>94 LANG 
Ruffians, who lived at a very great diftance from thofe na¬ 
tions, knew nothing of this tifeful art antecedent to the 
period of their embracing the Chriftian faith. 
The Ruffians pretend that they were converted by St. 
Andrew ; but this is known to be a fable. Chriftianity 
was firft introduced among them in the reign of the grand 
duke Wolodimar, who, marrying the daughter of the 
Grecian emperor Baiilius, became her convert about the 
year 989. About this period, we imagine, they were 
'taught the knowledge of letters by the Grecian miffion- 
aries, who were employed in teaching them the elements 
of the Chriftian doCtrines. Their alphabet confifts of 31 
letters, with a few obfolete additional ones; and thefe 
characters refemble thofe of the Greek fo exaCtly, that 
there can be no doubt of their being copied from them. 
It is true, the thape of fome has been fomewhat altered, 
and a few barbarian ones have been intermingled. The, 
Ruffian liturgy, every body knows, was copied from 
that of the Greeks; and the belt fpecimen of the old 
Ruffian is the church-offices for Eafter, in the very words 
of Chryfoftom, who is called by his name Zlato ujlii, “gol¬ 
den-mouthed.” The power of the clergy in Ruffia was 
exceffive; and no doubt their influence was proportioned 
to their power. The firft race of clergy in that country 
were undoubtedly Greeks. We know how aCtive and in- 
duftrious thofe people were in propagating their language 
as well as their religion. The offices of religion might be 
at firft written and pronounced in the Greek tongue, but 
it would loon be found expedient to have them translated 
intoRuffian. The perfonsemployed in this.work muft have 
been Greeks who underftood both languages. 
As it is confefiedly impoffible that a people fo dull and 
uninventive as the Ruffians originally were could ever 
have fabricated a language fo artificially conftruCted as 
their prefeiit dialed; and as it is obvious, that, till Chrif- 
tianity was introduced among them by the Greeks, they 
could have no correfpondence with that people—it muft 
appear furprifing by what means their language came to 
l>e fafhioned fo exactly according to the Greek model. 
We have oblerved above, that the Ruffian letters muft 
have been invented and introduced into that country by 
the Greek miffionaries. We think it probable, that thofe 
apoftles, at the lame time that they taught them a new re¬ 
ligion, likewife introduced a change into the idiom of 
their language. The influence of thofe ghoftly teachers 
over a nation of lavages muft have been almoft boundlefs; 
the force of ttfbir precepts and example almoft incontrol- 
lable. If the favage converts accepted a new religion 
from the hands of thofe Grecian apoltles, they might with 
equal fubmiffion adopt improvements in their language. 
Such of the natives as were admitted to the lacerdotal 
function muft have learned the Greek language, in order 
to qualify them for performing the offices of their religion. 
A predilection for that language would be the immediate 
confequence. Hence the natives, who had been admitted 
into holy orders, would co-operate with their Grecian 
mailers in improving the dialect of the country ; which, 
prior to the period above-mentioned, muft have greatly 
deviated from theoriginal ftandard of the Sarmatian tongue. 
Upon this occalion, we imagine the Greek apoftles, in 
conjunction with their Ruffian difciples, reduced the lan¬ 
guage of the country to a refemblance with the Greek 
idiom. They retained the radical vocables as they found 
them ; but by a variety of flexions, conjugations, deriva¬ 
tions, coufpofitions, and other modifications, transformed 
them into the Grecian air and apparel. They mult have 
begun with the offices of the church ; and, among a na¬ 
tion of favages newly converted, the language of the new 
religion would quickly obtain a very extenfive circulation. 
When the Grecian garniture was introduced into the 
church, the Laity would, in procefs of time, alfume a lirni- 
lar drefs. The fabric of the Grecian declenlions, conju¬ 
gations, See. might be grafted upon Ruffian (locks with¬ 
out affeCting the radical parts of the language. 
UAGE, 
The Ruffian language, like molt others, contains eight 
parts of fpeech, noun, pronoun, See. Its nouns have three 
genders; mafouline, feminine, and neuter; it has alfo a 
common gender for nouns intimating both fexes. It has 
only two numbers, Angular and plural. Its cafes are fe- 
ven; nominative, genitive, dative, accufative, vocative, in- 
ftrumental, and prepofitive. Thefe cafes are not formed’ 
by varying the termination, as in Greek and Latin; but 
generally by placing a vowel after the word, as, we ima¬ 
gine, was the original practice of the Greeks. Nouns 
lubllantive are reduced to four declenlions, and adjectives 
make a fifth. Thefe agree with their fubftantives in cafe, 
gender, and number. They have three degrees of com- 
parifon, as is common in other languages; the pofitive, 
comparative, and fuperlative. The comparative is formed 
from the feminine of the nominative lingular of the pofi¬ 
tive, by changing a into tr; the fuperlative is made by 
prefixing pre to the pofitive. Thefe rules are general; for 
the exceptions, recourle muft be had to the Ruffian gram¬ 
mars. The numeral adjectives have three genders like 
the reft, and are declined accordingly. Their pronouns 
have nothing peculiar, and are divided and arranged in 
the fame manner as in other languages. Verbs in the 
Ruffian language are comprehended under two conjuga¬ 
tions. The moods are only three; the indicative, the im¬ 
perative, and the infinitive ; the fubjunCtiveis formed by 
placing a particle before the indicative. Its tenfes are 
eight in number; the prefent, the imperfect, the prete¬ 
rite Ample, the preterite compound, the pluperfect, the 
future indeterminate, the future Ample, the future com¬ 
pound. The verbs have their numbers and perfons as in 
other languages. To enter into a detail of their manner 
of conjugating their verbs, would neither be confident 
with our plan, nor, we are perfuaded, of much confe¬ 
quence to our readers. Their other parts of fpeech dif¬ 
fer nothing from thofe of other languages. Their fyntax 
nearly refembles that of the Greek and Latin. All thefe 
articles mult be learned from a grammar of the language. 
Whether there is any grammar of the Ruffian language 
compofed in Englilh we know not. That of Monf. Char- 
pentier in French, printed at Peterlburgh in 1768, is the 
only one we have feen, and which appears to us a very 
excellent one. 
The Ruffian language (fays Mr. Pinkerton) is extreme¬ 
ly difficult to pronounce, and not lefs difficult to acquire,, 
as it abounds with extraordinary founds, and anomalies 
of every kind. The characters amount to no lefs than 
thirty-fix; and the common founds are fometimes ex- 
prefled in the Greek character, fometimes in characters 
quite unlike thofe of any other language ; the tones pecu¬ 
liar to the Ruffian are often exprelfed by letters which 
•wear a very ill-chofen femblance to the Greek or Roman. 
In fome refpects the founds feem to approach the Perfian 
and Arabic ; a circumftatice which can hardly arife from 
the Mahometan domination of the Tartars, as after Nel- 
tor, who wrote his annals about the year 1000, there is a 
fucceffion of Ruffian authors. Among other Angularities, 
there is one letter to exprefs the fch , and another the ffeh, 
the latter (fays Mr. Pinkerton) a found hardly pronounce¬ 
able by any human mouth. 
The Ruffian literature fucceeded, as ufual, the conver- 
fion of the empire to Chriftianity. As there is no induce¬ 
ment for ftrangers to learn the language, for the purpofe 
of perilling works of genius, it is unnecefiary to enlarge 
upon it in a work of this general nature. The elder au¬ 
thors are either writers of annals, or compilers of marty- 
rologies and lives of faints : Neftor, the earlieft hiltorian, 
alfo let an example of the latter kind. In recent times 
the belt authors refident in Ruffia, fuch as Pallas and 
many others, have had recourfe to the German language 3 
and little can be expeCted from the native literature, till 
the language (hall have been reduced to the more pre- 
cife alphabet and polilhed form of other European diar 
lefts. 
3 
Or 
