The reflexes of jat’ in Rusyn

Abstract

This paper discusses the reflexes of the Proto-Slavonic jat’ vowel in the Rusyn language of Bačka and Syrmia. If a few instances of an a-reflex are disregarded, it can be stated that in Rusyn jat’ becomes either i or e, each accounting for an approximately equal number of cases. A comparative-historical analysis shows that the distribution of the reflexes depends on the quantity of Old Slovak e, which results from a merger of Proto-Slavonic *e and *ě. Some exceptions can be explained either as Serbian or Ukrainian borrowings, or by the tendency in Rusyn to generalise the lengthened syllable of the nominative singular.

Keywords

• Rusyn language
• phonology
• jat’