Father Antoni Maria Alcover i Sureda, also known (in Catalan) as ''Mossèn Alcover'' (; 2 February 1862 in Santa Cirga,

Manacor Manacor () is a town and municipality on the island of Mallorca, part of the Spanish autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. It is the second largest town in Mallorca, after the capital of Palma. The municipality has tourist areas such as ...

– 8 January 1932 in Palma) was a

modernist Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...

Majorca Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest island in the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain and located in the Mediterranean. The capital of the island, Palma, is also the capital of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. The Ba ...

n writer, who wrote on a wide range of subjects including the Catholic Church,

folklore Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging fro ...

and

linguistics Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...

. He is chiefly associated with efforts to revive interest in the

Catalan language Catalan (; autonym: , ), known in the Valencian Community and Carche as ''Valencian'' (autonym: ), is a Western Romance language. It is the official language of Andorra, and an official language of three autonomous communities in eastern Sp ...

and its dialects. Among his works was a Catalan-

Valencian Valencian () or Valencian language () is the official, historical and traditional name used in the Valencian Community (Spain), and unofficially in the El Carche comarca in Murcia (Spain), to refer to the Romance language also known as Cat ...

- Balearic

dictionary A dictionary is a listing of lexemes from the lexicon of one or more specific languages, often arranged alphabetically (or by radical and stroke for ideographic languages), which may include information on definitions, usage, etymologies, p ...

Biography

Alcover was born in Santa Cirga, a small territory between

and

Porto Cristo Porto Cristo is a small town on the eastern coast of Mallorca. It is from the town of Manacor and is within the Manacor municipality. Geography The village is located in a major tourist area between Costa de los Pinos and Cala Murada. Its sma ...

, the son of laborers. After studying

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

and

classics Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classi ...

he moved at the age of 15 to Palma de Mallorca, where he continued his studies in

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy, ...

. He became quickly known as a stubborn polemicist. Although his first literary efforts were in

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

, he turned to the Catalan language after 1879. From this date, he undertook to collect the fables and folklore of

, which he began to publish in 1880 in various journals under the pseudonym Jordi d'es Racó. This collection is composed by around 430 folk-fables, which have been translated to several languages including English. In 1886, he was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform vari ...

and became the parish priest for Manacor. In 1888 he became a professor of ecclesiastical history at the seminary in Palma. In 1898, the new bishop of Majorca, Pere Joan Campins i Barceló, appointed him as

vicar general A vicar general (previously, archdeacon) is the principal deputy of the bishop of a diocese for the exercise of administrative authority and possesses the title of local ordinary. As vicar of the bishop, the vicar general exercises the bishop's ...

of the Diocese of Majorca. He remained in this position until 1916. In 1905, he also obtained the position of magistral

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western can ...

of the Cathedral of Majorca. In 1906, by his initiative and under his presidency, the first ''Congrés Internacional de la Llengua Catalana'' (International Congress of the Catalan Language) was held. He was named president of the philological branch of the

Institute for Catalan Studies The Institute for Catalan Studies ( ca, Institut d'Estudis Catalans, ), also known by the acronym and initialism, acronym IEC, is an academic institution which seeks to undertake research and study into "all elements of Catalan culture". It is bas ...

, a position which quickly ended after a furious dispute with other members of the institute. His magnum opus was the '' Català-Valencià-Balear

Dictionary A dictionary is a listing of lexemes from the lexicon of one or more specific languages, often arranged alphabetically (or by radical and stroke for ideographic languages), which may include information on definitions, usage, etymologies, p ...

'', which he did not live to see completed. It was finished by his collaborator

Francesc de Borja i Moll Francesc de Borja Moll Casanovas (10 October 1903 – 18 February 1991) was a catalan linguist, philologist and editor from Menorca. He wrote many books on the Catalan language and its varieties spoken on the Balearic Islands. He was also the ma ...

and the Catalan folklorist and lexicographer Irene Rocas i Romaguera.Bruguera, Jordi. "Irene Rocas, Carrer d' - Ajuntament de Palafrugell". www.palafrugell.cat (in Catalan). Retrieved 2022-03-04 Among other responsibilities, he was the correspondent of the ''Acadèmia de Bones Lletres de Barcelona'' in Barcelona and directed the publishing of the works of

Ramon Llull Ramon Llull (; c. 1232 – c. 1315/16) was a philosopher, theologian, poet, missionary, and Christian apologist from the Kingdom of Majorca. He invented a philosophical system known as the ''Art'', conceived as a type of universal logic to pro ...

Work

His literary work focused on linguistic research, history, popular customs and folklore collections, various biographies, travel narratives and a novel. * Antoni M. Alcover i Francesc de B. Moll, ''La flexió verbal en els dialectes catalans'', 4 vols., Barcelona, Biblioteca Balmes, 1929-1933. * Antoni M. Alcover, ''Aplec de rondaies mallorquines d'en Jordi d'es Racó'', 24 vols., Palma, Moll, 1968-1975. * Antoni M. Alcover, ''Per la llengua'', ed. a cura de Josep Massot i Muntaner, Mallorca-Barcelona, Secció de Filologia Catalana de la Universitat de Palma-Publicacions de l'Abadia de Montserrat, 1983. * Antoni M. Alcover, ''Dietari de l'excursió filològica (1906)'', edició a cura de Francesc de B. Moll, Barcelona, Departament de Cultura de la Generalitat de Catalunya, 1983. * ''Diccionari català-valencià-balear: inventari lexicogràfic i etimològic de la llengua catalana en totes les seves formes literàries i dialectals'', work started by Antoni Maria Alcover, written by Francesc de B. Moll, with the collaboration of Manuel Sanchis Guarner and Anna Moll Marquès, 10 vols., Palma, Moll, 1993.

Notes

External links

UIBInstitució Alcover
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alcover y Sureda, Antoni Maria 1862 births 1932 deaths People from Manacor Catalan-language writers Linguists from Catalonia Spanish male writers Members of the Institute for Catalan Studies Lexicographers of Catalan 20th-century lexicographers