Morphophonemic alternations .1 Vowelzero alternations in CSR
17 3. Voicing assimilation of consonant clusters - see 1.4.2, no. 2.
4. Fill vowels vowelzero alternations Although vowelzero alternations are often defined in terms of the syntagmatic
environment, it is nonetheless true that they are morphophonemic, not phonological alternations that are initially triggered within certain parts of speech and in terms of
derivation andor inflection. See section 1.5 below for details.
5. Epenthetic o in prepositions and prefixes The phoneme o is added to prepositions and prefixes when followed by consonant
clusters. Compare: ко мне
totoward me во ранции
in France во вторник
on Tuesday ото всего всех
away from everything everyone
во всём in everything
взойти to mount, ascend
разойтись to disperse
сойтись to descent, dismount
обойти to circumvent
ко всем всему totoward everything
everyone изогнуть
to bend An additional o may also appear in Old Church Slavonicisms that appear in CSR cf.
ристос воскрес - оистину воскрес -Christ is risen - In truth He is risen; восходить -to go back, trace back vs. всходить -to ascend.
1.5 Morphophonemic alternations 1.5.1 Vowelzero alternations in CSR
1.5.1.1 Fill vowels vowelzero alternations in nouns: There are three fill vowels in the nouns of CSR - o,
´, i where i is quite infrequent. The following is only one version of how the rules may be stated:
I. Basic rules for vowelzero morphophonemic alternation: Fill vowel e: When consonant at end of stem is soft, j or c CC’ +
Examples: день -day, земель -ground, Earths, семей -families,
друзей friends
Fill vowel i: When consonant at end of stem is j and stress falls on preceding
syllable ‘ - Cj + Examples:
гостий -guest [adj.]from гостья -guest f., воскресений -Sunday
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Fill vowel o: When consonant at end of stem if hard CC +
i.e. everywhere else
Examples: окон -windows, досок -boards, девушек
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-girls II. Additional rules for vowelzero MP alternation:
aFill vowel o not e if first consonant in CC is a velar. bThe first consonant in CC automatically palatalizes before the fill vowel if it is a paired
consonant.
Exceptions to vowelzero rules stated above: 1. If the final consonant of CC is a velar, or the root is monosyllabic, softening of the first
consonant of CC is blocked. 2. Three forms in CSR defy all of the rules given above:
яйцояиц
eggs полныйполон
full [adj.]full [short form adj.] достойный достоин
deserving [adj.]deserving [short form adj.] For more examples of vowelzero alternations in CSR, see Townsend 1975: 60-80.
1.5.1.2 Short form adjectives in CSR only have the fill vowel o except for one exception given above.
1.5.1.3 Verbs in CSR have only the fill vowels o and e in inflection cf. ns verb class: brat’ -take - b’eru -I take; zvat’ -call - zovu -I call.
Other vowelzero alternations in the conjugation and derived imperfective verbs of CSR will be discussed in the section on morphology.
1.5.2 Consonant alternations in CSR Consonant mutationsalternations occur in word-formation, conjugation and synthetic
comparative adjectives.
The most important set of mutations in CSR involves a velarpalatal alternation where: K
Č G Ž g z occurs in one nominal form
X Š In addition to the velars, the remaining consonant mutations are:
d ž, žd the 2nd being borrowed from OCS;
{žd occurs in imperfective verbs in -aj- but never in conjugation as a mutation of d}
t č. šč the 2nd being borrowed from OCS
z ž s š
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Here, the fill vowel is underlying o but written with the grapheme e due to the spelling rule.
19 sk š
č st š
č c
č b bl
v vl p pl
m ml f fl
Consider the following examples of the mutations listed above: Note in the case of comparative adjectives that in some instances the -k- suffix is
dropped. Also note there some forms are exceptional. Verbs:
видетьвижу
to see I see платитьплачу
to pay I pay сказатьскажу
to say I say писатьпишу
to write I write хлестатьхлещу
to whip I whip искатьищу
to seek I seek конецкончить
ending to end могуможешь
I can you can пекупечёшь
I bake you bake махатьмашу
to wave I wave любитьлюблю
to love I love спатьсплю
to sleep I sleep сломитьсломлю
to break down I break down готовитьготовлю
to prepare I prepare графитьграфлю
to draw lines I draw lines побеждатьпобедить
to defeat [imperfective] to defeat [perfective aspect] посещатьпосетить
to visit [imperfective] to visit [perfective aspect] Nouns plural declensional alternations and derivational forms:
другдрузья friends
собакасобачкасобачонкасобачоночкасобачинасобачища dog [with other derivative forms]
бляхабляшка belt buckle, shit [vulg.]buckle
ноганожища leg leg [aug.]
суксучья boughs
молокомолочко ‘milk’
Note that palatalization of the stem-final consonant may be gained or lost with certain suffix types:
креслокреслице ‘armchairarmchair [endearing]’
дверьдверца ‘doordoor [endearing]’
зеркалозеркальце ‘mirrorsmall compact mirror’
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‘churchchurch [endearing] морозморозец
‘freezing weatherfreezing weather’ Comparative adjectives:
тихийтише quiet quieter
близкийближе close, near closer, nearer
молодоймоложе young younger
резкийрезче sharp, harsh sharper, harsher
редкийреже rare rarer
громкийгромче loud louder
высокийвыше tall, high taller, higher
широкийшире wide wider
сладкийслаще sweet sweeter
There are also many examples of palatalization being lost or gained in stem final position in word-formation:
царьцарский tsar [n.] tsar [adj.]
путьпутёвый, путный path, way [n.] path, way [adj.]
степьстепной steppe [n.] steppe [adj.]
лестьлестный flattery flattering
коммунальная квартиракоммуналка communal apartment communal apartment
аша аня анька Sasha Sanya Sanka
аня анька Vanya Vanka
1.6 Pronunciations variants of CSR in Moscow and St. Petersburg The literature on phonological variants between the two historical Russian capitals, St.
Petersburg and Moscow, usually identifies as many as 50 orthoepic and orthophonic differences between the two centers Verbickaja 2001: 58. However, at the beginning of
the twenty-first century, only three are maintained with any regularity, occurring in at least 68 of speakers tested. These differences are: 1 more ekan’e in the St. Petersburg
area, especially in declensional and conjugational desinences and in the first pretonic syllable; 2 more instances of non-palatalized consonants preceding e in foreign
borrowings in St. Petersburg pronunciation; 3 the specific pronunciation of the words дождьдождя -rain as [došt’], [dažd’a] becoming the norm for both St. Petersburg and
Moscow. For a complete listing of the differences with accompanying analysis, see Verbickaja 2000: 58-69.
I would add that there are still lexical differences between St. Petersburg and Moscow, including the usage of the words for ‘bread’
хлеб, булка {in St. Petersburg, хлеб -bread generally refers only to black bread}, ‘sugar’
сахар, песок, and ‘transportation cardspasses’ [
единая] карточка, проездной [билет].
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