Karadzic, Vuk Stefanovic

Karadžić, Vuk Stefanović

(vo͞ok stĕfä`nôvich kä`räjĭch), 1787–1864, Serbian philologist and folklorist, of Moldavian descent. During his lifetime Karadžić published 10 volumes of Serbian folk poetry. He inaugurated language reforms and adopted the Serbian vernacular. His introduction of phonetic spelling and invention of new letters to complete the Cyrillic alphabet were major contributions to Serbian linguistics. Among his most important lexicographical works are a grammar of vernacular Serbian (1814) and a Serbian dictionary (1818). In 1847 he translated the New Testament into Serbian for the British and Foreign Bible Society.