Background
He was born in 1950 in Turni near Delnice, Gorski kotar.
He was born in 1950 in Turni near Delnice, Gorski kotar.
After graduating in philosophy and Yugoslav studies at the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Zadar in 1974, he received a Doctor of Philosophy at the same institution in 1986, with a thesis on the Kajkavian dialects of Gorski kotar.
After working as a journalist for four years immediately after graduation, in 1978 he returned to the Faculty of Philosophy in Zadar to work as an assistant. In 1987 he received the title of docent, in 1989 becoming associate professor, and in 1997 receiving regular and finally in 2002 permanent professorship. He teaches or has taught several post-graduate courses on linguistics, and serves as a head of the post-graduate course in linguistics at the University of Zadar.
At the same university he was the first head of the Department for Croatian and Slavic Studies.
In 2004 he became an associate member of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts.