ĐURO AUGUSTINOVIĆ'S ATTEMPT TO REFORM ORTOGRAPHY

Abstract

The essay depicts an attempt to reform ortography taken by a military doctor Đuro Augustinović through which he strived to unify the Southslavic people, especially the Croats and the Serbs. The potential movements that he was exposed to and that he was influenced by were stated in the essay, along with his persevere promotion of his own standpoint. Since his proposal appeared in amidst of Gaj's triumphant orto-graphical proposals, his ideas were not widely accepted. In the spirit of ongoing Panslavic movements Augustinović insisted on reconstruction of Latin script by introducing Cyrillic graphems (in opposition to Gaj's solutions which involved diacritic signs) intending to unify in writing the two bigger nations. This equilization of Cyrillic and Latin script failed because both, the Croats and the Serbs had a deep-rooted tradition which prevented every intervention in its core. His untiring advocating of phonetical solutions in ortographical issues had a similar destiny. Therefore, Augustinović's attempt remained solely a testimony of an era without a true impact.