Old Church Slavonic: An Elementary Grammar

by S.C. Gardiner

Old Church Slavonic, the language of the religious texts translated by Saints Cyril and Methodius for the use of the Slavonic-speaking people of Central Europe in the early Middle Ages, later to become the literary language of medieval Russia and other East European countries, is a basic component of Modern Standard Russian. This is an elementary grammar of the language for readers of English. No previous knowledge of a Slavonic language or of philology or linguistics is assumed, and the essential points are explained with the minimum of technical terms. After a brief historical introduction, the sound system and its representation by the alphabets are described. The declensions and conjugations are then set out clearly with examples. The syntax is treated more fully than in other grammars of the language, and should be of particular help to the student, as it includes many examples which can be used as reading material or as the basis for exercises. A selection of reading passages is included, together with a full glossary.

192 pages, Hardcover

First published November 30, 1984

Reviews

[Christopher]

John Gardiner's Old Church Slavonic: An Elementary Grammar is one of the few resources in English for learning the earliest attested Slavonic language and, as it was published in 1984, the most recent (if one looks past the light updating of Lunt's grammar). Gardiner's grammar begins with a short introduction about the language's origins, its alphabets, and its texts. The grammar proper is divided into sections on phonology, morphology, and syntax. A collection of reading selections is found at the end of the book, containing Tsar Samuel's inscription, selections from Khrabr's defence of the Slavonic alphabet and the Life of Methodius, the alphabet prayer, part of St. Matthew's Gospel, and two prayers.

As as student of comparative Indo-European linguistics, I found the work unsuitable for my needs. The work seems mainly geared towards students of modern Slavonic languages who just want to go a few centuries back. Gardiner treats OCS in an entirely synchronic fashion and does not treat the development of Common Slavonic out of Proto-Indo-European. The book is very sketchily written, almost as it were mere lecture notes transformed into a book. The work consists mainly of tables of paradigms with little descriptive writings as in other OCS textbooks.

If you are looking for a primer on Old Church Slavonic in a wider Indo-European context, Gardiner's book isn't even worth looking at (except maybe the reading passages); just get Nandris' Handbook of Old Church Slavonic and Schmalstieg's Old Church Slavic Grammar. However, if you are a student of Russian, Bulgarian, etc. just curious about the earlier form of the language, this (or Lunt's grammar) might be helpful.

[Isaac Linder]

Like a lot of books I've found on Slavonic Language it is mainly an academic study of linguistics rather than instruction on the language itself for liturgical purposes.