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2 - Vocalism: The Vowels

from Part 1 - Prosody and Phonology

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 May 2024

By
Irena Sawicka
Edited by
Danko Šipka  and
Wayles Browne
Danko Šipka
Affiliation:
Arizona State University
Wayles Browne
Affiliation:
Cornell University, New York
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Summary

Until the very early Middle Ages, Slavic vocalism developed uniformly. Later it began to diversify. Causes of diversification included territorial dispersion and occupation of areas where non-Slavic tribes lived or where Slavs neighboured non-Slavs. Some areas retained archaic features; others began to develop innovations. Hence, smaller intersecting areas often arose with particular features. In addition to the five mandatory vowel segments, Slavic languages have additional regional segments. We distinguish at least the following: an area with phonological long vowels; the western periphery with diphthongs and additional intermediate segments between /i/ and /e/ and between /u/ and /o/; an area with additional central vowels; one with distinctive tonal features; one with reduction of unstressed vowels; areas with traces of nasal vowels; an area with a glottal stop; one with high frequency of vowel clusters (while the frequency ratio of vowels to consonants in text does not vary much).

Keywords

development of vowelsvowel systemssyllabic sonorantsglottal stopnasal vowelslong vowelsschwa-like vowelsdiphthongs and mid-high vowelsvowel reductiontonal features
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Slavic Linguistics , pp. 29 - 44
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

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