Discursive features of the preface to the book On the Priesthood by St. John Chrysostom (Lviv, 1614)

Background. Prefaces and afterwords, which are metadiscursive to the main text, appear in the prebook times and later become mandatory elements of the book. Gradually, they are authorized, their functional purpose is reinterpreted, and for handwritten and old-published books of the 17th century, prefaces and afterwords are extremely important. They include extensive prefaces composed the scribes, commentaries on the main text, the interpretation of obscure words and phrases, explanation of ideas. However, prefaces and afterwords to the early printed editions of the 17th century have been mainly studied in the papers on book science, source study and cultural history; therefore, the linguistic aspect of the study is new and will complement the idea of the book as a result of speech production. The purpose of the article is to find out the discursive features of the preface to the book On the Priesthood by St. John Chrysostom (1614). Methods. Among the special linguistic methods, descriptive and analytical approaches, as well as discourse analysis have been applied. Results. Old-Ukrainian prefaces and afterwords of the 17th century are a unique material to study the peculiarities of the worldview of the then scribe, since they accumulate a live thought that could not penetrate the main discourse, limited by religious requirements and traditional norms. In the book On the Priesthood, the preface goes beyond the scope of religious discourse. Although it is formally directed to a clergyman, the speaker is a secular man who aims at restoring relations with the Lviv Orthodox elite and enlisting the support of readers. Discussion. The preface to the book On the Priesthood of St. John Chrysostom, as well as the afterword to it, is a journalistic discourse that, despite its dependence on the religious discourse (the saint’s book), marks the beginning of secular literature of mass purpose, as evidenced by such factors as the topic, the language, the person of the addressee, etc. In the future, the study of other Old-Ukrainian and Church-Slavonic prefaces to the books of the 17th century is to be conducted.