Old Orth

Old Orth is a historical stage of Orth preserved as a liturgical and scholarly register. The Dictionary uses the label to mark earlier senses and to cite quotations from older sources.

Definition

Old Orth denotes earlier usage within the Orth language continuum. It appears in quotations, older manuscripts, and ceremonial phrasing retained for gravity and continuity of tradition.

Context and Usage

• Mathic rites: Solemn summonings and other formal openings may begin in Old Orth, with later formulas voiced in New Orth as needed.
• Monastic liturgy: In extramuros practice, clergy of Bazian Orthodoxy chant invocations and ancient prayers in Old Orth. At one mountain monastery, a dawn invocation and a shared ancient prayer were sung in Old Orth that was indistinguishable from the avout’s, underscoring mutual intelligibility across traditions.
• Scholarship: As a period tag, “Old Orth” is used in definitions and notes to distinguish early senses from those of later Orth.

Related Terms

• Proto‑Orth: earliest tagged stage in the Orth tradition
• Middle Orth: later historical stage (sometimes subdivided into Early and Late)
• New Orth: later stage used for certain formal formulas and modern senses

Notes

• Old Orth functions as a common liturgical register across the maths and Bazian monasteries even where everyday clerical Orth and mathic speech diverge; the shared comprehension of Old Orth prayers suggests a deeply rooted, conserved tradition.