Sava Mrkalj
Sava Mrkalj | |
|---|---|
Commemorative plaque to Sava Mrkalj, 1030 Vienna Veithgasse 3 | |
| Born | 1783 |
| Died | 1833 (aged 49–50) |
| Occupations | Linguistics, philology, poetry |
| Known for | Serbian language reform |
Sava Mrkalj (Serbian Cyrillic: Сава Мркаљ; pronounced [sǎːʋa mr̩̂kaːʎ]; 1783 – 1833) was a Serb linguist, grammarian, philologist, and poet known for his attempt to reform the Serbian language before Vuk Karadžić.
Biography
Mrkalj was born in the hamlet of Sjeničak in Kordun, at the time Military Frontier, Austrian Empire, now Croatia. He attended high school in Zagreb, 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 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 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.[1]
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). Mrkalj received so much offensive criticism from the church hierarchy that he decided to be tonsured as a monk in 1811 to prove his orthodoxy but became disappointed with the monastic life and 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).[1]
Later in life, Mrkalj became despondent and was hospitalised in Vienna mental hospital in 1827.[1] Vuk Stefanović Karadžić came to visit him often. Mrkalj died in 1833.
References
Further reading
- 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, Zagreb 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: Peter Lang Internationaler Verlag der Wissenschaften, 2012.