Early Slovene Pioneers of Comparative Slavonic Philology

Žiga Popovič (1705–1774) was a dedicated polymath and unusually gifted linguist, with a particular interest in comparative Slavonic philology, and an unfulfilled ambition to make a complete survey od Slavonic dialects from the Adriatic to the Black Sea. He insisted on the importance for comparative and historical studies of the Slavonic evidence: a word, lost in Greek, might survive in Slavonic. The principle is sound, although the examples offered may be suspect. Popovič gathered materials for an etymological dictionary of Slovene, incidentally employing new characters in what amounted to a reform of the alphabet. Although occasionally misled into traditional derivations from Greek of Hebrew, he showed himself capable of applying sound etymological principles. Suggested by phonetic resemblance and tolerant of multiple solutions, much of the etymological information in Marko Pohlin’s (1735–1801) Glossarium Slavicum is invalid, though not without interest for its rationalising and even moralising tendencies. The great pedagogue himself admits his shortcomings as an etymologist.