kortlandt - polabian reduced vowels

8/3/2019 Kortlandt - Polabian Reduced Vowels

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Frederik Kortlandt Leiden University www.kortlandt.nl

POLABIAN ACCENTUATION

FREDERIK KORTLANDT

From a synchronic point of view, the accentuation of Late Polabian has beenclarified by Trubetzkoy (1929) and Olesch (1973, 1974). The stress fell on the lastfull vowel of a word form, which was found either in the final or in the penulti-

mate syllable. In the latter instance, the final syllable contained a reduced vowel.This rule was challenged by Kuryowicz (1955), who maintained that the stresswas fixed on the initial syllable of the word. The latter theory has the advantageof accounting for the absence of reduced vowels in initial syllables. It also ex-plains the vocalization of weak jers in initial syllables, e.g. *kt /kt/ who,*xmel /xmil/ hop, *psi /pasai/ dogs, *tma /tm/ darkness (transcrip-tion and translation according to Polaski & Sehnert 1967). I therefore thinkthat it is correct for an earlier stage of the language, which may conveniently becalled Middle Polabian. The late rise of non-initial stress can be compared withthe same development in Polish. It follows that the complicated chronology re-cently proposed by Micklesen (1986) cannot be maintained.

The major problem which remains is the origin of the Polabian reducedvowels and their relation to the prosodic system of Proto-Slavic. The solution tothis problem can largely be deduced from Lehr-Spawiskis detailed analysis(1963), in spite of the fact that his views on the accentual system of Proto-Slaviccan no longer be maintained. It appears that, as a rule, the final syllable has re-duced vocalism if the vowel of the preceding syllable is originally long or neo-acute, whereas it has full vocalism if the vowel of the preceding syllable is origi-nally short, acute, or circumflex. Thus, we find a reduced vowel in the final syl-lable of *gnzdo /gozd/ nest, *sukno /saukn/ cloth, *jdro /jdr/ kernel,*myto /moit/ reward, *kridlo /kraidl/ wing, *usno /vausn/ leather, gen.sg.

*vina /vain/ wine, *melka /mlk/ milk, *pta /pt/ road, pl. *grxy/grex/ sins, *klju /klauc/ keys, *usta /vaust/ mouth, *vorta /vort/door, *mka /mk/ meal, *svtja /sve/ candle, *pizda /paizd/ ass, *dyra/dar/ hole, *trba /trb/ hank, *glista /glaist/ earthworm, *borzda/bordz/ furrow, *xorna /xorn/ food, *luna /laun/ moon, *dt/det, det/child, *tk /vtk/ woof, *volja /vil/ will, 3rd sg. *tgne /tgn/ pulls,*zave /zovz/ ties up, *ee /cis/ brushes, *nosi /ns/ carries, *xodi/xd/ goes, def.adj. *blj /bol/, fem. *blaja /bol/ white, *skpj/skop/ Friday, *kortkj /kort/ short, also *devtj /divt/ ninth,*destj /dit/ tenth, further *golvka /glfk/ distaff, *dvka /defk/


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FREDERIK KORTLANDT2

girl, *liska /laisk/ fox, *babka /bopk/ midwife, *dtka /dotk/ child,also *bratja /brot/ brothers. There is a full vowel in the final syllable of*rebro /rebr/ rib, *teplo /tepl/ warm, *stblo /stbl/ stalk, *veslo /vesl/oar, *greblo /grebl/ rake, *stegno /stegn/ loin, *okno /vkn/ window,*jedno /jan/ one, gen.sg. *ppru /paprai/ pepper, *oklep /viklip/ truss,*ottd /vittd/ thence, *otkd /vitkd/ whence, *jesmy/jismoi/ we are,*ervo /crev/ intestines, *jaje /joji/ egg, *lto /lot/ year, *dlo /dol/work, *polje /pli/ field, *ito /zait/ grain, *svto /sjt/ holiday, *jgo/jaid/ yoke, *pivo /paiv/ beer, *dlo /zdl/ sting, *nebo /neb/ heaven,*kolo /tl/ wheel, *sno /on/ hay, *proso /prs/ millet, *tsto /tost/dough, *brdo /bord/ swingle, *ordlo /rdl/ hookplow, *jutro /jautr/

morning, *idlo /saidl/ awl, *sadlo /sodl/ fat, adv. *tixm /taixm/ gent-ly, gen.sg. *nokte /nci/ night, *sole /sli/ salt, *re /rzi/ rye, *vse /vasi/village, *jmen /jcmin/ barley, *sren /sarsin/ hornet, *greben /gribin/comb, *jasen /josin/ ash-tree, *stpen /stpin/ step, *crky /cartai/,*crkv /cart v/ church, *gl /vdl/ coal, *ostrov /vstrv/ Wustrow,*gor /vdr/ eel, *kolkol /kltl/ bell, *popel /ppel/ ash, *veer /vicer/evening, *vixr /vaixr/ whirlwind, *zl /vzl/ knot, *nogt /ndt/nail, *olkt /ltt/ elbow, *otrok /vtrk/ son, *kon /tzn/ fur,*bbn /bbn/ drum, *jablko /jopt/ apple, *radost /rdst/ wedding,*jablon /jobln/ apple-tree, *stepen /stipin/ treadle, *krasn /krosn/ crossworn on a necklace, adv. *ljubo /laib/ kindly, *mokro /mkr/ wet, *isto

/caist/ clean, *rano /rn/ early, *dlgo /dud/ long, *krivo /kraiv/awry, *plno /pun/ full, *suxo /saux/ drily, *nizko /naist/ low, *tko/tst/ heavily, *pozdno /pzn/ late, *zimno /zaimn/ cool, *lgko/lt/ lightly, *mimo /maim/ past, *jama /jomo/ hole, *vorna /vorno/crow, *korva /korvo/ cow, *glina /glaino/ clay, *ta /tco/ cloud, *stpa/stpo/ mortar, *suka /sauko/ whore, *vlna /vuno/ wool, *mra /moro/measure, *aa /coso/ bowl, *uka /stauko/ pike, *lipa /laipo/ linden, *ryba/ribo/ fish, *rpa /repo/ turnip, *muxa /mauxo/ fly, gen.sg. *boga /bgo/god, *syra /sro/ cheese, *dnja /dao/ day, adv. *doma /dmo/ home,loc.sg. *mst /meste/ place, gen.sg. *medu /medai/ honey, *vosku /vstai/

wax, *solmy /slmoi/ straw, dat.sg. *zemji /zimai/ earth, acc.sg. *glin/glain/ clay, *rk /rk/ hand, nom.pl. *pordzi /pordzai/ thresholds, *rodzi/rdzai/ horns, *bodzi /bdzai/ gods, *gory /dri/ mountains, *nogy/ndai/ legs, *vorny /vorni/ crows, *korvy /korvoi/ cows, *golvy /glvoi/heads, *gnidy /gnaidi/ nits, *vidly /vaidli/ fork, *pelvy /plvoi/ chaff,*sestry /sestri/ sisters, *kozy /tzi/ goats, *vrby/varboi/ willows, *berzy/brezi/ birches, *jedly/jadli/ fir-trees, *lipy/laipoi/ lindens, *aby /zoboi/frogs, *ryby /riboi/ fish, *rpy /repoi/ turnips, *jskry /jskri/ sparks,*rby/rboi/ seams, *zby/zboi/ teeth, *kolsy/klsi/ ears of grain, *gady/godi/ snakes, *volsy/vlsi/ hair, *cpy/cepoi/ flail, *kvty/kjoti/ flowers,


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POLABIAN ACCENTUATION 3

*listy/laisti/ leaves, *kapj/kope/ drops, *t/tce/ clouds, *grabl/groble/rake, *sadj /sodze/ soot, *gl /vgle/ coals, *gvozd /dzde/ nails, *gost/dste/ guests, *vi /vsai/ lice, *psni /pesnai/ songs, *dvri /dvarai/ door,*sani /sonai/ sledge, *trsti /trstai/ reed, *dti /detai/ children, *ljudi/laudai/ people, *mati /motai/ mother, *orky /rtai/ box, *kamy /komoi/stone, *golb /dlb/ pigeon, *skorup /straip/ shell, *gruy/grausi/, pl.*gruvy/grausvoi/ pear(s), *eljust /cilaust/ chin, *galz /golz/ branch,dual *oi /vicai/ eyes, *ui /vausai/ ears, *rc /rce/ hands, *nodz /ndze/feet, *ob /vibe/ both, further *devt /divt/ nine, *dest /dist/ ten, inf.*kuat(i) /tausot/ taste, *kakat(i) /kokot/ shit, *krajat(i) /krojot/ cut, aor. 3rdsg. *xode /xdi/ went, *ree /rici/ said, preterit *kradl /krodl/ stole, *jdl

/jedl/ ate, *spal /spol/ slept, *perdal /perdol/ sold. Since acute and cir-cumflex vowels were regularly shortened in Lechitic, I arrive at the followingHYPOTHESIS:vowels in final syllables were reduced if the vowel of the preced-ing syllable was long. The reduction affected both short and long vowels, as isclear from the definite adjective, which has reduced endings. The stage of thelanguage before the vowel reduction can be called Early Polabian.

If a reduced vowel in a final syllable can be taken as evidence for an EarlyPolabian long vowel in the preceding syllable, there is a class of long vowels inopen syllables which appear to have originated from a retraction of the stressfrom short vowels in final syllables: *voda /vd/ water, *smola /sml/ resin,*zemja /zim/ earth, *noga /ng/ foot, *stdza /stadz/ path, *kosa /ts/

scythe, *osa /vs/ wasp, *medja /mid/ balk, *ena /zen/ woman, *tma/tm/ darkness, *blxa /blx/ flea, *bela /cel/ bee, *vera /cer/ yes-terday, *dua /daus/ soul, *golva /glv/ head, *serda /sred/ middle, *zima/zaim/ winter, *rka /rk/ hand, *pta /pt/ heel, *grda /grd/ beam,*rka /rek/ river, *stna /ston/ wall, *borda /brd/ chin, pl. *erva /crev/intestines, *jaja /joj/ eggs, *jzyk /jzk/ tongue, *elvk /clvk/ man,*ivot /zaivt/ life, body, adv. *vysok /voisk/ above, *irok /sark/ widely,*glbok /glbk/ deeply, *dalek /dolk/ far, *verteno /vriten/ spindle,*reeto /riset/ sieve, gen.sg. *ivota /zaivt/ life, pl. *zvenesa /zvenes/ fel-lies, *slovesa /slves/ words, *oesa /vices/ eyes, inf. *tkat(i) /tkt/ wea-

ve, preterit *zrl /zarl/ saw. The trisyllabic word forms show that the stresswas not yet retracted to the initial syllable at this stage. The stress was not re-tracted from long vowels: gen.pl. *bogov /bdv/ gods, inst.sg. *pod zemjej/pd zim/ under the earth, inf. *ubost(i) /aibst/ stab, *perpekt(i) /prepict/roast, *pervezt(i) /privist/ drive over, further *pt dest /ptdit/ fifty,*est dest /sistdit/ sixty. The stage of the language before the retraction ofthe stress can be identified as the westernmost dialect of Proto-Slavic and maybe called pre-Polabian.

It is clear from the material that the retraction of the stress was anterior tothe loss of weak jers in initial syllables. Since the reflex of the newly stressed


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FREDERIK KORTLANDT4

vowels merged with the reflex of the Proto-Slavic neo-acute vowels, it is reason-able to date the retraction to the time of disintegration of the proto-language.Weak jers in initial syllables were lost when they remained pretonic after theretraction of the stress, e.g. *bela /cel/ bee, *srebro /srebr/ silver.

After the retraction of the stress from final syllables there were three classesof Early Polabian nominal paradigms: (a) nouns with a short stem vowel, (b)nouns with a long stem vowel, and (c) nouns with an alternation between ashort stem vowel in originally stem-stressed forms and a long stem vowel innewly stem-stressed forms. As in Czech, where we find similar accent classeswith a quite different distribution, several types of leveling took place. The shortstem vowel of the nom.sg. form was generalized in gen.sg. *vola /vlo/ ox, pl.

*psi /pasai/ dogs, *ssy/ssi/ teats, *no/nze/ knives, *oni /vinai/ they,but not in sg. *ona /vn/ she, pl. *voly/vl/ oxen, *psy/ps/ dogs. Thequantitative alternation was extended to nouns with a regular short stem vowelin the case of *berza /brez/, pl. *berzy/brezi/ birch(es), *dva /dev/ girl,*kolda /kld/ barrel, *slina /slain/ spit, *solma /slm/ beside /slmo/straw, *metla /metl/ broom, *sestra /sestr/, pl. *sestry/sestri/ sister(s),*ovca /vic/, pl. *ovc /vice/ sheep, *jstba /jzb/ playhouse, further*ordlo /rdl/ hookplow, *zrno /orn/ kernel, *jablko /jopt/ apple,*rebro /rebr/ rib, *okno /vkn/ window, pl. *ordla /rdl/, *zrna /orn/,*jablka /jopk/, *rebra /rebr/, *okna /vkn/ beside /vkno/. The long stem

vowel was generalized in the definite adjective and in the present tense of the

verb: *starj /stor/, *staraja /stor/, *staroje /stor/ old, *stariji /stor/ par-ents, *malj /mol/ small, *prostj /prst/ mad, *xromj /xrm/ lame,*bosj /bs/ barefoot, *estj /sest/ sixth, 3rd sg. *slyi /slis/ hears,*plae /ploc/ cries, *poje /pj/ sings, *zove /zv/ calls, *pee /pic/ bakes,*zvoni /zn/ rings, *doji /dj/ milks, *zvni /zvan/ sounds. The analogyaffected even inf. *plakat(i) /plokt/ cry, but not *kuat(i) /tausot/ taste, cf.preterit *plakal /plokol/, *kual /tausol/. On the other hand, the infinitveadopted the vocalism of the preterit in *spat(i) /spot/ beside /spt/ sleep,*spal /spol/ slept. The preterit appears to have generalized the reflex of ac-centual mobility, e.g. *ksil /ksl/ bit, *naidl /nodl/ found, inf. *ksit(i)

/kst/, *nait(i) /noit/.The hypothesis formulated above does not account for the origin of re-duced vowels in medial syllables. After the shortening of acute and circumflex

vowels in Lechitic, long vowels were limited to final and penultimate syllables,while the initial syllable of polysyllabic word forms always had short vocalism.It appears that vowels in medial syllables of trisyllabic word forms were reducedif the vowel of the initial syllable was stressed, e.g. *kameny /komni/ oven,*moden /mzdne/ brains, *jagody /joddi/ berries, *sliven /slaivne/,*sliveny /slaivni/ plums, gen.sg. *skarja /sekro/ mower, adv. *napoly/nopli/ halfway, also *etvero /citvr/ four, *ptero /ptr/ five, *estero


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POLABIAN ACCENTUATION 5

/sistr/ six, *na gord /no grde/ at the castle, in court, *na svt /no svte/in the world, *v xold/v xlde/ in the cool, *perd gordm /prid grdm/before the court, *s toboj /s tb/ with you, *za soboj /zo sb/ behindoneself. The vowel of the medial syllable was restored in *skorupi /straipai/shells, *sren/sarsine/ hornets, *ormeni /rminai/ shoulders. Since stressed

vowels were probably somewhat longer than pretonic vowels, it is possible thatthe quantitative difference was phonemiczed when the stress was fixed on theinitial syllable of the word. If this is correct, the above hypothesis explains vowelreduction in both final and non-final syllables.

There was no vowel reduction in trisyllabic word forms with a stressedshort vowel in the medial syllable, e.g. dual *kolni /tlonai/ knees, acc.sg.

*oxot /vxt/ health, *prolto /prlot/ spring, *elzo /ziloz/ iron,*grmlo /gramol/ thundered. The reflex of this pattern was apparently gen-eralized in the preterit of prefixed verbs, e.g. *uluil /ailaucl/, inf. *uluit(i)/ailauct/ hit upon, *upustil /aipaustl/ dropped, *poloil /plzl/ put,*zabldil /zobldl/ went astray. Most trisyllabic and all longer word formshave a reduced vowel in the final syllable, which points to a generalization ofthe pattern with a long vowel in the penultimate syllable, e.g. *malina /molain/raspberry, *juina /jauzain/ dinner, *matica /motaic/ queen bee, *samica/somaic/ female, *penica /pasinaic/ wheat, *jeerica /vistraic/ lizard,*jalovica /jolvaic/ heifer, *oranoje /vron/ plowed, *udlanoje /aidlon/done, also pl. *jzyky/jzit/ tongues, *zajc /zojc/ hares, *po dlu /p

dol/ after work, *v gost/v dst/ on a visit, cf. *dlo /dol/ work, *gost/dste/ guests.

Thus, I arrive at the following relative chronology of accentual develop-ments:

(1) Retraction of the stress from short vowels in final syllables and lengtheningof newly stressed short vowels in open syllables.

(2)Loss of weak jers.(3)Fixation of the stress on the initial syllable and rephonemicization of vowel

quantity.(4)Reduction of vowels in syllables following a long vowel and loss of distinc-

tive quantity in full vowels.(5)Fixation of the stress on the last full vowel of a word form.

It is of course possible that the reduction of vowels in final syllables precededthe fixation of the stress on the initial syllable and the reduction of vowels inmedial syllables. In any case, it must have been preceded by the loss of vowelquantity in unstressed final syllables, which can be dated after the early retrac-tion of the stress.


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FREDERIK KORTLANDT6

REFERENCES

Kuryowicz, J.1955 Akcentuacja poabska. Studia z filologii polskiej i sowiaskiej 1, 349-374.

Lehr-Spawiski, T.1963 Z rozwaa o powstaniu akcentuacji poabskiej. Studia z filologii polskiej i so-

wiaskiej 4, 73-102.Micklesen, L.R.

1986 Polabian accentology. Wiener Slawistischer Almanach 17, 365-381.Olesch, R.

1973 Der dravnopolabische Wortakzent: Teil I. Slavistische Studien zum VII. In-ternationalen Slavistenkongress. Mnchen: Trofenik. 389-418.

1974 Der dravaenopolabische Wortakzent: Teil II. Abhandlungen der geistes- und

sozialwissenschaftlichen Klasse 1973/13. Mainz: Akademie der Wissenschaftenund der Literatur.

Polaski, K. & Sehnert, J.A.1967 Polabian-English dictionary. The Hague: Mouton.

Trubetzkoy, N.1929 Polabische Studien. Sitzungsberichte der philosophisch-historischen Klasse

211/4. Wien: Akademie der Wissenschaften.

kortlandt - polabian reduced vowels

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