Sava Mrkalj ( sr-Cyrl, Сава Мркаљ; ; 1783 – 1833) was a
Serb
The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are the most numerous South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans in Southeastern Europe, who share a common Serbian ancestry, culture, history and language.
The majority of Serbs live in their na ...
linguist
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 ...
,
grammarian,
philologist
Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as th ...
, and
poet
A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems ( oral or wri ...
known for his attempt to reform the Serbian language before
Vuk Karadžić
Vuk Stefanović Karadžić ( sr-Cyrl, Вук Стефановић Караџић, ; 6 November 1787 (26 October OS)7 February 1864) was a Serbian philologist, anthropologist and linguist. He was one of the most important reformers of the moder ...
.
Biography
Mrkalj was born in the hamlet of Sjeničak in
Kordun
The Kordun () region is a part of central Croatia from the bottom of the Petrova Gora (Peter's mountain) mountain range, which extends along the rivers Korana and Slunjčica, and forms part of the border region to Bosnia and Herzegovina. Within ...
, at the time
Military Frontier
The Military Frontier (german: Militärgrenze, sh-Latn, Vojna krajina/Vojna granica, Војна крајина/Војна граница; hu, Katonai határőrvidék; ro, Graniță militară) was a borderland of the Habsburg monarchy and ...
,
Austrian Empire
The Austrian Empire (german: link=no, Kaiserthum Oesterreich, modern spelling , ) was a Central-Eastern European multinational great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the realms of the Habsburgs. During its existence ...
, now
Croatia
, image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg
, anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, capit ...
. He attended high school in
Zagreb
Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital and largest city of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb stands near the international border between Croatia and Slov ...
, and graduated from
Pest University with the degree of ''Humanitatis et Philosophiæ Doctor.''
It was in 1805 in Pest that he began to devote himself to philological researches, inspired by the works of German philologist
Johann Christoph Adelung
Johann Christoph Adelung (8 August 173210 September 1806) was a German grammarian and philologist.
Biography
He was born at Spantekow, in Western Pomerania, and educated at schools in Anklam and Berge Monastery, Magdeburg, and the University o ...
and others who were working on language reforms. Mrkalj spoke fluent German, French, Greek and Hebrew. He is best known for attempting to reform the
Serbian language
Serbian (, ) is the standardized variety of the Serbo-Croatian language mainly used by Serbs. It is the official and national language of Serbia, one of the three official languages of Bosnia and Herzegovina and co-official in Montenegro and K ...
before
Vuk Stefanović Karadžić. In a publication titled ''Сало дебелога јера либо азбукопротрес / Fat of the Thick Yer, i.e. Alphabet Reshuffling'' (
Buda, 1810), he proposed a simplification of the Serbian alphabet from forty-two to twenty-six letters.
[Butler, Thomas J. (Winter, 1969) ''Jernej Kopitar's Role in the Serbian Language Controversy.'' The Slavic and East European Journal, Vol. 13, No. 4. pp. 482] His contemporaries were poets and writers
Lukijan Mušicki
Lukijan Mušicki ( sr-cyr, Лукијан Мушицки, ; 27 January 1777 – 15 March 1837) was a Serbian Orthodox bishop, writer and poet. From 1828 he was bishop of Karlovac
Karlovac () is a city in central Croatia. According to the 2011 ...
, Ivan Jugović,
Sima Milutinović Sarajlija
Simeon "Sima" Milutinović "Sarajlija" ( sr-cyr, Симеон "Сима" Милутиновић "Сарајлија", ; 3 October 1791 – 30 December 1847) was a poet, hajduk, translator, historian and adventurer. Literary critic Jovan Skerlić ...
, Jeremija Gagić, Stevan Živković (Telemak),
Pavle Solarić, and philologists Luka Milovanov Georgijević (1784–1828),
Jernej Kopitar
Jernej Kopitar, also known as Bartholomeus Kopitar (21 August 1780 – 11 August 1844), was a Slovene linguist and philologist working in Vienna. He also worked as the Imperial censor for Slovene literature in Vienna. He is perhaps best known ...
,
Peter P. Dubrovsky, and
Johann Christoph Adelung
Johann Christoph Adelung (8 August 173210 September 1806) was a German grammarian and philologist.
Biography
He was born at Spantekow, in Western Pomerania, and educated at schools in Anklam and Berge Monastery, Magdeburg, and the University o ...
. Mrkalj gave his support to Vuk and Kopitar during the Serbian Language Controversy, but retracted everything he wrote when he was threatened with
defrocking
Defrocking, unfrocking, degradation, or laicization of clergy is the removal of their rights to exercise the functions of the ordained ministry. It may be grounded on criminal convictions, disciplinary problems, or disagreements over doctrine or ...
.
His suggestion was considered radical and indeed blasphemous (since the original
Cyrillic in use by the
Serbian Orthodox Church at the time had allegedly been created by
Cyril and Methodius
Cyril (born Constantine, 826–869) and Methodius (815–885) were two brothers and Byzantine Christian theologians and missionaries. For their work evangelizing the Slavs, they are known as the "Apostles to the Slavs".
They are credited wit ...
), so Mrkalj received so much offensive criticism from the church hierarchy that he decided to be tonsured as a monk to prove his orthodoxy in 1811, but was so disappointed with the monastic life that he left the order in 1813. In 1817 he retracted his alphabet reform proposal in a publication titled: ''A Palinode (or Defense of the Thick Yer)''.
[
Later in life, Mrkalj became despondent and was hospitalised in ]Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
mental hospital in 1827.[ Vuk Stefanović Karadžić came to visit him often. Mrkalj died in 1833.
]
Mrkalj's influence
Among the first Illyrians (as the Serbs were called by the Austrians) Dositej Obradović
Dositej Obradović ( sr-Cyrl, Доситеј Обрадовић; 17 February 1739 – 7 April 1811) was a Serbian writer, biographer, diarist, philosopher, pedagogue, educational reformer, linguist, polyglot and the first minister of education ...
is the first who in his writings replaced the dead old Slavonic literary language by the living dialect of the people. Sava Mrkalj echoed Dositej's demand for a simplified alphabet for secular writing. He was, in fact, the first to influence Vuk Stefanović Karadžić in forming a new standard for the Serbian literary language based on common use.
By far the most significant evidence of Mrkalj's suggested reform appeared in 1810 in a slim volume anticipating Vuk Karadžić's orthographic reform by urging the adoption of a phonemic
In phonology and linguistics, a phoneme () is a unit of sound that can distinguish one word from another in a particular language.
For example, in most dialects of English, with the notable exception of the West Midlands and the north-west ...
alphabet in Cyrillic and by prompting the use of the '' jekavian'' norm. His pamphlet had been severely criticized by the hierarchy of the Serbian Orthodox Church because Mrkalj proposed to simplify the traditional Slavonic alphabet for secular use by eliminating letters that took up too much space, were duplicates and superfluous, or simply stood for sounds not in the Serbian language. The clergy charged that dropping such letters would cause the modern orthography to come into "collision" with the Slavonic. Other linguists and philologists
Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined ...
, like Vuk Karadžić and Jernej Kopitar
Jernej Kopitar, also known as Bartholomeus Kopitar (21 August 1780 – 11 August 1844), was a Slovene linguist and philologist working in Vienna. He also worked as the Imperial censor for Slovene literature in Vienna. He is perhaps best known ...
, immediately came to his support, citing Russian spellings that correspond to Russian speech and not Slavonic. Mrkalj suggested, as Dositej Obradović had done in the eighteenth century, that Serbs keep the orthography of the church language separate from the living language they would use in their new, contemporary literature.
Of all the orthgraphical reforms proposed by such well-known Serbian writers as Dositej Obradović
Dositej Obradović ( sr-Cyrl, Доситеј Обрадовић; 17 February 1739 – 7 April 1811) was a Serbian writer, biographer, diarist, philosopher, pedagogue, educational reformer, linguist, polyglot and the first minister of education ...
, Sava Tekelija
Sava Tekelija ( sr, Сава Текелија) (1761–1842) was the first Serbian doctor of law, the founder of the Tekelijanum, president of the Matica srpska, philanthropist, noble, and merchant. , Lukijan Mušicki
Lukijan Mušicki ( sr-cyr, Лукијан Мушицки, ; 27 January 1777 – 15 March 1837) was a Serbian Orthodox bishop, writer and poet. From 1828 he was bishop of Karlovac
Karlovac () is a city in central Croatia. According to the 2011 ...
, Atanasije Stojković
Atanasije Stojković (September 20, 1773 in Ruma, Austrian Empire – September 25, 1832 in Kharkov, Imperial Russia) was a Serbian, Austrian and Russian writer, pedagogue, scholar, physicist, mathematician and astronomer of Serb origin. He is con ...
, Pavle Solarić, Vuk Karadžić
Vuk Stefanović Karadžić ( sr-Cyrl, Вук Стефановић Караџић, ; 6 November 1787 (26 October OS)7 February 1864) was a Serbian philologist, anthropologist and linguist. He was one of the most important reformers of the moder ...
favoured Sava Mrkalj's system the best. The principle underlying Mrkalj's system was one sound—one letter, which meant that every sound should be represented by one letter, and that each distinctive sound of the spoken language should have a letter corresponding to it alone.
Works
Besides his philological research and writings, Mrkalj is also known as an accomplished poet. His earliest poem ''Odi, Kirilu Živkoviću'' (An Ode to Kiril Zhivkovich
The male name Kiril (or Кирил or Кирилл) is a common first name in the Orthodox Slavic world, in particular in Bulgaria, North Macedonia, and Russia. It is also well known in Greece but in different forms like Kyriakos. (Note that in m ...
), dates from his university days in 1805; ''Jao! Jao! Jao tristo puta'' (Woe! Woe! Three Hundred Times Woe), an anthology written in 1817; ''Sonet preslavnu Arhipastiru'' ("Sonnet To The Renowned Archpriest"), a sonnet dedicated to Serbian poet Lukijan Mušicki
Lukijan Mušicki ( sr-cyr, Лукијан Мушицки, ; 27 January 1777 – 15 March 1837) was a Serbian Orthodox bishop, writer and poet. From 1828 he was bishop of Karlovac
Karlovac () is a city in central Croatia. According to the 2011 ...
who came into conflict with the hierarchy of the Serbian church over the language reforms proposed by Mrkalj and later by Vuk Karadžić; ''Starac'' ("Elder"); and a sonnet to ''Jeleni Dijaković na novu godinu'' (1828). He also translated some works of Horace. His admirers maintain that no man after Dositej Obradović
Dositej Obradović ( sr-Cyrl, Доситеј Обрадовић; 17 February 1739 – 7 April 1811) was a Serbian writer, biographer, diarist, philosopher, pedagogue, educational reformer, linguist, polyglot and the first minister of education ...
and before Vuk Karadžić
Vuk Stefanović Karadžić ( sr-Cyrl, Вук Стефановић Караџић, ; 6 November 1787 (26 October OS)7 February 1864) was a Serbian philologist, anthropologist and linguist. He was one of the most important reformers of the moder ...
did so much for the Serbian language
Serbian (, ) is the standardized variety of the Serbo-Croatian language mainly used by Serbs. It is the official and national language of Serbia, one of the three official languages of Bosnia and Herzegovina and co-official in Montenegro and K ...
under trying times and circumstances.
References
* '' Ђорђе Рајковић: Изабрани списи - Биографије књижевника, Матица српска, Нови Сад, 1950.''
*''Мала Енциклопедија Просвета - Општа Енциклопедија (М-Ш). Издавачко предузеће "Просвета", Београд 1959.''
* '' Меша Селимовић: За и против Вука, Beograd 1967.''
* '' Вукосава Опачић - Лекић: Сава Мркаљ: живот и дјело, „ Матица српска“, Нови Сад 1978.''
*'' Mile Mrkalj: Sjeničak - kronika kordunaškog sela,"Historijski arhiv", Karlovac 1980.''
*'' Гојко Николиш: Сава Мркаљ - повијест о једном страдалнику, "Просвјета", Загреб 1980.''
*''Сава Мркаљ: Песме и списи, СКД Сава Мркаљ", Топуско, 1994. приредио Жарко Ружић.''
* Jovan Skerlić
Jovan Skerlić (, ; 20 August 1877 – 15 May 1914) was a Serbian writer and literary critic.''Jovan Skerlić u srpskoj književnosti 1877–1977: Zbornik radova''. Posebna izdanja, Institut za knjizevnost i umetnost, Belgrade. He is seen as one ...
''Istorija nove srpske književnosti'', Beograd, 1914
* '' Гојко Николиш: Сава Мркаљ - повијест о једном страдалнику, „Просвјета“, Загреб 1980.''
* ''Milan Moguš
Milan Moguš (; 27 April 1927 – 19 November 2017) was a Croatian linguist and academician.
Biography
He was born in Senj, where he finished primary school and high school. In the academic year 1948/49 he attended in Faculty of Philosophy in Z ...
i Josip Vončina: "Salo debelog jera libo azbukoprotres" Save Mrkalja, JAZU
The Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts ( la, Academia Scientiarum et Artium Croatica, hr, Hrvatska akademija znanosti i umjetnosti, abbrev. HAZU) is the national academy of Croatia.
HAZU was founded under patronage of the Croatian bishop Jo ...
i Skupština općine Karlovac, Zagreb
Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital and largest city of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb stands near the international border between Croatia and Slov ...
1983.''
* ''Сава Мркаљ: Песме и списи, СКД „Сава Мркаљ“ Топуско, 1994. приредио Жарко Ружић.''
* '' Милош Окука: "Сало дебелог јера либо азбукопретрес" Сава Мркаљ у старом и новом руху, „ СКД Просвјета“, Загреб 2010.''
* ''An den Anfängen der serbischen Philologie/На почецима српске филологије: "Salo Debeloga Jera Libo Azbukoprotres" Von Sava Mrkalj (1810-2010) "Сало дебелог јера либо азбукопретрес" Савe Мркаљa (1810-2010), Herausgegeben/Приредили Gordana Ilić Marković, Anna Kretschmer und Miloš Okoka, Frankfurt am Main
Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...
: Peter Lang Internationaler Verlag der Wissenschaften, 2012.''
External links
Translated works by Sava Mrkalj
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mrkalj, Sava
1783 births
1833 deaths
People from Karlovac
Serbs of Croatia
Linguists from Serbia
19th-century Serbian people
Serbian male poets
Linguists from the Austrian Empire
Poets from the Austrian Empire