Describing the Letters of the Russian Alphabet
When describing the various letter shapes in old handwriting, it is essential to use precise language. Such specific terminology can help to achieve consistency in letter formation and interpretation.
The following are several examples of important paleographic terms. Though this is not an all-inclusive list, the terms below are some of the most common in reference to Russian language paleography:
| Term | Definition | Example |
arm | a horizontal stroke that extends from, but does not cross, the body of the letter | 
|
ascender | an upward stroke rising above the body of a lowercase letter | 
|
bar | see crossbar | 
|
body | the main core of the letter; does not include ascenders or descenders | 
|
bow | a circular stroke, such as the letter o or the rounded portion of the letter р | 
|
crossbar | a horizontal stroke that crosses the center of a letter |
|
descender | a downward stroke dropping far below the baseline | 
|
hook | a small stroke (smaller than a full minim) indicating the beginning of certain letters, such as the Cyrillic л, м, or я (and sometimes х) | 
|
ligature | the combination of two letter shapes into one body | ѹ is sometimes written as ꙋ in the Church Slavonic headings of metrical books |
lobe | see bow |
|
majuscule | uppercase | 
|
minim | a single, vertical stroke between the midline and the baseline | 
|
miniscule | lowercase | 
|
semi-bow | a half circle, such as the stroke used to write the letter c | 
|
slant | a stroke written at a slight angle, rather than being written straight up and down | 
|
stroke | a single movement of the writing utensil | 
|
The list below covers the names of various diacritical marks used to differentiate letters in the Russian language:
| Term | Definition | Example |
breve | a small curved line placed above the letter to differentiate Й (“ee-kratkoye”) from И (“ee”) | 
|
two dots | two small dots placed above the letter to differentiate Ë (“yo”) from E (“ye”) | 
|
accent | a slanted line written above a letter to indicate stress. Accents are most often applied for the sake of language learners and are not a normal part of the written Russian language. However, you may encounter accent marks in headings for metrical books. | Ру́сский |