NEZNÁMY TEXT NA PLAKETE Z BOJNEJ

The subject of the paper is the identification of an unknown text on an archaeological find – the gilded plaque No. 1 from the village of Bojná (West Slovakia). The text formed part of a portable altar and shrine from the end of the 9th century and its historical-linguistic analysis testifies to the fact that this inscription was made most probably in the vicinity of Nitra (West Slovakia), an important spiritual and cultural centre. This is proved by the first four Glagolitic graphemes of the inscription, the fifth grapheme being a testimony of the previous spiritual and cultural Latin tradition. The plaque from the village of Bojná is one of the oldest preserved records in the Glagolitic script and it is a proof of the existence and functioning of a liturgical language of Slavic origin. The linguistic means that have been preserved on the artefacts from the 9th century prove that already at that time the western part of contemporary Slovakia was a territory, which had important social, spiritual and cultural functions and constituted part of the area where Christianity, education and literacy were spreading.