Sava Mrkalj
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Sava Mrkalj ( sr-Cyrl, Сава Мркаљ; ; 1783 – 1833) was a Serb
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 ...
, 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 strong ties to etymology. Philology is also defined as the study of ...
, 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 (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...
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 (; sh-Cyrl-Latn, Војна крајина, Vojna krajina, sh-Cyrl-Latn, Војна граница, Vojna granica, label=none; ; ) was a borderland of the Habsburg monarchy and later the Austrian and Austro-Hungari ...
,
Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire, officially known as the Empire of Austria, was a Multinational state, multinational European Great Powers, great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the Habsburg monarchy, realms of the Habsburgs. Duri ...
, now
Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...
. He attended high school in
Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...
, 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, then part of the Holy Roman Empire and educated at schools in Anklam and Berge Mon ...
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 standard language, standardized Variety (linguistics)#Standard varieties, 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 ...
before Vuk Stefanović Karadžić. In a publication titled ''Сало дебелога јера либо азбукопротрес / Fat of the Thick Yer, i.e. Alphabet Reshuffling'' (
Buda Buda (, ) is the part of Budapest, the capital city of Hungary, that lies on the western bank of the Danube. Historically, “Buda” referred only to the royal walled city on Castle Hill (), which was constructed by Béla IV between 1247 and ...
, 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, now in Croatia. References Further reading * * * Jovan Sk ...
, Ivan Jugović,
Sima Milutinović Sarajlija Simeon "Sima" Milutinović "Sarajlija" ( sr-cyr, Симеон "Сима" Милутиновић "Сарајлија", ; 3 October 1791 – 30 December 1847) was a Serbian poet, hajduk, translator, historian and adventurer. Literary critic Jova ...
, Jeremija Gagić, Stevan Živković (Telemak), Pavle Solarić, and philologists Luka Milovanov Georgijević (1784–1828), Jernej Kopitar, 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, then part of the Holy Roman Empire and educated at schools in Anklam and Berge Mon ...
. Mrkalj gave his support to Stefanović Karadžić and Kopitar during the Serbian Language Controversy, but retracted everything he wrote when he was threatened with defrocking. His suggestion was considered radical and indeed blasphemous (since the original
Cyrillic The Cyrillic script ( ) is a writing system used for various languages across Eurasia. It is the designated national script in various Slavic, Turkic, Mongolic, Uralic, Caucasian and Iranic-speaking countries in Southeastern Europe, Ea ...
in use by the
Serbian Orthodox Church The Serbian Orthodox Church ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Српска православна црква, Srpska pravoslavna crkva) is one of the autocephalous (ecclesiastically independent) Eastern Orthodoxy, Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodox Church#Constit ...
at the time had allegedly been created by
Cyril and Methodius Cyril (; born Constantine, 826–869) and Methodius (; born Michael, 815–885) were brothers, Population of the Byzantine Empire, Byzantine Christian theologians and Christian missionaries, missionaries. For their work evangelizing the Slavs ...
), 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 Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...
mental hospital in 1827. Vuk Stefanović Karadžić came to visit him often. Mrkalj died in 1833.


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), 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, now in Croatia. References Further reading * * * Jovan Sk ...
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 ''Jeleni Dijaković na novu godinu'' (1828). He also translated some works of
Horace Quintus Horatius Flaccus (; 8 December 65 BC – 27 November 8 BC), Suetonius, Life of Horace commonly known in the English-speaking world as Horace (), was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus (also known as Octavian). Th ...
. 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 and the first minister of education of Se ...
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 standard language, standardized Variety (linguistics)#Standard varieties, 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 ...
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 ''Istorija nove srpske književnosti'', Beograd, 1914 * '' Гојко Николиш: Сава Мркаљ - повијест о једном страдалнику, „Просвјета“, Загреб 1980.'' * '' Milan Moguš i Josip Vončina: "Salo debelog jera libo azbukoprotres" Save Mrkalja, JAZU i Skupština općine
Karlovac Karlovac () is a city in central Croatia. In the 2021 census, its population was 49,377. Karlovac is the administrative centre of Karlovac County. The city is located southwest of Zagreb and northeast of Rijeka, and is connected to them via the ...
,
Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...
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 am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...
: 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 Scholars from the Austrian Empire Poets from the Austrian Empire