Old Church Slavonic Online
Lesson 3
Todd B. Krause and Jonathan Slocum
At the time St. Cyril, then still known as Constantine, was receiving his education in Byzantium, there was a strong German effort to convert the Slavic population in Moravia to the Roman Catholic faith. Their teachings however were in Latin, and as a result, in 862 or 863, the Moravian Prince Rostislav sent to the Byzantine Emperor Michael III for a "bishop and a teacher," saying, "My people have rejected paganism and hold the Christian law, but we do not have a teacher who could preach to us in our own native tongue." The Emperor quickly chose to send Constantine, accompanied by his brother Methodius, justifying his decision with the words "You two are from Salonika, and all Thessalonians speak pure Slavonic." Constantine immediately composed an alphabet and with his brother began the process of translating the Gospels into Slavonic. It appears that, at the time, the Slavonic dialects were little enough differentiated so that a translation could be made which would be broadly intelligible.
In Moravia the brothers were well received by Prince Rostislav. Their missionary work continued for some years, although it met with constant opposition from the German clergy. After a few years, the brothers decided to depart the area, though their destination is not certain. On the way the two stopped at the court of a local ruler by the name Kocel. There, fifty new students accompanied them when they resumed their journey. They subsequently stopped in Venice, where Constantine was again inveighed against by clergy asserting that God could be praised only in the three 'holy' languages, Hebrew, Greek, and Latin. Constantine stated, in response,
"Are ye not ashamed to mention only three tongues, and to command all other nations and tribes to be blind and deaf? Tell me, render ye God powerless, that He is incapable of granting this? or envious, that He desires this not? We know of numerous peoples who possess writing, and render glory unto God, each in his own tongue. Surely these are obvious: Armenians, Persians, Abkhazians, Iberians, Sogdians, Goths, Avars, Turks, Khazars, Arabs, Egyptians, and many others."
While in Venice, the brothers received an invitation from Pope Nicholas I to come to Rome. They accepted the invitation and arrived in Rome in late 867 or early 868 only to be greeted by Pope Hadrian II, who informed them that Nicholas I had passed away in November. Nevertheless the Slavonic liturgy was blessed by the Pope, and the two brothers were consecrated priests along with their disciples. Unfortunately, Constantine soon fell ill. It was at this time that he became a monk and adopted the name Cyril. Fifty days later, on 14 February 869, Cyril passed away.
Reading and Textual Analysis
The following text is excerpted from the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 20, verses 30-34. In this tale, Jesus gives sight to two blind men he chances upon as he travels from Jericho. The OCS translation is linguistically telling in its use of the dual number throughout. By this time the dual in Greek had completely fallen away, so that the original Greek passage uses solely plural forms. The translation, by contrast, displays that the dual was a fully functioning morphological category by no means restricted to archaic phrases or purely "natural pairs."
- и -- conjunction; <и> and -- and
- сє -- interjection; <сє> lo, behold -- behold
- дъва -- adjective; nominative dual masculine of <дъва, дъвѣ> two -- two
- слѣпьса -- adjective; nominative dual masculine of <слѣпьсь> blind -- blind (men)
- сѣдѧшта -- verb; present active participle <сѣдѣти, -ждѫ, -диши> sit, remain -- sitting
- при -- preposition; <при> near; at the time of -- by
- пѫти -- noun, masculine; locative singular of <пѫть> road, way, journey -- the way (side)
- слꙑшавъша -- verb; past active participle <слꙑшати, -шаѭ, -шаѥши> hear -- when they heard
- ꙗко -- conjunction; <ꙗко> as, when; in order to; that; because; (introduces quotation) -- that
- иисѹсъ -- proper noun, masculine; nominative singular of <Иисѹсъ> Jesus -- Jesus
- мимо -- adverb; <мимо> past, by -- by
- ходитъ -- verb; 3rd person singular present of <ходити, -ждѫ, -диши> walk, go -- passed
- възъпистє -- verb; 3rd person dual aorist of <възъпити, -пиѭ, -пиѥши> cry out -- cried out
- глагол҄ѭшта -- verb; present active participle <глаголати, -л҄ѭ, -л҄ѥши> say, speak -- saying
- помилѹи -- verb; 2nd person singular imperative of <помиловати, -лѹѭ, -лѹѥши> pity, have mercy on -- have mercy on
- нꙑ -- pronoun; accusative dual of <азъ> I -- us
- господи -- noun, masculine; vocative singular of <господь> lord, master -- O Lord
- сꙑнѹ -- noun, masculine; vocative singular of <сꙑнъ> son -- (thou) son
- давꙑдовъ -- adjective; vocative singular masculine of <давꙑдовъ> of David, David's -- of David
- народъ -- noun, masculine; nominative singular of <народъ> crowd, multitude -- the multitude
- жє -- conjunction; <жє> and, but -- and
- запрѣти -- verb; 3rd person singular aorist of <запрѣтити, -штѫ, -тиши> threaten, rebuke -- rebuked
- има -- pronoun; dative dual masculine of <*и> he -- them
- да -- conjunction; <да> in order to, that; may, let; and, then -- because
- ѹмльчитє -- verb; 3rd person dual present of <ѹмлъчати, -чѫ, -чиши> be quiet, fall silent -- they should hold their peace
- она -- demonstrative pronoun; nominative dual masculine of <онъ> that -- they
- жє -- conjunction; <жє> and, but -- but
- пачє -- adverb; <пачє> more, even more -- the more
- въпьꙗашєтє -- verb; 3rd person dual imperfect of <въпити, -пиѭ, -пиѥши> cry out -- cried
- глагол҄ѭшта -- verb; present active participle <глаголати, -л҄ѭ, -л҄ѥши> say, speak -- saying
- помилѹи -- verb; 2nd person singular imperative of <помиловати, -лѹѭ, -лѹѥши> pity, have mercy on -- have mercy on
- нꙑ -- pronoun; accusative dual of <азъ> I -- us
- господи -- noun, masculine; vocative singular of <господь> lord, master -- O Lord
- сꙑнѹ -- noun, masculine; vocative singular of <сꙑнъ> son -- (thou) son
- давꙑдовъ -- adjective; vocative singular masculine of <давꙑдовъ> of David, David's -- of David
- и -- conjunction; <и> and -- and
- ставъ -- verb; past active participle <стаꙗти, стаѭ, стаѥши> stand -- stood still
- иисѹсъ -- proper noun, masculine; nominative singular of <Иисѹсъ> Jesus -- Jesus
- възгласи -- verb; 3rd person singular aorist of <възгласити, -шѫ, -сиши> hail, cry out -- called
- ꙗ -- pronoun; accusative dual masculine of <*и> he -- them
- и -- conjunction; <и> and -- and
- рєчє -- verb; 3rd person singular aorist of <рєшти, рєкѫ, рєчєши> say, tell -- said
- чьто -- interrogative pronoun; accusative singular neuter of <чьто> what -- what
- хоштєта -- verb; 2nd person dual present of <хотѣти, хоштѫ, хоштєши> want, wish -- will ye
- да -- conjunction; <да> in order to, that; may, let; and, then -- that
- сътвор҄ѭ -- verb; 1st person singular present of <сътворити, -рѭ, -риши> do, make -- I shall do
- вама -- pronoun; dative dual of <тꙑ> you, thou -- unto you
- глаголастє -- verb; 3rd person dual aorist of <глаголати, -л҄ѭ, -л҄ѥши> say, speak -- they say
- ємѹ -- pronoun; dative singular masculine of <*и> he -- unto him
- господи -- noun, masculine; vocative singular of <господь> lord, master -- Lord
- да -- conjunction; <да> in order to, that; may, let; and, then -- that
- отврьзєтє сѧ -- verb; 2nd person dual present reflexive of <отъврѣсти, -връзѫ, -връзєши> open -- may be opened
- наю -- pronoun; dative dual of <азъ> I -- our
- очи -- noun, neuter; nominative dual of <око> eye -- eyes
- милосрьдовавъ -- verb; past active participle <милосрьдовати, -дѹѭ, -дѹѥши> take pity on -- had compassion (on them)
- жє -- conjunction; <жє> and, but -- so
- иисѹсъ -- proper noun, masculine; nominative singular of <Иисѹсъ> Jesus -- Jesus
- прикоснѫ сѧ -- verb; 3rd person singular aorist of <прикоснѫти сѧ, -нѫ, -нєши> touch -- (and) touched
- очью -- noun, neuter; locative dual of <око> eye -- eyes
- има -- pronoun; dative dual masculine of <*и> he -- their
- и -- conjunction; <и> and -- and
- абьє -- particle; <абьє> right away -- immediately
- прозьрѣстє -- verb; 3rd person dual aorist of <прозрѣти, -зрѭ, -зриши> see, gain power of sight; forsee -- their eyes received sight
- и -- conjunction; <и> and -- and
- по -- preposition; <по> after; according to -- ...
- н҄ємь -- pronoun; locative singular masculine of <*и> he -- him
- идєтє -- verb; 3rd person dual present of <ити, идѫ, идєши> go -- they followed
Lesson Text
и сє дъва слѣпьса сѣдѧшта при пѫти слꙑшавъша ꙗко иисѹсъ мимо ходитъ възъпистє глагол҄ѭшта помилѹи нꙑ господи сꙑнѹ давꙑдовъ | народъ жє запрѣти има да ѹмльчитє | она жє пачє въпьꙗашєтє глагол҄ѭшта помилѹи нꙑ господи сꙑнѹ давꙑдовъ | и ставъ иисѹсъ възгласи ꙗ и рєчє чьто хоштєта да сътвор҄ѭ вама | глаголастє ємѹ господи да отврьзєтє сѧ наю очи | милосрьдовавъ жє иисѹсъ прикоснѫ сѧ очью има и абьє прозьрѣстє и по н҄ємь идєтє |
Translation
(30) And, behold, two blind men sitting by the way side, when they heard that Jesus passed by, cried out, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou son of David. (31) And the multitude rebuked them, because they should hold their peace: but they cried the more, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou son of David. (32) And Jesus stood still, called them, and said, What will ye that I shall do unto you? (33) They say unto him, Lord, that our eyes may be opened. (34) So Jesus had compassion on them, and touched their eyes: and immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed him.
Grammar
11 i-Stem and u-Stem Nouns
11.1 i-Stem Nouns
The nouns of the i-stem declension (sometimes called the simple nominal declension) are predominantly feminine, though there are some masculine nouns as well. Especially common is the i-stem ending -ость attached to adjectives to form abstract nouns, e.g. бѣлъ 'white' gives бѣлость 'whiteness'. Below are the paradigms for the feminine кость 'bone' and masculine пѫть 'road'.
| Singular | Dual | Plural | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N | кость | кости | кости | |||
| A | кость | кости | кости | |||
| G | кости | костью | костьи | |||
| L | кости | костью | костьхъ | |||
| D | кости | костьма | костьмъ | |||
| I | костьѭ | костьма | костьми | |||
| V | кости | кости | кости |
| Singular | Dual | Plural | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N | пѫть | пѫти | пѫтьє | |||
| A | пѫть | пѫти | пѫти | |||
| G | пѫти | пѫтью | пѫтьи | |||
| L | пѫти | пѫтью | пѫтьхъ | |||
| D | пѫти | пѫтьма | пѫтьмъ | |||
| I | пѫтьмь | пѫтьма | пѫтьми | |||
| V | пѫти | пѫти | пѫтьє |
As always, the rules of strong/weak/tense jers apply to these forms. Hence, the form костьѭ, being equivalent to kostĭjǫ, has a tense jer, resulting in the alternate spelling костиѭ; likewise костьи (equivalent to kostĭjĭ) has the alternate spelling костии, and similarly for the other forms. The latter form may also be considered to have a strong-weak alternation of jers, so that full vocalization gives the variant костєи. Likewise костємъ occurs in place of костьмъ, and so on.
11.2 u-Stem Nouns
The u-stem nouns are a relatively small group of nouns which exhibit rather archaic endings. In many instances a given noun will not take all of its forms from this declension, but will also use certain endings from the o-stem declension. A common noun with many extant forms from this declension is сꙑнъ 'son'. It is declined as follows.
| Singular | Dual | Plural | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N | сꙑнъ | сꙑнꙑ | сꙑновє | |||
| A | сꙑнъ | сꙑнꙑ | сꙑнꙑ | |||
| G | сꙑнѹ | сꙑновѹ | сꙑновъ | |||
| L | сꙑнѹ | сꙑновѹ | сꙑнохъ (<*сꙑнъхъ) | |||
| D | сꙑнови | сꙑнъма | сꙑномъ (<*сꙑнъмъ) | |||
| I | сꙑномь | сꙑнъма | сꙑнъми | |||
| (<*сꙑнъмь) | ||||||
| V | сꙑнѹ | сꙑнꙑ | сꙑновє |
Even this noun in many texts shows endings of the o-declension: V. sg. сꙑнє, G. sg. сꙑна, D. sg. сꙑнѹ, L. sg. сꙑнѣ; N.A.V. du. сꙑна, G. L. du. сꙑнѹ; N. pl. сꙑни, G. pl. сꙑнъ, I. pl. сꙑнꙑ. At times the conflation of endings is more subtle, so that one finds N. pl. сꙑнови, where the -и of the o-declension has replaced the -є. Another important noun showing a mixture of endings from this and the o-declension is домъ 'house'.
12 o- and a-Stem Adjectives
There are two types of adjective declension, the one taking essentially the same endings as the o-stem and a-stem nouns, the other taking these endings followed by corresponding forms of the pronoun *и 'he'. Here are discussed the o- and a-stem adjectives, also known as the simple twofold adjectives. These may be divided into hard and soft stems, like the corresponding nouns. The paradigms of the hard stem adjective добръ 'good' and the soft stem adjective ништь 'poor' are given below.
The hard stem, simple twofold declension is as follows.
| Masculine | Neuter | Feminine | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N Sg. | добръ | добро | добра | |||
| A | добръ | добро | добрѫ | |||
| G | добра | добра | добрꙑ | |||
| L | добрѣ | добрѣ | добрѣ | |||
| D | добрѹ | добрѹ | добрѣ | |||
| I | добромь | добромь | доброѭ | |||
| V | добрє | добро | - | |||
| N Du. | добра | добрѣ | добрѣ | |||
| A | добра | добрѣ | добрѣ | |||
| G | добрѹ | добрѹ | добрѹ | |||
| L | добрѹ | добрѹ | добрѹ | |||
| D | доброма | доброма | добрама | |||
| I | доброма | доброма | добрама | |||
| V | добра | добрѣ | добрѣ | |||
| N Pl. | добри | добра | добрꙑ | |||
| A | добрꙑ | добра | добрꙑ | |||
| G | добръ | добръ | добръ | |||
| L | добрѣхъ | добрѣхъ | добрахъ | |||
| D | добромъ | добромъ | добрамъ | |||
| I | добрꙑ | добрꙑ | добрами | |||
| V | добри | добра | добрꙑ |
The soft stem, simple twofold adjectives are formed as below.
| Masculine | Neuter | Feminine | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N Sg. | ништь | ништє | ништа | |||
| A | ништь | ништє | ништѫ | |||
| G | ништа | ништа | ништѧ | |||
| L | ништи | ништи | ништи | |||
| D | ништю | ништю | ништи | |||
| ништѹ | ништѹ | |||||
| I | ништємь | ништємь | ништєѭ | |||
| V | - | ништє | - | |||
| N Du. | ништа | ништи | ништи | |||
| A | ништа | ништи | ништи | |||
| G | ништю | ништю | ништю | |||
| ништѹ | ништѹ | ништѹ | ||||
| L | ништю | ништю | ништю | |||
| ништѹ | ништѹ | ништѹ | ||||
| D | ништєма | ништєма | ништама | |||
| I | ништєма | ништєма | ништама | |||
| V | ништа | ништи | ништи | |||
| N Pl. | ништи | ништа | ништѧ | |||
| A | ништѧ | ништа | ништѧ | |||
| G | ништь | ништь | ништь | |||
| L | ништихъ | ништихъ | ништахъ | |||
| D | ништємъ | ништємъ | ништамъ | |||
| I | ништи | ништи | ништами | |||
| V | ништи | ништа | ништѧ |
The usual sound change rules apply, so that velar consonants are palatalized before endings beginning with front vowels. Also, in stems ending with a glide, the -ь of the soft declension may combine with -j- to give -и. For example the stem божи- [božij-] 'God's, divine' has the masculine nominative singular form божии [božiji < božijĭ].
13 Pronominal Declension
The pronominal declension has been encountered in the paradigm of the third person pronoun *и 'he'. This pattern of declension also holds with minor modifications for a large number of demonstrative and possessive adjectives. In general these are all characterized by the suffix -го in the genitive singular for masculine and neuter genders. As with nouns and adjectives, these may be divided into hard and soft stems according as whether the -го is added to the base by the vowel -о- or -є-, respectively; likewise, whether the genitive plural ending -хъ is affixed via the vowel -ѣ- (hard) or -и- (soft).
The hard stem pronominal declension may be illustrated by the adjective онъ 'that one there, that one yonder'.
| Masculine | Neuter | Feminine | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N Sg. | онъ | оно | она | |||
| A | онъ | оно | онѫ | |||
| G | оного | оного | оноѩ | |||
| L | ономь | ономь | онои | |||
| D | ономѹ | ономѹ | онои | |||
| I | онѣмь | онѣмь | оноѭ | |||
| N Du. | она | онѣ | онѣ | |||
| A | она | онѣ | онѣ | |||
| G | оною | оною | оною | |||
| L | оною | оною | оною | |||
| D | онѣма | онѣма | онѣма | |||
| I | онѣма | онѣма | онѣма | |||
| N Pl. | они | она | онꙑ | |||
| A | онꙑ | она | онꙑ | |||
| G | онѣхъ | онѣхъ | онѣхъ | |||
| L | онѣхъ | онѣхъ | онѣхъ | |||
| D | онѣмъ | онѣмъ | онѣмъ | |||
| I | онѣми | онѣми | онѣми |
The demonstrative тъ 'that' also follows the above pattern, as well as correlative demonstratives: овъ... овъ 'this... that'; овъ... инъ 'this (here)... the other (there)'.
The soft stem pronominal declension is illustrated by the paradigm of сь 'this one'. This adjective also has a suppletive stem sij- which shows up in certain nominative and accusative forms.
| Masculine | Neuter | Feminine | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N Sg. | сь, сии | сє | си | |||
| A | сь | сє | сьѭ | |||
| G | сєго | сєго | сєѩ | |||
| L | сємь | сємь | сєи | |||
| D | сємѹ | сємѹ | сєи | |||
| I | симь | симь | сєѭ | |||
| N Du. | сиꙗ | си, сии | си | |||
| A | сиꙗ | си, сии | си | |||
| G | сєю | сєю | сєю | |||
| L | сєю | сєю | сєю | |||
| D | сима | сима | сима | |||
| I | сима | сима | сима | |||
| N Pl. | сии, си | си | сьѩ | |||
| A | сьѩ | си | сьѩ | |||
| G | сихъ | сихъ | сихъ | |||
| L | сихъ | сихъ | сихъ | |||
| D | симъ | симъ | симъ | |||
| I | сими | сими | сими |
Following the same pattern as the soft declension are possessive adjectives such as мои 'my'. The stem is moj-, so that moj-ĭ > moji.
| Masculine | Neuter | Feminine | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N Sg. | мои | моѥ | моꙗ | |||
| A | мои | моѥ | моѭ | |||
| G | моѥго | моѥго | моѥѩ | |||
| L | моѥмь | моѥмь | моѥи | |||
| D | моѥмѹ | моѥмѹ | моѥи | |||
| I | моимь | моимь | моѥѭ | |||
| N Du. | моꙗ | мои | мои | |||
| A | моꙗ | мои | мои | |||
| G | моѥю | моѥю | моѥю | |||
| L | моѥю | моѥю | моѥю | |||
| D | моима | моима | моима | |||
| I | моима | моима | моима | |||
| N Pl. | мои | моꙗ | моѩ | |||
| A | моѩ | моꙗ | моѩ | |||
| G | моихъ | моихъ | моихъ | |||
| L | моихъ | моихъ | моихъ | |||
| D | моимъ | моимъ | моимъ | |||
| I | моими | моими | моими |
Some collective numerals also follow the soft declension: дъвоѥ 'the two, group of two'; обоѥ 'the both'; троѥ 'the three, group of three'.
Regarding the feminine forms of the possessive adjectives, in the G. L. D. I. sg. and G. L. du. typically the -ѥ- is contracted: моѩ, мои, моѭ, and so forth.
A further variant of these declensions, the mixed pronominal declension, is exemplified by the extremely common pronoun вьсь 'entire, every'.
| Masculine | Neuter | Feminine | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N. Sg. | вьсь | вьсє | вьса | |||
| A | вьсь | вьсє | вьсѫ | |||
| G | вьсєго | вьсєго | вьсєѩ | |||
| L | вьсємь | вьсємь | вьсєи | |||
| D | вьсємѹ | вьсємѹ | вьсєи | |||
| I | вьсѣмь | вьсѣмь | вьсєѭ | |||
| N Pl. | вьси | вьса | вьсѧ | |||
| A | вьсѧ | вьса | вьсѧ | |||
| G | вьсѣхъ | вьсѣхъ | вьсѣхъ | |||
| L | вьсѣхъ | вьсѣхъ | вьсѣхъ | |||
| D | вьсѣмъ | вьсѣмъ | вьсѣмъ | |||
| I | вьсѣми | вьсѣми | вьсѣми |
For the form вьса of the feminine nominative singular and neuter nom./acc. plural may be found the variants вьсꙗ and вьсѣ.
14 The Aorist System
The aorist denotes an action completed in the past and viewed without regard to the duration of the act. By contrast, the imperfect indicates a continual past action, or a habitual one. Thus 'I was saying' or 'I used to say' correspond to the imperfect, but 'I said' to the aorist. The imperfect is well suited for relating events backgrounded in relation to another action, whereas the aorist delimits the points at which an action is completed. Hence the aorist is used in relating events in a narrative sequence to indicate the proper order of successive events.
There are three types of aorist formations: asigmatic, sigmatic, and new. As the names imply, one was formed by the addition of -s- ("sigma" in Greek) to the base, while another was formed without this extension. These two continued the more archaic formation of the aorist and were later supplanted by a new innovative paradigm.
The starting point for arriving at aorist forms is the infinitive-aorist stem. To obtain this, one takes the infinitive, removes the infinitive marker -ти, and undoes any consonant changes that may have resulted from addition of the -ти in the first place. For example, taking the infinitive глаголати 'to say', removing the -ти yields глагола-. Since this underwent no changes when the -ти was added, this is the aorist stem for this verb. By contrast, if one takes рєшти 'to say', one must note that the -ш- devoloped from -к- palatalized before the infinitive ending. That the final consonant is indeed -к and no other is determined by comparison with other forms of the same verb, e.g. the present tense first person singular рєкѫ. Thus the aorist stem for рєшти is рєк-. Likewise, removing the infinitive ending from мошти 'to be able' yields мог-; here -шт- developed from the combination -г- + -т- (compare the present tense first person singular могѫ). Reconstruction of the proper aorist stem at times requires a little trial and error; it is useful to refer to Section 6 in Lesson 2 on palatalization.
14.1 Asigmatic Aorist
The asigmatic aorist, also called the root or simple aorist, is formed by a relatively small number of verbs. These are verbs either (1) whose infinitive-aorist stems end in a consonant, or (2) whose stems end in the infix -нѫ-, which is then dropped before adding the aorist endings. Although the verbs which exhibit this formation are quite common, many do not display all the forms of the full paradigm. The paradigms for мошти, могѫ, можєши 'be able'; ити, идѫ, идєши 'go'; and двигнѫти, -нѫ, -нєши 'move' are given below.
| Stem | мог- | ид- | двиг- | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 'be able' | 'go' | 'move' | ||||
| 1st Sg. | могъ | идъ | двигъ | |||
| 2nd | можє | идє | движє | |||
| 3rd | можє | идє | движє | |||
| 1st Du. | моговѣ | идовѣ | двиговѣ | |||
| 2nd | можєта | идєта | движєта | |||
| 3rd | можєтє | идєтє | движєтє | |||
| 1st Pl. | могомъ | идомъ | двигомъ | |||
| 2nd | можєтє | идєтє | движєтє | |||
| 3rd | могѫ | идѫ | двигѫ |
14.2 Sigmatic Aorist
The sigmatic or s-aorist is yet another aorist formation which was in decline by the time of the OCS texts. Nevertheless, several common verbs formed the aorist in this manner. The suffix -s- is appended to the infinitive-aorist stem, and the endings are attached to this either directly or via the intervening vowel -o-.
The suffixation of -s- was the catalyst for any number of sound changes in the stem. Some of the most notable are as follows.
RUKI: When preceded by any of r, u, k, i, the -s- developed into -x-. This includes some stems ending in -y-, where it developed from long-u.
g and l: In stems ending in -g or -l, the suffixed -s- became -x-.
Vowel Lengthening: In verbs with monosyllabic stems ending in a consonant, the root vowel was subject to lengthening: o > a, e > ě, ĭ > i. (The terminology "lengthening" derives from the fact that OCS a continues IE long a and long o; ě continues IE long e and the diphthongs aj, oj; and i continues long i and the diphthong ej. OCS o, e and ĭ continue original short vowels.)
The verbs рєшти, рєкѫ, рєчєши 'say'; вєсти, вєдѫ, вєдєши 'lead'; and ѧти, имѫ, имєши 'take' illustrate this aorist formation.
| Stem | рєк- | вєд- | ѧ- | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 'say' | 'lead' | 'take' | ||||
| 1st Sg. | рѣхъ | вѣсъ | ѧсъ | |||
| 2nd | рєчє | вєдє | ѧ, ѧтъ | |||
| 3rd | рєчє | вєдє | ѧ, ѧтъ | |||
| 1st Du. | рѣховѣ | вѣсовѣ | ѧсовѣ | |||
| 2nd | рѣста | вѣста | ѧста | |||
| 3rd | рѣстє | вѣстє | ѧстє | |||
| 1st Pl. | рѣхомъ | вѣсомъ | ѧсомъ | |||
| 2nd | рѣстє | вѣстє | ѧстє | |||
| 3rd | рѣшѧ | вѣшѧ | ѧсѧ |
The instances in which -s- > -x- were prevalent enough that at times forms with -x- are found where they would not be expected etymologically.
In certain verbs, mostly those with stems ending in r, ę, i, ě, an ending -тъ is added to the 2nd and 3rd persons singular. Thus питъ from пити 'to drink', начѧтъ from начѧти 'to begin', бꙑстъ from бꙑти 'to be', дастъ from дати 'to give' (stem: дад-).
14.3 New Aorist
The new aorist, also termed the ox-aorist for reasons that will become evident below, was an innovative formation which eventually superceded the formations discussed above. This aorist is typically formed by those verbs whose infinitive-aorist stem ends in a consonant, or those with the -нѫ- infix that end in a consonant when the -нѫ- is dropped. The forms are a blend of the simple aorist forms and forms where -ох- intervenes between stem and ending.
For purposes of comparison, some paradigms are given for verbs which also form other types of aorist. Below are the paradigms of двигнѫти, -нѫ, -нєши 'move'; ити, идѫ, идєши 'go'; рєшти, рєкѫ, рєчєши 'say'; and вєсти, вєдѫ, вєдєши 'lead'.
| Stem | двиг- | ид- | рєк- | вєд- | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 'move' | 'go' | 'say' | 'lead' | |||||
| 1st Sg. | двигохъ | идохъ | рєкохъ | вєдохъ | ||||
| 2nd | движє | идє | рєчє | вєдє | ||||
| 3rd | движє | идє | рєчє | вєдє | ||||
| 1st Du. | двигоховѣ | идоховѣ | рєкоховѣ | вєдоховѣ | ||||
| 2nd | двигоста | идоста | рєкоста | вєдоста | ||||
| 3rd | двигостє | идостє | рєкостє | вєдостє | ||||
| 1st Pl. | двигохомъ | идохомъ | рєкохомъ | вєдохомъ | ||||
| 2nd | двигостє | идостє | рєкостє | вєдостє | ||||
| 3rd | двигошѧ | идошѧ | рєкошѧ | вєдошѧ |
This aorist is not formed by those verbs whose stem ends in -a-, -n- or -r-.
15 Genitive Objects and Negation
One important syntactical feature, which is apparently an innovation within OCS, is the frequent use of the genitive for accusative with masculine substantives referring to male persons. That is to say, although typically the direct object is in the accusative, there is a strong tendency for nouns referring to a male person as direct object to be put in the genitive case. This is sometimes also used for animals, so that some of the literature on OCS speaks of an "animate" object case. For example, она жє абиѥ оставьша корабь и отьца своєго 'and those two having immediately left the ship and their father', where the inanimate корабь is in the accusative, the animate отьца своєго in the genitive. Also любл҄ꙗашє жє иисѹсъ марѳѫ и сєстрѫ єѧ и лазара 'and Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus', where the two nouns referring to females are in the accusative, the one referring to a male in the genitive. There seems to be very little tendency to place female substantives as direct object in the genitive.
Another prominent feature is the use of the genitive with negation. With a negated impersonal copula, 'there is/are not' or 'there is/are no', the predicate typically takes the genitive rather than nominative. Thus one would have богъ єстъ 'there is a god', but one finds бога нѣстъ 'there is no god', where бога is the genitive. Similarly и єштє мѣсто єстъ 'there is still room', in contrast with зан҄є нє бѣ има мѣста въ обитєли 'since there was no room for the two in the inn.' Also the direct object is usually put in the genitive rather than the accusative with a negated transitive verb . Thus нє имамь къдє събирати плодъ моихъ 'since I do not have somewhere to bestow my fruits'. Both of these uses of the genitive with negation occur regardless of the natural or grammatical gender of the substantive in question.
