Kočerin tablet

The Kočerin Tablet.

The Kočerin Tablet is a medieval tablet with an inscription written in Cyrillic in an archaic variant of Serbo-Croatian. It was made in 1404 or 1405 on the bottom of the stećak (tombstone) of Viganj Milošević,^[1] in a necropolis in a field located close to the village of Kočerin,^[1] 9 kilometers away from the city of Široki Brijeg, today in Bosnia and Herzegovina.^[2] The stećak that the tablet that was written on top of was discovered in 1983 in Lipovci. In 1872, it was moved to Kočerin to the right side of the priest's office. In 1927, a new church was built in Kočerin, and a copy of the inscription was placed there. In 2004, it was moved to the inside of the Priest's office.^[2]

The tablet measures 54 centimetres (21 in) across on the bottom, 49 centimetres (19 in) in the middle, and 50 centimetres (20 in) at the top. It measures 134 centimetres (53 in) in height. The top part is damaged.

Text

The tablet contains 25 rows of script, with 9-15 characters on each line. The tablet contains 300 Cyrillic characters in total, the largest known text in Bosnian Cyrillic.. In the tablet, it is mentioned that Milošević served five rulers: Banus Stjepan, King Tvrtko, King Dabiša, Queen Gruba, and King Ostoja.^[1] The inscription ends by saying: имолꙋвасьненаст ꙋпаитенамеѣсмь билькаковиесте виꙉетебитикако вьсмьѣ ("And I pray you, do not tread on me. I was as you are; you shall be as I am.").

The text displays a large number of ligatures.^[1] It is written in a Shtokavian Ikavian dialect, without nasal vowels, in a single-yer script, with some apparent Glagolitic influence.^[3] The form svetago shows influence from Church Slavonic, but the rest of the inscription is free of Church Slavonicisms in its morphology.^[3]

  Complete original text with translations

Kočerin tablet

Original text	Latin transliteration	Modernized Serbo-Croatian	English
☩ ваимеѡцаи синаисветаго дхааминьсе леживигань милошевиꙉь слꙋжибанꙋс- типанꙋикралꙋт- кꙋикралꙋдаби- шиикралицигрꙋби икралаостоииꙋт- овримедоиде свадисеостоѣ кральсхерцегом иꙁбоснмьинаꙋгре поеостоѣтов- римеменевигна доидеконьчина илегохьнасво- мьплеменитомь подькочериномь имолꙋвасьненаст ꙋпаитенамеѣсмь билькаковиесте виꙉетебитикако вьсмьѣ	☩ va ime ōca i sina i svetago d[u]ha aminĭ se leži viganĭ miloševiđĭ služi banu s- tipanu i kralu t- [vrĭt]ku i kralu dabi- ši i kralici grubi i krala ostoi i u t- o vrime doide svadi se ostoě kralĭ s hercegom[ĭ] i z bosn[o]mĭ i na ugre po[id]e ostoě to v- rime mene vigna doide konĭčina i legohĭ na svo- mĭ plemenitomĭ podĭ kočerinomĭ i molu vasĭ ne nast- upaite na me ě smĭ bilĭ kako vi este vi đete biti kako- vĭ smĭ ě	☩ U ime oca i sina i svetoga duha, amin. Ovdje leži Viganj Milošević. Služih banu S- tjepanu i kralju T- vrtku i kralju Dabi- ši i kraljici Grubi i kralja Ostoju, i u t- o vrijeme dojde i svadi se Ostoja kralj s Hercegom i s Bosnom, i na Ugre pojde Ostoja. U to v- rijeme meni, Vignju, dojde kraj, i legoh na svo- m plemenitom pod kočerinom. I molim vas, ne nast- upajte na mene. Ja sam bio kako vi jeste, vi ćete biti kaka- v sam ja.	☩ In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, amen. Here lies Viganj Milošević. Served Ban S- tephen and King T- vrtko and King Dabi- ša and Queen Gruba and King Ostoja and in th- at time came to fight Ostoja the King with the Duke and with Bosnia, and to the Hungarians came Ostoja. At that t- ime to me, Viganj, there came an end, and I lay down on my noble [land], under Kočerin. And I pray you, do not tre- ad on me. I was as you are; you shall be as I am.

References

1. 2004. Šefik Bešlagić, Leksikon stećaka.
2. Hrvatska pošta Mostar dead link]
3. 2011. Mateo Žagar, review of Jezik srednjovjekovnih kamenih natpisa iz Hercegovine.