This page contains questions that I have about Church Slavonic. As they are answered, I will put the answers here, as well. Note: these are the same questions that are posted on various pages throughout the site, gathered here for easy reference. If you know the answers to any of these questions, please e-mail me.

Miscellaneous

How are passive participles formed?

Letter Names

What are the correct spellings of the letter names? There are many inconsistencies in the resources I have. They different in spelling and in placement of stress. For example, Luke 1:34 has <kakw>, but D'jachenko has <kako>. One book has the stress in <mysljete> on the first syllable, another has the stress on the second syllable. Are these just mistakes in the books or have these changed over time?
Are the meanings of the letter names correct?

Pronunciation

Is <kakw> a neutral consonant?
Is <nash"> a neutral consonant?
Is <pokoj> a neutral consonant?
Is <rcy> a dental (not apico-alveolar) consonant?
Is <ljudi> apico-dental?
Do <jer"> and <jer'> indicate any pronunciation information other than the hardness or softness of the preceding consonant?
Does <jus malyj> cause palatalization of a preceding neutral consonant (when <jus malyj> is not in syllable initial position)? E.g. <imja> is palatalized (and pronounced "eemyah"), while <nashja> is not palatalized and is pronounced the same as <nasha>?

Diacritics

What are the exact rules of usage for </apostrof">?
What is the <kav/yka> used for?
Is the <kr/atkaja> ever used other than with the letter <izhe>? What exactly does it do to the pronunciation?
When is <erok"> used? What rules or historical circumstances govern its use? (Why is it used so infrequently? Why bother to abbreviate a hard sign? Was it just for decorative purposes?)

Other Letters

What are the names of these letters? What is their history? How are/were they used? Anything you can tell me about them would be appreciated.
Is the version of <Vzhica> with the special accent used only as a vowel? Is it supposed to be used every time is <Vzhica> is used as a vowel or are there rules governing its use?
What is the relationship between <uk"> and <Vzhica>? It appears that both of them derive from the Greek letter upsilon. How did they become separate letters?

First Declension Nouns

Are the declensions for <bog"> and <carstvie> correct? If so, why does are the accusative and instrumental plural <bwgi> instead of <bogi>?
Why do the nominative, accusative, and instrumental plural forms of <car'> have a varia accent instead of a kamora accent, even though they are identical to the prepositional singular form?
Are there consonants other than <zhivete> that use the "mixed" declension?
Does the "mixed" declension occur because a stem ending in a front (e.g. palato-alveolar) consonant (such as <zhivete>) causes the following vowel to be fronted? (e.g. <zho> --> <zhe>)

Fourth Declension Nouns

Is <oko> a fourth declension noun? Why is its plural form <ochi> (or is this its dual form)? Why is the plural not <ochesa> (or <ochesi> if it is a dual form)?

The Verb <byti>

What is the relationship of the verb <byvati> to the verb <byti>?
When do the dual forms of <byti> end in the letter <jat'> instead of the letter <az">

Irregular Verbs

Why do some of the of the 1st and 3rd person singular forms end in a hard sign and some end in a soft sign? I would have expected the endings to be the same.
One source gives <dadite> as the 2nd person plural of <dati>. I assume this is because <dati> is perfective so the 2nd person plural has imperative force and is therefore replaced by an imperative form. Is this correct? Which form is more commonly seen?

Prepositions

What are the rules for using the <o> suffix on single-letter prepositions (e.g. v" and vo, s" and so, k" and ko, etc.)?
Why is <vo vjeki vjekwv"> used in one place (e.g. <slava i nynje>); and <v" vjeki vjekwv"> used in another (e.g. Psalm 83:5)? Psalm 47:15 has both in the same verse, <vo vjek" i v" vjek" vjeka>. What is going on?

Our Father

Is there a difference between <jakw> and <jakozhe>?
What part of speech is the <i> in <jakozhe i>?
How are adjectival nouns distinguished from abstract nouns? E.g. How would "Deliver us from evil [in the abstract]" differ from "Deliver us from the evil one"?
Does same ambiguity/controversy (i.e. "daily/necessary" vs. "supersubstantial") that surrounds the Greek "epiousios" apply to <nasushchnyj>?

Prayer after Meals

What part of speech is <i> (meaning "even", "also")?
Is <prishel> the perfect form of <priiti>? If so, why does the <d> in the stem of <priiti> turn into <sh>?

St. Symeon's Prayer

When does the second person present tense have imperative mood (as in <wtpushchaesi>)?
What rule transforms <wtpustiti> into <wtpushchaeshi>?
In general, how can you determine the gender/declension of proper nouns and loan words?
Is <ljudie> a collective noun? Is the genitive plural, <ljudej>, better translated as "of people" or "of peoples"? Does it have singular grammatical forms or are the plural forms always used?
What grammatical form is <vidjestje>?

O Heavenly King

What is <ispolnjajaj>? It looks like some kind of participle, but I couldn't find any tables that listed a form exactly like this.
Since <sha> is a hard consonant, is <nashja> pronounced as though it were written <nasha>?