Slavic Historical Phonology

This paper joins Campbell (2001), Campbell & Janda (2001), Joseph (2001, 2003, 2004, 2011), Norde (2009, 2011), and Willis (2007, 2017) in their calls to delegitimize grammaticalization theory (GT) as “pseudo-” historical linguistics. Specifically, I challenge statements made by proponents of GT, including Kuteva (2001), Haspelmath (2011), and Wiemer (2011) that the South Slavic future developing from PSl *xъtěti ‘want’, represents an instantiation of grammaticalization. While the Bulgarian and Macedonian future appears to obey the basic tenets of GT, including undergoing semantic bleaching and phonetic reduction along a unidirectional cline to zero (Givón 1979: 209; Haspelmath 1999; Heine 2003: 579), Štokavian (the dialect basis for modern literary BCMS) does not, as it has continued the volitional meaning of *xъtěti alongside the auxiliated future, which comprises both reduced (clitic) and long forms. Furthermore, evidence from comparative Slavic and BCMS diachrony clearly indicates that the phonetic reduction of *xъtěti (whether by ablaut or regular phonetic processes) preceded the semantic bleaching, a direct contradiction of GT. In addition, the auxiliation of *xъtěti may have been calqued on the Balkan Sprachbund model (Joseph 1983, 2011), leading to the restructuring of full and reduced forms of *xъtěti as clitics, likely in analogy to 'biti' (Pennington 2007; Kapović pc). Finally, discomfort with the functional and semantic ambiguity of hteti is evidenced in Western Štokavian, as speakers have innovated a metatony towards disambiguating the ‘volitional’ 'hteti' from the ‘future’ (Kapović 2018: 277).

The article deals with the history of SCr. krd(o) and its Balto-Slavic cognates. A supposed descendent of the zero-grade root *ḱr̥dh-, SCr. krdo acquired its plain velar as a result of the Proto-Indo-European depalatalization before a syllabic resonant. The other root variant reflected in Balto-Slavic, *skerdh-, which underlies Lith. sker͂džius ‘shepherd’ and sker͂dis ‘id.’, was also regularly depalatalized, as PIE *ḱ expectedly yields *k if preceded by *s. The e-grade without the s-mobile provided no conditions for the said depalatalization to occur, which points to the analogical spread of the plain velar from the other two variants. / Članak obrađuje istoriju sh. reči krd(o) i njoj srodnih baltoslovenskih oblika, sa posebnim osvrtom na poreklo inicijalnog velara.

В данной статье я излагаю наблюдения, связанные с интерпретацией четырёх берестяных грамот. Статья распадается на две части, посвященные двум грамотам каждая: это коррективы к чтению давно найденных берестяных грамот, связанные с фонетическими явлениями, которые были выявлены уже после новых находок, и интерпретации надписей на берестяных рисунках.

автор: Реми Вирда

Ce qui était de prime abord une énigme posée par le russe du nord-ouest (différence de traitement entre *k et x, g) donne peut-être la piste d’une explication de la palatalisation progressive slave.

Celle-ci, proposons-nous, est apparue dans les suffixes *-ika-, *-ikā-, * īkā-, en tant qu’assimilation phonétique irrégulière due à la fréquence, avant de s’étendre aux autres vélaires d’une part, aux autres cas à conditions phonétiques semblables d’autre part, débouchant finalement sur une loi phonétique à conditionnement naturel dans le gros du slave, mais avec des reflets d’étapes intermédiaires en russe du nord-ouest d'une part et dans l’aire russe et biélorusse d'autre part.

L'article discute brièvement quelques autres cas semblables de palatalisation progressive (moyen-indien de Kālsī, français, ukrainien, yiddish).

En français, non seulement la désinence -ons < -āmus, mais aussi le suffixe -ier/-ière < -ārium/-āriam, sont aussi des cas d’assimilation phonétique irrégulière due à la fréquence (influence du m ou du *y suivants).

This paper deals with *-VRHi̯- sequences in Proto-Slavic. Under certain conditions they probably yielded *-V̀R’- sequences, thus introducing a new type of intonation – the so-called short neo-acute tone. If so, the evidence for Pinault’s law requires re-examination.

There are several theories about the origin of Bačka Rusyn language that is used in the Serbian province of Vojvodina. Among Rusyn linguists the dominant theory is the one of mixed East Slavic – West Slavic origin, later also presupposed for Eastern Slovak dialects. As is well-known, since Bačka Rusyn shows mostly West Slavic (Eastern Slovak) traits, the question of identification and proportion of the East Slavic traits still remains unsolved. The paper analyses those traits of Bačka Rusyn that are usually regarded as East Slavic, though the author demonstrates that some of them might be explained by internal, yet parallel development.

Symbolic awards are presented to scholars who have contributed to our knowledge of the Progressive Palatalization. This skit expresses some of the conclusions of “Comedy of errors or inexorable advance?” Studies in Slavic and General Linguistics 30, 2003, 397-452 in a different way.