Neo-Štokavian Accent

Abstract

The entry treats the Neo-Štokavian accent system (NŠA), a word-prosody innovation characterizing the standard languages and many of the dialects underlying Bosnian, Croatian, Montenegrin, and Serbian. Diachronically, NŠA refers to a set of accent retractions that have been progressing through the Štokavian dialect territory since the 15th century and continue developing to the present. The innovation consists in moving the inherited Common Slavic place of stress one syllable to the left, resulting in a rising tone in the newly stressed syllable. The retractions take place in a hierarchy, first in word-final and open, short syllables. Synchronically, there are three basic characteristics of the NŠA: firstly, the differences between the four (Neo-)Štokavian accents, primarily the relationship between two short accents, secondly, the Neo-Štokavian accent shift onto the proclitic, and, thirdly, the preservation or elimination of post-accentual length as a specific feature of the classical accent norm. Special attention is given to the types of NŠA in dialects, as well as their prosodic dominant features. Both dialectological and standard systems are considered. Special attention is given to the Bosnian and Montenegrin insight into the topic, owing to the central position of the Neo-Štokavian innovations in the southern belt of Štokavian. In addition to the traditional division of the Štokavian territory into eastern and western Štokavian dialects, the southern Štokavian dialect (not including the Torlak dialect) is examined, in particular the connection between the southern Štokavian dialect and the NŠA phenomenon as a whole. Note: Share of effort: Hodžić 75%, Greenberg 25%