Sounds 51

Table 2.4 above focused on endings in nouns, the richest set of morphemes in which variation in post-tonic vocalism can be observed. In addition, soft-stem adjectives generally have [ì] (gen sg msc=nt gh†;ytuj, dat sg msc=nt gh†;ytve, loc sg msc=nt gh†;ytv ‘former’).34 The final vowel of singular adjectives after [j] is [´] (nom nt sg cnƒhjt ‘old’, nom fem sg cnƒhfz [´8´i ]) but that of the plural normally [ì] (nom pl cnƒhst [ï8ìi ]). Present adverbial participles (lttghbxfcnbz) have [´] (e.g., gj´vyz ‘remembering’), a pronunciation that is consistent with [ƒ] in lexemes with final stress (ytcz´ ‘carrying’). Reflexive present adverbial participles still allow [ì], under the influence of the following soft consonant (ghbjcƒyzcm ‘putting on airs’ is Panov’s example). Individual forms such as psv nom msc sg pƒyzn ‘occupied’, msc sg pst pƒyzk once had only [ì] but now prefer [´].35 The thematic ligature that marks the present tense in verbs of e-Conjugation is [o]⁄ (ytc=im ‘you carry’, etc.) under stress. Unstressed, the ligature in the middle

forms of the present tense is only [ì] (2sg k†ptim [l˛e55z˛ìs], 3sg k†ptn, 1pl k†ptv

⁄ ‹

‘climb’). The third plural is [´] in verbs of the i-Conjugation (gkƒnzn ‘they pay’ [plƒöt˛´t]).

The Old Muscovite [´] in nom=acc sg vj´ht and ins sg vj´htv is unexpected on phonetic grounds -- after a soft consonant in positions of reduction, original non-high vowels have generally become [ì]. The origin of the Old Muscovite pronunciation has been disputed. Most likely, it is analogy, at the level of phonetics. The [ì] that might be expected after soft consonants was suppressed, or never developed, in deference to the [´] that occurs after hard consonants in the same morphemes: nom sg lth†dyz [C¸´] imitates nom sg ,ƒ,f [Co´], ins sg vtld†ltv [C¸´m] imitates ins sg dj´krjv ‘wolf’ [Co´m]. The fact that [´] can participate in analogy shows that unstressed vowels have some psychological independence. The expected development to [ì] did take place in those morphemes whose vowel would not be found unstressed after paired hard consonants (only [ì] in loc sg yf vj´ht, 2sg prs k†ptim, etc.).

2.2.7 Unstressed vowels in sequence

When {a} or {o} follows another vowel, it does not have to share duration with a preceding consonant in its syllable, and it is less reduced, even two or more syllables from the stress: e jujhj´lf ‘near the garden’ [√ g rj´d´], yt jnjckƒk ‘did not send off’ [n˛ì t slƒl]. An {a} or {o} that is the first in a sequence of two vowels far removed from stress will be fully reduced, as yfeuƒl ‘by guesswork’ [n´√gƒd],

yfbuhƒnmcz ‘play much’ [n´ìgrattsˇ´], except when the first vowel is followed by

⁄

34Avanesov 1972:71 implies there is a change from [´] to [ì]; Kuz mina 1966 mentions only [ì].

35Panov (1968:49), who relies on Koˇsuti´c 1919 and Chernyshev 1908.