# All Slavic languages: летопись, анналы, хроника, letopis, anály, kronika



## Mac_Linguist

Could someone please explain the difference between a _летопис_ (_letopis_), анал (_anal_) and _хроника_ (_hronika_).

I know all three exist in Macedonian, Russian, Slovak and Polish, but I don't know the difference between them.


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## Setwale_Charm

In Russian it is: летопис*ь*

and I fairly believe it is:  анналы


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## Kriviq

Mac_Linguist said:


> Could someone please explain the difference between a _летопис_ (_letopis_), анал (_anal_) and _хроника_ (_hronika_).
> 
> I know all three exist in Macedonian, Russian, Slovak and Polish, but I don't know the difference between them.



You meant annals, I guess

Chronology is the determination of the succession of events, while letopis and annals are synonyms and mean a description of events in the course of successive years.


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## cyanista

What a good question!

Well, I honestly cannot see any difference in meaning - except that хроника has a few more meanings than a written description of events in the course of successive years (криминальная хроника, документальная хроника).

But only one of these words is truly Slavic - летопись. Анналы comes from Latin (_Annales_ from _annus_ - year) and хроника from Greek via Latin (chronos - time, chronicos - of time). So летопись is probably a document written in a Slavic land about a Slavic people and the latter two mostly refer to other ancient peoples ( "Анналы" Тацита, "Хроника" Евсевия). "Славянская хроника" (_Chronica Slavorum_) is about Slavic tribes but it was written by a German in Latin.

Does it make sense?


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## Kriviq

cyanista said:


> Well, I honestly cannot see any difference in meaning - except that хроника has a few more meanings than a written description of events in the course of successive years (криминальная хроника, документальная хроника).



In my opinion, хроника is a description of events in their succession, but not necessarily in successive years. A subtle difference, but still existent.


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## Thomas1

In Polish we have _kronika_ and _annały_. I have never heard of _letopis_ and I couldn't find it in the dictionary.
To me _annały_ imply documents from the previous years and they can be composed of _kroniki_ rather than all the way round.

The word _annały_ is not used as often as _kronika_ and it is used only in plural in my tongue.


Tom


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## Q-cumber

In general, these three words convey the same meaning, but:
1. Летопись is mostly used in relation with Slavonic history, especially religious. The word itself seems to be a bit dated nowadays. 
2. Анналы has very limited usage in Russian. However, we've got a fixed expression - "анналы истории" ("annals of history") which is used quite often, especially ironically.
*Это событие войдёт в анналы истории!* (This event shall be recorded on the annals of history).
3. Хроника is commonly used in relation with current/short-term events. Хроники (plural) is more appropriate for historic documents.

PS Анал means anal sex.


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## Jana337

We mostly use "kronika". "Letopis" is perfectly understood but a bit too formal. "Anály" is a word known to lovers of crosswords.

Wiki says that "kronika" is richer and more complex and detailed than "letopis".


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## cyanista

Kriviq said:


> In my opinion, хроника is a description of events in their succession, but not necessarily in successive years. A subtle difference, but still existent.



To my mind, it can be both - see my post. This word has a lot of meanings.


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## Athaulf

Q-cumber said:


> In general, these three words convey the same meaning, but:
> 1. Летопись is mostly used in relation with Slavonic history, especially religious. The word itself seems to be a bit dated nowadays.



It's very similar with the word _ljetopis_ in Croatian. In fact, I would bet that 90% of all mentions of this word refer either to the biblical books of Chronicles (which are translated as _Knjige ljetopisa_) or the medieval document _Ljetopis popa Dukljanina_. During the tide of purism in the 1990s, some people started using this word more widely, but this sounds pretty ridiculous if you ask me.



> 2. Анналы has very limited usage in Russian. However, we've got a fixed expression - "анналы истории" ("annals of history") which is used quite often, especially ironically.
> *Это событие войдёт в анналы истории!* (This event shall be recorded on the annals of history).


In Croatian, this word is used almost exclusively as a part of the phrase _ući u anale [povijesti, sporta, znanosti...]_, which literally means to _enter the annals of [history, sports, science...]_. It's used similar to the Russian phrase above, to mark an extraordinary event or accomplishment, and it may or may not be sarcastic. 



> 3. Хроника is commonly used in relation with current/short-term events. Хроники (plural) is more appropriate for historic documents.


We also use it to refer to a chronicle of current events, or even a daily news report. It's used most often as a part of the phrase _crna kronika_ (= _black chronicle_), which refers to the newspaper page that reports on crimes and fatal accidents. However, it may also refer to a historical chronicle. We don't have this plural usage you mention; the plural _kronike_ would merely refer to several chronicles in whatever context. 

I'm not sure to what extent the above refers to Serbian, though, since there are often differences in usage between Croatian and Serbian when it comes to words like this, where there are multiple Slavic and non-Slavic approximate synonyms.


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## Oletta

Mac_Linguist said:


> Could someone please explain the difference between a _летопис_ (_letopis_), анал (_anal_) and _хроника_ (_hronika_).



In Polish these words are synonymous, but still:

1. Летопись - doesn't exist, however, the second part of the word "pis" is derived from "pisać" = write, instead of this word we have two: "kronika", "rocznik"  ("kronika" can relate to a long period of time whereas "rocznik" is annual, the word in itself is derived from the word "rok" = year. "Rocznik" can be also a contemporary edition of yearly events of a school, a company, an organization...

2. Анналы - in Polish "annały" - the Latin origin word for either "roczniki" or "kroniki", now rarely used, used among the historians, people dealing with literature, in the contemporary language "roczniki" or "kroniki" stand for "annały.

3. Хроника - simply "kronika", a commonly used word, describes past events of a long period of time... "a chronicle".


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## Thomas1

Oletta said:


> In Polish these words are synonymous, but still:
> 
> 1. Летопись - doesn't exist, however, the second part of the word "pis" is derived from "pisać" = write, instead of this word we have two: "kronika", "rocznik" ("kronika" can relate to a long period of time whereas "rocznik" is annual, the word in itself is derived from the word "rok" = year. "Rocznik" can be also a contemporary edition of yearly events of a school, a company, an organization...
> 
> [...]


I was about to say the same but I restrained myself from doing it as this is a bit too absolute a statement. I am sure you can come across it in some writing in Polish which would mean it does exist. However, I would vernture to say that the word would not be understood by a Polish person unless they deal with literature of this kind. To give you an example have a browse of this site. 

Tom

Btw, welcome to the forums, Oletta.


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## Oletta

Well, a good job, Tom! The expresions: 





> Carstwiennik s letopiscem i Wriemiennik s letopiscem


 sound nice. I have never seen the word mention anywhere, yet it was nice to read them in the article you suggested. Btw. an interesting piece. 

At the same time I wondered if such a word exists in Lithuanian, though being a Balto-Slavic  one. Unfortunately, I have only a Polish-Lithuanian  dictionary  and searching this way I haven't found anything. If I have a chance I'd also like to study Lithuanian.... maybe some day...


PS. Thank you for  your welcome, Tom.  It's nice to be welcomed.


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