Peter Dajnko (23 April 1787 – 22 February 1873) was a Slovene priest, author, and

linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...

, known primarily as the inventor of the Dajnko alphabet (), an innovative proposal for the

Slovene alphabet The Slovene alphabet or Slovenian alphabet (, or ''slovenska gajica'' ) is an extension of the Latin script used to write Slovene. The standard language uses a Latin alphabet which is a slight modification of the Croatian Gaj's Latin alphabet ...

. Dajnko was also a proficient

beekeeper A beekeeper is a person who keeps honey bees, a profession known as beekeeping. The term beekeeper refers to a person who keeps honey bees in beehives, boxes, or other receptacles. The beekeeper does not control the creatures. The beekeeper ow ...

and wrote the first book about

beekeeping Beekeeping (or apiculture, from ) is the maintenance of bee colonies, commonly in artificial beehives. Honey bees in the genus '' Apis'' are the most commonly kept species but other honey producing bees such as '' Melipona'' stingless bees are ...

in Slovene, titled ''Čelarstvo'' (Beekeeping).

Life

Dajnko was born in the village of Črešnjevci near the town of Gornja Radgona, in what was then the

Duchy of Styria The Duchy of Styria (; ; ) was a duchy located in modern-day southern Austria and northern Slovenia. It was a part of the Holy Roman Empire until its dissolution in 1806 and a Cisleithanian crown land of Austria-Hungary until its dissolution i ...

Archduchy of Austria The Archduchy of Austria (; ) was a major Princes of the Holy Roman Empire, principality of the Holy Roman Empire and the nucleus of the Habsburg monarchy. With its capital at Vienna, the archduchy was centered at the Empire's southeastern periph ...

as part of

Habsburg monarchy The Habsburg monarchy, also known as Habsburg Empire, or Habsburg Realm (), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities (composite monarchy) that were ruled by the House of Habsburg. From the 18th century it is ...

. His parents was Filip Dajnko (Dainko) winegrower and Marija Korošec. After finishing high school in

Maribor Maribor ( , , ; also known by other #Name, historical names) is the List of cities and towns in Slovenia, second-largest city in Slovenia and the largest city of the traditional region of Styria (Slovenia), Lower Styria. It is the seat of the ...

, he studied theology and philosophy at the

University of Graz The University of Graz (, formerly: ''Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz'') is a public university, public research university located in Graz, Austria. It is the largest and oldest university in Styria, as well as the second-largest and second-old ...

, where he graduated in 1814. He returned to Gornja Radgona, where he was a chaplain until 1831, when he moved to Velika Nedelja to be the parish priest. He died in Velika Nedelja.

Work

In 1824 Dajnko wrote a book in German called ''Lehrbuch der windischen Sprache'' ("The Textbook of the Slovene Language"). There, he proposed adoption of a new alphabet for Slovene, which was to replace the traditional Bohorič alphabet, used since the late-16th century. Dajnko wanted to improve the script because of its problems with writing of

sibilant Sibilants (from 'hissing') are fricative and affricate consonants of higher amplitude and pitch, made by directing a stream of air with the tongue towards the teeth. Examples of sibilants are the consonants at the beginning of the English w ...

s. He used his alphabet in all his books published since 1824. In 1825, Franc Serafin Metelko came up with a similar proposal, complicating the issue. The Dajnko alphabet, which was introduced to schools in 1831, was fiercely opposed by and

Anton Martin Slomšek Beatification, Blessed Anton Martin Slomšek (26 November 1800 – 24 September 1862) was a Slovene Catholic Church, Roman Catholic prelate who served as the Bishop of Lavant from 1846 until his death. He served also as an author and poet as wel ...

. After 1834 it gradually came out of use with the adoption of a slightly modified version of

Gaj's Latin alphabet Gaj's Latin alphabet ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Gajeva latinica, separator=" / ", Гајева латиница}, ), also known as ( sr-Cyrl, абецеда, ) or ( sr-Cyrl, гајица, link=no, ), is the form of the Latin script used for writing all ...

as the new Slovene script, and in 1839 it was officially abolished.

Works

* ''Sazhetek vüzhenja 'Slaven'skega po nedelah'' (Beginning of the Slavic Teaching on Sundays), 1816 * ''Evangeliomi na v'se nedéle ino 'svetke skos leto'' (Gospels for All Sundays and Holidays throughout the Year), 1817 * ''Knishiza poboshnosti sa mlade ino dorashene kristjane'' (Little Book of Devotions for Young and Adult Christians), 1820 * ''Svetega pisma sgodbe is starega ino novega sakona'' (Stories from the Old and New Testament of the Holy Bible), 1821 * ''Lehrbuch der Windischen Sprache'' (Slovene Textbook), 1824 * ''Kmet Izidor s svojimi otroki ino lydmi'' (Isidore the Peasant, His Children and People), 1824 * ''Sto cirkvenih ino drügih poboxnih pesmi med katolȣkimi kristjani slovenskega naroda na Ȣtajerskem'' (A Hundred Church and Other Devotional Hymns of the Catholic Christians of the Slovene Nation in Styria), 1826 * ''Listi ino evaŋgelji'' (Epistles and Gospels), 1826 * ''Svetega Pisma zgodbe iz Starega ino Novega Zakona'' (Stories from the Old and New Testament of the Holy Bible), 1826 * ''Posvetne pesmi med slovenskim narodom na Ȣtajerskem'' (Secular Hymns of the Slovene Nation in Styria), 1827 * ''Molitbe za katolȣke kerȣenike'' (Prayer for Catholic Christians), 1829 * ''Opravilo svete meȣe'' (Ceremony of the Holy Mass), 1829 * ''Sveti krixni pot'' (Stations of the Holy Cross), 1829 * ''Boxja sluxba kerȣanske mladosti'' (Divine Service of the Christian Youth), 1830 * ''Zhelarstvo'' (Beekeeping), 1831 * ''Чelarstvo'' (Beekeeping), 1831 * ''Knixica poboxnosti za mlade ino doraȣene kristjane'' (Small Book of Devotions for Young and Adult Christians), 1833 * ''Abecedna knixica za dexelne ȣole'' (Primer for Provincial Schools), 1833 * ''Abecedna knixica na hitro ino lehko podvuчenje'' (Primer for Fast and Easy Learning), 1833 * ''Veliki katekizem'' (Greater Catechism), 1833

References

External links

* – contains books written by Peter Dajnko. {{DEFAULTSORT:Dajnko Peter 1787 births 1873 deaths Slovenian philologists Slovenian writers Slovenian beekeepers 19th-century Slovenian Roman Catholic priests University of Graz alumni 19th-century Austrian male writers People from the Municipality of Gornja Radgona 19th-century Austrian Roman Catholic priests