Sussex R., Cubberley P. The Slavic Languages
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but this is inconsistent, and never occurs when boundaries are not clear. It is,
therefore, a boundary-related feature, and we return to it below (3.4.3.4).
One Proto-Slavic sonorant which behaves idiosyncratically is /w-v/. In
many areas where /w-v/ was labio-dental /v/ (Russian, Czech, Polish,
Bulgarian, Macedonian) it found itself partnered phonetically by [f], which
often was well represented in the foreign lexicon (especially from Greek via
Old Church Slavonic) and which often became a separate phoneme itself. In
these areas the status of /v/ as a sonorant became compromised, and it began
to behave at least partly like an obstruent. For example, in Russian it behaves
like an obstruent and is devoiced to [f] when followed by a voiceless obstruent,
but it behaves like a sonorant when in last position in a cluster and does not cause
voicing:
(73) Rus la
´
vka ‘counter, shop’ [¨lafka] tvoj ‘your’ [tv
c
j]
Where this phoneme is bilabial /w/, but also in some cases where it is /v/, it
continues to function as a sonorant. In both cases it usually becomes [u
˘
] when
in first position in a cluster (Belarusian, Ukrainian, Slovak, Sorbian,
Slovenian), in one case remaining [v] (B/C/S):
(74a) ‘sheep’: Bel au
˘
ca
´
[au
˘
¨t
sa] Ukr vivcja
´
[v
j
iu
˘
¨t
s
j
a]
Slk ovca [¨
c
u
˘
t
sa] Sln o
k
vca [¨
c
øu
˘
t
sa]
USorb wowca [¨w
c
u
˘
t
s a] B/C/S o
´
vca [¨
c
øvt
sa]
cf. /v/ > [f]:
(74b) Rus ovca
´
[ˆf¨t
sa] Blg ovca
´
[Uf¨t
sa] Mac ovca [¨
c
ft
sa]
Pol owca [¨
c
ft
sa] Cz ovce [¨
c
ft
sf]
In the first group (74a) [f] remains a foreign sound – that is, a phoneme at best
only in the foreign sub-system. It appears as a native allophone only in one
limited context – in Slovak in word-initial position:
(75) Slk vta
´
k ‘bird’ [ftaøk]
Similarly, in many areas, /l/ becomes [u
&
] in closed syllables, but this is not an
effect of voice or change of status.
As to the spelling of this feature, most languages follow the morphological
principle and so do not mark assimilation of voice. The exception is B/C/S,
which normally (with a few exceptions) does mark it:
(76) B/C/S u`` zak u`` ska ‘narrow’ [NomSgMasc/Fem]
u
`
c
ˇ
iti ‘teach’ u`` dzˇben
ik ‘textbook’
3.4 Modern consonant systems 169
Some non-alternating common roots may show the voicing, e.g. Proto-Slavic
*kyde ‘where’ is spelt gd- in Russian, Belarusian, Polish and B/C/S; or Proto-
Slavic *s{de(s{)‘here’isspeltzde- in Russian, Czech and Slovenian. And some
prefixes may regularly spell their assimilated form, e.g. Rus raz- > ras-: ras-ska
´
z
‘story’.
The related feature of final devoicing is treated in 3.4.3.4.
2. Progressive assimilation
While the normal Slavic assimilation is regressive, there are occasional cases of
progressive assimilation, especially of voice. Examples are the loss of voice in /v/
in Polish and Macedonian following voiceless obstruents (in Macedonian only
after /s/):
(77) ‘candle’: Pol s
´
wieca [¨f
j
ft
sa] Mac svek
´
a [ ¨sfeca/¨sfek
j
a]
or the loss of voice in /r
ˇ
/ in Czech:
(78) Cz tr
ˇ
i ‘three’ [tr
˚
i]
or of /zˇ / in Polish (when it comes from Proto-Slavic /r’/ (spelt rz), as does
Czech /r
ˇ
/):
(79) Pol trzy ‘three’ /tzˇ y/ [tS
i] (a sequence, not [tS
],
cf. czy [Q particle] [tS
i
])
Upper Sorbian also has the letter r
ˇ
, pronounced /s
ˇ
/ after /p k/, and /s
0
/ after /t/
(thus, tr
ˇ
i ¼ [ts
j
i] ); Lower Sorbian has /s
´
/ in all these contexts, spelt s
´
: ts
´
i.
See 3.4.3.4 on special cases of these phenomena in the context of word
boundaries.
3. Assimilation of place
The common context for this sort of assimilation is in clusters of ‘dental þ
palatal’, e.g. /s/ þ /s
ˇ
/, /t/ þ /c
ˇ
/ etc., when the dental also becomes palatal
( > s
ˇ
s
ˇ
, t’c
ˇ
). Typically, such clusters will involve ‘prefix þ stem’ contexts:
(80) Rus ss
ˇ
it
0
‘sew’ [ SS
it
j
] o
´
tc
ˇestvo
‘patronymic’ [¨
c
ctS
hstv
e
]
In rare cases the shift is induced by non-sibilants:
(81) Sln z njim ‘with him’ [dłim] (commonly also spelt zˇ njim)
Uncommon also is the reverse, where palatals become dentals:
(82) Bel dac
ˇ
ce
´
‘daughter’ [dats
¨ts
f]
170 3. Phonology
In languages with the hard/soft opposition, assimilation of palatalization is
possible, but not common. Russian perhaps typifies the process in its current
gradual loss of such assimilation:
(83) Rus e
´
sli ‘if’: older [¨ jes
j
l
j
h] > newer [¨jfsl
j
h]
The appearance of the velar nasal [l] as an allophone of /n/ before velar stops
is general in West and South Slavic, but not in East Slavic, where it remains
dental. Nowhere is it a phoneme:
(84) Cz, Slk, Pol, Sorb, B/C/S, Sln, Blg, Mac banka ‘bank’ [¨balka]
cf. Rus, Bel, Ukr bank [bank]
4. Assimilation of manner
Other than assimilation of voice, assimilation of manner of articulation is rarer.
The few cases involve nasality, e.g. oral stop > nasal stop ( ¼ assimilation of
nasality):
(85) Bel amma
´
n ‘deceit’ < ab-man (cf. Rus obma
´
n)
or stop > semivowel ( ¼ loss of lingual contact):
(86) Pol kon
´
ski ‘horse’ [Adj] [k
c
j
skh]
Occasionally one finds dissimilation of manner, in ‘stop þ stop’ clusters, but
usually only at the colloquial level:
(87) Rus mja
´
gkij ‘soft’ [¨m
j
Qx
j
k
j
hj] (standard)
kto ‘who’ [xt
c
] (non-standard)
3.4.3.3 Simplification of clusters
We find some languages continuing the Proto-Slavic tradition of simplification of
clusters, whether by dissimilation or elision. Where such changes are old the
orthography usually reflects it, making the only descriptive requirement a mor-
phophonological explanation of the alternation (chapter 4). Colloquial develop-
ments are not reflected in the orthography, are usually lexically limited and do not
represent general rules. Geminate consonants are normally acceptable, but are
sometimes an exception, e.g. in Czech, where they are regularly contracted to a
single one, even across morpheme boundaries:
(88) Cz Anna [¨ana], oddech ‘rest’ [¨
c
dfx]
and sporadically in Macedonian:
(89) Mac rasec
ˇ
e ‘chop up’ < raz-sec
ˇ
e
cf. Rus A
´
nna [¨anna], o
´
tdyx [¨
c
dd
ix], rasse
´
c
ˇ
0
[rˆs
0
s
j
etS
]
3.4 Modern consonant systems 171
3.4.3.4 Word-final features
These include limitations on palatalization and voice not only in the absolute final
context, but also in the effects occurring across a word boundary.
1. Palatalization
In languages with the hard/soft opposition, many soft consonants cannot
occur in word-final (or syllable-final) position. In some languages no soft
consonant may occur in these positions, e.g. Bulgarian:
(90a) Blg den ‘day’
cf. Rus, Ukr den
0
Pol, USorb dzien
´
Soft velars do not occur finally in any language, and final soft labials occur
only in Russian, and even then only in word-final, and not internal syllable-
final, position:
(90b) Rus sem
0
‘seven’ krov
0
‘blood’ step
0
‘steppe’ go
´
lub
0
‘pigeon’
but compare the derived words with hard consonants internally (90c) and the
absence of all soft labials in other languages (90d):
(90c) Rus kro
´
vnyj ‘bloody’ stepno
´
j ‘steppe’ golu
´
bka ‘dear’
(90d) Bel sem krou
˘
ste
`
pgo
´
lub
Ukr sim krov step ho
´
lub
Pol siedem krew step goła˛ b
2. Voice
In only two standard languages is the opposition of voice maintained in
absolute word-final position – that is, where there is a pause after the word,
namely B/C/S and Ukrainian. In all other languages, voiced paired consonants
are devoiced in final position (with /v/ behaving as noted above (3.4.3.2), even
when a language also has /f/). This rule can produce homonyms with at least
one particular form of a word, typically forms with a zero ending – most often
NomSg of masculine nouns or GenPl of feminine/neuter nouns – alternating
with the voiced consonant in other forms:
(91) Rus rog ‘horn’ and rok ‘fate’ [NomSg] [r
c
k]
ro
´
ga [GenSg] [¨r
c
ga], ro
´
ka [GenSg] [¨r
c
ka]
Rus serb ‘Serb’ and serp ‘sickle’ [NomSg] [s
j
frp]
se
´
rba [GenSg] [¨s
j
frba], se
´
rpa [GenSg] [¨s
j
frpa]
Cz Srb ‘Serb’ and srp ‘sickle’ [NomSg] [sr
¨
p]
Srba [GenSg] [¨sr
¨
ba], srpu [GenSg] [¨sr
¨
pu]
172 3. Phonology
cf. B/C/S Sr`` b ‘Serb’ [sr
¨
b] vs srˆp ‘sickle’ [sr
¨
øp]
Ukr serb [sfrb] vs serp [sfrp]
Note the effect of devoicing on /h/: in three of the four languages with this
phoneme, the devoiced version is [x], that is, it merges with the phoneme /x/:
(92a) Ukr rih ‘horn’ [rix] Cz, Slk roh [r
c
x]
Ukr mih ‘he was able’ mix ‘fur’, both [m
j
ix]
In the fourth – Upper Sorbian – /h/ is silent in final position:
(92b) USorb ro
´
h ‘horn’ [r¨uo]
Belarusian’s result is as expected – [˜] > [x]:
(92c) Bel roh ‘horn’ [r
c
x]
The sonorants are unpaired for voice, and normally do not participate in this
rule. But where they follow a voiceless obstruent in this position they may be
(progressively) devoiced, though this is most often resisted. For example, in
Russian /r/ and /l/ may either be devoiced or become syllabic:
(93) Rus mysl
0
‘thought’ [-s
j
l
j
˚
] or [-s
j
l
¨
j
]
tea
´
tr ‘theatre’ [-tr
˚
] or [-tr
¨
]
with the syllabic pronunciation now more common. /m/ and /n/ are now
virtually always syllabic:
(94) Rus ritm ‘rhythm’ [-tm
¨
], zˇizn
0
‘life’ [-zn
¨
j
]
(older: standard [-tm
˚
], non-standard [-s
j
n
j
˚
])
In the native lexicon such clusters have usually been avoided by fill vowels (see
above 3.2.1.1), even in the most consonantal languages, e.g. ‘seven’ (PSl
*sedm{) and ‘eight’ (PSl *osm{):
(95) Pol siedem osiem
While Czech appears not to do this in these lexemes – based on the
orthography:
(96) Cz sedm osm
the standard pronunciation of these is, in fact [¨sfdUm], [¨
c
sUm].
As expected, however, Polish normally has consonantal sounds here,
including devoicing after voiceless obstruents:
(97) Pol mys
´
l ‘thought’ [m
il
˚
] wiatr ‘wind’ [v
j
atr
˚
]
3.4 Modern consonant systems 173
Languages with [u
˘
] have this sound word-finally for /v/ or /l/ as in syllable-
final position (see above for /v/). This may be reflected in orthography (98) or
not (99):
(98) Bel dau
˘
Ukr dav ‘(he) gave’ (cf. both dala
´
‘[she] gave’)
(99) Sln sto
`
l ‘chair’ da
´
l ‘give’ [PastActivePart]
B/C/S, which does not have [u
&
], has converted /l/ in final position to the vowel
/o/:
(100) B/C /S sto
&
‘table’ (< *stoo) da`` o ‘(he) gave’
(cf. [GenSg] sto
`
la,[Fem]da
´
la)
3. Clusters
Final clusters may be simplified or avoided, mainly in B/C/S and Bulgarian/
Macedonian, the most ‘‘vocalic’’ languages. B/C/S may break the cluster with a
vowel:
(101) B/C/S a
`
kc_enat ‘accent’ (but stu
`
dent ‘student’)
while Bulgarian and Macedonian may elide, at least colloquially:
(102) Blg most ‘bridge’ [m
c
s]
Mac radost ‘joy’ [¨rad
c
s]
or, in the case of clusters involving /r/ and /l/, Bulgarian may invert (metathe-
size) the cluster:
(103) Blg pra˘v ‘first’ [Masc] pa˘
´
rva [Fem]
which it does also internally before a third consonant:
(104) Blg kra˘vta
´
‘blood’ [Def] ka˘
´
rvi [Plur]
4. Word boundary; juncture (sandhi)
a. Voice
In word-juncture contexts, the realization of the final consonant matches
that of internal clusters: if voiceless the consonant is voiced by a following
(initial) voiced obstruent. If it is voiced, its voice is retained in this context:
(105) Pol las brzozowy ‘birch forest’ [¨laz bd
c
¨z
c
vi-]
Rus bra
´
tby
´
l ‘(my) brother was’ [¨brad bi-l]
de
´
d stoı
´
t ‘grandfather is standing’ [¨d
j
ftst
v
¨it]
174 3. Phonology
If the final consonant is followed by a sonorant or vowel, the norm is also as
for internal clusters, that is, no voicing occurs, nor is voice retained:
(106a) Rus bra
´
tNı
´
ny ‘Nina’s brother’ [¨brat ¨n
j
in
i]
bra
´
tus
ˇ
e
¨
l ‘(my) brother left’ [¨brat u¨S
c
l]
de
´
dNı
´
ny ‘Nina’s grandfather’ [¨d
j
ft ¨n
j
in
i]
de
´
dus
ˇ
e
¨
l ‘grandfather left’ [¨ d
j
ftu¨S
c
l]
(106b) Pol (North) brat Rys
´
ka ‘Rysiek’s brother’ [¨brat ¨r
ika]
brat ojca ‘father’s brother’ [¨brat ¨
c
jts
a]
sad ojca ‘father’s garden’ [¨sat ¨
c
jts
a]
(106c) Blg zdra
´
vmo
´
st ‘a sturdy bridge’ [¨zdraf m
c
st]
gra
´
dVa
´
rna ‘the city of Varna’ [¨grat ¨varn
e
]
gra
´
dO
´
xrid ‘the city of Ohrid’ [¨grat ¨
c
xrit]
However, there are some exceptions here, first in Slovak – which we noted
above (72) could also undergo voicing by following sonorants internally, at a
morpheme boundary:
(107) Slk vlak mes
ˇ
ka
´
‘the train’s late’ [¨vlag ¨mfSkaø]
vlak ide ‘the train’s coming’ [¨vlag ¨i
jf]
But also in Polish (in its southern variant; see also 10.4.2.1):
(108) Pol (South) brat Rys
´
ka ‘Rysiek’s brother’ [¨brad ¨rçka]
brat ojca ‘(my) father’s brother’ [¨brad ¨
c
jts
a]
b. Clusters
Clusters occurring across a word boundary may occasionally be simplified in
similar ways to internal ones. Languages which do this more than others are
Belarusian and Ukrainian, where the reduction of /w-v/ to [u
¤
] in absolute final
position may be mirrored by initial /w-v/ between a final vowel and a follow-
ing consonant:
(109a) Bel zˇ y
´
li
˘
uho
´
radze ‘(they) lived in town’ < *v horadze
(109b) Ukr zˇ y
´
ly v mı
´
sti [-lh u
¤
m
j
i-]
Further, /w-v/ becomes the vowel /u/ between two consonants across a
boundary (marked orthographically also). These are also now the ‘‘initial’’,
citation forms:
(110a) Bel e
¨
n use
¨
‘he everything [AccSg] (þ verb)’
(< *vse
¨
, [NomSg] use
¨
)
3.4 Modern consonant systems 175
(110b) Ukr ta
´
m udova
´
‘there (is the) widow’
(< *vdova, [NomSg] udova
´
)
Another approach used by Belarusian is adding prothetic /i/ before initial
groups beginning with sonorants following final consonants:
(111) Bel jana
´
lha
´
la ‘she lied’ e
¨
n ilha
´
u
˘
‘he lied’
c. Hiatus and prothesis
The avoidance of two vowels across a boundary is an old Proto-
Slavic principle, which led in Proto-Slavic to the introduction of prothetic
consonants (1.3.1, 3.2.1.4). This principle has continued to be operative in
many areas, with prothetic consonants only one solution. Perhaps the most
interesting example is the use in Czech and Upper Sorbian of a non-
phonemic glottal stop before all initial vowels (almost certainly modelled
on neighboring German). It is most consistent precisely where it avoids
hiatus:
(112) Cz ja
´
aon‘he and I’ [¨jaø ?a ¨?
c
n]
But, as in German, it has been generalized as a boundary marker, even after
final consonants, and even where these consonants belong to a proclitic form,
indeed even a prefix. Furthermore, the glottal acts at least like a sonorant in
failing to prevent devoicing of the preceding consonant:
(113) Cz lov a hon ‘fishing and hunting’ [¨ l
c
f ?a ¨œ
c
n]
But the fact that this in turn is generalized to cause the devoicing of
proclitic-final consonants means that the glottal is functioning as a voiceless
obstruent:
(114) Cz v Americe ‘in America’ [f ¨?amerits
e]
bezoky
´
‘eyeless’ [¨bfs?
c
kiø]
This last example also shows that the glottal has become an initial marker of
(root) morphemes, not only words.
The use of the glottal is, however, not an obligatory standard form, and is
regarded by some as a conservative feature (Kuc
ˇ
era, 1961: 104). Its ‘‘demise’’
may indicate a greater preparedness to accept hiatus, though in the Czech
case, that was already no longer its primary purpose.
176 3. Phonology
In the case of Upper Sorbian, /h/ is an alternative to the glottal, and this /h/
used to be the norm in Lower Sorbian. But here it has gradually been removed
and been either replaced by /w/ or dropped.
An alternative to prothesis used in Belarusian and Ukrainian is the reduction
of an (unstressed) initial vowel to a semivowel. This affects only the high vowels
/i/ and /u/, the latter even though /u/ typically acquired prothetic /w-v/. In those
cases where it did not (notably when unstressed), /u/ is susceptible to the
reduction solution:
(115a) Bel jana
´
idze
´
‘she is coming’ [ja¨ na i
¤
¨dz
j
f]
ne u
˘
me
´
ju ‘I cannot’ [n
j
f u
¤
¨m
j
eju] < umeju
(115b) Ukr vona
´
jde [wo¨na i
¤
¨df]
ne vmı
´
ju [nf u
¤
¨miju]
3.5 Suprasegmentals
The three suprasegmental features of Slavic phonemics are stress, quantity and
tone. Position of stress is able to distinguish different words, as in English:
(116a) Eng ı
´
nsight incı
´
te, e
´
xport expo
´
rt
(116b) Rus za
´
mok ‘castle’ zamo
´
k ‘lock’
Length is able to distinguish words in four Slavic languages (Slovenian, B/C/S,
Czech, Slovak), though virtually only in the vowel system (for consonants, see 3.5.2):
(117a) Sln spı
`
‘sleep!’ 2 Sg spı
´
‘he sleeps’
(117b) B/C/S gra
&
d ‘town’ (long þ falling) gra`` d ‘hail’ (short þ falling)
(117c) Cz dra
´
ha ‘road’ draha
´
‘dear’ [NomSgFem]
(117d) Slk naraz ‘suddenly’ na
´
raz ‘blow’
The term ‘‘pitch accent’’ is used in roughly the same sense of phonemic tone, and
‘‘pitch’’ refers to its phonetic realization. B/C/S and one variant of Slovenian have
this feature:
(118a) B/C/S ‘village’: se
`
lo
[NomSg] (short þ rising)
se
`
la [GenSg] (short þ rising)
se`` la [NomPl] (short þ falling)
(118b) Sln ‘town’ me
´
.
sta [GenSg] (long þ rising)
me
.
k
sta [NomPl] (long þ falling)
3.5 Suprasegmentals 177
The development of suprasegmental features in Proto-Slavic is treated in 3.2.4.
All three features have been eliminated, at some time, by at least one of the Slavic
languages. In the modern languages, furthermore, we find important interrela-
tions between the three features. Stress and pitch are directly related in Slovenian
and B/C/S, and the two always occur on the same vowel. In languages with
phonemic stress, stressed vowels are generally longer than the unstressed ones,
as in English. Pitch and length can function separately, as in B/C/S, where post-
tonic vowels may be long or short. They can be partially interdependent, as in
Slovenian, where only long vowels may carry a tonal opposition. B/C/S quantity
is therefore freer (¼ less conditioned) than that of Slovenian. Similarly, the
existence of the Slovak Rhythmic Law (3.5.2) means that quantity in Slovak is
less free than in C zech.
By combining these factors, we arrive at the following classification of the modern
Slavic languages according to their suprasegmental features (see also 3.2.4):
No distinctive suprasegmental features: Polish, Sorbian, Macedonian
Stress only: East Slavic, Bulgarian
Quantity only: Czech (free), Slovak (limited)
Stress and (limited) quantity: Slovenian (non-tonal variant)
Stress, tone and quantity: B/C/S, Slovenian (limited quantity and pitch)
Sentence intonation is also a prosodic feature of Slavic. But there are few com-
parative studies of Slavic intonation (Nikolaeva 1977; Bahmut, 1977 for East
Slavic), and no generally agreed framework for analysis or description. We conse-
quently omit intonation from our discussion of phonology, though some aspects
will be noted in chapter 7.
3.5.1 Stress
While early Proto-Slavic probably developed fixed penultimate or final stress, later
stress was determined by the location of pitch while this could still appear on any
syllable. Eventually it became associated with particular morphemes and inflex-
ional patterns, and became free, at which point pitch became limited to the stressed
syllable, and so was secondary. The pitch accent has given way to stress in nine of
the eleven languages, and five of them now have fixed stress.
The accent pattern of the modern Slavic languages can be classified as follows.
Stress (free and mobile):
1. Intensity: East Slavic, Bulgarian, Slovenian non-tonal
2. Pitch: B/C/S, Slovenian tonal
178 3. Phonology