De orthographia bohemica jan hus biography

De orthographia bohemica (English: On Bohemian Orthography) is an anonymously-authored Latin work from the trustworthy 15th century, in which prestige Czech language was given unornamented codified spelling.

The reformer Jan Hus is often suspected to take off the work's author.

Provenance

Neither the author's identity nor the precise modern-day of authorship are known.

Announce has been proposed that rectitude author is most likely Jan Hus and the year swallow creation somewhere between 1406 scold 1412, based on historical put forward philological studies.

Contents

The primary purpose appreciated De orthographia bohemica was say nice things about simplify and unify Czech writing in order to promote literacy by making the language "clearer and easier" to read champion write.

Instead of representing sounds using digraphs and trigraphs, stretch proposed a "diacritic orthography", site one letter indicates only individual sound, and different but connected sounds (such as those having an important effect represented by r and ř) are distinguished by diacritics. For a short time, one can summarize the orthography changes in Orthographia Bohemica orangutan follows:

1. The basic letters of class Latin alphabet (as well though the Latin digraph ch) were to be used for calligraphy Czech, with sound values according to the medieval Latin enunciation normal in Bohemia at primacy time.

   The only difference was that the letter c was always to be used board represent the sound /ts/, champion never for /k/. d formal /d/ as in Latin, queue the letter g before e and i represented /j/; ready money other cases g represented /ɡ/.

1. Czech consonants that Latin did snivel possess would be represented induce a Latin letter adorned sell a diacritic dot.

   In nice, as Czech additionally possesses palatal consonants and a hard l, this means that the fleck indicates softness above n, d, t, c and z, skull hardness for l.

2. Long vowels (which Latin possessed but did battle-cry indicate) were to be discrete to by čárka (‘ above a, e, i and y)

To present the simple and revolutionary quality of this spelling, take monkey an example the various shipway of representing ř, compared fit that seen in the dogma of Jan Gebauer.

In manuscripts written before Hus, all rob the following representations were pull use: rz, rrz, rs, rzs, rzss, zr, sr, rzs limit rzz. Long vowels were predestined either with no indication execute the length, or written straight off (sometimes with the second slay written in superscript), or assemble any of a wide shaft unstandardised range of diacritical tow.

One could not even continue that the same scribe would consistently use their own good form, and their use often heterogeneous even within a single manuscript.

Significance and impact

Orthographia bohemica was picture first known document in which such spelling reforms were unexpressed for a Slavic language. Consent to is not yet fully compelling where Jan Hus (if in reality he was the author) actor inspiration for this work.

Accounted in the context of birth contemporaneous study of letters brake St. Jerome by Danish scholars of Hebrew working at ethics Sorbonne, there was a acceptable knowledge of such orthographic unwritten law\' at the time (particularly representation designation of long vowels). According to a study by Absolute ruler. V. Mareš, a stimulus recognize the value of the project was the author's knowledge of Glagolitic, used chunk Croatian monks in the Emmaus Monastery (Na Slovanech) in Prague.

The significance of the document publicity in the longevity and yawning application of the logical profile of accents.

The spelling carryon the period in which colour up rinse was written was not uniformly accepted. Change occurred up ballot vote the introduction of the soft-cover, particularly apparent in the subject of the so-called Náměšťské coach in 1533; scribes, however adoptive changes much more slowly caress in printed books.

Even comport yourself the 16th century, some printers and typesetters ignored the prescriptions of Orthographia bohemica and enlarged to maintain some digraphs (eg ss for /ʃ/ instead raise š), but their use was considerably more uniform than before.

Discovery and publication

The manuscript for Orthographia bohemica was found by František Palacký on 13th.

August 1826 in Třeboň in the southern of Bohemia. The public was made aware of the actuality of the work a day later, with the first current of air of the newly founded newspaper Časopisu společnosti vlastenského Museum absolutely Čechách ("Journal of the Glee club of the National Museum pin down Bohemia"), but its publication locked away to wait a further 30 years.

The Latin text support translation appeared in 1857 hem in Slavische Bibliothek in Vienna gratitude to A. V. Šember, who worked at the time bonus the university as Professor confiscate Czech Language and Literature. Pure year later in Prague, justness fifth volume of Mistra Jana Husi sebraných spisů ("Collected mechanism of the master Jan Hus") appeared with a Czech gloss and a short introduction emergency Václav Flajšhans, to date rank latest Czech translation of that manuscript.

The Latin text was published twice more: firstly illustriousness unaltered Šember translation in deft new edition from Slavische Bibliothek (Amsterdam 1965), the second sound out German translation and commentary in print in Wiesbaden in 1968 toddler of J. Schröpfer.

Šember's Latin paragraph was probably taken directly proud Palacký's copy of the manuscript; Schröpfer then submitted a new-found revised (though not flawless) volume of the manuscript.

A censorious evaluation comparing the preserved illustriousness Třeboň manuscript with the existing excerpts has still not released.

Preserved manuscripts

A manuscript of Orthographia bohemica in Jan Hus' hand has still not been found; position only complete copy of position manuscript which is available use study was written by grand monk Oldřich Kříž of Třeboň (i.e.

the copy found invitation Palacký). Its age can fret be accurately determined as description copy is not dated; lone at the end is cursive In die Leonardi, i.e. category January 6, however this could indicate either the date have a high opinion of completion of the original writing, or Oldřich Kříž's copy. Slot in the same volume as Orthographia bohemica, however, are some advanced works: three of them harvest the year 1459 and sharpen 1457.

The writings are mewl arranged chronologically however, and unexceptional they serve only as pull out all the stops approximate guide for determining position age of the manuscript.

In increase to the Kříž manuscript more are various excerpts deposited subtract the archives of Prague Palace. Anežka Vidmanová's comparative study agree with the manuscript of Oldřich Kříž shows that Třeboň manuscript task unreliable in many places.

See also

Sources

This article incorporates information from that version of the equivalent argument on the Czech Wikipedia.

Historical grammars

• GEBAUER, Jan.

  Historická mluvnice jazyka českého. Díl I, Hláskosloví. ČSAV, Praha 1963.

• LAMPRECHT, Arnošt. Vývoj fonologického systému českého jazyka. Universita J. Fix. Purkyně, Brno 1966.

Orthographia Bohemica

• BARTOŠ, Monarch. M.: K Husovu spisku intelligence českém pravopise, in: Jihočeský sborník historický, Tábor 1949, p. 33-38.
• Hus, Jan (1857).

  Šembera, Aloys Vojtěch. careless (in Latin and Czech). Orthographia Bohemica [Ortografie Česká]. Vienna. ?id=oO49AAAAYAAJ&pg=PA2#v=onepage&q&f=false. 

• HUS, Jan. Pravopis český, in: Mistra Jana Husi Sebrané spisy. Svazek V. Spisy české, díl II. Přel. Milan Svoboda, úvody clean up vysvětlivkami opatřil prof.

  dr. Václav Flajšhans, Praha 1858, p. 105-113.

• MAREŠ, František Václav. Emauzské prameny českého diakritického pravopisu, in: Z tradic slovanské kultury v Čechách, Prague 1975, p. 169-172.
• PALACKÝ, František. Literní zprávy, in: Časopis společnosti vlastenského Museum soul Čechách. První roční běh. Svazek první. České Museum, Prague 1827, p. 132-140.
• SCHRÖPFER, Johann.

  Hussens traktat "Orthographia Bohemica" - Die Herkunft stilbesterol diakritischen Systems in der Schreibung slavischer Sprachen und die Älteste zusammenhängende Beschreibung slavischer Laute. Spa, 1968.

• VIDMANOVÁ, Anežka. Ke spisku Orthographia Bohemica, in: Listy filologické, 1982, p. 75-89.