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'{{Short description|Slavic language used in the 10th–15th centuries}} {{more citations needed|date=December 2020}} {{hatnote|Cyrillic letters in this article are [[Romanization of Ukrainian|romanized]] using [[wikipedia:Romanization_of_Ukrainian/Scientific_transliteration_table|scientific transliteration]].}} {{Infobox language |name=Old East Slavic |altname= |image=14 2 List of Radzivill Chron.jpg |nativename={{lang|cu|словеньскыи ꙗзыкъ}}{{pb}}{{transl|cu|slovenĭskyi jazykŭ}} |region=[[Eastern Europe]] |era=10th-15th centuries;<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?linkpath=pages%5CC%5CO%5CCommonRussian.htm|title=Common Russian|website=www.encyclopediaofukraine.com|access-date=2019-05-14}}</ref> afterwards developed into the [[East Slavic languages]] |familycolor=Indo-European |fam2=[[Balto-Slavic languages|Balto-Slavic]] |fam3=[[Slavic languages|Slavic]] |fam4=[[East Slavic languages|East Slavic]] |iso3=orv<ref>{{cite web|title=Documentation for ISO 639 identifier: orv|url=https://iso639-3.sil.org/code_tables/639/data/o|publisher=SIL International (formerly known as the Summer Institute of Linguistics)|access-date=19 September 2018}}</ref> |glotto=oldr1238 |glottorefname=Old Russian |linglist=orv |notice=IPA }} '''Old East Slavic''';<ref name="LRC_OldES">{{cite web|last1=Krause|first1=Todd B.|last2=Slocum|first2=Jonathan|title=Old Russian Online, Series Introduction|url=https://lrc.la.utexas.edu/eieol/oruol|url-status=live|access-date=2021-04-03|website=Early Indo-European Online Language Lessons|publisher=[[University of Texas at Austin]]}}</ref> {{lang-be|старажытнаруская мова}};{{lang-uk|давньоруська мова}}) was a language used during the 10th–15th centuries by [[East Slavs]]{{Sfn|Simone|2018|p=16}} in [[Kyivan Rus']] and its successor states, from which the [[Ukrainian language|Ukrainian]], [[Belarusian language|Belarusian]] and [[Rusyn language|Rusyn]] languages later evolved. == Terminology == The current widely accepted name of the language is ''Old East Slavic'', in reference to the modern family of [[East Slavic languages]]. Its original speakers were the [[List of ancient Slavic peoples|Slavic tribes]] inhabiting territories of today's western and central Ukraine, Belarus and the western edge of Russia. Although the language is sometimes called "Old Rusian"<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/23704551|title=Lingvisticheskiĭ ėnt︠s︡iklopedicheskiĭ slovarʹ|date=1990|work=Sov. ėnt︠s︡iklopedii︠a︡|others=I︠A︡rt︠s︡eva, V. N. (Viktorii︠a︡ Nikolaevna), 1906-1999., Aruti︠u︡nova, N. D. (Nina Davidovna), Izdatelʹstvo "Sovetskai︠a︡ ėnt︠s︡iklopedii︠a︡." Nauchno-redakt︠s︡ionnyĭ sovet., Institut i︠a︡zykoznanii︠a︡ (Akademii︠a︡ nauk SSSR)|isbn=5-85270-031-2|location=Moskva|pages=143|oclc=23704551}}</ref> ({{Lang-be|старажытнаруская мова|translit=staražytnaruskaja mova}}; {{lang-ru|древнерусский язык|translit=drevnerusskij jazyk}}) "with a bow to tradition", this term is a misnomer, because initial stages of the language which it denotes predate the dialectal divisions marking the nascent distinction between modern East Slavic languages (Ukrainian,Belarusian and Russian, ). ''Old East Slavic'' is therefore the more appropriate term.<ref name="LRC_OldES" /><ref name=":0" /><!-- original quote: "Thus Old Russian serves as a common parent to all three of the major East Slavic languages, and as such a more appropriate term for the language is Old East Slavic"--> Some scholars replaced the anachronistic “Russian” with an adjective for ''[[Names of Rus', Russia and Ruthenia|Rus{{'}}]]'', using the name '''Rus'ian''', '''Rusian''', or '''Rus' language''' ({{Lang-uk|давньоруська мова|translit=davn’orus’ka mova}}),<ref>{{Cite book|last=Lunt|first=Horace G.|title=Old Church Slavonic Grammar|publisher=Mouton De Gruyter|year=2001|isbn=3110162849|edition=seventh|location=Berlin|pages=184|quote=I call the common (North) East Slavic language (up to the first half of the 14th century) Rusian.}}</ref><ref name="LRC_OldES" /><ref name=":0">{{Cite Q|Q105635025|p=73, 106–108|quote=For the longest time, English-language writings did not distinguish the name ''Rus&apos;'' from ''Russia'', with the result that in descriptions of the pre-fourteenth-century Kyivan realm the conceptually distorted formulation ''Kyivan Russia'' was used. In recent years, however, the correct terms ''Rus&apos;'' and ''Kyivan Rus&apos;'' have appeared more frequently in English-language scholarly publications, although the corresponding adjective ''Rus&apos;''/''Rusyn'' has been avoided in favor of either the incorrect term ''Russian'' or the correct but visually confusing term ''Rus'ian''/''Rusian''.}}</ref> although these are less commonly used forms. In the context of the history of Ukrainian, [[George Shevelov]] referred to historical phases of the language as '''Proto-Ukrainian''' and '''Old Ukrainian''', using criteria based on the available sources: the PU period (up to the mid 11th century) having no sources written down by speakers in Ukraine, and the OU period (from the mid 11th to the 14th century) represented by texts chiefly compiled in Church Slavonic but preserving evidence of Old East Slavic in Ukraine.<ref>{{Cite Q|Q105081119|pages=40–41}}</ref> The periodization of the literary language represents great changes and breaks resulting from events in cultural and political history; in contrast, the spoken language of Ukraine "shows a surprising continuity in development from prehistoric times to our day."<ref>{{Cite Q|Q12072836|entry=History of the Ukrainian Language|pages=481|volume=I|last=Shevelov|first=George|author-link=George Shevelov|display-editors=1}}</ref> ==General considerations== [[File:Slavic languages tree and map from Kushniarevich article.png|300px|right|Map and tree of Balto-Slavic languages, according to Kassian and A. Dybo]] The language was a descendant of the [[Proto-Slavic language]] and retained many of its features. It developed so-called [[pleophony]] (or ''polnoglasie'' 'full vocalisation'), which came to differentiate the newly evolving East Slavic from other Slavic dialects. For instance, Common Slavic ''[[Grad (Slavic settlement)|*gordъ]]'' 'settlement, town' was reflected as OESl. ''gorodъ'', Common Slavic ''[[wikt:Appendix:Proto-Slavic *melko|*melko]]'' 'milk' > OESl. ''moloko'', and Common Slavic ''[[wikt:Appendix:Proto-Slavic *korva|*korva]]'' 'cow' > OESl ''korova''. Other Slavic dialects differed by resolving the closed-syllable clusters *eRC and *aRC as [[liquid metathesis]] ([[South Slavic languages|South Slavic]] and [[West Slavic languages|West Slavic]]), or by no change at all (see the article on ''[[Slavic liquid metathesis and pleophony]]'' for a detailed account). Since extant written records of the language are sparse, it is difficult to assess the level of its unity. In consideration of the number of tribes and clans that constituted [[Kyivan Rus]], it is probable that there were many dialects of Old East Slavonic. Therefore, today we may speak definitively only of the languages of surviving manuscripts, which, according to some interpretations, show regional divergence from the beginning of the historical records. By c. 1150 it had the weakest local variations among the four regional macrodialects of [[Common Slavic]], c. 800–c. 1000, which had just begun to differentiate into its branches.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Lunt|first=Horace G.|title=Old Church Slavonic Grammar|publisher=Mouton De Gruyter|year=2001|isbn=3110162849|edition=seventh|location=Berlin|pages=184|quote=the Late Common Slavic of c1000 CE had four regional variants or macro dialects: NorthWest, SouthWest, SouthEast, NorthEast. .&nbsp;.&nbsp;. by c1150 .&nbsp;.&nbsp;. [East Slavic] was still a single language, with the weakest of local variations.}}</ref> With time, it evolved into several more diversified forms, which were the predecessors of the modern [[Ukrainian language|Ukrainian]],[[Belarusian language|Belarusian]] and [[Rusyn language|Rusyn]] languages. The regional languages were distinguishable starting in the 12th or 13th century.<ref name="Ukrainian language">{{Cite web|title=Ukrainian language|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Ukrainian-language|access-date=2020-08-02|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en}}</ref> Each of these languages preserves much of the Old East Slavic grammar and vocabulary. The Russian language in particular borrows much of its vocabulary from [[Church Slavonic]].<ref name="Ukrainian language"/> However, findings by Russian linguist [[Andrey Zaliznyak]] suggests that, in the 11th century, the Novgorodian Russian language differed from the Kyiv language as well as from all other Slavic languages much more than in later centuries, meaning that there was no common Old East Slavic language of Kyivan Rus' from which Ukrainian, Russian and Belorusian languages diverged, but that the Russian language developed as a convergence of the Novgorod language and other Russian dialects.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Zaliznyak |first1=Andrey Anatolyevich |title=About Russian Language History |url=https://elementy.ru/nauchno-populyarnaya_biblioteka/431649/Ob_istorii_russkogo_yazyka |website=elementy.ru |publisher=Mumi-Trol School |access-date=13 December 2020}}</ref> Also, Russian linguist Sergey Nikolaev, analysing historical development of Slavic dialects’ accent system, concluded that a number of other tribes in Kyivan Rus came from different Slavic branches and spoke distant Slavic dialects.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://inslav.ru/publication/dybo-v-zamyatina-g-i-nikolaev-s-l-osnovy-slavyanskoy-akcentologii-m-1990 |website=inslav.ru |publisher=Slavic Studies Institute|title=Дыбо В. А., Замятина Г. И., Николаев С. Л. Основы славянской акцентологии. М., 1990 |date=14 April 2011 }}</ref> Another Russian linguist G. A. Khaburgaev<ref>{{cite book |last1=Khaburgaev |first1=Georgiy Alexandrovich |title=Языки мира. Славянские языки |date=2005 |publisher=Academia |location=Moscow |pages=418–437}}</ref> as well as a number of Ukrainian linguists ([[Stepan Smal-Stotsky]], [[Ivan Ohienko]], [[George Shevelov]], Yevhen Tymchenko, Vsevolod Hantsov, Olena Kurylo) deny the existence of a common Old East Slavic language at any time in the past.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://litopys.org.ua/istkult/ikult01.htm |title=Мова (В.В.Німчук). 1. Історія української культури |publisher=Litopys.org.ua |access-date=2012-05-22}}</ref> According to them, the dialects of East Slavic tribes evolved gradually from the common Proto-Slavic language without any intermediate stages.<ref name="autogenerated2">{{cite web|url=http://www.litopys.org.ua/shevelov/shev.htm|title=Юрій Шевельов. Історична фонологія української мови|publisher=Litopys.org.ua|date=1979|access-date=8 May 2016}}</ref> When after the end of the 'Tatar yoke' the territory of former Kyivan Rus was divided between the [[Grand Duchy of Lithuania]] and the medieval Rus' principality [[Grand Duchy of Moscow|Grand Principality of Moscow]],<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Grand-Principality-of-Moscow|title=Grand Principality of Moscow {{!}} medieval principality, Russia|work=Encyclopedia Britannica|access-date=2018-10-22|language=en}}</ref> two separate literary traditions emerged in these states, [[Ruthenian language|Ruthenian]] in the west and [[History of the Russian language|medieval Russian]] in the east. == Literary language of Kyivan Rus' == [[File:Izbornik page.jpg|thumb|A page from Svyatoslav's ''Miscellanies'' (1073).]] The political unification of the region into the state called [[Kievan Rus']], from which modern [[Belarus]], [[Russia]] and [[Ukraine]] trace their origins, occurred approximately a century before the adoption of [[Christianity]] in 988 and the establishment of the South Slavic [[Old Church Slavonic]] as the liturgical and literary language. Documentation of the Old East Slavic language of this period is scanty, making it difficult at best fully to determine the relationship between the literary language and its spoken dialects. There are references in Arab and Byzantine sources to pre-Christian Slavs in European Russia using some form of writing. Despite some suggestive archaeological finds and a corroboration by the tenth-century monk [[Chernorizets Hrabar]] that ancient Slavs wrote in "[[Relationship of Cyrillic and Glagolitic alphabets#Chernorizets Hrabar.27s account|strokes and incisions]]", the exact nature of this system is unknown. Although the [[Glagolitic]] alphabet was briefly introduced, as witnessed by church inscriptions in [[Novgorod]], it was soon entirely superseded by [[Cyrillic]]. The samples of [[birch-bark writing]] excavated in [[Novgorod]] have provided crucial information about the pure tenth-century [[Old Novgorod dialect|vernacular in North-West Russia]], almost entirely free of Church Slavonic influence. It is also known that borrowings and calques from [[Medieval Greek|Byzantine Greek]] began to enter the vernacular at this time, and that simultaneously the literary language in its turn began to be modified towards Eastern Slavic. The following excerpts illustrate two of the most famous literary monuments. '''NOTE:''' The spelling of the original excerpt has been partly modernized. The translations are best attempts at being literal, not literary. === Primary Chronicle === {{Further|Primary Chronicle}} {{circa|1110}}, from the [[Laurentian Codex]], 1377: [[File:Povest vremennykh let text.png|500px]] {| class="wikitable" |- ! Original | lang="orv" | Се повѣсти времѧньны^х лѣ^т ‧ ѿкꙋдꙋ єсть пошла рꙋскаꙗ земѧ ‧ кто въ києвѣ нача первѣє кнѧжи^т ‧ и ѿкꙋдꙋ рꙋскаꙗ землѧ стала єсть {{!}}~ |- ! [[Russian language|Russian]]<ref>[http://www.pushkinskijdom.ru/Default.aspx?tabid=4869 The Pushkin House, "Povest' Vremennykh Let"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150316192444/http://www.pushkinskijdom.ru/Default.aspx?tabid=4869 |date=2015-03-16 }}</ref><ref>[https://archive.today/20130624203819/http://www.velib.com/book.php?avtor=w_1_1&book=3260_10_5 BBM online library, "Povest' Vremennykh Let"]</ref> | lang="ru" | Это повести прошлых лет, откуда пошла русская земля, кто в Киеве начал первым княжить, и откуда русская земля стала быть . |- ! [[Ukrainian language|Ukrainian]]<ref>[http://www.ukrlib.com.ua/narod/printout.php?id=7&bookid=2 The Library of Ukrainian literature, "Povist' minulikh lit"]</ref><ref>[http://www.docme.ru/doc/112434/pov%D1%96st._-min.l%D1%96t Russian online publications, "Povist' minulikh lit"]</ref> | lang="uk" | Це повісті минулих літ, звідки пішла Руська земля, хто в Києві почав перший княжити, і звідки Руська земля стала бути. |- ! [[Belarusian language|Belarusian]]<ref>[http://www.bsu.by/Cache/pdf/362473.pdf Staražytnaja litaratura uschodnich slavian XI – XIII stahoddziaŭ]</ref> | lang="be" | Вось аповесці мінулых гадоў: адкуль пайшла руская зямля, хто ў Кіеве першым пачаў княжыць, і адкуль руская зямля паўстала. |- ! English<ref>{{cite book|last1=Cross|first1=Samuel Hazzard|last2=Sherbowitz-Wetzor|first2=Olgerd P.|title=The Russian Primary chronicle: Laurentian text|year=1953|publisher=Mediaeval Academy of America|page=51|isbn=9780915651320|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ynIJAQAAIAAJ&q=%22bygone+years%22}}</ref> | These are the narratives of bygone years regarding the origin of the land of Rus', the first princes of Kiev, and from what source the land of Rus' had its beginning. |} Early language; fall of the [[yer]]s in progress or arguably complete (several words end with a consonant; кнѧжит "to rule" < кънѧжити, modern Uk {{lang|uk|княжити}}, R {{lang|ru|княжить}}, B {{lang|be|княжыць}}). [[South Slavic languages|South Slavic]] features include времѧньнъıх "bygone"; modern R {{lang|ru|прошлых}}, modern Ukr {{lang|uk|минулих}}, modern B {{lang|be|мінулых}}. Correct use of [[perfect (grammar)|perfect]] and [[aorist]]: єсть пошла "is/has come" (modern R {{lang|ru|пошла}}), нача "began" (modern R {{lang|ru|начал}} as a development of the old perfect.) Note the style of punctuation. === Tale of Igor's Campaign === {{Further|Tale of Igor's Campaign}} Слово о пълку Игоревѣ. {{circa|1200}}, from the Pskov manuscript, fifteenth cent. {|class="wikitable" |- ! Original | Не лѣпо ли ны бяшетъ братїє, начяти старыми словесы трудныхъ повѣстїй о пълку Игоревѣ, Игоря Святъславлича? Начати же ся тъй пѣсни по былинамъ сего времени, а не по замышленїю Бояню. Боянъ бо вѣщїй, аще кому хотяше пѣснь творити, то растѣкашется мыслію по древу, сѣрымъ вълкомъ по земли, шизымъ орломъ подъ облакы.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://izbornyk.org.ua/slovo/slovo.htm|title=СЛОВО О ПЛЪКУ ИГОРЕВЂ. Слово о полку Ігоревім. Слово о полку Игореве.|website=izbornyk.org.ua|access-date=2017-11-17}}</ref> |- ! ''Transliteration'' | ''Ne lěpo li ny bjašetŭ bratije, načjati starymi slovesy trudnyxŭ pověstij o pŭlku Igorevě, Igorja Svjatŭslaviča? Načati že sia tŭj pěsni po bylinamŭ sego vremeni, a ne po zamyšleniju Bojanju. Bojanŭ bo věščij, ašče komu xotjaše pěsnĭ tvoriti, to rastěkašetsja mysliju po drevu, sěrymŭ vŭlkomŭ po zemli, šizymŭ orlomŭ podŭ oblaky.'' |- ! English | Would it not be meet, o brothers, for us to begin with the old words the martial telling of the host of Igor, of Igor Sviatoslavlich? And to begin in the way of the true tales of this time, and not in the way of Bojan's inventions. For the wise Bojan, if he wished to devote to someone [his] song, would fly in thought in the trees, like a grey wolf over land, like a bluish eagle beneath the clouds. |} Illustrates the sung [[epic poetry|epic]]s, with typical use of metaphor and simile. It has been suggested that the phrase растекаться мыслью по древу (to run in thought upon/over wood), which has become proverbial in modern Russian with the meaning "to speak ornately, at length, excessively," is a misreading of an original мысію (akin to {{lang|ru|[[wikt:мышь#Russian|мышь]]}} "mouse") from "run like a squirrel/mouse on a tree"; however, the reading мыслью is present in both the manuscript copy of 1790 and the first edition of 1800, and in all subsequent scholarly editions. == Old East Slavic literature == {{citation needed section|date=December 2020}} The Old East Slavic language developed a certain literature of its own, though much of it (in hand with those of the Slavic languages that were, after all, written down) was influenced as regards style and vocabulary by religious texts written in Church Slavonic. Surviving literary monuments include the legal code [[Ruska Pravda|''Justice of the Rus'']] (''Руська правда'' {{IPA|/rusʲka pravda/}}), a corpus of [[hagiography]] and [[homily]], the epic [[The Tale of Igor's Campaign|Song of Igor]] (''Слово о полку игореве'' {{IPA|/slovo o polku iɡorʲevʲe/}}) and the earliest surviving manuscript of the [[Primary Chronicle]] (''Повесть временных лет'' {{IPA|/povʲestʲ vrʲemʲennix lʲet/}}) – the Laurentian codex (''Лаврентьевский список'' {{IPA|/lavrʲentʲjevskij spʲisok/}}) of 1377. The earliest dated specimen of Old East Slavic (or, rather, of [[Church Slavonic]] with pronounced East Slavic interference) must be considered the written ''Slovo o zakone i blagodati'', by [[Hilarion of Kiev|Hilarion]], [[metropolitan bishop|metropolitan]] of [[Kiev]]. In this work there is a panegyric on Prince [[Vladimir of Kiev]], the hero of so much of East Slavic popular poetry. It is rivalled by another panegyric on Vladimir, written a decade later by Yakov the Monk. [[File:ostromirovo.jpg|left|thumb|250px|''[[Ostromir Gospels]]'' from [[Novgorod]] (mid-eleventh century)]] Other eleventh-century writers are Theodosius, a monk of the [[Kyiv Pechersk Lavra]], who wrote on the Latin faith and some ''Pouchenia'' or ''Instructions'', and [[Luka Zhidiata]], bishop of [[Novgorod]], who has left a curious ''Discourse to the Brethren''. From the writings of Theodosius we see that many pagan habits were still in vogue among the people. He finds fault with them for allowing these to continue, and also for their drunkenness; nor do the monks escape his censures. Zhidiata writes in a more vernacular style than many of his contemporaries; he eschews the declamatory tone of the Byzantine authors. And here may be mentioned the many lives of the saints and the Fathers to be found in early East Slavic literature, starting with the two Lives of Sts [[Boris and Gleb]], written in the late eleventh century and attributed to Jacob the Monk and to [[Nestor the Chronicler]]. With the so-called [[Primary Chronicle]], also attributed to Nestor, begins the long series of the Russian annalists. There is a regular catena of these chronicles, extending with only two breaks to the seventeenth century. Besides the work attributed to [[Nestor the Chronicler]], there are the chronicles of [[Novgorod]], [[Kiev]], [[Volhynia]] and many others. Every town of any importance could boast of its annalists, [[Pskov]] and [[Suzdal]] among others. In the twelfth century we have the sermons of bishop [[Cyril of Turov]], which are attempts to imitate in Old East Slavic the florid Byzantine style. In his sermon on [[Holy Week]], [[Christianity]] is represented under the form of spring, [[Paganism]] and [[Judaism]] under that of winter, and evil thoughts are spoken of as boisterous winds. [[File:beresta.jpg|right|thumb|250px|Literate fourteenth-century [[Novgorod Republic|Novgorodian]] children sent each other letters written on [[Birch bark document|birch bark]]]] There are also the works of early travellers, as the igumen Daniel, who visited the [[Holy Land]] at the end of the eleventh and beginning of the twelfth century. A later traveller was [[Afanasiy Nikitin]], a merchant of [[Tver]], who visited [[India]] in 1470. He has left a [[A Journey Beyond the Three Seas|record of his adventures]], which has been translated into English and published for the [[Hakluyt Society]]. A curious monument of old Slavonic times is the ''Pouchenie'' (Instruction), written by [[Vladimir Monomakh]] for the benefit of his sons. This composition is generally found inserted in the Chronicle of Nestor; it gives a fine picture of the daily life of a Slavonic prince. ''The Paterik of the Kievan Caves Monastery'' is a typical medieval collection of stories from the life of monks, featuring devils, angels, ghosts, and miraculous resurrections. [[The Tale of Igor's Campaign|Lay of Igor's Campaign]] narrates the expedition of [[Igor Svyatoslavich]], prince of [[Novhorod-Siverskyi]] against the [[Cumans]]. It is neither [[Epic poetry|epic]] nor a poem but is written in [[rhythmic prose]]. An interesting aspect of the text is its mix of [[Christianity]] and ancient [[Slavic mythology|Slavic religion]]. Igor's wife Yaroslavna famously invokes natural forces from the walls of [[Putyvl]]. Christian motifs present along with depersonalised pagan gods in the form of artistic images. Another aspect, which sets the book apart from contemporary Western epics, are its numerous and vivid descriptions of nature, and the role which nature plays in human lives. Of the whole bulk of the Old East Slavic literature, the Lay is the only work familiar to every educated Russian or Ukrainian. Its brooding flow of images, murky [[metaphor]]s, and ever changing rhythm have not been successfully rendered into English yet. Indeed, the meanings of many words found in it have not been satisfactorily explained by scholars. The ''[[Zadonshchina]]'' is a sort of prose poem much in the style of the ''Tale of Igor's Campaign'', and the resemblance of the latter to this piece furnishes an additional proof of its genuineness. This account of the [[battle of Kulikovo]], which was gained by [[Dmitri Donskoi]] over the [[Mongols]] in 1380, has come down in three important versions. The early laws of Rus’ present many features of interest, such as the ''[[Russkaya Pravda]]'' of [[Yaroslav the Wise]], which is preserved in the chronicle of Novgorod; the date is between 1018 and 1072. == Study == The earliest attempts to compile a comprehensive [[lexicon]] of Old East Slavic were undertaken by [[Alexander Vostokov]] and [[Izmail Sreznevsky]] in the nineteenth century. Sreznevsky's ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20101125143351/http://imwerden.de/cat/modules.php?name=books&pa=last_update&pagenum=2&order=p.title,%20p.original&sort=&cid=26&lettereng=&letter= Materials for the Dictionary of the Old Russian Language on the Basis of Written Records]'' (1893–1903), though incomplete, remained a standard reference until the appearance of a 24-volume academic dictionary in 1975–99. == Notable texts == [[File:Novgorod Codex.jpg|thumb|200px|First page of the tenth-century [[Novgorod Codex]], thought to be the oldest East Slavic book in existence]] * ''[[Bylina]]s'' * ''[[The Tale of Igor's Campaign]]'' – the most outstanding literary work in this language * ''[[Russkaya Pravda]]'' – an eleventh-century legal code issued by [[Yaroslav the Wise]] * ''[[Praying of Daniel the Immured]]'' * ''[[A Journey Beyond the Three Seas]]'' ==See also== * [[Belarusian language]] * [[East Slavic languages#History|History of the East Slavic languages]] * [[Russian language]] * [[Rusyn language]] * [[Ruthenian language]] * [[Slavic languages]] * [[Ukrainian language]] * [[List of Latvian words borrowed from Old East Slavic]] * [[Old Russian literature]] ==Notes== {{Reflist}} == References == {{Refbegin}} * {{cite journal|url=https://revistas.ufrj.br/index.php/slovo/article/view/17473|title=Uma breve introdução ao idioma eslavo oriental antigo|journal=Slovo – Revista de Estudos em Eslavística|last=Simone|first=Lucas Ricardo|year=2018|volume=1|issue=1|pages=14–39|lang=pt}} * {{cite EB1911 |wstitle=Slavonic, Old |volume=25 |pages=227–228}} * {{cite EB1911 |wstitle=Slavs |volume=25 |pages=228–237 |first=Ellis Hovell |last=Minns}} {{Refend}} == External links == * [https://lrc.la.utexas.edu/eieol/oruol Old Russian Online] by Todd B. Krause and Jonathan Slocum, free online lessons at the [https://liberalarts.utexas.edu/lrc Linguistics Research Center] at the [[University of Texas at Austin]] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20110716114537/http://character.webzone.ru/ostromir.htm Ostromir's Gospel Online] * [http://www.drevne.ru/ Online library of the Old Russian texts] {{in lang|ru}} * [http://lib.pushkinskijdom.ru/Default.aspx?tabid=2070 The Pushkin House], a great 12-volumed collection of ancient texts of the 11th–17th centuries with parallel Russian translations * [http://litopys.org.ua/ ''Izbornyk''], library of Old East Slavic chronicles with Ukrainian and Russian translations {{Slavic languages}} {{Authority control}} [[Category:Old East Slavic| ]] [[Category:Belarusian language]] [[Category:Russian language]] [[Category:Ukrainian language]]'