For linguists, Old Novgorodian is particularly of interest in that it has retained some archaic features which were lost in other Slavic dialects, such as the absence of second palatalization. Furthermore, letters provide unique evidence of the Slavic vernacular, as opposed to the Church Slavonic which dominated the written literature of the period. Most of the letters feature everyday business and personal correspondence, instructions, complaints, news, reminders etc. Such widespread usage indicates a high level of literacy, including among women and children. For language history the notes are also valuable because they retain original spelling of the time as they were not copied, rewritten or edited by later scribes unlike copied chronicles where over the centuries spelling may have been changing from the changes in scribes' speech.