The Form and Function of Prominence in Slavic Languages

FAIN: FA-52398-06

Christina Y. Bethin
SUNY Research Foundation, Stony Brook (Stony Brook, NY 11794-0001)

Prominence is central to distinguishing words in languages, and it is usually described as a convergence of certain properties (stress, tone, high pitch, or vowel length) on a given syllable. In Slavic languages, however, these properties do not always converge on the obvious prominent position in a word and thus Slavic presents a compelling case for studying prominence. This project focuses on the stress-based Slavic languages and specifically on the phonology and morphology of their unstressed syllables in order to determine exactly how prominence functions and how it changed over time.

Associated Products

On Paradigm Uniformity and Contrast in Russian Vowel Reduction (Article)
Title: On Paradigm Uniformity and Contrast in Russian Vowel Reduction
Author: Christina Y. Bethin
Abstract: Reduction of unstressed /o/ and /a/ to [?] or [?] after non-palatalized consonants and to [?] after palatalized ones in Contemporary Standard Russian (CSR) is systematic. But in certain inflectional suffixes [?] occurs instead of the expected [?] after palatalized consonants. In order to explain these apparent exceptions, I argue that vowel reduction after palatalized consonants is constrained by the morphology and that reduction to [?] is blocked in certain cases of the paradigm by the interaction of Relativized Paradigm Uniformity (PU) and Paradigm Contrast (PCON) constraints (Rebrus and Törkenczy 2005; Steriade 2000). The main finding is that there is a critical contrast between the singular and plural within a given case, NUMBER X CASE, and [?] is blocked when it would result in homophony with an /i/ [?] suffix in the relevant situation. When the morphological contrast is implemented by some other means, then regular vowel reduction to [?] takes place. The gen sg /-a/ suffix has special status due to type and token frequency of the [?] variant. An analysis in terms of paradigm uniformity and contrast provides a more coherent account of the direction of language change in CSR vowel reduction than do appeals to stressed vowel faithfulness, spelling pronunciation, grammatical analogy or paradigm uniformity alone.
Year: 2012
Access Model: Subscription
Format: Journal
Periodical Title: Natural Language and Linguistic Theory, (2012) 30:425-463
Publisher: Springer

On Quantity Dissimilation in East Slavic (Article)
Title: On Quantity Dissimilation in East Slavic
Author: Christina Y. Bethin
Abstract: On Quantity Dissimilation in East Slavic ? ?????????????? ???????????? ? ?????????????????? Christina Y. Bethin Stony Brook University ??????? ?????????????­????????????? ???????? ? ?????? ??????????? ????? ? ??????????? ?? ?????????? ???????? ???????? ???????? ??? ?????? ??????????????? ? ????????? ?????????????????? ??????? (???? 1916; ?????? 1924; ???????? 1959; ???????? 1972; ????? 1953; ???? 1970, ????? 1974; ???????? 1980, 1998, 1999, 2001; ????????? 1996 ? ??.). ?????? ???????? ??????????? ??????? (???? 1970, ???????? 1972 ? ??.), ??????? ? ?????? ?? ????????? (???? 1916), ? ????????? ????????? ?????????? ??????? (??????? 1914; ???????? 1927), ?.?., ??? ? ??????? ????????? ????????? ??????? ??????? ??????? ? ??????????? ????? ????? ???????? ???????? ??????? ??? ??? ?????? ???? ????????? ??????????? ??????? ??? ??? ?????????? ??????????? (??????????­??????????) ??????????. ???????????? ?????????? ????????? ???????? ? ??????????? ????? ??? ?????? ?????????? ?????????, ??????????????? ??????????? ????????? «?????????????? ????????????», ? ??????????????? ??????????? ????? ???????? ? ??????????????? ???????/??????? ???????????? ???? ? ???????? ? ?????????????? ??????????? «???????????????? ????????».
Year: 2008
Format: Other
Periodical Title: American Contributions to the 14th International Congress of Slavists, Ohrid 2008. Volume 1. Linguistics.
Publisher: Slavica Publishers

Perceptual Salience in Dialect Contact: The Okan'e/Akan'e Dialects of East Slavic (Article)
Title: Perceptual Salience in Dialect Contact: The Okan'e/Akan'e Dialects of East Slavic
Author: Christina Y. Bethin
Abstract: Abstract. In East Slavic, akan’e (neutralization of /o/ and /a/ after non-palatalized consonants) has spread or is spreading to dialects which maintain the mid and low vowel contrast (okan’e). Under the assumption that vowel neutralization is favored in durationally deprived syllables, it is expected that akan’e would first spread in weak positions, and in some transitional dialects this is exactly what happens: akan’e is found in non-immediately pretonic and posttonic syllables. But in other dialects, the patterns of akan’e spread are unexpected: it first appears in the immediately pretonic position and before stressed high vowels and often before stressed /a/ before it occurs elsewhere. I focus on these unexpected patterns and suggest that they may emerge as a consequence of perceptual salience through contact with neighboring strong akan’e dialects in Pskov and Novgorod oblasts of Russia and in Homel’ and Minsk oblasts of Belarus. Similar patterns are found in other East Slavic dialect contact situations under similar conditions, as is to be expected.
Year: 2010
Access Model: subscription
Format: Journal
Periodical Title: Journal of Slavic Linguistics 18.1:7-54
Publisher: Slavica Publishers

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