On the relative chronology of Slavic consonantal developments

Abstract

The differentiation between simple palatalization and affrication allows a further specification of the relative chronology in the Slavic dialects. According to this chronology, the oldest isoglosses are between North Russian, West Slavic, and the other languages. The next layer of isoglosses separates Lechitic and Bulgarian from the others. Several peripheral South Slavic dialects have preserved archaisms.

Keywords

• relative chronology
• palatalization
• affrication
• oldest isoglosses