchment and replaced by Cyrillic writing. In addition, its ancient spelling is quite close in appearance to the Georgian church alphabet - "Khutsuri", which was used until the 9th century.
According to supporters of the above hypothesis, the first Russian alphabet - Cyrillic - was developed by Kirill's student, Kliment Okhritsky, and named after the teacher. By the name of its first two letters - "az" and "beeches" - the alphabet got its name.
Ancient Slavic alphabets
However, the question of who first created the alphabet is not so simple, and Cyril and Methodius are only the first enlighteners who brought writing to the early Slavic states, whose historicity is not in doubt. The same Cyril, describing his journey to the Great Khaganate, points to the presence in the churches of Chersonesos (Korsun) “The Gospel and the Psalter were written in Russian letters.” It was the acquaintance with these texts that led the Greek enlightener to the idea of dividing the letters of his alphabet into vowels and consonants.
Until now, the Veles book, written in “strange” letters, called “in (e) forests”, causes controversy. According to the discoverers (hoaxers) of this book, they were carved on wooden planks before the widespread use of both the Glagolitic and Cyrillic alphabets.
Unfortunately, the alphabet for the Russian language, “in (e) forests”, the authorship of the “Russian letters” cannot be established today.