Šime Starčević (18 April 1784 – 14 May 1859) was a

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 ...

n priest and linguist. He was born in Žitnik, near

Gospić Gospić () is a town in the mountainous and sparsely populated region of Lika, Croatia. It is the administrative centre of Lika-Senj County. Gospić is located near the Lika River in the middle of a karst field ( Ličko Polje). Gospić is the ...

. He worked as a pastor in

, Lički Novi,

Udbina Udbina is a village and a municipality in historical Krbava, in the Lika region of Croatia. It is administratively a part of the Lika-Senj County. Geography Udbina is located in the large karst field called Krbava. It is approximately 45 kilomet ...

, and since 1814 in

Karlobag Karlobag ( it, Carlopago, links=no) is a seaside municipality on the Adriatic coast in Croatia, located underneath the Velebit mountains overlooking the island of Pag, west of Gospić and south of Senj. The Gacka river also runs through the are ...

. He knew Latin, French, Italian and German, and could read

Slavic languages The Slavic languages, also known as the Slavonic languages, are Indo-European languages spoken primarily by the Slavic peoples and their descendants. They are thought to descend from a proto-language called Proto-Slavic, spoken during the ...

. In 1812 he published in

Trieste Trieste ( , ; sl, Trst ; german: Triest ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital city, and largest city, of the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of two autonomous regions which are not subdivided into prov ...

his ''Nòva ricsôslovica iliricska vojnicskoj mladosti krajicsnoj poklonjena'' and ''Nòva ricsôslovica iliricsko-francèzka'' ("A new Illyrian-French grammar"). His French grammar was revised and translated from German, using domestic terminology for linguistic terms. His grammar of "Illyrian" was the first Croatian grammar describing the four-accentual system of the Neoštokavian dialect.

Works

Thirty years after publishing his grammar he again become active as a writer. He published ''Homilie ili tumačenje Sv. evanđelja'' (1850), ''Ričoslovje'' in sequels in '' Glasnik dalmatinski'' (1849–1850) and polemics on grammar in '' Zora dalmatinska'' (1844-1849). He advocated the use of a single dialect as the literary language, namely the Neoštokavian

Ikavian Shtokavian or Štokavian (; sh-Latn, štokavski / sh-Cyrl, italics=no, штокавски, ) is the prestige dialect of the pluricentric Serbo-Croatian language and the basis of its Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian and Montenegrin standards. ...

, without dialectal mixing and without changes in the traditional orthographic practices. He has been described as a keen debater, great linguistic purist, and the most consistent representative of the Ikavian literary language and the so-called "Slavonian orthography". He died in

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sime Starcevic Linguists from Croatia 19th-century Croatian Roman Catholic priests 19th-century linguists People from Gospić 1784 births 1859 deaths Slavists