Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rdxmf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T03:17:05.800Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

5 - Phonologically Conditioned Alternations

from Part 1 - Prosody and Phonology

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 May 2024

By
Darya Kavitskaya
Edited by
Danko Šipka  and
Wayles Browne
Danko Šipka
Affiliation:
Arizona State University
Wayles Browne
Affiliation:
Cornell University, New York
Get access

Summary

This chapter provides an overview of phonologically conditioned synchronic alternations representative of Slavic languages. The vocalic processes covered are vowel reduction and resulting phonological neutralization patterns in unstressed syllables, vowel-zero alternations, alternations in vowel quantity due to compensatory lengthening or to rhythmic requirements, and alternations in vowel quality, such as fronting/backing and raising/lowering. The consonantal processes discussed include alternations in voicing, such as voicing assimilation and word-final devoicing, and palatalization before front vowels and as a result of assimilation in a consonant cluster. Some language-specific alternations are also discussed.

Keywords

vowel reductionpalatalizationvowel-zero alternationscompensatory lengtheningword-final devoicingvoicing assimilationpalatalization assimilation
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Slavic Linguistics , pp. 87 - 103
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alexander, R. & Zhobov, V. (Forthcoming). Bulgarian Dialects: Living Speech in the Digital Age, Bloomington, IN: Slavica.Google Scholar
Andersen, H. (1970). Kashubian dobëtk ‘dobytek’ and its kind. Die Welt der Slaven, 15, 61–76.Google Scholar
Anderson, J. (1996). The representation of vowel reduction: Non-specification and reduction in Old English and Bulgarian. Studia Linguistica, 50, 91–105.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Avanesov, R. I. (1972). Russkoe literaturnoe proiznošenie, Moscow: Prosveščenie.Google Scholar
Barnes, J. (2006). Strength and Weakness at the Interface: Positional Neutralization in Phonetics and Phonology, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barnes, J. (2007). Phonetics and phonology in Russian unstressed vowel reduction: A study in hyperarticulation. Unpublished manuscript, Boston University.Google Scholar
Bethin, C. Y. (1978). Phonological Rules in the Nominative Singular and Genitive Plural of the Slavic Substantive Declension. PhD dissertation, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.Google Scholar
Bethin, C. Y. (1998). Slavic Prosody: Language Change and Phonological Theory, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bezlaj, Fr. (1939). Oris slovenskega knjižnega izgovora, Ljubljana: Natisnila učiteljska tiskarna.Google Scholar
Bidwell, C. E. (1969). Outline of Slovenian Morphology, Pittsburgh, PA: University Center for International Studies, University of Pittsburgh.Google Scholar
Bondarko, L. V. (1977). Zvukovoj stroj sovremennogo russkogo iazyka, Moscow: Prosveščenie.Google Scholar
Browne, W. (1993). Serbo-Croat. In Comrie, B. & Corbett, G. G., eds., The Slavonic Languages, London & New York, NY: Routledge, pp. 306–387.Google Scholar
Carlton, T. R. (1991). Introduction to the Phonological History of the Slavic Languages, Columbus, OH: Slavica.Google Scholar
Carlton, T. R. (1996). Compensatory lengthening, rounding, and sharping in Ukrainian. Canadian Slavonic Papers/Revue Canadienne des Slavistes, 38, 385–404.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clements, G. N. & Hume, E. (1995). The internal organization of speech sounds. In Goldsmith, J., ed., Handbook of Phonological Theory, Oxford: Blackwell, pp. 245–306.Google Scholar
Crosswhite, K. (2001). Vowel Reduction in Optimality Theory, London & New York, NY: Routledge.Google Scholar
Czaplicki, B. (2019). Measuring the phonological (un)naturalness of selected alternation patterns in Polish. Language Sciences, 72, 160–187.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Czaplicki, B. (2020). A listener-oriented account of the evolution of diphthongs and changes in the jers in Kashubian. Journal of Slavic Linguistics, 28, 104–140.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Czekman, W. & Smułkowa, E. (1988). Fonetyka i fonologia języka Białoruskiego z elementami fonetyki i fonologii ogólnej, Warsaw: Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe.Google Scholar
Čaxovski, G. K. & Čaxovskaja, T. L. (2010). Sučasnaja belaruskaja mova. Elektronny kurs lektsyj, Minsk.Google Scholar
de Chene, E. B. & Anderson, S. R. (1979). Compensatory lengthening. Language, 55, 505–535.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Derbyshire, W. W. (1993). A Basic Reference Grammar of Slovene, Columbus, OH: Slavica.Google Scholar
Dukiewicz, L. & Sawicka, I. (1995). Fonetyka i fonologia, Kraków: Wydawnictwo Instytutu Języka Polskiego PAN.Google Scholar
Garde, P. (1985). Le mythe de l’allongement compensatoire en ukrainien. In Hursky, J. P., ed., Studies in Ukrainian Linguistics in Honor of George Y. Shevelov, Clifton, NJ: The Ukrainian Academy of Arts and Sciences in the US, pp. 69–81.Google Scholar
Greenberg, M. (1988). On the vocalization of jers in Slovak. Die Welt der Slaven, 12, 43–62.Google Scholar
Gouskova, M. (2012). Unexceptional segments. Natural Language and Linguistic Theory, 30, 79–133.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Groen, B. M. (1987). On vowel reduction in Contemporary Standard Bulgarian. Studies in Slavic and General Linguistics, 10 [Dutch Studies in South Slavic and Balkan Linguistics], 29–39.Google Scholar
Gussmann, E. (2007). The Phonology of Polish, Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Halilović, S., Tanović, I., & Šehović, A. (2009). Govor grada Sarajeva i razgovorni bosanski jezik, Sarajevo: Slavistički komitet.Google Scholar
Hall, D. C. (2004). A formal approach to /v/: Evidence from Czech and Slovak. In Arnaudova, O., Browne, W., Rivero, M. L., & Stojanović, D., eds., Formal Approaches to Slavic Languages 12. The Ottawa Meeting, 2003, Ann Arbor, MI: Michigan Slavic Publications.Google Scholar
Halle, M. (1959). The Sound Pattern of Russian, The Hague: Mouton.Google Scholar
Hanulíková, A. & Hamann, S. (2010). Slovak. Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 40, 373–378.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hayes, B. (1989). Compensatory lengthening in moraic phonology. Linguistic Inquiry, 20, 253–306.Google Scholar
Iosad, P. (2012). Vowel reduction in Russian: No phonetics in phonology. Journal of Linguistics, 48, 521–571.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jakobson, R. (1956). Die Verteilung der stimmhaften und stimmlosen Geräuschlaute im Russischen. In Woltner, M. & Bräuer, H., eds., Festschrift für Max Vasmer, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.Google Scholar
Jakobson, R. (1978). Mutual assimilation of Russian voiced and voiceless consonants. Studia Linguistica, 32, 107–110.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jones, D. & Ward, D. (1969). The Phonetics of Russian, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Jurgec, P. (2011). Slovenščina ima 9 samoglasnikov. Slavistična Revija, 59, 243–268.Google Scholar
Kasatkin, L. L. (2003). Fonetika sovremennogo russkogo literaturnogo jazyka, Moscow: Izdatel’stvo Moskovskogo universiteta.Google Scholar
Kasatkina, R. F. (2005). Moskovskoje akan’je v svete nekotoryx dialektnyx dannyx. Voprosy jazykoznanija, 2, 29–45.Google Scholar
Kavitskaya, D. (1999). Voicing assimilation and the schizophrenic behavior of /v/ in Russian. In Dziwirek, K., Coats, H., & Vakareliyska, C., eds., Formal Approaches to Slavic Linguistics 7. The Seattle Meeting, 1998, Ann Arbor, MI: Michigan Slavic Publications, pp. 225–244.Google Scholar
Kavitskaya, D. (2002). Compensatory Lengthening: Phonetics, Phonology, Diachrony, New York, NY: Routledge.Google Scholar
Kavitskaya, D. (2017). Some recent developments in Slavic phonology. Journal of Slavic Linguistics, 25, 389–415.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kavitskaya, D. (2020). Compensatory lengthening. In Greenberg, M. L. & Grenoble, L. A., eds., Encyclopedia of Slavic Languages and Linguistics Online, Leiden: Brill Publishers.Google Scholar
Kavitskaya, D. (Forthcoming). Vowel reduction. In Oxford Guides to the World’s Languages. The Slavonic Languages.Google Scholar
Kharlamov, V. (2014). Incomplete neutralization of the voicing contrast in word-final obstruents in Russia: Phonological, lexical, and methodological influences. Journal of Phonetics, 43, 47–56.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kulikov, V. (2013). Voicing contrast in consonant clusters: Evidence against sonorant transparency to voice assimilation in Russian. Phonology, 30, 423–452.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kurylo, O. (1928). Sproba pojasnyty proces zminy e, o v novyx zakrytyx skladax u pivdennij hrupi ukrajins’kyx dialektiv, Kyiv.Google Scholar
Langston, K. (1998). Compensatory lengthening in Ukrainian revisited. International Journal of Slavic Linguistics and Poetics, 42, 107–120.Google Scholar
Lenček, R. (1982). The Structure and History of the Slovene Language, Columbus, OH: Slavica.Google Scholar
Mayo, P. (1993). Belorussian. In Comrie, B. & Corbett, G. G., eds., The Slavonic Languages, London & New York, NY: Routledge, pp. 887–946.Google Scholar
Matusevič, M. I. (1976). Sovremennyj russkij iazyk: Fonetika, Moscow: Prosveščenie.Google Scholar
Miklosich, F. (1879/1973). Vergleichende Grammatik der slavischen Sprachen. Vol. I. Lautlehre, Osnabrück.Google Scholar
Moisienko, A. K, Bas-Kononenko, O. V., Bondarenko, V. V., et al. (2010). Sučasna ukrajins’ka literaturna mova, Kyiv: Znannja.Google Scholar
Mołczanow, J. (2007). The problem of the Russian labial fricatives: Why v is different. Poznań Studies in Contemporary Linguistics, 43, 49–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Osowicka-Kondratowicz, M. (2005). Assimilative palatalization within consonantal clusters in Polish. Studia Phonetica Posnaniensia, 7, 5–22.Google Scholar
Padgett, J. (2001). Contrast dispersion and Russian palatalization. In Hume, E. V. & Johnson, K., eds., The Role of Speech Perception in Phonology, San Diego, CA: Academic Press, pp. 187–218.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Padgett, J. (2002). Russian voicing assimilation, final devoicing, and the problem of [v] (or, The mouse that squeaked). Ms.Google Scholar
Padgett, J. & Tabain, M. (2005). Adaptive Dispersion Theory and phonological vowel reduction in Russian. Phonetica, 62, 14–54.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pettersson, T. & Wood, S. (1987). Vowel reduction in Bulgarian and its implications for theories of vowel production: A review of the problem. Folia Linguistica, 21, 261–279.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Priestly, T. M. S. (1993). Slovene. In Comrie, B. & Corbett, G. G., eds., The Slavonic Languages, London & New York, NY: Routledge, pp. 388–451.Google Scholar
Rowicka, G. (1999). On Ghost Vowels: A Strict CV Approach. PhD dissertation, LOT/University of Leiden.Google Scholar
Rubach, J. (1984). Cyclic and Lexical Phonology: The Structure of Polish. Dordrecht: Foris.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rubach, J. (1986) Abstract vowels in three-dimensional phonology: The yers. Linguistic Review, 5, 247–280.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rubach, J. (2005). Mid vowel fronting in Ukrainian. Phonology, 22, 1–36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rubach, J. (2007). Feature Geometry from the perspective of Polish, Russian, and Ukrainian. Linguistic Inquiry, 38, 85–138.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rubach, J. (2008a). Prevocalic faithfulness. Phonology, 25, 1–36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rubach, J. (2008b). Palatal nasal decomposition in Slovene, Upper Sorbian and Polish. Journal of Linguistics, 44, 169–204.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rubach, J. (2011). Slavic palatalization. In van Oostendorp, M., Ewen, C., Hume, E., & Rice, K., eds., Companion to Phonology, Oxford & Boston, MA: Blackwell-Wiley, pp. 2908–2935.Google Scholar
Rubach, J. (2013). Exceptional segments in Polish. Natural Language and Linguistic Theory, 31, 1139–1162.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rubach, J. (2016). Polish yers: Representation and analysis. Journal of Linguistics, 52, 421–466.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rubach, J. (2019). Surface velar palatalization in Polish. Natural Language and Linguistic Theory, 37, 1421–1462.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scatton, Er. (1993). Bulgarian. In Comrie, B. & Corbett, G. G., eds., The Slavonic Languages, London & New York, NY: Routledge, pp. 188–248.Google Scholar
Schaarschmidt, G. (1997). The Historical Phonology of the Upper and Lower Sorbian, Heidelberg: Winter.Google Scholar
Ščerba, L. V. (1912). Russkie glasnye v kačestvennom i količestvennom otnošenii, Saint Peterburg.Google Scholar
Shevelov, G. Y. (1964). A Prehistory of Slavic. The Historical Phonology of Common Slavic, Heidelberg: Winter.Google Scholar
Shevelov, G. Y. (1985). A remark on extra-systemic vowel lengthening in Slavic: The cases of Ukrainian and Macedonian. International Journal of Slavic Linguistics and Poetics, 31–32, 385–398.Google Scholar
Shevelov, G. Y. (1993). Ukrainian. In Comrie, B. & Corbett, G. G., eds., The Slavonic Languages, London & New York, NY: Routledge, pp. 947–998.Google Scholar
Short, D. (1993). Slovak. In Comrie, B. & Corbett, G. G., eds., The Slavonic Languages, London & New York, NY: Routledge, pp. 533–592.Google Scholar
Strycharczuk, P. (2012). Sonorant transparency and the complexity of voicing in Polish. Journal of Phonetics, 40, 655–671.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Šuštaršič, R., Komar, S., & Petek, B. (1999). Slovene. In International Phonetic Association, ed., Handbook of the International Phonetic Association: A Guide to the Use of the International Phonetic Alphabet, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 135–139.Google Scholar
Szpyra, J. (1992). Ghost segments in nonlinear phonology: Polish yers. Language, 68, 277–312.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Timberlake, A. (1983a). Compensatory lengthening in Slavic, 1: Conditions and dialect geography. In Markov, V. & Worth, D. S., eds., From Los Angeles to Kiev: Papers on the Occasion of the Ninth International Congress of Slavists. Kiev, September 1983, Columbus, OH: Slavica, pp. 207–235.Google Scholar
Timberlake, A. (1983b). Compensatory lengthening in Slavic, 2: Phonetic reconstruction. In Flier, M. S., ed., American Contributions to the Ninth International Congress of Slavists. Kiev, September 1983. Vol. I: Linguistics, Columbus, OH: Slavica, pp. 293–319.Google Scholar
Timberlake, A. (1988). The fall of the jers in West Slavic: Kashubian and Upper Sorbian. Die Welt der Slaven, 33, 225–247.Google Scholar
Timberlake, A. (2004). A Reference Grammar of Russian, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Trubetzkoy, N. S. (1939/1969). Principles of Phonology, Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Vygonnaja, L. T. (1978). O redukcii glasnyx v belorusskom literaturnom jazyke. Studia Rossica Posnaniensia, 10, 277–283.Google Scholar
Ward, D. (1975). Unaccented vowels in Russian. Russian Linguistics, 2, 91–104.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×