Slavonic

Slavonic is an adjective relating to Slavs, the ethnic groups of Europe, or to the Slavic language family. In English usage, Slavonic is an older or variant form of Slavic. The term is often found in historical and liturgical contexts, most notably with Old Church Slavonic, the first literary Slavic language, used from the 9th century in Christian liturgy by the missionaries Cyril and Methodius.

The Slavic languages constitute a branch of the Indo-European family and are traditionally divided into East Slavic (such as Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian), West Slavic (Polish, Czech, Slovak, Sorbian), and South Slavic (Bulgarian, Macedonian, Slovenian, Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian, Slovene). Old Church Slavonic played a foundational role in developing early Slavic writing systems, notably the Glagolitic and later the Cyrillic scripts. Today, Slavic languages employ a variety of scripts, including Cyrillic and Latin alphabets, depending on regional and national traditions.

In modern usage, Slavonic labeling is encountered primarily in historical, liturgical, or scholarly contexts. Contemporary linguistics typically uses the term Slavic or Slavic languages to describe the family, while Slavonic may appear in titles, older texts, or specific cultural references. The term also persists in some institutional names and in the designation of studies focused on Slavic languages and cultures. Overall, Slavonic reflects historical nomenclature that lives on in certain phrases, but Slavic remains the standard modern term.