Nikolas Churik
Princeton University
This paper argues that a document from St. Catherine’s Monastery on Mt. Sinai (Beneševič, v.3, no. 2150), which offers a transliteration of the Liturgy of John Chrysostom into Latin characters, offers evidence for a knowledge of Greek based on oral, rather than literate, engagement.
The text under consideration (chest 4, document 111) offers over two hundreds of the Liturgy of John Chrysostom transliterated into Latin characters, accompanied by minimal Latin rubrics, which indicate the parts of the priest and deacon. The text, dated to the twelfth century (Beneševič 1911 v.3, 346), provides a careful rendering of the liturgy and evinces a competent knowledge of Greek, including even the preservation of certain nomina sacra. The placement of the rubrics in the margins, likewise, indicate a trained scribe.
Certain elements, however, point clearly to an oral, rather than literate, knowledge of Greek. The hand belonged to someone with regular experience with the liturgy, but without extremely formal training in the Greek language. The word “metaschiimastirion,” for example, seems inexplicable until an oral transmission is taken into consideration. This word is what the transcriber understood when hearing, “μετασχεῖν μυστηρίων,” where the two nasal consonants were elided into one another. The introduction of α for the typically iotacized υ suggests an attempt by the writer to make sense of an otherwise unintelligible expression. The origin of the transliterator is suggested not only by the hand of the text, but also the phonetic choices. Most strikingly “b” is used throughout for “v” in both the transliteration of the Greek (“presbies”, “eblogison”) and in the Latin rubric (“box diaconi”).
Beginning from this individual case, this paper aims to contribute to understanding different level of engagement with Greek. This document points to the importance of the liturgy, rather than bellelettristic works, for knowledge of Greek in this period.Soter soson imas: Reading and Hearing the Liturgy of John Chrysostom.