Vuk Karadžić publishes the first Serbian dictionary

Background. Karadžić began collecting Serbian vernacular words in 1815, influenced by Jernej Kopitar. Although officially completed in 1816, publication was delayed due to resource shortages and lack of printing presses in Serbia. Printing in Austria required permission from Metropolitan Stefan Stratimirović, who viewed Karadžić's orthographic reforms as a threat to the Serbian Orthodox Church's educational traditions.

Linguistic Reforms. The dictionary established the pure vernacular as the basis for the literary language, distancing it from Church Slavonic. Karadžić implemented reformed letters based on phonemic principles, though certain characters like Х were restricted to foreign words in the first edition. The work also reviewed phonetic changes that later formed part of the Serbian grammar.

Publication and Reception. The first edition, published in 1818, contained 26,270 words heard in common speech. It faced sharp criticism from opponents of language reform, particularly regarding the inclusion of swear words, which were added partly due to persuasions from Kopitar and Jacob Grimm. Attacks on the dictionary continued long after 1847, despite its eventual recognition as a victory for reforms.