Monophthongization of diphthongs in Proto-Slavic

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Monophthongization of diphthongs is a

Proto-Slavic sound change in which diphthongs turn into vowels. It is one of the key events in the chronology of the Proto-Slavic language. The monophthongization of diphthongs restructured the Proto-Slavic language with a strong influence on its morphophonology
.

The change

Proto-Balto-Slavic, the ancestor of Proto-Slavic, possessed three vocalic diphthongs: *ai, *au and *ei. In Proto-Slavic, these were monophthongized as follows, with the subscript indicating whether the vowels trigger the first palatalization or the second.

  • *ai > *ě₂, *i₂ - Early Slavic *snaigu > *sněgъ > Serbo-Croatian snijeg
  • *au > *u - Early Slavic *saušu > *suxъ > Serbo-Croatian suh
  • *ei > *i₁ - Early Slavic *kreivu > *krivъ > Serbo-Croatian kriv

The fourth Proto-Indo-European vocalic diphthong, *eu, had already become *jau in Proto-Balto-Slavic. It then developed into *ju in Proto-Slavic, following the same development as for *au. The unrounding of older long *ū to Slavic *y had already taken place by the time of the monophthongization; the new *u filled the gap left by it. The first palatalization had also taken place, as the new vowels denoted as *ě₂ and *i₂ did not trigger it.

While most cases of older *ai developed into *ě₂, some inflectional endings appear to have developed *i₂ instead. It is unclear what factors are involved in triggering one reflex versus the other.

  • The o-stem nominative plural (Old Church Slavonic člověkъ, člověci), reflecting the original Proto-Indo-European pronominal ending *-oy, also seen in Lithuanian -ai.
  • The thematic imperative infix (Old Church Slavonic rešti, rekǫ, reci), reflecting the original Proto-Indo-European infix *-oyh₁-.

Dating

Yuri Vladimirovich Shevelev dates the monophthongization of diphthongs to the 5th – 7th century AD.[1] Zdzisław Stieber dates the monophthongization of diphthongs to the 5th or 6th century AD.[2]

Toponymy data

By the time the

Poetovio as the Slavic Ptuj
.

Subsequent toponyms show the borrowing of the Latin [au] as [ov], which indicates the completion of the process of monophthongization of diphthongs by the time these names were borrowed, for example:[1][2]

  • Latin Lauretum > Serbo-Croatian Lovret
  • Latin Lauriana > Serbo-Croatian Lovran
  • Latin Tauriana > Serbo-Croatian Tovrljane
  • Latin (Lapides) lausiae > Serbo-Croatian Lavsa / Lavca

Bibliography

References

  1. ^ a b Jurij Vladimirovič Ševeljev, A Prehistory of Slavic, Heidelberg: Carl Winter Universitätsverlag, 1964.
  2. ^
    ISBN 83-01-14542-0
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