Constantine of Preslav

This paper provides novel, relevant data to study the translation technique of the First Old Church Slavonic Version of Gregory of Nazianzus’ Homily 38 “On the Theophany” (Εἰς τὰ Θεοφάνια, CPG 3010.38; BHG, 1921-1921b; PG 36, 312A-333A). This work was rendered from Greek into Old Church Slavonic by an anonymous Bulgarian translator, presumably between the late 9th and the early 10th century. The text is transmitted by two testimonies, one of East Slavic (St Petersburg, Russian National Library, Q.п.I.16, late 11th century), the other of South Slavic origin (Sofia, SS Cyril and Methodius National Library, № 674, mid-14th century). The translation’s archaic morphological and lexical features reveal a marked analogy with the language of the Old Bulgarian Ecclesiastical Writer, Constantine, Bishop of Preslav. By investigating hitherto unexplored aspects of the translation technique the author offers further compelling evidence of a connection between Homily 38 and Constantine’s Didactic Gospel. The focus is on a very peculiar rendering of the Greek modality adverb ἴσως (“possibly, perhaps”), which is translated by means of the verb “мьнѣти” (“to mean”, “to think”, “to assume”, “to consider”), conjugated in the first-person singular present indicative.

Subject: Scripta

Keywords: Old Church Slavonic Translations MANUSCRIPTS Greek Patristics Gregory of Nazianzus Constantine of Preslav translation techniques modality adverbs

In the palaeoslavic studies, it is known that the perfective aspect is used to render the Greek future and various forms of the conjunctive and optative, for the most part – in the aorist. On some occasions, though, Constantine of Preslav used more specific (vis. lexical) ways of rendering the Greek optative. The paper aims at systemising and commenting on the material excerpted from Constantine’s Didactic Gospel Greek sources. Such an approach, oriented towards the Greek as a starting point, might bring a better understanding of how these grammatical forms were perceived in the 9th century when they were no longer active in the spoken Greek language of the epoch. Furthermore, it will elaborate our understanding of Constantine of Preslav’s translation technique.

Subject: Scripta

Keywords: Optative Future tense Greek–Old Slavonic Translation Didactic Gospel Constantine of Preslav

The paper explores the sources, from which the newly converted Bulgarians could obtain information about the deviations from Orthodoxy and the most famous heresiarchs. It seems that most of the notices are contained in the translations dated to the first decades of the 10th c. during the reign of Simeon the Great. The fact should not surprise us given the role this ruler played in the cultural and literary policy of the new Christian state. Could we however speak about a conscious policy in this regard, or is this a mere coincidence?

Subject: Scripta

Keywords: heresies anti-heretical texts Old Bulgarian translations Constantine of Preslav John the Exarch Prince Simeon