Samogłoskowa baza fonematyczna języka prasłowiańskiego w świetle analizy dystrybucyjnej

Abstract

Proto-Slavonic stock of vowel phonemes in the light of distribution analysis

The article attempts to employ distribution analysis of Proto-Slavonic sounds to falsify current findings on the Proto-Slavonic stock of vowel phonemes. The material for the analysis has been extracted from W. Boryś’s Słownik etymologiczny języka polskiego (‘Etymological dictionary of Polish’). Analyzed was direct bilateral neighbourhood of vowels. To determine the Proto-Slavonic phonological units, a modified methodological proposition of Jerzy Bańczerowski has been used. In light of the analysis, the vowels [i], [y], [ъ], and [ь] – which have until now been treated as separate phonological units – are realizations of two phonemes: /i/ which covers non-back high vowels (→ [i], [y]), and /ъ/ which covers lowered non-back vowels (→ [ъ] and [ь]).