The first codificator of standard Slovak language and Catholic priest. Anton Bernolák was born in nowadays already flooded village Slanica in Orava region, to a yeoman family. He studied at a secondary grammar school in Bratislava, and later he attended the faculty of theology in Trnava and Vienna as well. As a priest, he worked in Čeklís (Bernolákovo). In 1791 - 1797, he worked in the position of a secretary at the Archbishop Office in Trnava. His idea to codify standard Slovak language was inspired by Adam František Kollár in Vienna. Together with Juraj Fándly, he established the Slovak Learned Society grouping Catholic priests attempting to revive the Slovak nation. In his work “Filozoficko-kritická rozprava o slovenských písmenách”, he tried to subordinate standard Slovak to the language of the people and purify it from Czech elements. This work is based on the western Slovak dialect. He completed his lifelong linguistic work with more than five thousand-page book “Slovár Slovenskí-Česko-Laťinsko-Německo-Uherskí” through which he pointed out to linguistic richness of Slovak language. He died in Nové Zámky, where he worked as a priest at the end of his life.

 

 

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