Comments upon the sources of the Church Slavonic–Ruthenian Lexicon by Pamvo Berynda

Alexander Levichkin

doi:10.17684/i14a191en

Abstract

The article examines some of the sources of Pamvo Berynda’s Church Slavonic–Ruthenian lexicon. Identifying the sources of the dictionary and all the hidden quotes is an important task for the correct presentation of the content of this lexicographical monument. The quoted content presented in the Lexicon is divided into two groups: material that did not indicate the source (an example is the Interpretation of words difficult to understand) and materials that indicated the source. For the second case, a non-exhaustive list of such examples is provided. Such quotations show that, for his Lexicon, Berynda mainly used works in the printing of which he himself participated. These are the Homilies on the Acts of the Apostles and the Homilies on the 14 Epistles of the Holy Apostle Paul, both belonging to John Chrysostom, along with the Didactic Gospel. The use of dictionary entries in the Interpretation of words difficult to understand, a lexicon based on the vocabulary from the Ladder of Divine Ascent, and from Interpretation of words in alphabetical order by Maximus the Greek confirms Berynda’s interest, indicated by other researchers as well, for the previous lexicographic tradition.

Highlights

The critical edition of the Church Slavonic–Ruthenian lexicon by Pamvo Berynda in the printed and electronic format still remains a relevant task
Among the recent studies we would like to underline the article by Kalugin (2014), who analyses the dictionary by Maximus the Greek intitled Interpretation of words in alphabetical order as one of the sources of the
John Chrysostom, Homilies on the Acts of the Apostles: о҆ниже сегѡ ради гнѣвахꙋсѧ, ꙗкѡ никако же ихъ боѧхꙋсѧ.). Another printed edition which was often used by Berynda is the Homilies on the 14 Epistles of Saint Paul the Apostle by John Chrysostom (Kiev, 1623), e.g.:

Summary

Introduction

The critical edition of the Church Slavonic–Ruthenian lexicon by Pamvo Berynda (in what follows, Lexicon) in the printed and electronic format still remains a relevant task. Pamvo Berynda himself shortly mentions the sources of his Lexicon in the introduction to this dictionary (here and in what follows we use the materials of the 1627 edition of Berynda’s Lexicon, the copy of the Russian National Library, II.5.21a) and in another article at the end of the Lexicon—Читателю. Acts of the Apostles and the Homelies on the Epistles of the Apostles This aspect was remarked by other scholars studying the Lexicon (see Arkhangeľskiĭ, 1902; Janów, 1951; Nimciuk, 1961). Among the recent studies we would like to underline the article by Kalugin (2014), who analyses the dictionary by Maximus the Greek intitled Interpretation of words in alphabetical order as one of the sources of the Lexicon

Sources which are not mentioned in the lexicon entries

Conclusions