O pravopisu i jeziku pisama despota Vuka Grgurevića

Abstract

The paper investigates the most important orthographic and linguistic features of four letters by Despot Vuk Grgurević (known in folk tradition as Zmaj-Ognjeni Vuk (engl. the Dragon-Fire Wolf)) addressed to the Turkish Sultan Bayezid II during 1482 and 1483, as well as a letter sent in 1483 to Bayezid’s military commander Ali Bey Mihalbegović. The aforementioned letters serve as a significant testimony to the use of the Serbian language in the diplomatic correspondence conducted from Hungary with the Turkish sultans and regional commanders in the late 15th century. Due to the predominant absence of the features of Resavian orthography, the letters in question deviate from the majority of the charters and letters of Despot Đurađ Branković and his successors. On the other hand, by using the Serbian language based on the recognizable features of the KosovoResavian dialect of the 15th century: 1) ekavism in a number of morphological categories: dat. and loc. sg. nouns f. with the suffix -e, the suffix -em in instr. and loc. sg. and dat. pl. and -eh in gen. pl. of pronouns and adjectives, 2) vowel /a/ originating from /ǝ/, 3) vowel /u/ originating from vocalic /l/, 4) vowel /o/ originating from /l/ at the end of a syllable, 5) forms of present in the form of uzimljem, 6) forms of future I with the enclitic te and 7) forms of the imperative of the type viđ; letters by Despot Vuk Grgurević establish a continuity with charters and letters of the Serbian Despotate, along with the letters from the offices of the Turkish sultans Mehmed II and Bayezid II.