Dual number marked on personal pronouns and verbal agreement suffixes disappeared in the majority of Slavic languages except for three - Slovenian, Upper Sorbian, and Lower Sorbian. Previous studies do not provide a principled account why (i) the monomorphemic dual was reanalyzed as bimorphemic in Slovenian, Upper, and Lower Sorbian, and why (ii) it was replaced by the plural in the majority of Slavic languages including Russian and Kashubian. In this dissertation, I investigate diachronic changes in the morphosyntactic category of the Slavic dual which occurred in the 11th-15th centuries. In this dissertation, I present new diachronic data obtained through digital corpora of Old Slavic manuscripts. Within the framework of Distributed Morphology, I propose a new principle of Morphosyntactic Feature Economy which explains these two different patterns of diachronic change in the Slavic dual pronouns and verbal agreement. I argue that the principle of Morphosyntactic Feature Economy is one of the factors which drives diachronic change in the category of number in Slavic languages. Morphosyntactic Feature Economy is a principle of efficient computation. It plays an essential role in restructuring of the morphosyntactic category of the Slavic dual. Morphosyntactic restructuring of the Slavic dual, triggered by its morphosyntactic and semantic markedness, results in a morphosyntactically 'simpler' category of number. As a consequence of the application of the principle of Morphosyntactic Feature Economy, the language learner acquires a featurally restructuctured category of number, which is simpler and more computationally efficient.

This thesis is a contribution to a growing field of studies on the reception of Byzantine culture in Russia. The object of investigation is the history of the Church Slavonic translation of the Cherubika, which constitute one of the most ancient and dogmatically important functional genres of Byzantine liturgical hymns. The chronological frame of this study is the 13th–17th century. Particular attention is focused on the last change in the liturgical texts in Muscovite Russia, in the mid-17th century. This liturgical reform, which led to the famous Schism in the Russian Church, is studied as part of the cultural reforms started by Tsar Alexis Romanov (1645-1676). The most characteristic feature of Orthodoxy is the principal unity of Scripture and Tradition, which in a hermeneutical perspective means the inseparability of text and context. The semiotic and interdisciplinary approach used in this study reflects this principle. The Slavic Cherubika are interpreted in a broad cultural perspective, and Church Slavonic translations are studied in the proper theological, rhetorical and linguistic contexts. Although the 17th-century translations made in Moscow were based on late Greek and South Slavic sources, they reconstruct the original dogmatic message of the Byzantine Cherubika and are hence closer to the Tradition than earlier Slavonic translations. This study offers a new interpretation of the nature of the Schism. It is shown that the main cause of the controversy between Reformists and Old Believers lies in their different understandings of the connection between Text and Ritual. The traditional medieval interpretation of the Cherubika is influenced by certain iconographical themes, other liturgical texts and the priest’s actions during the liturgy. The transition from a liturgocentric interpretation of sacral texts to a descriptive theological interpretation was a break from the characteristic Russian form of liturgocentrism and the beginning of a new cultural era.

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Le présent travail constitue une analyse philologique et historique des plus anciens anthroponymes germaniques et slaves. Le corpus est composé d’anthroponymes germaniques attestés avant la fin du 5e siècle, d’anthroponymes germaniques féminins attestés avant la fin du 7e siècle, d’anthroponymes anglo-saxons attestés avant la fin du 9e siècle, d’anthroponymes slaves attestés avant la fin du 9e siècle et d’anthroponymes russes attestés avant la fin du 14e siècle. Ont été analysées les notions cultuelles et culturelles exprimées dans les noms personnels et partagées par deux peuples, tels que : la sacralité des héros élus par les dieux, la vénération des ancêtres et la croyance en leur renaissance, la croyance en les femmes-gardiennes, les esprits tutélaires, le désir et le souhait de richesse pour la descendance. La croyance en la force protectrice des anthroponymes apotropaïques est analysée sur l’exemple des noms exprimant des émotions négatives par rapport à l’enfant, des anthroponymes se rapportant au loup et des anthroponymes à caractère obscène. L’analyse des noms des femmes germaniques et slaves a permis d’expliquer la prédominance des anthroponymes belliqueux chez les premières et l’absence de ceux-ci chez les deuxièmes. / The present dissertation is a philological and historical analysis of the oldest Germanic and Slavic given names. The corpus comprises the Germanic names attested before the end of the 5th century, the names of Germanic women attested before the end of the 7th century, the Slavic names attested before the end of the 9th century and the Russian names attested before the end of the 14th century. I analyse the cultic et cultural notions expressed in the personal names and shared by both traditions such as: sacrality of the hero chosen by gods, veneration of the ancestors and belief in their rebirth, belief in female guardian spirits, the desire and hope of wealth for the progeny. The belief in the protective force of the apotropaic names isanalysed from examples of names expressing negative emotions toward the child, names referring to a wolf and names with an obscene meaning. The close examination of German and Slavic female names reveals and explains the predominance of warlike anthroponomical themes among the former and their absence among the latter.

The identity of Russian Evangelical Churches theology is considered in this thesis. This identity arose as result of interactions of Western Evangelical movements with the Orthodox Church, and with native pre-Protestant groups. The separate area of theology chosen as the subject of research is ecclesiology. The historical background of the appearance of inner-orthodox movements is shown in this work in order to understand the theological peculiarities. Peculiarities of the orthodox and extra-orthodox mentality also are considered, as they become an important environment for the appearance and development of Evangelical theology in Russia. The last part of this work shows peculiarities of recent Evangelical ecclesiology. / Systematic Theology and Theological Ethics / M.Th. (Systematic Theology)

The identity of Russian Evangelical Churches theology is considered in this thesis. This identity arose as result of interactions of Western Evangelical movements with the Orthodox Church, and with native pre-Protestant groups. The separate area of theology chosen as the subject of research is ecclesiology. The historical background of the appearance of inner-orthodox movements is shown in this work in order to understand the theological peculiarities. Peculiarities of the orthodox and extra-orthodox mentality also are considered, as they become an important environment for the appearance and development of Evangelical theology in Russia. The last part of this work shows peculiarities of recent Evangelical ecclesiology. / Systematic Theology and Theological Ethics / M.Th. (Systematic Theology)