The Proto-Slavic ъ (called the yer or “hard yer”) is a short, very reduced vowel, probably sounding like a faint /ŭ/ or /ɯ/, depending on position.
1. Pronunciation
- Think of it as a very short, almost disappearing vowel after a consonant, like the unstressed “oo” in English book but much weaker.
- In word endings like zɫatъ, it was barely pronounced — often it disappeared in later languages.
- Example reconstruction: zɫatъ ≈ [ˈzɫatŭ]
2. How it changed in modern Slavic
The fate of ъ depended on its position and the “yer rule”:
- Strong position (when followed by a weak yer in the next syllable): it became a full vowel, often o or u.
- Weak position: it disappeared.
- Examples:
- Proto-Slavic sъnъ → Polish sen, Russian сон (son), Slovenian sen (sleep)
- Proto-Slavic vъlkъ → Polish wilk, Russian волк (volk), Slovenian volk (wolf)
3. Modern spellings for old ъ endings
- Polish: usually disappears or turns into y, u, or o depending on word.
- Russian: mostly disappears, unless it became o or e via vowel changes.
- Slovenian: often kept a full vowel like o or e
English | Proto-Slavic | Position | Interslavic | Polish | Russian | Slovenian
--------------|--------------|----------|-------------|-----------|-----------|----------
wolf | *vъɫkъ | weak | vȯlk | wilk | волк | volk
sleep | *sъnъ | weak | son | sen | сон | sen
horn | *rogъ | weak | rog | róg | рог | rog
god | *bogъ | weak | bog | bóg | бог | bog
frost | *mrǫzъ | weak | mroz | mróz | мороз | mraz
year | *rokъ | weak | rok | rok | год | leto (*semantic shift*)
salt | *soɫь | strong | sól | sól | соль | sol
full | *pɫъnъ | strong | plȯny | pełny | полный | poln
hand (palm) | *dɫani | strong | dlani | dłoń | ладонь | dlan
back (body) | *xrbъtъ | weak | hrbȯt | grzbiet | хребет | hrbet
oak | *dubъ | strong | dub | dąb | дуб | dob
bread | *xlebъ | strong | hleb | chleb | хлеб | hleb
time | *časъ | strong | čas | czas | час | čas
field | *polъje | strong | polje | pole | поле | polje
No comments:
Post a Comment