2. The OCS phonological system
2.1. Segments: overview
| labial | dental | palatal | velar | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| stops | p b | t d | ([c ɟ]) | k g |
| affricates | c ʒ | č | ||
| fricatives | s z | š ž | x | |
| nasals | m | n | nʲ [ɲ] | |
| liquids | l r | lʲ [ʎ] rʲ | ||
| glides | v | j |
The Glagolitic letters Ⱋ Ⰼ, rendered by шт жд in Cyrillic, may have denoted palatal stops [c ɟ] (from CS *tʲ dʲ), later developing into št žd 3.4.7, (cf. Andersen & Olander forthcoming).
| front |
back spread |
rounded |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| tense | i | y | u |
| ě | a | ||
| lax | ĭ | ŭ | |
| e | o | ||
| nasal | ę | ǫ |
2.2. Syllabic liquids
The OCS sequences rĭ, rŭ, lĭ and lŭ need some context to be understood correctly (Lunt 2001: 38–39).
Common Slavic *ĭr ŭr and ĭl ŭl become /r̥ʲ r̥ l̥ʲ l̥/ in OCS. In the Kiev Leaves they are written rĭ rŭ and lĭ lŭ, but in the remaining manuscripts they are mostly written rŭ lŭ, as a result of a depalatalisation of the syllabic liquids.
- CS *sŭmĭ́rtĭ f i-stem ‘death’ > OCS /sŭmr̥tĭ/, written sŭmrĭtĭ
- CS *gŭ̑rdŭ adj. ‘proud’ > OCS /gr̥dŭ/, written grŭdŭ
- CS *pĭ̋lnŭ adj. ‘full’ > OCS /pl̥nŭ/, written plĭnŭ
- CS *sŭ̑lnĭce n o-stem ‘sun’ > OCS /sl̥nĭce/, written slŭnĭce
But the actual sequences /rĭ rŭ/ and /lĭ lŭ/ (from CS *rĭ rŭ and *lĭ lŭ) are also written /rĭ rŭ/ and /lĭ lŭ/.
- CS *krŭ̏vĭ acc.sg of *kry̑ f ū-stem ‘blood’ > OCS /krŭvĭ/, written krŭvĭ
- CS *krĭ̀stŭ m o-stem ‘cross’ > OCS /krĭstŭ/, written krĭstŭ
- CS *slĭzŭ gen.pl of *slĭzà f ā-stem ‘tear’ > OCS /slĭzŭ/, written slĭzŭ
- CS *plŭ̏tĭ f i-stem ‘body; flesh’ > OCS /plŭtĭ/, written plŭtĭ
While the normal representation of both types is identical in the manuscripts, the former type never shows vocalisation of ĭ ŭ in apparently strong position (see 3.4.12), whereas the latter type sometimes does,
- OCS krestŭ alongside krĭstŭ ‘cross’
- OCS krovĭ alongside krŭvĭ ‘blood’
- OCS slezŭ alongside slĭzŭ ‘tears’
- OCS plotĭ alongside plŭtĭ ‘flesh’
East Slavic also shows the original order of reduced vowel and liquid.
- with CS *ĭ/ŭR: Ru. smertʹ ‘death’, górdyj ‘proud’, pólnyj ‘full’, sólnce ‘sun’
- with CS *ĭ/ŭR: Ru. krést ‘cross’, krovʹ ‘blood’, slëz ‘tears’, plótʹ ‘flesh’
2.3. Syllable structure
The possible onsets and nuclei are as follows (from Andersen & Olander forthcoming):
- possible onsets: (s š z ž) + (p t k c č x b d g) + (v m n) + (l r) + (j)
- possible nuclei: vowel or l̥ l̥ʲ r̥ r̥ʲ (written lŭ lĭ rŭ rĭ) (see 2.2)
Only some of the combinations are possible, but all attested combinations conform to the scheme.
There are no syllable codas in OCS, i.e. all syllables are open, except (a) in a few words ending in ‑gda: jegda ‘when(conj)’, ko/ŭgda ‘when(int)’, togda ‘then’, vĭsegda ‘always’; (b) in words with initial al‑: alkati ‘be hungry’ (alongside less frequent lakati) and derivatives, al(ŭ)dii ‘boat’ (alongside more frequent ladii) and a few more (Vaillant 1964: 72).