Znamenny Combining Mark On

It is a notation cue, not a self-contained melody. Znamenny grew from early Byzantine forms in Kievan Rus in the 11th century. A neume groups notes sung to one syllable. Type C, the earliest surviving form, appears in manuscripts from the 15th century without pitch marks; red performance marks came by the 17th century. After Znamenny waned in Russia and Ukraine in the late 17th century, Russian Old Ritualists (who kept older Orthodox rites) and some parishes continued it. Unicode's Znamenny block mainly records the red-mark system described in a 1670 chant guide called Izveshchenie o soglasneyshikh pometakh.