Multiple Causation in the Spread and Reversal of a Sound Change: Rhotacism in South Slavic

Abstract

SLOVENE: Prispevek obravnava spremembo ž > r ("rotacizem") v južnoslovanskih jezikih, kot se najde npr. v sedanjiku glagola *može(tъ) > sln. mó.re, hrv./bos. nar. mo"re, v oziralnih veznikih (*kako ž(e) > sln. kakor), v različnih prislovnih tvorbah, npr. (*bože > bore), v nekaterih sln., hrv./bos. narečjih tudi v sedanjiku glagola (*gъnati :) *žene(tъ) > rene. Izvor te spremembe je različno obravnavan kot fonetična ali oblikoslovna (analogna) sprememba, vendar pa nobena od razlag ne pojasnjuje omejene uresničitve spremembe (tj., sprememba je omejena na majhno število leksemov in slovničnih kategorij) in zelo različnih arealov spremembe v vsakem posameznem primeru, v katerem je do nje prišlo. V pričujočem prispevku se dokazuje, da je izvor spremembe fonetičen in da izhaja iz težnje, ki podpira razločevalne lastnosti pri samoglasnikih (za razliko od severnoslovanskih razvojev), kar je teza, ki se navezuje na predvojno Isačenkovo razpravo. Vseeno pa se da širitev spremembe in njen umik delno razložiti z oblikoslovnimi dejavniki. Eden od dejavnikov je ta, da stalno okolje (npr. sedanjik morem, moreš ...) vspodbuja njeno širitev, v nasprotju s spremenljivimi okolji (-žene/-rene), ki so povzročila njen umik ali zaustavitev. Drugi dejavnik je širitev -r-ja kot produktivnega oziralnega veznika in časovnega znaka po modelu oblik *kъte/o-roz. veče-r. Zdi se, da je pri medmetu borme dodatno vlogo pri ohranjanju oblike z -r igrala tabuiranost. Umik spremembe v štokavščini je imel lahko stilistične vzroke, saj so bile oblike z -r v nasprotju z oblikami z ž(e) občutene kot izrazito zahodne, katoliške. Ta opažanja izhajajo iz dejstva, da oblike z -r izginevajo prav v tistih primerih, v katerih so bile produktivne v čakavščini, kajkavščini in slovenščini, tj. v oziralnih veznikih in časovnih prislovih. In ne nazadnje, najbolje so ohranjene oblike, ki predstavljajo semantične inovacije, npr. morati, jer, in to celo v štokavščini, kjer so oblike z -r leksikalizirane.

ENGLISH:

The paper treats the change ž > r ("rhotacism'') in the South Slavic languages, such as that, e.g., found in the present tense of the verb *mòže(tъ) > Sn mó.re, Cr/Bs dialect mo"re; complementizers, e.g., *kako ž(e) > Sn kakor; in various adverbial formations, e.g., *bože > bore; and, in some Sn and Cr/Bs dialects, the present tense of the verb (*gъnati:) *žene(tъ) > rene. The origin of the change has been treated variously as a phonetic or a morphological (analogical) change, though neither explanation can account for the limited realization of the change (i.e., it is restricted to a small number of lexical items and grammatical categories) and the vastly differing areals of the change for each item in which it occurs. The present paper argues that the origin of the change is phonetic and follows from a tendency to favor vocalic distinctive features (in contrast to N-Sl developments), a notion that goes back to a pre-War paper by Isačenko. Nevertheless, the spread of the change, and its reversal, can be partially explained by morphological factors. One factor is that uniform environments (e.g., the present tense morem, moreš...) favor its spread vs. alternating environments (-žene/-rene) which have reversed or inhibited it. Another factor is support for the spread of -r as a productive complementizer and temporal marker on the models of metanalyzed forms *kъte/o-r'which' and *veče-r 'evening', respectively. Taboo seems to play an additional role in preserving r-forms in the interjection borme 'my God!'. The reversal of the change in Štokavian may have been due to stylistic considerations, where r-forms were felt to be distinctly western, Catholic, in contrast to ž(e) forms. This observations follows from the fact that r-forms disappear in Štokavian in precisely the forms in which they were productive in Čakavian, Kajkavian and Slovene, namely, the complementizers and temporal adverbs. Finally, those forms which represent semantic innovations, such as morati 'must', jer 'for, because' are best preserved, even in Štokavian, where the r-forms are lexicalized as such.