Letter Э in Old Russian hymns and copies of Exodus.

In Old Russian hymns one sporadically observes the letter Э, incorporated in the text of a hymn. The author argues that this letter refl ects some Hebrew phrases referring to the name of God: he establishes connections between the hymnographic Э and some specifi c hebraisms in the Russian Old Testament manuscripts. The article deals both with the origin of the letter Э and its subsequent evolution.