The Tale of Afroditian in the Tolstovskii Sbornik of the 13th century: Lexical originality and localization of translation

Y.A. Pen’kova

Vinogradov Institute of Russian Language, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, 119019 Russia

E-mail: amoena@inbox.ru

Received July 24, 2018

Full text PDF

Abstract

The paper discusses the vocabulary of the Tale of Afroditian, an apocryphal translation from Greek into Church Slavonic. The Tolstovskii Sbornik of the 13th century contains a full earliest copy of the Tale. The aim of the research is to study the lexical originality of the Tale and, on its grounds, to introduce a hypothesis about the time and place of the first Slavonic translation of the Tale. The former question has never deserved specific attention; the latter one remained controversial. The lexical doublets, which are the characteristics of different translation schools, and infrequent lexis, which is due to the lack of regional lexical features, i.e., no reliable evidence for the localization of this translation, have been analyzed. The vocabulary of the Tale is heterogeneous: Preslav lexis prevails, but the text reflects also some lexical features that are characteristic of other traditions. If compared with the infrequent vocabulary of other Slavonic texts, the Tale can be related to the following early Slavic texts: XIII orations of Gregory the Theologian (Nazianzen), the Chronicle of John Malala, the Russian Primary Chronicle, works of Cyril of Turov and Palea. The translation of the Tale could be made by a South Slavic scribe, however, after the East Bulgarian book center had ceased to exist, i.e., in the beginning of booklore in Old Rus’. The results of the study contribute to our knowledge of the history of Slavic medieval literature, as well as offer an approach for treating the texts, which lack regional features in their vocabulary.

Keywords: Tolstovsky sbornik of 13th century, Tale of Afroditian, lexis, Medieval Slavic translations from Greek

Acknowledgements. The study was supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (project no. 18-012-00428).

References

1. Bratke E. Das sogenannte Religionsgespräch am Hof der Sasaniden. Leipzig, J. C. Hinrichs’sche Buchhandlung, 1899. 305 S. (In German)
2. Lavrovskii P.A. A description of seven manuscripts from the Imperial Public Library in St. Petersburg. Chteniya v Obshchestve Istorii i Drevnostei Rossiiskikh, 1858, book 4, 3, pp. 40–46. (In Russian)
3. Shchegolev P.E. Essays on the history of renounced literature: The Tale of Afroditian. Izvestiya Otdeleniya Russkogo Yazyka i Slovesnosti, 1899, vol. 4, no. 1, pp. 148–199; vol. 4, no. 4, pp. 1304–1344. (In Russian)
4. Stanchev K. A single unknown fragment from the apocryphal compilation and some problems on apocryphal literature. Starob”lgarska Literatura, 1984, no. 15, pp. 126–143. (In Bulgarian)
5. Thomson F.J. Apocrypha Slavica: II. The Slavonic and East European Review, 1985, vol. 63, no. 1, pp. 73‒98.
6. Bobrov A.G. Apokrificheskoe “Skazanie Afroditiana” v literature i knizhnosti Drevney Rusi: Issledovaniye i teksty [The Apocryphal “Tale of Afroditian” in the Literature and Booklore of Ancient Russia: Research and Texts]. St. Petersburg, Nauka, 1994. 170 p. (In Russian)
7. Trifonova I. The Third Slavonic Translation of the Tale of Afroditian in the Tale of Nativity by John Damascus: Manuscript Publication 2/23 of the Rila Monastery Collection, 15th ce. Kirilo-Metodievski Chteniya-2015. Sofiya, 2015, pp. 207‒220. (In Russian)
8. Begunov Yu.K. The newly found apocryphal “Tale of the Star of Irani”. Zeitschrift für Slawistik, 1983, Bd. 28, H. 2, S. 238‒257.
9. Khristova-Shomova I. The Official Apostle in the Slavic Tradition of Manuscript Creation. Vol. 1: Bible Study. Sofia, Sv. Kliment Okhridski, 2004. 832 p. (In Bulgarian)
10. Pichkhadze A.A. Perevodcheskaya deyatel’nost’ v domongol’skoi Rusi: lingvisticheskii aspekt [Translation Activities in Pre-Mongol Rus: Linguistic Aspect]. Moscow, Rukopisnye Pamyatniki Drevnei Rusi, 2011. 404 p. (In Russian)
11. Shakhmatov A.A. The “The Tale of Bygone Years” and its sources. Trudy Otdela Drevnerusskoi Literatury, 1940, vol. 4, pp. 9–150. (In Russian)
12. Barankova G.S., Makeeva I.I. Oratorical prose of Cyril of Turov and its place in the Old Russian booklore. Pis’mennost’, literatura, fol’klor slavyanskikh narodov. Istoriya slavistiki: XVI Mezhdunarodnyy s”yezd slavistov. Belgrad, 20‒27 avg. 2018 g.: Doklady rossiiskoi delegatsii [Writing, Literature, Folklore of the Slavic People. History of Slavic Studies: XVI Int. Congr. of Slavists. Belgrad, Aug. 20–27, 2018: Reports of the Russian Delegation]. Moscow, IRYa Ross. Acad. Nauk, 2018, pp. 32–51. (In Russian)
13. Pen’kova Ya.S. Perfection and aorist in the Tale of Aphroditian according to the Tolstovsky Sbornik of the 13th century. In: Lingvokul’turologicheskie issledovaniya razvitiya russkogo yazyka v usloviyakh polietnicheskoi sredy: opyt i perspektivy [Linguoculturological Studies of the Development of the Russian Language in a Multi-Ethnic Environment: Experience and Prospects]. Vol. 2. Kazan, Izd. Kazan. Univ., 2018, pp. 155‒159. (In Russian)

For citation: Pen’kova Y.A. The Tale of Afroditian in the Tolstovskii Sbornik of the 13th century: Lexical originality and localization of translation. Uchenye Zapiski Kazanskogo Universiteta. Seriya Gumanitarnye Nauki, 2018, vol. 160, no. 5, pp. 1059–1068. (In Russian)

The content is available under the license Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.