Resavski pravopis u poveljama i pismima despota Lazara i Stefana Brankovića

Abstract

In the study we research the presence of the most prominent traits of the Resavian orthography in the charters and letters of Despot Lazar and Stefan Branković, the heir of Despot Đurađ Branković. Based on the conducted analysis we can conclude that in the corpus there are more orthographic variations rather than in the charters of Despot Đurađ (documents from the the end of the third decade of the XV century). Instead of further expansion and further stability of the the use of the most important traits of the Resavian orthography, in the analyzed documents we have encountered a regression of orthography. In comparison with the charters of Despot Đurađ from the end of the third decade of the XV century, we have noticed scarce presence of: a) the use of grapheme Q; b) the use of grapheme a functioning as the designation of the [ja] group in the postvocalic position; and c) use of the script and accent (especially the oxia and the regular varia). These facts, at a first glance paradoxal, can be explained, from the one perspective, by the secular character of the analyzed documents (which is the most relevant for the excluded grapheme Q), and from the other perspective, by the social and historical context within which all of these documents have appeared. The time of the omnipresent instability before the fall of the Despotate was prone to leave traces likewise on the work of scribe, in the office of the heir of Despot Đurđe Branković.