От Володимира к Владимиру: эволюция имени
From Volodimir to Vladimir: The evolution of a name

Summary/Abstract: Researchers have repeatedly noted the variability in the spelling of the name of the Grand Prince of Kiev Vladimir Sviatoslavich and that of other bearers of the same name in Ancient Rus written sources – Volodimir/Vladimir/Volodimer/Vladimer. However, the reasons and patterns of such changes have not been established yet. Analysis of the main body of narrative, liturgical and normative texts as well as of act material from the XI–XVI centuries allows us to put forward a hypothesis that the gradual displacement of the pleophonic form at the end of the XV–XVI centuries and the consolidation of the non-pleophonic spelling of this name in the XVII century as a literary norm were caused by ideological reasons associated with the process of sacralisation of power of the Moscow rulers.

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