Anton Dif Bernolák; hu, Bernolák Antal; 3 October 1762 – 15 January 1813) was a Slovak

linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Lingu ...

and

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in partic ...

, and the author of the first

Slovak language Slovak () , is a West Slavic language of the Czech–Slovak group, written in Latin script. It is part of the Indo-European language family, and is one of the Slavic languages, which are part of the larger Balto-Slavic branch. Spoken by app ...

standard.

Life

He was born as the second child to a lower noble family in the Árva region. He studied at a grammar school (gymnasium) in Rózsahegy from 1774 to 1778, and later in

Nagyszombat Trnava (, german: Tyrnau; hu, Nagyszombat, also known by other alternative names) is a city in western Slovakia, to the northeast of Bratislava, on the Trnávka river. It is the capital of a ''kraj'' (Trnava Region) and of an ''okres'' (Trnava ...

and

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, and graduated in theology at the general seminary in Pressburg (present-day Bratislava) in 1787. In the very same year, he codified the first Slovak language standard, which he based on western Slovak dialects spoken around Nagyszombat, with some elements from the central dialects. The language, called ''bernolákovčina'', wasn't accepted as a national standard language, although it was a milestone on the way to the formation of the modern Slovak nation. From 1787 to 1791, he was a curate in Cseklész (present-day

Bernolákovo Bernolákovo ( hu, Cseklész, german: Lanschütz, former Slovak names: ''Čeklís'', ''Čeklýs'') is a village and municipality in western Slovakia in Senec District in the Bratislava Region. Names and etymology The German name ''Lanschütz'' ...

), from 1791 to 1797 a secretary in the archbishopric vicar's office in Nagyszombat (present-day

Trnava Trnava (, german: Tyrnau; hu, Nagyszombat, also known by other alternative names) is a city in western Slovakia, to the northeast of Bratislava, on the Trnávka river. It is the capital of a ''kraj'' ( Trnava Region) and of an '' okres'' ( T ...

), and from 1797 until his death in 1813, a priest in Érsekújvár (present-day

Nové Zámky Nové Zámky (; hu, Érsekújvár; german: Neuhäus ; la, Novum Castrum; tr, Uyvar) is a town in Nové Zámky District in the Nitra Region of southwestern Slovakia. Geography The town is located on the Danubian Lowland, on the Nitra River, ...

). His language was the basis for the activities of the Slovak Educated Brotherhood, established in 1787 in Nagyszombat (present-day

), and also for the movement of Bernolák's followers, which lasted three generations. Exhaustive literary and priestly work, concern about his close family and other circumstances undermined his health to such an extent that he died unexpectedly of a heart attack on January 15, 1813.

Works

* 1782 : ''Divux rex Stephanus, magnus Hungarorum apostolus'' * 1787 : ''Dissertatio-critica de litteris Slavorum'' * 1787 : ''Linguae Slavonicae… compendiosa simul et facilis Orthographia'' * 1790 : ''Grammatica Slavica'' (Slovak Grammar) * 1791 : ''Etymologia vocum slavicarum'' (Etymology of Slavic words) * 1825 / 1827 : ''Slowár Slowenskí, Češko-Laťinsko-Ňemecko-Uherskí'' (A Slovak, Czech-Latin-German-Hungarian Dictionary), a six-volume dictionary, supposed to be a vocabulary manual of the literary language, published after Bernolák's death in Buda by canon

Juraj Palkovič Juraj is a given name used in a number of Slavic languages, including Czech, Slovak, and Croatian. Pronounced "You-rye" but with a trilled r. The English equivalent of the name is George. Notable people * Juraj Chmiel, Czech diplomat and politici ...

Works online

Slowár Slowenskí Češko-Laťinsko-Ňemecko-Uherskí
(scan) *
Ešče ňečo o epigrammatéch, anebožto málorádkoch M. W. P. Jozefa Bajza…"
(Vidané v Poli elízíském teho roku 1794). 15 p. - available at ULB´s Digital Library *
Ňečo o epigrammatéch...
' vydané v Žiline r. 1794. 36 p. - available at ULB´s Digital Library * ŽAŠKOVKÝ, F.
Manuale Musico-Liturgicum in usum Ecclesiarum Cathedralium et Ruralium ...
' Agriae: Typ. Lycei Archi-Episcopalis, 1853. 254 p. - available at ULB´s Digital Library - Bernolak edited the slovak text of the songs according to the Slovak language standards

External links

Anton Bernolák
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bernolak, Anton 1762 births 1813 deaths People from Námestovo People from the Kingdom of Hungary Slovak nobility Slovak Roman Catholic priests Linguists from Slovakia 18th-century Slovak people 19th-century Slovak people 18th-century linguists 19th-century linguists Language regulators

Life

Works

Works online

See also

External links