Metelko alphabet
Encyclopedia
The Metelko alphabet was a Slovene writing system developed by Franc Serafin Metelko
. It was used by a small group of authors from 1825 to 1833 but it was never generally accepted.
Metelko introduced his alphabet in the book Lehrgebäude der slowenischen Sprache im Königreiche Illyrien und in den benachbarten Provinzen (Slovenian Textbook for the Kingdom of Illyria
and Neighboring Provinces, 1825). He invented his alphabet in order to replace the formerly used Bohorič alphabet
(bohoričica), which was considered problematic in certain situations. Metelko was influenced by the ideas of Jernej Kopitar
, a well-known linguist who also participated in the development of the modern Serbian alphabet (created by Vuk Karadžić, following Kopitar's ideas).
Metelko's alphabet has 32 letters in following order:
A B D E
F G H 
I 
J K L 
M N 
O 
P R S 
T U V 
Special letters are explained in the following table (other letters have the same meaning as in modern Slovene):
Metelko wanted to solve the problem of the formerly used digraphs
ZH (for /tʃ/) and SH (for /ʃ/ and /ʒ/) by replacing them with the special letters, and , based on the Cyrillic letters Ч, Ш, Ж.
Metelko also added special letters for some common clusters:, and .
The difference between glottal and velar H (/h/, /x/) is in fact not relevant to Slovene phonology, and therefore the letter was omitted by some authors.
In the formerly used Bohorič alphabet, certain words with different pronunciation had the same spelling. Metelko wanted to solve this problem by splitting E into three and O into two variants. Metelko's letters E, and represent the vowels /ɛ/, /e/ and /ə/, which were formerly written with E. Metelko's letters O and represent the vowels /o/ and /ɔ/, which were formerly written with O.
The main problem of Metelko's alphabet was its graphic design. Metelko's letters appeared strange to the average Slovene writer and the alphabet itself was soon nicknamed krevljica 'the twisted alphabet'. Some letters were in fact difficult to write by hand. Besides Metelko was strongly influenced by his own dialect, certain solutions were not accepted by speakers of other dialects. Soon strong opposition rose against Metelko's alphabet.
After the "Slovene alphabet war" Metelko's alphabet was forbidden in 1833. A few years later Slovenes accepted Gaj's Latin alphabet (Slovene: gajica), which is easier to write. In this alphabet variants in pronunciation are written using diacritics (é, ê, ó, ô, etc.) but only in cases when it is necessary to distinguish two words (eg. klóp = bench
; klôp = tick
).
Franc Serafin Metelko
Franc Serafin Metelko, also known as Fran Metelko was a Slovene Roman Catholic priest, author, and philologist, best known for his proposal of a new script for the Slovene called the Metelko alphabet, which was meant to replace the traditional Bohorič alphabet, used since the late sixteenth...
. It was used by a small group of authors from 1825 to 1833 but it was never generally accepted.
Metelko introduced his alphabet in the book Lehrgebäude der slowenischen Sprache im Königreiche Illyrien und in den benachbarten Provinzen (Slovenian Textbook for the Kingdom of Illyria
Kingdom of Illyria
The Kingdom of Illyria was an administrative unit of the Austrian Empire from 1816 to 1849. Its administrative centre was Ljubljana and it included the western and central part of present-day Slovenia, the present Austrian state of Carinthia, as well as some territories in north-western Croatia ...
and Neighboring Provinces, 1825). He invented his alphabet in order to replace the formerly used Bohorič alphabet
Bohoric alphabet
The Bohorič alphabet was an orthography used for the Slovene language between the 16th and 19th centuries. Its name is derived from Adam Bohorič, who codified the alphabet in his book Articae Horulae Succisivae, published in 1584....
(bohoričica), which was considered problematic in certain situations. Metelko was influenced by the ideas of Jernej Kopitar
Jernej Kopitar
Jernej Bartol Kopitar was a Slovene linguist and philologist working in Vienna. He also worked as the Imperial censor for Slovene literature in Vienna...
, a well-known linguist who also participated in the development of the modern Serbian alphabet (created by Vuk Karadžić, following Kopitar's ideas).
Metelko's alphabet has 32 letters in following order:
A B D E
F G H I J K L M N O P R S T U V Special letters are explained in the following table (other letters have the same meaning as in modern Slovene):
| majuscule | minuscule | IPA | modern Slovene |
|---|---|---|---|
| |
|
/ts/ | c |
| |
|
/tʃ/ | č |
| S | s | /s/ | s |
| |
|
/ʃ/ | š |
| |
|
/ʃtʃ/ | šč |
| |
|
/z/ | z |
| |
|
/ʒ/ | ž |
| H | h | /h/ | h |
| |
|
/x/ | h |
| |
|
/lj/ | lj |
| |
|
/nj/ | nj |
| E | e | /ɛ/ | e (open e; also ê) |
| |
|
/e/ | e (close e; also é) |
| |
|
/ə/ | e (schwa Schwa In linguistics, specifically phonetics and phonology, schwa can mean the following:*An unstressed and toneless neutral vowel sound in some languages, often but not necessarily a mid-central vowel... ; also ə) |
| O | o | /o/ | o (close o; also ó) |
| |
|
/ɔ/ | o (open o; also ô) |
Metelko wanted to solve the problem of the formerly used digraphs
Digraph (orthography)
A digraph or digram is a pair of characters used to write one phoneme or a sequence of phonemes that does not correspond to the normal values of the two characters combined...
ZH (for /tʃ/) and SH (for /ʃ/ and /ʒ/) by replacing them with the special letters
, and , based on the Cyrillic letters Ч, Ш, Ж.Metelko also added special letters for some common clusters:
, and .The difference between glottal and velar H (/h/, /x/) is in fact not relevant to Slovene phonology, and therefore the letter
was omitted by some authors.In the formerly used Bohorič alphabet, certain words with different pronunciation had the same spelling. Metelko wanted to solve this problem by splitting E into three and O into two variants. Metelko's letters E,
and represent the vowels /ɛ/, /e/ and /ə/, which were formerly written with E. Metelko's letters O and represent the vowels /o/ and /ɔ/, which were formerly written with O.The main problem of Metelko's alphabet was its graphic design. Metelko's letters appeared strange to the average Slovene writer and the alphabet itself was soon nicknamed krevljica 'the twisted alphabet'. Some letters were in fact difficult to write by hand. Besides Metelko was strongly influenced by his own dialect, certain solutions were not accepted by speakers of other dialects. Soon strong opposition rose against Metelko's alphabet.
After the "Slovene alphabet war" Metelko's alphabet was forbidden in 1833. A few years later Slovenes accepted Gaj's Latin alphabet (Slovene: gajica), which is easier to write. In this alphabet variants in pronunciation are written using diacritics (é, ê, ó, ô, etc.) but only in cases when it is necessary to distinguish two words (eg. klóp = bench
Bench (furniture)
A bench is a piece of furniture, on which several people may sit at the same time. Benches are typically made of wood, but may also be made of metal, stone, or synthetic materials. Many benches have arm and back rests; some have no back rest and can be sat on from either side. In public areas,...
; klôp = tick
Ixodes ricinus
Ixodes ricinus, the castor bean tick, is a chiefly European species of hard-bodied tick. It may reach a length of when engorged with a blood meal, and can transmit both bacterial and viral pathogens such as the causative agents of Lyme disease and tick-borne encephalitis.-Description:In common...
).