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Jakov Mikalja (Latin: Jacobi Micalia, Italian: Giacomo Micaglia) (Peschici, March 31, 1601 - Loreto, December 1, 1654) was a Croatian linguist and lexicographer, born in Kingdom of Naples.

Life

Mikalja was born in Peschici (in Croatian: Pještica) on the peninsula of Gargano in the Napoli ruled Apulia, one of the Croat settlement growth in that time in South Italy. He said about himself to be an Italian of Slavic language . After completing the studies in philosophy in 1628, he became a Jesuit.

Because of his knowledge of the Croatian language, Mikalja was sent in Republic of Dubrovnik by the Society of Jesus. It was the time of the Counter-Reformation and the Catholic Church wished to restore its power also in the Balkans. For four years (1630-1633) Mikalja taught grammar at the Jesuit College in Dubrovnik (in Republic of Dubrovnik). There he wrote "Latin grammar for Croat students" after Emanuel Alvares (De institutione grammatica pro Illyricis accommodata, 1637).

Few years later, in 1636, Mikalja sent a letter to the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith, proposing a reform of the Latin alphabet for the needs of the Croatian language.

He discussed the same issue in the chapter "On Slavic Orthography" } of his work in Croatian God-Loving Thoughts on the Lord's Prayer Taken from the Books of St Thomas Aquinas, the Angelic Doctor (Bratislava, 1642).
From 1637 to 1645 he was a missionary among the Catholics in Timişoara in the Banat (present day Romania). He came back to to Italy, where he was the Croatian confessor in Loreto, from 1645 till his death.

Dictionary

Mikalja's greatest work is Thesaurus of Croatian Language and Croatian Dictionary (where Croatian words are translated in Italian and Latin). It was first printed in Loreto in 1649, but a better printing press was needed, so it was completed in Ancona in 1651. The dictionary was a project of the Jesuits, as instrument to fight the Protestant Reformation in the Balkans.

It was the first Croatian dictionary, with Croatian (under name of "Illyric") as the starting language (in the very same dictinary, he treats the terms Croat and Illyricus as synonims , ) .

Important thing to note is, that, Mikalja in his dictionary, calls Croatian language as "Illyric" (ilirski), Italian as "Latin" (latinski), while Latin language calls as " students' language" (diacki).

The introduction to the dictionary has a Latin dedication, a note to the reader in Italian (Al benigno lettore), a presentation of the alphabet and orthography in Latin and Croatian (Od ortographie jezika slovinskoga ili načina od pisanja), and an Italian grammar in Croatian (Grammatika Talianska).

Mikalja explains in the foreword that he chosen the "Bosnian", because "everyone says that the Bosnian language is the most beautiful one" (Ogn'un dice che la lingua Bosnese sia la piu bella). The dictionary, intended primarily to teach students and young Jesuits, has around 25,000 words. It belongs to the corpse of dictionaries in Shtokavian dialect, with some Chakavian parts, and as limited, even Kaykavian lexic as entry or synonym.

Mikalja's dictionary is regarded as a Croatian dictionary by mainstream lexicographers and linguists.

From the cultural point of view, Mikalja's work was influenced by earlier works of Faust Vrančić and Kašić, and it influenced the Croatian circle of lexicographers (among them Franciscans Divković and Tomo Babić), both in Croatia and in Bosnia and Herzegovina. His work is an integral part of development and standardization of Croatian modern language.

Works

• Bogoljubno razmiscgljanje od ocenascja Pokupgljeno iz kgniga Svetoga Tomme od Aquina Nauciteglja Anghjelskoga
  (God-Loving Thoughts on the Lord's Prayer Taken from the Books of St Thomas Aquinas, the Angelic Doctor, Bratislava, 1642)
• Blago jezika slovinskoga ili Slovnik u Komu izgovarajuse rjeci slovinske Latinski, i Diacki. Thesaurus linguae Illyricae sive Dictionarium Illyricum. In quo verba Illyrica Italice, et Latine redduntur, Romae: et sumptibus Sacrae congregationis de propaganda fide impressum, Loreto, apud Paulum et Io. Baptistam Seraphinum, 1649
  (Thesaurus of Croatian language or an Croatian Dictionary, where Croatian words are translated in Italian and Latin) (Ancona, 1651).

Printing of the "Blago..." was started by Serafini brothers in Loreto in 1649, and finished by O, Beltrano in Ancona in 1651.

References

1. Hrvatski leksikon 2 L - Ž, Naklada Leksikon d.o.o., Zagreb, 1997.
2. ^ 3. RAI International Online - Lingue diverse dall’italiano in Italia
3. Reportonline - Quando a Peschici gli slavi ___ erano di casa
4. ^ IHJJ- O Mikalji
5. IHJJ - Scanned page

External links

• Matica hrvatska - Kolo - Jubileji hrvatskih leksikografa by Vladimir Horvat (lot of data and analysis) Template:Hr icon
• A page about Jakov Mikalja Template:Hr icon
• Scientific project about Jakov Mikalja's work Template:Hr icon
• List of Croatian dictionaries in history Template:Hr icon
• "Quando a Peschici gli slavi ... erano di casa" Template:It icon
• Jubileji leksikografa Mikalje (Jubilees of Lexicograph Mikalja) Template:Hr icon
• Neki ga još smatraju Talijanom (Some still regard him as Italian) Template:Hr icon

• 1601 births
• 1654 deaths
• People from the Province of Foggia
• Croatian linguists
• Italian linguists
• Jesuits