Yet, in the second half of the 11th century, one can see clearly the differences between the “old” Bulgarians and the “new” ones, who had emerged under the powerful pressure of Christianity and the Slavonic influence during the 9th 10th centuries.
The most impressive literary achievement of the holy brothers Cyril and Methodius from the second half of the 8 century is not the design of the script system. As it is well known, several decades later, the Glagolitic script, which is in fact a new graphic system, created by the holy brothers, was replaced by the Cyrillic alphabet. The real meaning of the work of Cyril and Methodius is the creation of numerous neologisms which were drawn from the lexis of the living speech.
Old Bulgarian idiom
The Old Bulgarian of the holy brothers and their disciples could have easily borrowed the words of the Greek language, ready and shaped by time, and correctly reflecting the complex notions of theological literature. But new words appeared in their stead, building the conceptual framework of the Old Bulgarian idiom. On the other hand, this advantage of the literary Old Bulgarian language of 9th—10th centuries raised it to the level of the two major languages of early medieval Europe Greek and Latin.
Hebrew had a limited use on the continent because it was used in the comparisons of the originals of the Old Testament, although often the Old Greek translation of the Old Testament, made in Alexandria in the 3rd century BC (the so-called Septuaginta or the translation of the 70 scholars) was used. Thus Old Bulgarian became one of the ancient classical languages as early as the 10th century and in the course of time it developed their characteristics. The national literatures of Serbs, Russians and Romanians, which originated on its basis in the Middle Ages, expanded the territory of the Old Bulgarian language in the vast spaces of Southeastern and Eastern Europe.
“Eternal glory to Cyril the Philosopher who translated the word of God from the Greek into Bulgarian language and educated the Bulgarians, the new second apostle in the reign of Mihail and the righteous Queen Theodora, his mother who decorated the divine church with holy icons and championed Orthodoxy”.
Another significant quality of the Old ‘ Bulgarian language and the literature of the early medieval period is their closeness to the language spoken by the people. There is no similar closeness between the spoken and the written languages in Byzantium.
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