Old Novgorod dialect: Encyclopedia II - Old Novgorod dialect - Examples

Old Novgorod dialect - Examples

Old Novgorod dialect - A criminal case: Novgorod birch-bark letter no. 109

(between end of 11th century and 1110s; excavated 1954)

грамота : отъ жизномира : къ микоуле : коупилъ еси : робоу : плъскове : а ныне мя : въ томъ : яла кънягыни : а ныне ся дроужина : по мя пороучила : а ныне ка : посъли къ томоу : моужеви : грамотоу : е ли оу него роба : а се ти хочоу : коне коупивъ : и къняжъ моужъ въсадивъ : та на съводы : а ты атче еси не възялъ коунъ : техъ : а не емли : ничъто же оу него :

Letter from Zhiznomir to Mikula: You have bought a female slave in Pskov. And now the princess has arrested me for it. [Obviously she has recognized the slave as having been stolen from her, and Zhiznomir is somehow connected with the affair, maybe as Mikula's family member or business partner.] But now my family has guaranteed for me. And now send a letter to that man [whom you have bought the slave from] and ask him whether he has another female slave. [This other slave would have to be given to the princess for the time the stolen slave would be needed as "corpus delicti" in a lawsuit to find out who the thief was.] And I want to buy a horse and have the magistrate (the "prince's man") sit on it and initiate a svod [the legal procedure to trace a whole buying chain back to the original seller and ultimately the thief]. And if you have not taken the money, do not take anything from him [i.e. the slave-trader, because otherwise the whole plan might leak out].

Old Novgorod dialect - An invitation: Novgorod birch-bark letter no. 497

(1340s to 1380s; excavated 1972)

поколоно ω гаврили ω посени ко зати моему ко горигори жи коумоу ко сестори моеи ко оулите чо би есте поихали во городо ко радости моеи а нашего солова не оставили да бого вамо радосте ми вашего солова вохи не осотавимо

Greeting from Gavrila Posenya to my brother-in-law, godfather Grigory and my sister Ulita. Would you not like to give me the pleasure of riding into the city, not leaving our word? God give you happiness. We all do not leave your word.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Examples", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki