PREFACE ANALYSIS OF THE CROATIAN GRAMMARS FROM THE NATIONAL REVIVAL TO THE END OF THE 19TH CENTURY

The paper deals with prefaces to the Croatian printed grammars in the second half of the 19th century, until the appearance of the School of Croatian Vukovians. It seeks to describe and present the features and functions of the preface text. It is a text that precedes the main, dominant text, but at the same time fulfills the communication function between the author, the reader and the author as well as the work and the wider temporal and social context. Fourteen prefaces were analyzed with regard to the initial address, authorial self, its purpose, language, grammatological conception, final address and dedication. The preface is placed in a correlation with the prefaces of the pre-revival period. The analysis showed a displacement in the preface features with respect to content, structure and functionality. Prefaces prove to be a necessary component of grammars.