Translation of the Narration of Agapius as a Monument of the Earliest Period of Bulgarian Writing

Abstract

The article analyzes the archaic linguistic features of the Old Bulgarian translation of the apocryphal Journey of Agapius to Paradise (The Narration of our father Agapius). Examples demonstrating a literal translation from Greek and the difficulties experienced by translators are considered. In the language of the monument, attention is drawn to the features inherent in the entire Old Bulgarian period, for example, the use of uncontracted forms of imperfect and adjectives, the primordal forms of participles on *-ius-, as well as to some unique lexemes. The handwritten tradition of the Narration of Agapius also reflects a number of features characteristic of the earliest stage of Bulgarian writing (late 9th – early 10th century), in particular the use of a root aorist. Especially important are the examples that testify to the glagolitic nature of the initial translation.