CYRILLIC ALPHABET SOUPRUSSIAN LANGUAGE IN BRIEF

Made by:KU Center for Russian, East European & Eurasian Studies

WHY STUDY RUSSIAN? Spoken by approx. 175 million people Primary language of Russia and Belarus Native language in all the former

republics of the USSR (15 countries) Lingua Franca of Eastern Europe Deemed “critical” by U.S. State Dept Required of all NASA Astronauts It’s awesome!

9TH C. MORAVIA Byzantine Empire Cyril & Methodius Glagolitic Alphabet St. Clement of Ohrid Cyrillic

BRIEF HISTORY

9TH C. MORAVIA Ruler of Moravia requested Christian missionaries from the Byzantine Empire.

BYZANTINE EMPIREEmperor Michael III sent monks Cyril and Methodius to spread Christianity to: Bulgaria, Moravia, and Pannonia (Central & Southeast Europe).

GLAGOLITIC ALPHABETCombination of Greek letters and made-up letters denoting Slavic sounds used to translate Christian texts into languages spoken in Central Europe.

ST. CLEMENT OF OHRIDDisciple of Cyril & Methodius who simplified Glagolitic Alphabet into the earliest known form of Cyrillic…(maybe – see Preslav Literary School in Bulgarian Empire for more info).

SINCE THEN… 12th C. Cyrillic dominated Glagolitic as the

preferred alphabet in Eastern Europe. In the 9 centuries since then, it has adapted,

developed and changed into regional variations.

Today, 90 languages write w/ a Cyrillic Alphabet, including Russian.

LANGUAGES THAT USE CYRILLICEAST SLAVICRussianUkrainianBelarussianRusyn

SOUTH SLAVICBulgarianBosnianSerbianMontenegrinMacedonian

URALICKarelianKildin SamiKomi-PermyakMari

IRANIAN

KurdishOssetianTajik

TURKICAzerbaijaniBashkirKazakhChuvashKyrgyzTatarTurkmenUzbek

CHINESEDungan

MONGOLIANKhalkha

BuryatKalmyk

CAUCASIANAbkhazAvarLezgian

OTHERRomaniEskimo-AleutChukotko-KamchatkanTungusic

AND MORE!

RUSSIAN LANGUAGEРУССКЫЙ ЯЗЫК

33 letters: 10 vowels, 21 consonants & 2 signs

Let’s practice!

Can you

Translate?Hint: use the Russian Alphabet Chart to decode the following U.S. states and cities.

1. КАНЗАС

2. ВАШИНГТОН

3. МОНТАНА

4. БОСТОН

5. ЦИНЦИННАТИ

6. САН ФРАНЦИСКО

7. ЛОС АНДЖЕЛЕС

8. ФИЛАДЕЛЬФИЯ

9. КАЛИФОРНИЯ

10. МИССУРИ

11. НЬЮ ЙОРК

12. МИЧИГАН

13. КОЛОРАДО

14. МИССИСИПИ

KANSAS

WASHINGTON

MONTANA

BOSTON

CINNCINNATI

SAN FRANCISCO

LOS ANGELES

PHILADELPHIA

CALIFORNIA

MISSOURI

NEW YORK

MICHIGAN

COLORADO

MISSISSIPPI

Let’s try something

AdvancedYou know more Russian than you think…

1. МЕТРО

2. ТАКСИ

3. ТРОЛЛЕЙБУС

4. СТОП

5. СТАДИОН

6. ХОТ ДОГ

7. ПИЦЦA XAT

8. ФРУКТЫ

9. MAKDONALDC

10. PECTOPAH

METRO

TAXI

TROLLEY BUS

STOP

STADIUM

HOT DOG

PIZZA HUT

FRUIT

MCDONALDS

RESTAURANT

OTHER ONLINE RESOURCES RUSSIAN ALPHABET W/ HANDWRITING -

www.russianforeveryone.com

RUSSIAN LESSONS - www.russianlessons.net

LEARN TO READ RUSSIAN IN 15 MINUTEStumblr by Peter Starr Northrop and Ryan Estrada

СПАСИБО! THANK YOU!

UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS CENTER FOR RUSSIAN, EAST EUROPEAN

& EURASIAN STUDIES

CREES.KU.EDUCREES@KU.EDU