Vuk Stefanovic Karadžic
Encyclopedia
Vuk Stefanović Karadžić (v̞ûːk ste̞fǎːnɔ̝v̞i̞ʨ kâraʤi̞ʨ, ; November 7, 1787 – February 7, 1864) was a Serbian
philolog
and linguist
, the major reformer of the Serbian language
, and deserves, perhaps, for his collections of songs, fairy tales, and riddles to be called the father of the study of Serbian folklore
. He was the author of the first Serbian dictionary. Among his colleagues in linguistics were Jernej Kopitar
and Đuro Daničić, while in folklore studies, Vuk Vrčević
(1811–82), a friend of writer Stjepan Mitrov Ljubiša
.
He was well known abroad and familiar to such giants as Jacob Grimm
, Goethe
and historian Leopold von Ranke
. Vuk was the primary source
for Ranke's Serbische Revoluzion ("Serbian Revolution
"), written in 1829.
Karadžić was born to parents Stefan and Jegda (née 'Zrnić') in the village of Tršić, near Loznica in Serbia, then in the Ottoman Empire
. His family had a low infant survival rate, thus he was named Vuk ('wolf') so that witches and evil spirits would not hurt him (Vuk was traditionally given to strengthen the bearer). His family were members of the Drobnjak
clan
and came to Tršić from Petnica, in Old Herzegovina
(today's Montenegro
).
there, using a reed instead of a pen and a solution of gunpowder for ink. In lieu of proper writing paper he was lucky if he could get cartridge wrappings. Throughout that whole region there was no regular school at that time of Ottoman rule and his father at first did not allow him to go to Austria. Since most of the time while in the monastery Karadžić was forced to pasture the livestock instead of studying, his father brought him back home. Meanwhile, the First Serbian Uprising
(against the Ottoman Empire) had broken out in 1804. After unsuccessful attempts to enroll in the gymnasium
at Sremski Karlovci
, for which 19 year-old Karadžić was too old, Karadžić left for Petrinje
where he spent a few months learning Latin and German. Later on, he left for Belgrade
in order to meet the highly respectful scholar of the time, Dositej Obradović
, and ask him to support his studies. Unfortunately, Obradović dismissed him. Disappointed, Karadžić left for Jadar
and began working as a scribe for Jakov Nenadović
. After the founding of the Belgrade Higher School (better known as Grande École or Velika skola), Karadžić became one of its first students.
, but was unable to receive treatment for his leg. It was rumored that Karadžić deliberately refused to undergo amputation, instead deciding to make do with a prosthetic wooden [peg-leg], of which there were several sarcastic references in some of his works. Karadžić returned to Serbia later on, however due to the Ottoman defeat of the rebels in 1813, he left for Vienna
and later met Jernej Kopitar
, an experienced linguist with a strong interest in secular slavistics
. Kopitar's influence helped Karadžić with his struggle in reforming the Serbian language
and its orthography. Another important influence was Sava Mrkalj
.
In 1814 and 1815 Vuk published two volumes of Srpske Narodne Pesme (Serbian National Songs), which afterwards increased to four, then to six, and finally to nine tomes. In enlarged editions, these admirable songs drew towards themselves the attention of all literary Europe and America. Goethe characterized some of them as "excellent and worthy of comparison with Solomon's Song of Songs."
In 1824 he sent a copy of his folksong collection to Jacob Grimm
, who was enthralled particularly by "The Walled-Up Wife". Grimm translated it into German and the song was noted and admired for many generations to come. Grimm compared them with the noblest flowers of Homer
ic poetry, and of Zidanje Skadra na Bojani (Building of Scutari
on the Boyana
) he said: "one of the most touching poems of all nations and all times." The founders of the Romantic School in France, Charles Nodier
, Prosper Mérimée
, Lamartine, Gerard de Nerval
, and Claude Fauriel translated a goodly number of them, and they also attracted the attention of Russian Alexander Pushkin, Finnish national poet Johan Ludwig Runeberg, Czech Samuel Roznay, Pole Kazimierz Brodzinski
, English writers Walter Scott
, Owen Meredith, and John Bowring
, among others.
Karadžić continued collecting song well into the 1830s. He arrived in Montenegro in the fall of 1834. Infirm, he descended to the Bay of Kotor
to winter there, and returned in the spring of 1835. It was there that Karadžić met Vuk Vrčević
, an aspiring littérateur, born in Risan
. From then on Vrčević became Karadžić's faithful and loyal collaborator who collected folk songs and tales and sent them to his address in Vienna for many years to come.
The majority of Karadžić's works were banned from publishing in Serbia and Austria during the rule of Prince Miloš Obrenović
. As observed from a political point of view, Obrenović saw the works of Karadžić as a potential hazard due to a number of apparent reasons, one of which being the possibility that the content of some of the works, although purely poetic in nature, is capable of creating a certain sense of patriotism and a desire for freedom and independence, which very likely might drive the populace to take up arms against the Turks. This, in turn, would prove detrimental to Prince Miloš's politics toward the Ottoman Empire, with whom he had recently forged an uneasy peace. In Montenegro, however, Njegoš's printing press operated without the archaic letter known as the "hard sign"; in other words, it adhered to Vuk Karadžić's orthography. Prince Miloš was to resent Njegoš's abandonment of the unhappy hard sign, over which, at that time, furious intellectual battles were being waged, with ecclesiastical hierarchy involved as well. Karadžić's works, however, did receive high praise and recognition elsewhere, especially in Russia. In addition to this, Karadžić was granted a full pension from the Tsar in 1826.
He died at Vienna, and was survived by daughter Mina Karadžić, painter and writer, and son Dimitrije Karadžić, military officer. His bones were relocated to Belgrade in 1897 and buried with great honours next to the grave of Dositej Obradović
.
by following strict phonemic
principles on the German model and Jan Hus
' Czech alphabet
. Karadžić's reforms of the Serbian literary language modernised it and distanced it from Serbian and Russian Church Slavonic, instead bringing it closer to common folk speech, specifically, to the dialect of Eastern Herzegovina
which he spoke. Karadžić was, together with Đuro Daničić, the main Serbian signatory to the Vienna Literary Agreement
of 1850 which, encouraged by Austria
n authorities, laid the foundation for the Serbian language, various forms of which are used by Serbs in Serbia
, Montenegro
, Bosnia and Herzegovina
and Croatia
today. Karadžić also translated the New Testament
into Serbian, which was published in 1868. The Vukovian effort of language standardization lasted the remainder of the century. Before then the Serbs had achieved a fully independent state (1878), and a flourishing national culture based in Belgrade and Novi Sad. Despite the Vienna agreement, the Serbs had by this time developed ekavian, which was the native speech of their two cultural capitals as well as the great majority of the Serbian population.
Miloš Obrenović.
He left notes on physical aspects of human body alongside with ethnographic notes. He introduced a rich terminology on body parts (from head to toes) into the literary language. It should be mentioned that these terms are still used, both in science and everyday speech. He gave, among other things, his own interpretation of the connection between environment and inhabitants, with parts on nourishment, living conditions, hygiene, diseases and funeral customs. All in all this considerable contribution of Vuk Karadzic is not that famous or studied.
He was decorated by Russian and Austro-Hungarian monarchs, Prussian king and Russian academy of science.
UNESCO
has proclaimed 1787 the year of Vuk Karadzić.
On the 100th anniversary of Vuk's death (in 1964) student work brigades on youth action "Tršić 64" raised an amphitheater with a stage that was needed for organizing the "Vuk's Council", and "Vuk's Student Council". In 1987 Tršić received a comprehensive overhaul as a cultural-historical monument. Also, the road from Vuk's home to Tronoša monastery was built.
Vuk's birth house was declared Monument of Culture of Exceptional Importance in 1979, and it is protected by Republic of Serbia.
Recently, rural tourism has become popular in Tršić, with many families converting their houses into buildings designed to accommodate guests. TV series based on his life were broadcast on Radio Television of Serbia
. His portrait is often seen in Serbian schools.
Translations:
: Пиши као што говориш и читај како је написано. (Piši kao što govoriš i čitaj kako je napisano.)
Although the above quotation is usually attributed to Vuk Stefanović Karadžić, it is in fact an orthographic principle devised by the German grammarian and philologist Johann Christoph Adelung
. Karadžić merely used that principle to push through his language reform. The attribution of the quote to Karadžić is a common misconception in Serbia, Montenegro and the rest of former Yugoslavia
. Due to that fact, the entrance exam to the University of Belgrade Faculty of Philology
occasionally contains a question on the authorship of the quote (as a sort of trick question).
In Serbian: Ако свако уради онолико колико је способан, неће народ пропасти. (Ako svako uradi onoliko koliko je sposoban, neće narod propasti.)
People closely related to Vuk:
Serbs
The Serbs are a South Slavic ethnic group of the Balkans and southern Central Europe. Serbs are located mainly in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and form a sizable minority in Croatia, the Republic of Macedonia and Slovenia. Likewise, Serbs are an officially recognized minority in...
philolog
Philology
Philology is the study of language in written historical sources; it is a combination of literary studies, history and linguistics.Classical philology is the philology of Greek and Classical Latin...
and linguist
Linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....
, the major reformer of the Serbian language
Serbian language
Serbian is a form of Serbo-Croatian, a South Slavic language, spoken by Serbs in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia and neighbouring countries....
, and deserves, perhaps, for his collections of songs, fairy tales, and riddles to be called the father of the study of Serbian folklore
Serbian folklore
Serbian folklore is the folk traditions among ethnic Serbs. The earliest examples of Serbian folklore are seen in the pre-Christian Slavic customs transformed into Christianity.-Folklore:...
. He was the author of the first Serbian dictionary. Among his colleagues in linguistics were Jernej Kopitar
Jernej Kopitar
Jernej Bartol Kopitar was a Slovene linguist and philologist working in Vienna. He also worked as the Imperial censor for Slovene literature in Vienna...
and Đuro Daničić, while in folklore studies, Vuk Vrčević
Vuk Vrčević
Vuk Vrčević was a Serbian collector of lyric poetry and companion of Vuk Karadžić, the famed linguist and reformer of the Serbian language. He also translated into Serbian the poetical work of Pietro Antonio Domenico Trapessi, better known by his pseudonym Metastasio .-Biography:Vuk Vrčević was...
(1811–82), a friend of writer Stjepan Mitrov Ljubiša
Stjepan Mitrov Ljubiša
Stjepan Mitrov Ljubiša , was a Serbian-Montenegrin writer and politician. He is famous for his unique short stories, generally ranked among the masterpieces of Serbian literature in its day...
.
He was well known abroad and familiar to such giants as Jacob Grimm
Jacob Grimm
Jacob Ludwig Carl Grimm was a German philologist, jurist and mythologist. He is best known as the discoverer of Grimm's Law, the author of the monumental Deutsches Wörterbuch, the author of Deutsche Mythologie and, more popularly, as one of the Brothers Grimm, as the editor of Grimm's Fairy...
, Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German writer, pictorial artist, biologist, theoretical physicist, and polymath. He is considered the supreme genius of modern German literature. His works span the fields of poetry, drama, prose, philosophy, and science. His Faust has been called the greatest long...
and historian Leopold von Ranke
Leopold von Ranke
Leopold von Ranke was a German historian, considered one of the founders of modern source-based history. Ranke set the standards for much of later historical writing, introducing such ideas as reliance on primary sources , an emphasis on narrative history and especially international politics .-...
. Vuk was the primary source
Primary source
Primary source is a term used in a number of disciplines to describe source material that is closest to the person, information, period, or idea being studied....
for Ranke's Serbische Revoluzion ("Serbian Revolution
Serbian revolution
Serbian revolution or Revolutionary Serbia refers to the national and social revolution of the Serbian people taking place between 1804 and 1835, during which this territory evolved from an Ottoman province into a constitutional monarchy and a modern nation-state...
"), written in 1829.
Early life
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
. His family had a low infant survival rate, thus he was named Vuk ('wolf') so that witches and evil spirits would not hurt him (Vuk was traditionally given to strengthen the bearer). His family were members of the Drobnjak
Drobnjaci
Drobnjaci is an Old Herzegovinian clan and region in northern Montenegro . Its unofficial centre is in Boan/Šavnik. The Drobnjaci families are predominantly Serb Orthodox, with a majority declaring as Serbs, the rest as Montenegrins...
clan
Serb clans
Serb clans is a general term referring to what are known as plemena and bratstva , traditional geo-political units of the Western Balkans that now richly attest social anthropology and family history . The descendants of the clans are divided by regional and lately, national affiliation...
and came to Tršić from Petnica, in Old Herzegovina
Old Herzegovina
Old Herzegovina is a historical region in Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina . The largest city in this region in Nikšić, and the second-largest is Herceg Novi. Until the Congress of Berlin in 1878 the Old Hercegovina was part of Bosnian Pashalik, but since then merged into Montenegro....
(today's Montenegro
Montenegro
Montenegro Montenegrin: Crna Gora Црна Гора , meaning "Black Mountain") is a country located in Southeastern Europe. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the south-west and is bordered by Croatia to the west, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the northwest, Serbia to the northeast and Albania to the...
).
Education
Vuk Karadžić was fortunate to be a relative of Jevta Savić Čotrić, the only literate person in the region at the time, who taught him how to read and write. Karadžić continued his education in Loznica, in the Tronoša Monastery. As a boy he learned calligraphyCalligraphy
Calligraphy is a type of visual art. It is often called the art of fancy lettering . A contemporary definition of calligraphic practice is "the art of giving form to signs in an expressive, harmonious and skillful manner"...
there, using a reed instead of a pen and a solution of gunpowder for ink. In lieu of proper writing paper he was lucky if he could get cartridge wrappings. Throughout that whole region there was no regular school at that time of Ottoman rule and his father at first did not allow him to go to Austria. Since most of the time while in the monastery Karadžić was forced to pasture the livestock instead of studying, his father brought him back home. Meanwhile, the First Serbian Uprising
First Serbian Uprising
The First Serbian Uprising was the first stage of the Serbian Revolution , the successful wars of independence that lasted for 9 years and approximately 9 months , during which Serbia perceived itself as an independent state for the first time after more than three centuries of Ottoman rule and...
(against the Ottoman Empire) had broken out in 1804. After unsuccessful attempts to enroll in the gymnasium
Gymnasium (school)
A gymnasium is a type of school providing secondary education in some parts of Europe, comparable to English grammar schools or sixth form colleges and U.S. college preparatory high schools. The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, meaning a locality for both physical and intellectual...
at Sremski Karlovci
Sremski Karlovci
Sremski Karlovci is a town and municipality in Serbia, in the autonomous province of Vojvodina, situated on the bank of the river Danube, 8 km from Novi Sad...
, for which 19 year-old Karadžić was too old, Karadžić left for Petrinje
Petrinje
Petrinje is a small village in the Hrpelje-Kozina Municipality in the Littoral region of Slovenia.The local church is dedicated to Saint Sebastian and belongs to the Klanec Parish.-External links:*...
where he spent a few months learning Latin and German. Later on, he left for Belgrade
Belgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...
in order to meet the highly respectful scholar of the time, Dositej Obradović
Dositej Obradovic
Dositej Dimitrije Obradović was a Serbian author, philosopher, linguist, polyglot and the first minister of education of Serbia...
, and ask him to support his studies. Unfortunately, Obradović dismissed him. Disappointed, Karadžić left for Jadar
Jadar
Jadar may refer to:* Jadar , a river in western Serbia, tributary to the Drina* Jadar , a river in eastern Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina, tributary to the Drinjača...
and began working as a scribe for Jakov Nenadović
Jakov Nenadovic
Jakov Nenadović was the first Serbian Interior Minister. He played an important role as voivode in the First Serbian Uprising against the Turks, along with his nephew, Mateja Nenadović...
. After the founding of the Belgrade Higher School (better known as Grande École or Velika skola), Karadžić became one of its first students.
Later life and death
Soon afterwards, he grew ill and left for medical treatment in Pest and Novi SadNovi Sad
Novi Sad is the capital of the northern Serbian province of Vojvodina, and the administrative centre of the South Bačka District. The city is located in the southern part of Pannonian Plain on the Danube river....
, but was unable to receive treatment for his leg. It was rumored that Karadžić deliberately refused to undergo amputation, instead deciding to make do with a prosthetic wooden [peg-leg], of which there were several sarcastic references in some of his works. Karadžić returned to Serbia later on, however due to the Ottoman defeat of the rebels in 1813, he left for Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
and later met Jernej Kopitar
Jernej Kopitar
Jernej Bartol Kopitar was a Slovene linguist and philologist working in Vienna. He also worked as the Imperial censor for Slovene literature in Vienna...
, an experienced linguist with a strong interest in secular slavistics
Slavistics
Slavic studies or Slavistics is the academic field of area studies concerned with Slavic areas, Slavic languages, literature, history, and culture. Originally, a Slavist or Slavicist was primarily a linguist or philologist who researches Slavistics, a Slavic or Slavonic scholar...
. Kopitar's influence helped Karadžić with his struggle in reforming the Serbian language
Serbian language
Serbian is a form of Serbo-Croatian, a South Slavic language, spoken by Serbs in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia and neighbouring countries....
and its orthography. Another important influence was Sava Mrkalj
Sava Mrkalj
Sava Mrkalj was a Serbian linguist, grammarian, philologist, and poet known for his attempt to reform the Serbian language before Vuk Karadžić....
.
In 1814 and 1815 Vuk published two volumes of Srpske Narodne Pesme (Serbian National Songs), which afterwards increased to four, then to six, and finally to nine tomes. In enlarged editions, these admirable songs drew towards themselves the attention of all literary Europe and America. Goethe characterized some of them as "excellent and worthy of comparison with Solomon's Song of Songs."
In 1824 he sent a copy of his folksong collection to Jacob Grimm
Jacob Grimm
Jacob Ludwig Carl Grimm was a German philologist, jurist and mythologist. He is best known as the discoverer of Grimm's Law, the author of the monumental Deutsches Wörterbuch, the author of Deutsche Mythologie and, more popularly, as one of the Brothers Grimm, as the editor of Grimm's Fairy...
, who was enthralled particularly by "The Walled-Up Wife". Grimm translated it into German and the song was noted and admired for many generations to come. Grimm compared them with the noblest flowers of Homer
Homer
In the Western classical tradition Homer , is the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, and is revered as the greatest ancient Greek epic poet. These epics lie at the beginning of the Western canon of literature, and have had an enormous influence on the history of literature.When he lived is...
ic poetry, and of Zidanje Skadra na Bojani (Building of Scutari
Scutari
Scutari may refer to:*Üsküdar , in Anatolia, Turkey*Scutari Barracks in Üsküdar; former hospital where Florence Nightingale worked*Shkodër, in Albania; also known as Scutari in antiquity...
on the Boyana
Bojana
-Places:* Bojana , a river in Albania and Montenegro* Ada Bojana / Bojana Island* Boyana, a quarter of Sofia, Bulgaria- People :* Bojana Jovanovski* Bojana Novakovic* Bojana Radulović* Bojana Popović* Bojana Atanasovska* Bojana Bobusic* Bojana Panić...
) he said: "one of the most touching poems of all nations and all times." The founders of the Romantic School in France, Charles Nodier
Charles Nodier
Jean Charles Emmanuel Nodier , was a French author who introduced a younger generation of Romanticists to the conte fantastique, gothic literature, vampire tales, and the importance of dreams as part of literary creation, and whose career as a librarian is often underestimated by literary...
, Prosper Mérimée
Prosper Mérimée
Prosper Mérimée was a French dramatist, historian, archaeologist, and short story writer. He is perhaps best known for his novella Carmen, which became the basis of Bizet's opera Carmen.-Life:...
, Lamartine, Gerard de Nerval
Gérard de Nerval
Gérard de Nerval was the nom-de-plume of the French poet, essayist and translator Gérard Labrunie, one of the most essentially Romantic French poets.- Biography :...
, and Claude Fauriel translated a goodly number of them, and they also attracted the attention of Russian Alexander Pushkin, Finnish national poet Johan Ludwig Runeberg, Czech Samuel Roznay, Pole Kazimierz Brodzinski
Kazimierz Brodzinski
Kazimierz Brodziński was an important Polish Romantic poet.- Life :He was born in Królówka near Bochnia. He came from the low nobility. He was a student at schools in Tarnów, where he also graduated from the grammar school. He served in the army of the Duchy of Warsaw...
, English writers Walter Scott
Walter Scott
Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet was a Scottish historical novelist, playwright, and poet, popular throughout much of the world during his time....
, Owen Meredith, and John Bowring
John Bowring
Sir John Bowring, KCB was an English political economist, traveller, miscellaneous writer, polyglot, and the 4th Governor of Hong Kong.- Early life :...
, among others.
Karadžić continued collecting song well into the 1830s. He arrived in Montenegro in the fall of 1834. Infirm, he descended to the Bay of Kotor
Bay of Kotor
The Bay of Kotor in south-western Montenegro is a winding bay on the Adriatic Sea. The bay, sometimes called Europe's southernmost fjord, is in fact a submerged river canyon of the disintegrated Bokelj River which used to run from the high mountain plateaus of Mount Orjen...
to winter there, and returned in the spring of 1835. It was there that Karadžić met Vuk Vrčević
Vuk Vrčević
Vuk Vrčević was a Serbian collector of lyric poetry and companion of Vuk Karadžić, the famed linguist and reformer of the Serbian language. He also translated into Serbian the poetical work of Pietro Antonio Domenico Trapessi, better known by his pseudonym Metastasio .-Biography:Vuk Vrčević was...
, an aspiring littérateur, born in Risan
Risan
Risan is a town in the Bay of Kotor, Montenegro...
. From then on Vrčević became Karadžić's faithful and loyal collaborator who collected folk songs and tales and sent them to his address in Vienna for many years to come.
The majority of Karadžić's works were banned from publishing in Serbia and Austria during the rule of Prince Miloš Obrenović
Miloš Obrenovic I, Prince of Serbia
Miloš Obrenović was Prince of Serbia from 1815 to 1839, and again from 1858 to 1860. He participated in the First Serbian Uprising, led Serbs in the Second Serbian Uprising, and founded the House of Obrenović...
. As observed from a political point of view, Obrenović saw the works of Karadžić as a potential hazard due to a number of apparent reasons, one of which being the possibility that the content of some of the works, although purely poetic in nature, is capable of creating a certain sense of patriotism and a desire for freedom and independence, which very likely might drive the populace to take up arms against the Turks. This, in turn, would prove detrimental to Prince Miloš's politics toward the Ottoman Empire, with whom he had recently forged an uneasy peace. In Montenegro, however, Njegoš's printing press operated without the archaic letter known as the "hard sign"; in other words, it adhered to Vuk Karadžić's orthography. Prince Miloš was to resent Njegoš's abandonment of the unhappy hard sign, over which, at that time, furious intellectual battles were being waged, with ecclesiastical hierarchy involved as well. Karadžić's works, however, did receive high praise and recognition elsewhere, especially in Russia. In addition to this, Karadžić was granted a full pension from the Tsar in 1826.
He died at Vienna, and was survived by daughter Mina Karadžić, painter and writer, and son Dimitrije Karadžić, military officer. His bones were relocated to Belgrade in 1897 and buried with great honours next to the grave of Dositej Obradović
Dositej Obradovic
Dositej Dimitrije Obradović was a Serbian author, philosopher, linguist, polyglot and the first minister of education of Serbia...
.
Linguistic reforms
Karadžić reformed the Serbian literary language and standardised the Serbian Cyrillic alphabetSerbian Cyrillic alphabet
The Serbian Cyrillic alphabet is an adaptation of the Cyrillic script for the Serbian language, developed in 1818 by Serbian linguist Vuk Karadžić. It is one of the two standard modern alphabets used to write the Serbian language, the other being Latin...
by following strict phonemic
Phoneme
In a language or dialect, a phoneme is the smallest segmental unit of sound employed to form meaningful contrasts between utterances....
principles on the German model and Jan Hus
Jan Hus
Jan Hus , often referred to in English as John Hus or John Huss, was a Czech priest, philosopher, reformer, and master at Charles University in Prague...
' Czech alphabet
Czech alphabet
The Czech alphabet is a version of the Latin script, used when writing Czech. Its basic principles are "one sound, one letter" and the addition of diacritical marks above letters to represent sounds alien to Latin...
. Karadžić's reforms of the Serbian literary language modernised it and distanced it from Serbian and Russian Church Slavonic, instead bringing it closer to common folk speech, specifically, to the dialect of Eastern Herzegovina
Herzegovina
Herzegovina is the southern region of Bosnia and Herzegovina. While there is no official border distinguishing it from the Bosnian region, it is generally accepted that the borders of the region are Croatia to the west, Montenegro to the south, the canton boundaries of the Herzegovina-Neretva...
which he spoke. Karadžić was, together with Đuro Daničić, the main Serbian signatory to the Vienna Literary Agreement
Vienna Literary Agreement
Vienna Literary Agreement is a designation of a meeting held in March 1850, when writers from Croatia, Serbia and one from Slovenia met to discuss the extent to which their literatures could be conjoined and united.-Historical context:...
of 1850 which, encouraged by Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n authorities, laid the foundation for the Serbian language, various forms of which are used by Serbs in Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
, Montenegro
Montenegro
Montenegro Montenegrin: Crna Gora Црна Гора , meaning "Black Mountain") is a country located in Southeastern Europe. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the south-west and is bordered by Croatia to the west, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the northwest, Serbia to the northeast and Albania to the...
, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...
and Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
today. Karadžić also translated the New Testament
New Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
into Serbian, which was published in 1868. The Vukovian effort of language standardization lasted the remainder of the century. Before then the Serbs had achieved a fully independent state (1878), and a flourishing national culture based in Belgrade and Novi Sad. Despite the Vienna agreement, the Serbs had by this time developed ekavian, which was the native speech of their two cultural capitals as well as the great majority of the Serbian population.
Literature
In addition to his linguistic reforms, Karadžić also contributed to folk literature, using peasant culture as the foundation. Because of his peasant upbringing, he closely associated with the oral literature of the peasants, compiling it to use in his collection of folk songs, tales, and proverbs. While Karadžić hardly considered peasant life romantic, he regarded it as an integral part of Serbian culture. He collected several volumes of folk prose and poetry, including a book of over 100 lyrical and epic songs learned as a child and written down from memory. He also published the first dictionary of vernacular Serbian. For his work he received little financial aid, at times living in poverty, though in the very last 9 years he did receive a pension from princePrince
Prince is a general term for a ruler, monarch or member of a monarch's or former monarch's family, and is a hereditary title in the nobility of some European states. The feminine equivalent is a princess...
Miloš Obrenović.
Non-philological work
Besides his greatest achievement on literary field, Vuk gave his contribution to Serbian anthropology in combination with the ethnography of that time.He left notes on physical aspects of human body alongside with ethnographic notes. He introduced a rich terminology on body parts (from head to toes) into the literary language. It should be mentioned that these terms are still used, both in science and everyday speech. He gave, among other things, his own interpretation of the connection between environment and inhabitants, with parts on nourishment, living conditions, hygiene, diseases and funeral customs. All in all this considerable contribution of Vuk Karadzic is not that famous or studied.
Legacy
Vuk was honored across Europe. He was chosen as a member of various European learned societies, including:- Member of academy in BerlinBerlinBerlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
- Member of academy in ViennaViennaVienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
- Member of academy in Saint PetersburgSaint PetersburgSaint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
- Member of academy in MoscowMoscowMoscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
- Member of academy in GöttingenGöttingenGöttingen is a university town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Göttingen. The Leine river runs through the town. In 2006 the population was 129,686.-General information:...
- Member of various societies in KrakówKrakówKraków also Krakow, or Cracow , is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life...
- Member of academy in ParisParisParis is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
He was decorated by Russian and Austro-Hungarian monarchs, Prussian king and Russian academy of science.
UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
has proclaimed 1787 the year of Vuk Karadzić.
On the 100th anniversary of Vuk's death (in 1964) student work brigades on youth action "Tršić 64" raised an amphitheater with a stage that was needed for organizing the "Vuk's Council", and "Vuk's Student Council". In 1987 Tršić received a comprehensive overhaul as a cultural-historical monument. Also, the road from Vuk's home to Tronoša monastery was built.
Vuk's birth house was declared Monument of Culture of Exceptional Importance in 1979, and it is protected by Republic of Serbia.
Recently, rural tourism has become popular in Tršić, with many families converting their houses into buildings designed to accommodate guests. TV series based on his life were broadcast on Radio Television of Serbia
Radio Television of Serbia
Radio Television of Serbia or Serbian Broadcasting Corporation is the public broadcaster in Serbia. It broadcasts and produces a variety of news, drama, and sports programming through radio, television and the Internet. RTS is, since July 2001, a member of the European Broadcasting Union. RTS is...
. His portrait is often seen in Serbian schools.
Works (in Serbian)
- Mala prostonarodna slaveno-serbska pesnarica, Beč, 1814
- Pismenica serbskoga jezika, Beč, 1814
- Narodna srbska pjesnarica, II deo, Beč, 1815
- Srpski rječnikSrpski rječnikSrpski rječnik is a dictionary written by Vuk Stefanović Karadžić, first published in 1818...
istolkovan njemačkim i latinskim rječima, Beč, 1818 - Narodne srpske pripovjetke, Beč, 1821, dopunjeno izdanje, 1853
- Narodne srpske pjesme III, Lajpcig, 1823
- Narodne srpske pjesme II, Beč, 1823
- Narodne srpske pjesme I, Beč, 1824
- Mala srpska gramatika, Lajpcig, 1824
- Žizni i podvigi Knjaza Miloša Obrenovića, Petrograd, 1925
- Danica I-V, Beč, 1825-1833
- Žitije Djordja Arsenijevića, Emanuela, Budim, 1827
- Žitije hajduk-Veljka Petrovića
- Miloš Obrenović, knjaz Srbije ili gradja za srpsku istoriju našega vremena, Budim, 1828
- Luke Milovanova opit…, Beč, 1823
- Narodne srpske pjesme IV, Beč, 1833
- Narodne srpske poslovice i druge različne, kao i one u običaj
- Uzete riječi, Cetinje, 1836
- Crna Gora i Crnogorci (na nemačkom), Štutgart, 1837
- Pisma Platonu Atanackoviću, Beč, 1845
- Kovčežić za istoriju, jezik i običaje Srba sva tri zakona, Beč, 1849
- Praviteljstvujušči sovjet serbski za vremena Kara-Djordjijeva, Beč, 1860
- Srpske narodne pesme V, Beč, 1865
- Srpske narodne pjesme iz Hercegovine, Beč, 1866
- Život i običaji naroda srpskog, Beč, 1867
- Nemačko srpski rečnik, Beč, 1872
Translations:
- New TestamentNew TestamentThe New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
Quotes
In SerbianSerbian language
Serbian is a form of Serbo-Croatian, a South Slavic language, spoken by Serbs in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia and neighbouring countries....
: Пиши као што говориш и читај како је написано. (Piši kao što govoriš i čitaj kako je napisano.)
Although the above quotation is usually attributed to Vuk Stefanović Karadžić, it is in fact an orthographic principle devised by the German grammarian and philologist Johann Christoph Adelung
Johann Christoph Adelung
Johann Christoph Adelung was a German grammarian and philologist.He was born at Spantekow, in Western Pomerania, and educated at schools in Anklam and Berge Monastery, Magdeburg, and the University of Halle...
. Karadžić merely used that principle to push through his language reform. The attribution of the quote to Karadžić is a common misconception in Serbia, Montenegro and the rest of former Yugoslavia
Former Yugoslavia
The former Yugoslavia is a term used to describe the present day states which succeeded the collapse of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia....
. Due to that fact, the entrance exam to the University of Belgrade Faculty of Philology
University of Belgrade Faculty of Philology
The Faculty of Philology is one of the constituent schools of the University of Belgrade. The school's purpose is to train and educate its students in the academic study or practice in linguistics and philology.-History:...
occasionally contains a question on the authorship of the quote (as a sort of trick question).
In Serbian: Ако свако уради онолико колико је способан, неће народ пропасти. (Ako svako uradi onoliko koliko je sposoban, neće narod propasti.)
See also
- Museum of Vuk and DositejMuseum of Vuk and DositejThe Museum of Vuk and Dositej is one of the most important memorial museums in Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. Founded in 1949, it depicts the life, work and legacy of Vuk Stefanović Karadžić , the reformer of the Serbian language, and Dositej Obradović , a writer who was the country's first...
People closely related to Vuk:
- Lukijan MušickiLukijan MušickiLukijan Mušicki was a Serbian poet, prose writer, and polyglot.Mušicki was a monk, and later abbot of a monastery in Fruška Gora, whose religious poetry in Church Slavonic, a language distant from the spoken koine, but the only literary language of his time, was recognised and valued by the...
- Filip VišnjićFilip VišnjicFilip Višnjić was a popular Serbian epic poet and guslar , born in northern Bosnia. He is often described as the "Serbian Homer" both because he was blind and for his poetic gift...
- Jernej KopitarJernej KopitarJernej Bartol Kopitar was a Slovene linguist and philologist working in Vienna. He also worked as the Imperial censor for Slovene literature in Vienna...
- Sima Milutinović SarajlijaSima Milutinovic SarajlijaSima Milutinović "Sarajlija" was a Bosnian–Serbian poet, hajduk, translator, historian, philologist, diplomat and adventurer.-Biography:...
- Dimitrije Davidović
- Jacob GrimmJacob GrimmJacob Ludwig Carl Grimm was a German philologist, jurist and mythologist. He is best known as the discoverer of Grimm's Law, the author of the monumental Deutsches Wörterbuch, the author of Deutsche Mythologie and, more popularly, as one of the Brothers Grimm, as the editor of Grimm's Fairy...
- Johann Wolfgang von GoetheJohann Wolfgang von GoetheJohann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German writer, pictorial artist, biologist, theoretical physicist, and polymath. He is considered the supreme genius of modern German literature. His works span the fields of poetry, drama, prose, philosophy, and science. His Faust has been called the greatest long...
- Leopold von RankeLeopold von RankeLeopold von Ranke was a German historian, considered one of the founders of modern source-based history. Ranke set the standards for much of later historical writing, introducing such ideas as reliance on primary sources , an emphasis on narrative history and especially international politics .-...
- Đuro Daničić
- Branko RadičevićBranko RadicevicBranko Radičević , an influential Serbian poet, within a short space of time contrived to enhance Serbian literature with several perennially attractive poems.- Biography:...
- Petar II Petrović Njegoš
- Ljudevit GajLjudevit GajLjudevit Gaj was a Croatian linguist, politician, journalist and writer. He was one of the central figures of the Croatian national reformation, also known as the Illyrian Movement.-Origin:...
- Franc MiklošičFranc MiklošicFran Miklošič , was a Slovene philologist.-Biography:Miklošič was born in the small village of Radomerščak near the Lower Styrian town of Ljutomer, then part of the Austrian Empire....
- Ivan MažuranićIvan MažuranicIvan Mažuranić was a Croatian poet, linguist and politician—probably the most important figure in Croatia's cultural life in the mid-19th century...
External links
- Biography
- Encyclopedia of World Biography from Bookrags.com
- Vuk's Foundation
- Vuk Karadžić online library at Project RastkoProject RastkoProject Rastko — Internet Library of Serb Culture is a non-profit and non-governmental publishing, cultural and educational project dedicated to Serb and Serb-related arts and humanities...
- Jernej Kopitar as a strategist of Karadžić’s reform of the literary language PDF