KRISTUS, KRYSTUS, CHRISTUS, CHRYSTUS AR CRISTUS? VARDO RAŠYBOS RAIDA XVI –XIX AMŽIAUS RAŠTUOSE
THE ORTHOGRAPHIC DEVELOPMENT OF THE NAME KRISTUS, KRYSTUS, CHRISTUS, CHRYSTUS, AND CRISTUS IN THE 16-19TH CENTURIES

Summary/Abstract: In Lithuanian texts, the spelling of Christ’s name varied up until the middle of the nineteenth century. In earlier writings, we can find the spellings Kristus, Krjstus, Krystus, Christus, Chrjstus, Chrystus, and Cristus, as well as some abbreviations that may be ordered chronologically this way: xp-, cr-, Ch-, Xst-. The oldest examples can be found in the manuscript prayers of the beginning of the sixteenth century. The accusative singular form kriſtu with the initial k‑ corresponds to the Polish spelling of the same name in manuscripts of the same time. The abbreviation crmight have been a reflection of the Latin Cristus of the Middle Ages. The broadest generalization of the changes in orthography of Christ’s name allows me claim that it was the editors of Lithuanian texts in East Prussia who modified the form Christus into Kristus according to the Lithuanian pronunciation (these were Lutheran texts from the middle of the seventeenth century). Catholics in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, however, simultaneously switched to the spelling Chrystus (sometimes returning to Christus) and kept at it for a comparatively long period, most probably up to the middle of the nineteenth century.

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