The famous Soviet-era linguist Lev Uspensky calls it the most expensive letter in the world. In his work on the origin of words, you can see how he relates to it. According to him - "she definitely does nothing, does not help anything, does not express anything." A pertinent question arises - how did the letter b appear in the Russian language, and what role was assigned to it by the creators?
The history of the appearance of the letter b
The authorship of the first Russian alphabet is attributed to Cyril and Methodius. The so-called Cyrillic alphabet, which was based on the Greek language, appeared in 863 after the birth of Christ. In their alphabet - a solid sign was number 29 and sounded like EP. (before the reform of 1917-1918 - the 27th in a row). The letter Ъ was a short semi-vowel sound without pronunciation. It was placed at the end of a word after a solid consonant.
What then is the meaning of this letter? There are two plausible versions of this explanation.
The first option concerned the Old Slavonic letter itself. Since there were simply no spaces familiar to us at that time, it was she who helped to correctly divide the line into words. As an example: "to God's chosen king."
The second explanation is associated with the Church Slavonic pronunciation of words. It was ER that did not muffle the voiced consonant when reading the word, as we see in modern Russian.
We pronounce the words flu and mushroom, which are different in meaning, the same way - (flu). There was no such sound phonetics in the Old Slavonic language. All words are spelled and spoken. For example: slave, friend, bread. This was explained by the fact that the division of syllables in the Old Slavonic language obeyed one law, which sounded like this:
“In the Old Church Slavonic language, the ending of a word cannot have consonants. Otherwise, the syllable will be closed. What cannot be according to this law.
In view of the above, we decided to attribute EP (b) at the end of words where there are consonants. So it turns out: Deli, Traktir, Lombard or Address.
In addition to the above two reasons, there is also a third. It turns out that the letter b was used to denote the masculine gender. For example, in nouns: Alexander, magician, forehead. They also inserted it into verbs, for example: put, sat down, (past tense masculine gender).
Over time, the letter b performed the function of a word separator less and less often. But the “useless” Kommersant at the end of the words still held its positions. According to the aforementioned linguist Uspensky L.V. this little "squiggle" could take up to 4% of the entire text. And this is millions and millions of pages annually.
18th century reforms
Anyone who believes that the Bolsheviks made a control shot in the “head” of the malicious letter Kommersant and thereby cleansed the Russian language of church prejudices is a little mistaken. The Bolsheviks in the seventeenth year simply "finished off" her. It all started much earlier!
Peter himself thought about the reform of the language, especially about Russian writing. An experimenter in life, Peter has long dreamed of inhaling new life into the "decrepit" Old Slavonic language. Unfortunately, his plans only remained plans. But the fact that he moved this issue off the ground is his merit.
The reforms that Peter began from 1708 to 1710 primarily affected the church font. The filigree "squiggles" of church letters were replaced by common ones. Letters such as "Omega", "Psi" or "Yusy" have gone into oblivion. The familiar letters E and Z appeared.
IN Russian Academy Sciences began to think about the rationality of the use of certain letters. So the idea of excluding Izhitsa from the alphabet arose among academicians as early as 1735. And in one of the printing publications of the same academy, a few years later, an article was published without the notorious letter Ъ at the end.
Control shot for the letter b
In 1917, there were two shots - one on the Aurora cruiser, the other at the Academy of Sciences. Someone believes that the reform of Russian writing is the merit of the Bolsheviks alone. But historical documents confirm that in this matter, tsarist Russia also moved forward.
In the first years of the 20th century, Moscow and Kazan linguists were already talking about the reform of the Russian language. 1904 was the first step in this direction. A special commission was created at the Academy of Sciences, the purpose of which was to simplify the Russian language. One of the questions on the commission was the notorious letter Ъ. Then the Russian alphabet lost "Fita" and "Yat". New spelling rules were introduced in 1912, but, unfortunately, they never passed the censorship then.
Thunder struck on December 23, 1917 (01/05/18). On this day, People's Commissar of Education Lunacharsky A.V. signed a decree on the transition to a new spelling. The letter Ъ - as a symbol of resistance to the Bolsheviks, let out its last breath.
To speed up the funeral of everything that was connected with " tsarist regime» On November 4, 1918, the Bolsheviks issued a decree on the removal of the letter Ъ from the printing houses of the matrix and letters. As a result of this, the spelling miscarriage of the Bolsheviks appeared - the apostrophe. The separator function was now played by a comma (up, down, exit).
One era ends, another begins. Who would have thought that the small letter b would become so big and important in the confrontation between the two worlds, white and red, old and new, before and after the shot!
But the letter b remained. Remained just like the 28th letter of the alphabet. In modern Russian, it plays a different role. But this is a completely different story.
The letter, which we now simply call the "solid sign", appeared in the alphabet created by Cyril and Methodius. In those days, there were no computers or even typewriters. The texts were written by hand. Often the words merged into a single whole. That is why, according to one of the versions, at first main function a solid sign was the division of words among themselves.
Another reason for the appearance of "b" linguists consider features Old Church Slavonic. The fact is that earlier the spelling of the word fully corresponded to its pronunciation. For example, today the words "mushroom" and "flu" are pronounced the same, but are spelled differently. And in the old days, such phenomena simply did not exist in nature.
Moreover, according to the old rules, the word simply could not end in a consonant. It was an axiom of spelling that did not require any proof. Like modern rules Russian language, which cannot be explained, they just need to be remembered.
In addition, at first a solid sign denoted the belonging of a particular word to the masculine gender. Moreover, it could be both a noun and a verb: forehead, put.
LETTER Ъ: PRESENT AND PAST
Yuzhannikov Vladislav
5 A class, MBOU "Secondary School No. 31"
Kanifatova Alena Alexandrovna
scientific adviser, teacher of Russian language and literature,Novokuznetsk
There are 33 letters in the Russian alphabet. Most of these letters have their own sound designation, and sometimes not one, but two. So, for example, in the word CONFERENCE and in the second and third syllables there is the letter E, but in the second syllable in a weak position without stress, we pronounce the vowel sound AND, and in the third syllable the sound E is stressed. A special place among all letters is occupied by soft and solid signs, since they do not give sounds. These letters have their own special roles in words. So we know that the letter b ( soft sign) serves to indicate the softness of a consonant sound (salt, coat), and also performs a separate function (blizzard, ants). In contrast to this letter, the role of a solid sign is assigned a small one. It acts as a division. The only letters that can be preceded by a solid sign are E, Yo, Yu and Ya (raz e hut, sj yo mka, raz I take off, lift Yu bnik). However, recently in Russia attempts have been made to use this letter for other purposes.
Increasingly, on the streets of our city, we come across signboards of the names of any institutions, at the end of which a solid sign flaunts. For example, real estate agencies Variant, Address, Lombard store, Petr coffee, Gatronom magazine, Yamschik taxi, etc.
In this regard, the problem of this work is to find out: why in modern names the letter Ъ appears at the end of their own names, what is the history of this letter.
The purpose of this study: trace the use of the letter Ъ in modern names in terms of its validity and significance.
In order to acquaint children with letters, in modern alphabet books for each letter, to facilitate the child, not only a drawing is offered, but also a small poem. What can you write about a solid sign? Let's look at some of these books.
1. We know that there is both an entrance and an exit,
There is a rise, and there is an entrance,
We can't do without them
Very important… (firm sign)
2. Announces b:
The beast is my enemy and the bird is my enemy!
I'd rather hide in the porch,
And no one will eat me!
3. I can't find anything
The zoo has a solid sign.
I don't know these animals.
Help me friends!
In a poem by Danish K. about a solid sign, the stanza caught my attention:
Used to be an important person
He was held in high esteem under the king,
He is almost in every word
I have visited and served.
The question arises: what service did the solid sign perform earlier.
After consulting various sources, I found three main functions of this letter in Old Russian.
So, in the first Russian alphabet, created by the enlighteners, the brothers Cyril and Methodius, the letter Ъ (solid sign) was called EP and was the 29th letter denoting an ultra-short vowel sound that is not pronounced. However, in writing, the use of this unpronounceable letter was not useful: it helped to correctly break the line - into words (before switching to the use of spaces): For example: to God's chosen king.
But it should be noted that this hypothesis does not justify the appearance of this letter in modern names. Since, according to my observations, this sign is found in proper names, consisting of only one word (“Admiral”, “Traktir”, “Gastronom”). In addition, as already mentioned, this letter played the role of an ultra-short vowel sound. In Russian, a vowel is a syllabic sound, so there are as many syllables in a word as there are vowels in it: aria(3 syllables), lighthouse(2 syllables), flight(1 syllable). Syllables are either open (ending in a vowel) or closed (ending in a consonant). For example, in the word ko-ro-na all syllables are open, and in the word ar-buz both syllables are closed.
A characteristic feature of syllable division in the Old Russian language was that it obeyed the law open syllable, as a result of which all syllables were open, that is, they ended in a vowel sound. The law of an open syllable determined the fact that in the Old Russian language there could not be consonants at the end of a word, since in this case the syllable would be closed. Therefore, at the end of words ending in consonants, they wrote b (ep).
Let's trace it on the studied material. Traktir, Admiral coffee, Lombard store, Petr coffee, Gastronom magazine, Yamshchik taxi, Variant and Address real estate agencies ... Indeed, in all cases, this letter is written at the end of the word , after a consonant sound, in this case, the modern closed syllable is transformed into an open one.
The famous Russian linguist Lev Vasilyevich Uspensky (1900-1978) in his book “Word about Words” calls the solid sign “the most expensive letter in the world”. Since, in his opinion, "he did not help anything, did not express anything, did absolutely nothing." And in some texts this sign was used more often than other vowels. Let us trace this in an excerpt from the ancient Russian chronicle "The Tale of Bygone Years".
In total, there are 144 words in this text, which account for 31 ep, in fact, this sign is written in every fourth word, and in some words it occurs twice. For example: prashal, entered, volkhbhvov.
The Soviet authorities also noticed the meaningless use of this sign, which greatly increased the text and, accordingly, the cost of printing. Therefore, according to the Decree "On the introduction of a new spelling" (1918), the letter b (er) was excluded from the Russian alphabet. There was nothing to mean and "separating er" in the middle of words. They came up with a replacement: in its place they began to put an apostrophe (superscript comma) or quotation marks after the previous letter. In August 1928, the government recognized the use of an apostrophe in the middle of a word instead of the letter "solid sign" as unusual for Russian grammar. In modern Russian orthography, Ъ (a hard sign) is used only as a separator between a consonant and a vowel. Most often used at the junction of a prefix and a root (announcement, entrance), as well as in some borrowed words (adjutant, injection) and in two adjoining full (not abbreviated!) stems in compound words(three-tiered).
It should be noted that in the Old Russian language, in addition to two functions (space and syllable formation), the letter Ъ (ep) had a third function - an indicator of the masculine gender. It was written after consonants at the end of nouns (Oleg, sorcerer, lob), in past tense masculine verbs (put, died), and also in short adjectives masculine (forehead gol, knyaz is beautiful). When he disappeared from this position, the masculine gender began to be determined by the graphic zero, as opposed to the feminine (book - table).
Does the bj (hard sign) perform this function in modern names? Traktir, Admiral coffee, Lombard store, Petr coffee, Gastronom magazine, Yamshchik taxi, Variant and Address real estate agencies ... Indeed, all these are masculine nouns.
Therefore, based on the studied material, the appearance of the letter Ъ (hard sign) in the modern names of various institutions can be justified from the point of view of the history of this letter. First, as an ultra-short vowel that transforms a closed syllable into an open one. Secondly, in all these words, the solid sign is also an indicator of the masculine gender, according to the laws of the Old Russian language.
But did the entrepreneurs who added this letter to the names of their firms know these facts? I addressed this question to entrepreneurs and employees of these institutions. A total of 14 people were interviewed. Of these, only 3 people know that it was once a vowel, 12 people know that this letter was written at the end of masculine nouns. When asked what they were guided by, adding Ъ (hard sign) after solid consonants, they unanimously answered that these are commercial tricks that serve to create a certain image for a product or institution, which is designed to emphasize the quality of the enterprise, using a stable representation: “pre-revolutionary (old) ' = 'good'.
There are a number of shops in our city, in the name of which there can be a solid sign at the end of the word: "Cosmos", "Sapphire", "Stimulus", "Comfort", "Zenith", "Visit", "Phoenix", "Topaz" . I hope that in the future, if entrepreneurs want to add the letter Ъ (hard sign) to the names of their companies and institutions, this will not only be a tribute to fashion or a commercial move, but a historically sound decision.
Bibliography:
- Gorshkov A.I. All the richness, strength and flexibility of our language. A.S. Pushkin in the history of the Russian language: A book for extracurricular reading of students - M .: Education, 1993. - 176 p.: ill. - ISBN5-09-003452-4.
- Gorbanevsky M.V. In the world of names and titles. - M.: Knowledge, 1983. - 192 p.
- Russian language. Theoretical description. Tutorial for students of the specialty "Russian Language and Literature" Kuibyshev, 2012: pp. 35-38
- Uspensky L.. A word about words. Essays on Language, Children's Literature, 1971 http://royallib.ru
- [Electronic resource]. Access mode: URL: http://www.grafomanam.
- [Electronic resource]. Access mode: URL: http://ja-rastu.ru/poeme/azbuka/
- [Electronic resource]. Access mode: URL: http://ru.wikipedia
- [Electronic resource]. Access mode: URL:
98 years ago, Russian spelling underwent significant changes: the letters "fita" (Ѳ), "and decimal" (I) and the now fashionable "yat" (ѣ) were deleted from the alphabet. The proletarian reform also changed the rules for using a solid sign, or, as it was called under the emperor, "er": the unpronounceable letter no longer needed to be placed at the end of words ending in a consonant: there was no sense. However, as history has shown, businessmen disagreed with innovations.
According to SPARK-Interfax, more than 50 Russian companies used the word "yat" in their names, and another 219 organizations - a hard sign. In the vast majority of cases, "ъ" and "ѣ" are used in the areas of trade (both retail and wholesale), a little less often - in the names of construction and law firms. According to experts, brands in the old manner are an attempt to artificially instill history and traditions in the company.
Under the magical influence of the old rules of the Russian language, the beer restaurant "Durdin", the restaurant "Cafe Pushkin", the bakeries "Daily Bread", vodka "Ѣ", the newspaper "Kommersant", the club of mixed martial arts "R.O.D.", St. Petersburg restaurant "Restoran". And there are dozens of such examples.
The BQB company, which was developing the Yat vodka brand (the company logo looks like the now unused letter "ѣ"), notes on its official website that Nicholas I refused during his reign (the first half of the 19th century. - Note. Life) to abolish the unpronounceable letter, arguing that it is - "a mark of difference between literate and illiterate gentlemen." That is why, as the agency claims, the advertised alcohol is "a product for competent gentlemen who understand a lot about real Russian vodka."
And the head of the club of mixed martial arts "R.O.D.b." Ivan Ivanov said that he wanted to emphasize with a firm sign in the name of the organization that everyone who comes to study will go to the end and achieve their goals.
When we came up with the name, we decided to rely on the most important root in the Russian language - "genus". It is with him that the most precious thing in a person is connected: parents, homeland, for example. This is something for which you can fight, for the sake of which you can become better. We also wanted to show the firmness of our intentions and those who will come to us, so we also added "b", says Ivanov.
Elena Galinskaya, professor of the Russian language department of the Faculty of Philology of Moscow State University, in turn, said that the letter "ѣ" was abolished, because over time it became clear that it duplicates "e" in its sound.
Once the sounds were different, but over time, both letters sounded like "e". The only difference was in writing. Children in gymnasiums had to memorize a list of words (rhymes) in which the letter "yat" was used. Therefore, we can say that only very literate people could use "ѣ" - says Galinskaya. - A solid sign in the 11th century was considered a vowel (that is, in the word "bread" after the sound "p" there was something similar to a short "s". - Note. Life), then it became clear that it was necessary to get rid of redundancy in spelling.
According to the professor, entrepreneurs who use "yat" or a hard sign at the end in company names are dudes.
Still good if used correctly. For example, the bakery near the "Park Kultury" used to (now removed) called itself "Chl ѣb urgent "(chain of bakeries Le Pain Quotidien. - Note. Life), but this is incorrect. If you use "yat", then you must be guided by the fully old spelling rules. According to them, it was necessary to write "Daily Bread" correctly.
It was not possible to get a prompt comment from the Le Pain Quotidien bakery.
As explained by a source in the market, the outdated letter in the name is used in order to attract the attention of an adult audience (over 40 years old).
These people often perceive "yat" or even a hard sign at the end of a word as a symbol, if you can call it that, of "soft dissidence." IN Soviet time often "yat" was used by those who did not want to put up with the power of the proletarians. After all, a whole era has gone with the old spelling rules, - says the interlocutor. - We also tried to bring ourselves closer to the entrepreneurs of the 19th century: Grigory Eliseev, Savva Morozov. What if our brand is the same old? We appealed to the super-memory of consumers. Still, not everyone knew how to use "yat" correctly in tsarist Russia, this is really a letter for intelligent people.
Life, in turn, asked readers about what associations the letter "yat" and a solid sign after a consonant evoke. It turned out that some Russians immediately present texts in Church Slavonic, while others react negatively to "ѣ", calling such naming bad taste.
It is worth noting that the fashion for the old spelling has reached social networks. For example, on VKontakte there are groups "Pre-revolutionary adviser" (more than 50 thousand people subscribed to it) and "Ub refuge in the native language. My home and my fortress "(more than 3 thousand subscribers). And a number of members of the first public (it is open to everyone) do not just read the posts of admins written in the old style, but in the same manner they comment on the entries:"Really, gentlemen, this young lady is a marvelous siren. Other sirs would lay half the world at her feet, ""This is both laughter and sin. "And judging by the high calm (without any sarcasm) Russians are trying to communicate on the public page, some find such groups funny (here" new language", and therefore we can recall the" lethargy effect"), others, perhaps, really feel part of a special intelligent layer.
Member of the Guild of Marketers Nicholas Corot emphasized that the letter itself cannot bring anything to the business, it should be an organic addition to the brand legend.
A deliberate manifestation of the archaic (that is, antiquity. - Note. Life) in the form of letters lost from the alphabet is not associated with monarchist trends in business or some kind of nostalgia. This is a visual sign of the connection of times. A pseudo-legend is created, which says that the brand survived the Soviet era, that it follows the traditions, - explains Koro. - Also, the use of "yat" or a solid sign can be a full-fledged address to the imperial trend. And he is.
At the same time, the marketer noted that there is nothing special in the choice of "ъ" and "ѣ". Sooner or later the disappearing letters will be used by entrepreneurs.
A good example is the letter "e". It is no longer printed anywhere with dots. Outwardly, today it is exactly the same as "e", and therefore it will probably disappear soon. Therefore, brands are already appearing today that deliberately expose "yo" with dots. After all, on the one hand, this letter has a certain slang component (rapper), on the other hand, lexical, including non-normative overtones.
The head of the Nota Bene PR agency, Natalya Bulanova, emphasized that no one "yat" or a hard sign at the end is introduced "from the ceiling" into the name of their company.
The brand must match. This is a direct reference to the old Russian traditions. And it doesn't matter how old the company is (even three years, for example). She wants to show the consumer that she can be trusted, says Bulanova. - And this did not bother the Russian buyer. It cannot be said that such a phenomenon is very common. Such a "trick" with the birth of a legend works because few people will bother and search the Internet for how old the company is, whether it has a history. Purely visually, this makes one believe in quality when it comes to a small purchase (sausage, for example). If a person buys a car or an apartment, then, of course, he will not believe in any fairy tales.
