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CYRIL

Also known as

Apostle of the Slavs; Apostle of the Southern Slavs Constantin; Constantine the Philospher; Constantine; Cyril the Philosopher;

Memorial

14 February; formerly 7 July and/or 9 March

Profile

Brother of Saint Methodius. Greek nobility; his family was connected with the senate of Thessalonica, and his mother Maria may have been Slavic. Studied at the University of Constantinople, and taught philosophy there. Deacon. Priest. Librarian at the church of Santa Sophia. Monk, taking the name Cyril. Sent with Methodius by the emperor in 861 to convert the Jewish Khazars of Russia, a mission that was successful, and which allowed him to learn the Khazar's language. In 863, sent with Methodius to convert Moravians in their native tongue. Though some western clergy opposed their efforts and refused to ordain their candidates for the priesthood, they did good work. Developed an alphabet for the Slavonic language that eventually became what is known as the Cyrillic today. After initial criticism for their use of it, they achieved approval of the Liturgy in the Slavonic language.

http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/saintc08.htm

Saint Cyril, ����� �������� (born in 827, Thessaloniki, Byzantine Empire (today Greece); died February 4, 869, Rome) was a Byzantine monk, scholar, theologian, and linguist. With his brother Methodius he is believed to have invented the Glagolitic alphabet, an alphabet used for Slavonic manuscripts before the development of the Cyrillic alphabet. The two brothers were sent by Byzantine Emperor Michael III to evangelize to the Slavs in Great Moravia. They convinced many of the ecclesiastical authorities of their time to permit translation of the liturgy and Gospels into Old Church Slavonic.

Cyril's work was later transmitted by his pupils, who were expelled from Great Moravia in 885 and went to Bulgaria and other countries.

Cyril was canonized as a saint and is also called "apostle of the Slavs", together with St. Methodius.

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Early Life of Cyril

Of the two "Apostles to the Slavs," Cyril (originally named Constantine) died in 869; Methodius, in 885. They were the sons of a Greek subordinate military officer named Drungarius, born at Thessalonica, and a mother of Slavic origin.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Cyril

As for the name Cyril being Slavic  read here:

Cyrillic

Quality humour I must admit.

When will you Greeks admit the obvious... They couldn't have learned Bulgarian that good in the market could they. My mother (she is Russian) has lived 20 years in Baku (the capital of Azerbaijan) and she can't speak their language. Just think about it. One day you are in your home watching TV, drinking beer and suddenly the Greek president calls you on the phone and sais: "Aeolus, the Mongolians have decided to accept christianity from us. I want you to create a new alphabet for them, to translate the Bible and a hole bunch of other theologycal books in Mongolian and create the new Mongolian theologycal terminology."  And actually the real situation wasn't that much different, because the Bulgars were a Central Asian tribe and it wouldn't be a surprise if it turned out they had some relation to the Mongols. Indeed Kiril and Methodious had briliant teachers, but none of them spoke Slavic, because the Byzantines didn't bother studying Slavic. To them it was a dissgrace. They wanted to assimilate the Slavs, not the other way around. And it's undoubtable that you can't learn a language that good out on the market or the street. Further more Greek was the only official language in the Byzantine institutions. So much for Methodious... 

You're right. I also  admit that I was wrong about the names. Well, actually I knew that Kiril's real name was Constantine. It must have sliped my mind... What's interesting is why he replaced his Greek name with a Slavic one. Simple - he was a slav. I'll look for a reliable source on the Internet and post a link.

Bye for now.

The series of IFs you stated in no case cant be characterised as "obvious" but as usual they have the widespread meaning of "assumptions".

You are kidding me here, right?? No offense to your mother, but you are comparing her with two of the greatest intellectuals and linguists of that period in Byzantine empire, who had in their career, top positions like principal secretary of the patriarch or librarian, or professor in the university of Constantinople and the unusual ability for the period and place of speaking more than 4 languages like Cyril had???? You really have a wild fantasy there coming with such examples.

Firstly, i am not a linguist, i speak only two languages fluently, In my homeplace there isnt an extra large number of Mongols residing, the last time i checked my CV i havent had in my career an administrative position in any Mongol part of the world, fact is that i havent had the chance to speak to any Mongol or of Mongol origin in my entire life, therefore no thanks, i am far away from what Cyril and Methodius were and even more were capable of doing.

The teachers of Cyril were living in Constantinople, not  in Thessaloniki with an extremely large number of Slavs around, hense on the contrary, the need of learning Slavic for them was insignificant.

And it's undoubtable that you can't learn a language that good out on the market or the street. Further more Greek was the only official language in the Byzantine institutions. So much for Methodious...

Oh really?? He managed to learn the language of Khazars and the Samaritan languages in just one trip and u say he couldnt learn to speak Slavic fluently which was spoken in his birthplace and he had all the time since the beginning of his life to do so?? Terribly sorry but the argumentation you came with lacks any kind of validity.