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Extinct script

Bosnian Cyrillic, widely known as Bosančica[1][2] is an extinct variant of the Cyrillic alphabet that originated in medieval Bosnia.[1] The term was coined at the end of the 19th century by Ćiro Truhelka. It was widely used in modern-day Bosnia and Herzegovina and the bordering areas of modern-day Croatia (southern and middle Dalmatia and Dubrovnik regions). Its name in Serbo-Croatian is bosančica and bosanica[3] the latter of which can be translated as Bosnian script. Some Serbian scholars consider it as part of variant of Serbian Cyrillic and term "bosančica" according to them is Austro-Hungarian propaganda.[4] Croat scholars also call it Croatian script, Croatian–Bosnian script, Bosnian–Croat Cyrillic, harvacko pismo, arvatica or Western Cyrillic. For other names of Bosnian Cyrillic, see below.

The use of Bosančica amongst Bosnians was replaced by Arebica upon the introduction of Islam in Bosnia Eyalet, first amongst the elite, then amongst the wider public.[7] The first book in Bosančica was printed by Frančesko Micalović in 1512 in Venice.[8]

History and characteristic features

It is hard to ascertain when the earliest features of a characteristic Bosnian type of Cyrillic script had begun to appear, but paleographers consider the Humac tablet (a tablet written in Bosnian Cyrillic) to be the first document of this type of script and is believed to date from the 10th or 11th century.[9] Bosnian Cyrillic was used continuously until the 18th century, with sporadic usage even taking place in the 20th century.[10]

Historically, Bosnian Cyrillic is prominent in the following areas:

In conclusion, main traits of Bosnian Cyrillic include:

Controversies and polemic

The polemic about "ethnic affiliation" of Bosnian Cyrillic started in the 19th century, then reappeared in the mid-1990s.[14] The polemic about attribution and affiliation of Bosnian Cyrillic texts seems to rest on following arguments:

Some Serbian scholars claim that it is just a variant of Serbian Cyrillic; actually, a "minuscle", or Italic (cursive) script devised at the court of Serbian king Stefan Dragutin, and accordingly, include Bosnian Cyrillic texts into the Serbian literary corpus. Authors in "Prilozi za književnost, jezik, istoriju i folklor" in 1956, go as far to state that Bosančica was a term introduced through Austro-Hungarian propaganda, and regarded it a type of cursive Cyrillic script, [15] without specifics that would warrant an "isolation from Cyrillic". [16] The main Serbian authorities in the field are Jorjo Tadić, Vladimir Ćorović, Petar Kolendić, Petar Đorđić, Vera Jerković, Irena Grickat, Pavle Ivić and Aleksandar Mladenović.

in 1956, go as far to state that was a term introduced through Austro-Hungarian propaganda, and regarded it a type of cursive Cyrillic script, without specifics that would warrant an "isolation from Cyrillic". The main Serbian authorities in the field are Jorjo Tadić, Vladimir Ćorović, Petar Kolendić, Petar Đorđić, Vera Jerković, Irena Grickat, Pavle Ivić and Aleksandar Mladenović. On the Croatian side, the split exists among philologists. One group basically challenges the letters being Serbian, and claims that majority of the most important documents of Bosnian Cyrillic had been written either before any innovations devised at the Serbian royal court happened, or did not have any historical connection with it whatsoever, thus considering Serbian claims on the origin of Bosnian Cyrillic to be unfounded and that the script, since they allege belonging to the Croatian cultural sphere, should be called not Bosnian, but Croatian Cyrillic. Other group of Croatian philologists acknowledges that "Serbian connection", as exemplified in variants present at the Serbian court of king Dragutin, did influence Bosnian Cyrillic, but, they aver, it was just one strand, since scriptory innovations have been happening both before and after the mentioned one. First group insists that all Bosnian Cyrillic texts belong to the corpus of Croatian literacy, and the second school that all texts from Croatia and only a part from Bosnia and Herzegovina are to be placed into Croatian literary canon, so they exclude c. half of Bosnian Christian texts, but include all Franciscan and the majority of legal and commercial document. Also, the second school generally uses the name "Western Cyrillic" instead of "Croatian Cyrillic" (or Bosnian Cyrillic, for that matter). Both schools allege that supposedly various sources, both Croatian and other European, [ citation needed ] call this script "Croatian letters" or "Croatian script". The main Croatian authorities in the field are Vatroslav Jagić, Mate Tentor, Ćiro Truhelka, Vladimir Vrana, Jaroslav Šidak, Herta Kuna, Tomislav Raukar, Eduard Hercigonja and Benedikta Zelić-Bučan.

call this script "Croatian letters" or "Croatian script". The main Croatian authorities in the field are Vatroslav Jagić, Mate Tentor, Ćiro Truhelka, Vladimir Vrana, Jaroslav Šidak, Herta Kuna, Tomislav Raukar, Eduard Hercigonja and Benedikta Zelić-Bučan. Jahić, Halilović, and Palić dismiss claims made by Croatian or Serbian philologists about national affiliation. [17]

Ivan G. Iliev, in his "Short History of the Cyrillic Alphabet", summarize the Cyrillic variant, and acknowledge it was spread into and used in both Bosnia and Croatia, where these variants were called "bosančica" or "bosanica", in Bosnian and Croatian, which can literally be translated as Bosnian script, and that Croats also call it "arvatica" (Croatian script) or "Western Cyrillic".[10]

The irony of the contemporary status of Bosnian Cyrillic is as follows: some scholars still trying to prove that Bosnian Cyrillic is ethnically their own, while simultaneously relegating the corpus of Bosnian Cyrillic written texts to the periphery of national culture. This extinct form of Cyrillic is peripheral to Croatian paleography which focuses on Glagolitic and Latin script corpora.

Legacy

In 2015, a group of artists started a project called "I write to you in Bosančica" which involved art and graphic design students from Banja Luka, Sarajevo, Široki Brijeg, and Trebinje. Exhibitions of the submitted artworks will be held in Sarajevo, Trebinje, Široki Brijeg, Zagreb, and Belgrade. The purpose of the project was to resurrect the ancient script and show the "common cultural past" of all the groups in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The first phase of the project was to reconstruct all of the ancient characters by using ancient, handwritten documents.[18][19]

Names

The name bosančica was first used by Fran Kurelac in 1861.[20] Other instances of naming by individuals, in scholarship and literature or publications (chronological order, recent first):[21][22]

Gallery

See also

References

Notes

Bibliography

Domljan, Žarko, ed. (2006). Omiš i Poljica . Naklada Ljevak. ISBN 953-178-733-6 .

Mimica, Bože (2003). Omiška krajina Poljica makarsko primorje: Od antike do 1918. godine . ISBN 953-6059-62-2 .

Prosperov Novak, Slobodan; Katičić, Radoslav, eds. (1987). Dva tisućljeća pismene kulture na tlu Hrvatske [ Two thousand years of writing in Croatia ]. Sveučilišna naklada Liber: Muzejski prostor. ISBN 863290101X .

Superčić, Ivan; Supčić, Ivo (2009). Croatia in the Late Middle Ages and the Renaissance: A Cultural Survey. Philip Wilson Publishers. ISBN 978-0-85667-624-6 .