"Služabna knjiga" Gavrila Stefanovića Venclovića: grafijsko-pravopisne karakteristike

Abstract

The paper examines the graphic and orthographic characteristics of Liturgical Book (1711–1716), Gavrilo Stefanović Venclović’s oldest manuscript written in late Serbian Slavonic language, and heralding the final stage of Serbian recension of Old Slavonic language, which had previously spanned through centuries. The work was written in old church Cyrillic, while the script is semiuncial with elements of cursive, a characteristic present in the author’s other texts designed for church service. The research is based on photographic recordings of Liturgical Book, nowadays kept at the repository of the Rumyantsev Museum in Moscow, registered under the number 401. The main purpose of this paper is to: (a) point out the shape of certain graphemes, (b) describe the manner in which vowels and consonants were marked, (c) establish primary orthographic characteristics of the analyzed manuscript. Furthermore, the paper aims to compare both graphic and orthographic features of Liturgical Book to the features of other Venclović’s texts written for liturgical services, currently kept at the Archives of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts (Venclović’s Spelling Book published in Szentendre) and in Szentendre (menologies).