Muhamed Hevaji Uskufi Bosnevi ( tr, Mehmet Hevayi Uskufi, born c. 1600 in Dobrnja near Tuzla, died after 1651) was a Bosnian poet and writer who used the

Arebica Arebica () is a variant of the Arabic script used to write the Serbo-Croatian language. It was used mainly between the 15th and 19th centuries and is frequently categorized as part of Aljamiado literature. Before World War I there were unsuccess ...

script. Uskufi is noted as the author of the first " Bosnian-

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

" dictionary in 1631; ''Magbuli 'ari'' or ''Potur Sahidiya'', one of the earliest dictionaries of the language in Bosnia. A hand-copy dating from 1798 is currently kept at the City Archive of Sarajevo. The dictionary, written in verse, contains more than 300-word explanations and over 700 words translated between Bosnian and Turkish. In his works, writing under the pseudonym ''Uskufi'', Hevaji calls his language " Bosnian", and emphasizes his Bosnian descent. He is also the author of the religious and moral writing "Tabsirat al-'arifin" which is written partly in Turkish and partly in Bosnian, and the author of several poems in Turkish. From works written in his native tongue stand out "Ilahi bezeban-i Srb" (

Nasheed A nasheed (Arabic: singular ', plural ', meaning: "chants") is a work of vocal music, partially coincident with hymns, that is either sung ''a cappella'' or with instruments, according to a particular style or tradition within Islam. Nasheed ...

s in Serbian) and "Bera- i da'vet-i iman be zeban-i Srb" (Call to Faith in Serbian). Possibly terms designating Serbian and Bosnian language in his work could be synonyms.

Legacy

Following a collaboration between the University of Oslo and the Bosnian Ministry of Education and sciences, the dictionary was reissued on national day in 2012 during a ceremony in Tuzla, the birth town of Hevaji. According to the Norwegian Slavist

Svein Mønnesland Svein Karl Mønnesland (born 26 October 1943) is a Norwegian Slavist. He was born in Skien. Since 1979 he teaches as a professor of Slavic languages at the University of Oslo. He is considered an expert in Serbo-Croatian (Bosnian, Croatian and Se ...

, the dictionary is made relevant today not least because of politic aspects since it shows the Bosnian language to have a long tradition.

References

External links

Historijski arhiv Sarajevo

USKUFI BOSNEVI, Muhamed Hevai
Bošnjaci.net,

*Muhamed Hukočić, Ahmet Kasumović, Ismet Smailović, "Muhamed Hevaji Uskufi", , Biblioteka Baština, Sarajevo, 1990. 1600s births Year of death unknown Writers from Tuzla Bosnian Muslims from the Ottoman Empire 17th-century writers from the Ottoman Empire Bosniak writers Bosniak poets Bosnian language Bosnia and Herzegovina writers {{BosniaHerzegovina-bio-stub