Inventing Cyrillic (2024)

Post by [deleted] » Fri, May 08, 2026, 6:33 PM UTC

pavel_lishin wrote: post #77

d_silin wrote: post #75

Cyrillic letters can be used to spice up English. Imagine having just one letter for "ch", "sh" and "th"! "She relaxed in the chair under a tree's shade" "Шe relaxed in фe чair under a tree's шade"

But ф is absolutely not the sound that "th" makes. In fact, in Russian, at least, we don't have a "th" sound. But this is better than using Д in place of "A".

Post by weezing » Fri, May 08, 2026, 6:38 PM UTC

rich_sasha wrote: post #59

Antibabelic wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Slav" deriving from the Slavic term for "word" is something of a false etymology that was invented in the 19th century. It is implausible on philological grounds: you'd expect a different vowel in this word if this were the case, and the suffix *-ninъ is only otherwise used in terms derived from place names. It is more likely[0] that the term derives from some toponym. This is in line with how tribal names tend to w…

Dunno. A nice parallel fact is that the word for "Germans" in at least a few Slavic languages literally means "mutes" - the ones who don't speak. So you'd have the Slavs - the people of word - and the Germans - the mutes.

Post by nomorewords » Fri, May 08, 2026, 6:52 PM UTC

revengerwizard wrote: post #38

culebron21 wrote: post #3

This author is suggesting that Cyrillic is a sort of tool or weapon in the arms of the authority, and is imposed upon the people for purely political reasons. This is just false projection of modern politics onto old times. It's shameless propaganda. In reality, at the time, it was the Eastern Christian church that was more liberal than Rome. Rome insisted every local church make services in Latin, and didn't transla…

Cyrillic has been used as a political weapon under the Soviet Union. For example, in soviet Moldova it was mandatory to learn to read and write cyrillic at schools. They effectively wanted to eradicate the local language and culture in favor of russian.

Post by culebron21 » Fri, May 08, 2026, 7:03 PM UTC

ak217 wrote: post #81

culebron21 wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, you're wishfully thinking. What made people absorb the Soviet version of history and politics, was school curriculum, and central TV, and teaching Russian to keep them in orbit. Cyrillic alone won't allow this.

It was one of multiple tools that were used to reinforce each other. The alphabet, of all things, obviously plays a huge role in cultural indoctrination and assimilation. You're being strangely defensive about this.

Post by AndriyKunitsyn » Fri, May 08, 2026, 7:13 PM UTC

axegon_ wrote: post #10

The article feels like AI hallucinated slop. Just a quick scroll through the page: * Sviatoslav was not a local ruler - he ruled Kievan Rus' 1500km north-east and he remained a pagan until his death, even if his mother had converted to Christianity. * Sviatoslav was born nearly 60 years after both Cyril and Methodius had died. * In 890 Boris was no longer in power but his firs son, who coincidentally tried to reverse…