Anton Bernolák
| Anton Bernolák | |
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| Born | 3 October 1762 Slanica now part of Námestovo (Szlanica), Kingdom of Hungary (now Slovakia) |
| Died | 15 January 1813 (aged 50) Nové Zámky (Érsekújvár), Kingdom of Hungary (now Slovakia) |
| Occupation | Priest, official, linguist |
| Known for | codified the first Slovak language standard |
Anton Bernolák (3 October 1762 in Slanica (Szlanica, a now inundated village near Námestovo) – 15 January 1813 in Nové Zámky (Érsekújvár)) was a Slovak linguist and Catholic priest, and the author of the first Slovak language standard.
Contents
Life
He was born to a lower noble family in Orava (region). He studied at a grammar school (gymnasium) in Ružomberok 1774-78, and later in Trnava and Vienna, and graduated in theology at the general seminary in Preßburg in 1787. In the very same year, he codified the first Slovak language standard, which he based on western Slovak dialects spoken around Trnava, 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 Bernolákovo, from 1791 to 1797 a secretary in the archbishopric vicar's office in Trnava, and from 1797 until his death in 1813, a priest in Nové Zámky.
His language was the basis for the activities of the Slovenské učené tovarišstvo (Slovak Educated Brotherhood), established in 1792 in Trnava, and also for the movement of Bernolák's followers, which lasted three generations.
Works
- 1782
- Divux rex Stephanus, magnus Hungarorum apostolus
- 1787
- Dissertatio-critica de literis Slavorum
- 1787
- Linguae Slavonicae… compendiosa simul et facilis Orthographia
- 1790
- Gramatica 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
