Foreign languages learning

The paper discusses the automatic text recognition capabilities of neural network models specifically trained to recognize different styles of Church Slavonic handwriting within the software platform Transkribus. Computed character error rates of the models are in the range of 3 to 5 percent; real-life performance shows that specifically trained models, by and large, recognize simple (non-superscript) characters correctly most of the time. The error rate is higher with superscript letters, abbreviations, and word separation. Combined models consisting of training data from different sources are capable of transcribing different styles of Slavic handwriting with low error rates. Automatic text recognition using Transkribus and the models presented in this paper can help improve the efficiency of the process of digitizing Church Slavonic manuscripts and thus boost the number of digitized sources available in the future.

Subject: Language and Literature Studies Language studies Studies of Literature Philology Theory of Literature Foreign languages learning Applied Linguistics Computational linguistics Translation Studies

Keywords: CHURCH SLAVONIC TRANSKRIBUS AUTOMATIC TRANSCRIPTION MACHINE LEARNING NEURAL NETWORKS ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

This paper offers a critical edition of the Divine Liturgy of St. John Crysostom according to manuscript D. Gr. 143 from the collection of the Ivan Dujčev Centre for Slavo-Byzantine Studies. The leitourgikon (from the Kosinitsa Monastery near Drama) was copied by Konstantinos Hazoropoulos in 1368, which makes the Chrysostom formulary a reliable source of a liturgical rite from the initial period of the establishment of Philotheos Kokkinos’ Διάταξις της Θείας λειτουργίας. The fragment contains archaic elements that were due possibly to an influence from peripheral eucharistic practices.

Subject: Language studies Language and Literature Studies Foreign languages learning Theoretical Linguistics Studies of Literature Historical Linguistics Comparative Linguistics Translation Studies