TOUTES ces lettres sont des O

Summary

This video explores the evolution of the long 'o' sound across various Slavic languages, focusing primarily on West Slavic languages like Czech, Slovak, and Polish. It discusses how the long 'o' appeared through vowel contractions and the disappearance of ultra-short vowels (jers) from Proto-Slavic. Different languages handled this long 'o' in distinct ways, leading to different pronunciations and graphemes, such as 'ó', 'ů', and 'ô'. The video also touches on the evolution of long 'o' in East Slavic languages like Ukrainian and Rusyn, demonstrating how linguistic shifts shape vowel systems across the Slavic language family.

Takeaways

• 📝 The grapheme 'ó' exists in all West Slavic languages but has different meanings and uses in each language.
• 🗣️ In Czech and Slovak, 'ó' is a long vowel pronounced twice as long as a normal 'o', mostly found in loanwords.
• 📜 The old long 'o' in Czech and Slovak came from contractions of vowel-j-vowel sequences around the year 1000.
• 🧩 The disappearance of jers (ultra-short vowels from Proto-Slavic) caused compensatory lengthening of vowels, leading to long 'o' in some words.
• 🧮 In Czech, the long 'o' evolved into the diphthong 'uo', which later became the 'ů' grapheme, pronounced as 'u'.
• 📚 Polish shares the same 'ó' grapheme with the same pronunciation as normal 'u'.
• 🧠 In Lower Sorbian, Ukrainian, and Rusyn, the long 'o' evolved differently, becoming 'i' in some contexts, marked by the grapheme 'i'.
• 💬 In Upper and Lower Sorbian, the vowel from long 'o' became associated with stress, only appearing in the first syllable of words.
• 🔤 Kashubian has a special 'ò' grapheme, which represents a labialized version of the normal 'o' in certain contexts.
• 🧩 South Slavic languages and Russian continue to use the 'o' grapheme for these vowels, while Belarusian changes unstressed 'o' to 'a'.

Q & A

What is the role of the grapheme 'ó' in Czech and Slovak?

In Czech and Slovak, the grapheme 'ó' represents a long 'o', which is pronounced twice as long as a normal 'o'. It is used to mark the length of the vowel and appears mainly in loanwords such as 'osteoporóza' or 'próza'.

What historical phonological change led to the appearance of long vowels in Czech and Slovak?

The appearance of long vowels in Czech and Slovak resulted from the contraction of vowel-j-vowel sequences around the year 1000. This contraction typically produced a single long vowel, usually the second vowel in the sequence.

How did the disappearance of jers (ultra-short vowels) affect the length of vowels in West Slavic languages?

The disappearance of jers at the end of words sometimes led to length compensation, causing the vowel in the preceding syllable to become long. This phenomenon explains the appearance of a long 'o' in words like 'domъ' which became 'dóm' in Czech and Slovak.

How does the grapheme 'ů' in Czech relate to the long 'o'?

The grapheme 'ů' in Czech is a modern descendant of the old long 'o', which evolved through the diphthong 'uo'. The small circle above the 'ů' represents the 'o' part of the former diphthong, and it is pronounced the same as the historical long 'ú'.

What evolution did the long 'o' undergo in Polish?

In Polish, the long 'o', originally written as 'ó', evolved to be pronounced exactly like the normal 'u'. This is an example of how phonological evolution can lead to homophones within a language.

What surprising phonological changes happened to the long 'o' in Lower Sorbian, Ukrainian, and Rusyn?

In Lower Sorbian, the long 'o' evolved into [ɛ], while in Ukrainian and Rusyn, it further evolved into [i], with the grapheme 'i' used to represent this sound in these languages.

How does Slovak represent the old long 'o' compared to other Slavic languages?

Slovak represents the old long 'o' with the grapheme 'ô', which reflects the diphthong 'uo'. Unlike Czech, which uses 'ů', Slovak stops at this diphthongal stage.

What role does stress play in the evolution of the long 'o' in Upper and Lower Sorbian?

In Upper and Lower Sorbian, the vowel arising from the long 'o' is linked to stress and is typically found at the beginning of words, often appearing in the first syllable.

How did Kashubian vowels evolve, particularly the 'o' at the beginning of words or after labial or velar consonants?

In Kashubian, the normal 'o' evolved into a diphthong when at the beginning of a word or following a labial or velar consonant. It became a labialized version, pronounced [u̯ɛ], and is represented by the grapheme 'ò' with a grave accent.

What is the significance of vowel alternations involving long 'o' in different Slavic languages?

Vowel alternations involving the long 'o' show that equivalent words in different Slavic languages may have either a long 'o' or a normal 'o'. These alternations are influenced by historical phonological changes and the presence or absence of jers at the end of words.