In linguistics, Illič-Svityč's law refers to two
Proto-Slavic
Proto-Slavic (abbreviated PSl., PS.; also called Common Slavic or Common Slavonic) is the unattested, reconstructed proto-language of all Slavic languages. It represents Slavic speech approximately from the 2nd millennium B.C. through the 6th ...
rules, named after
Vladislav Illich-Svitych
Vladislav Markovich Illich-Svitych (russian: Владисла́в Ма́ркович И́ллич-Сви́тыч, also transliterated as Illič-Svityč; September 12, 1934 – August 22, 1966) was a Soviet linguist and accentologist. He was a fo ...
who first identified and explained them.
Neuter ''o''-stems
Proto-Slavic neuter ''o''-stems with fixed accent on a non-acute root (accent paradigm b) become masculine, retaining the accent paradigm. Compare:
*
PIE ''n'' >
OCS ''
dvorъ'' ''m''
* PIE *médʰu ''n'' 'mead' > PSl. *medu ''m'' (OCS ''medъ'')
This rule is important because it operated after the
influx of Proto-Germanic/Gothic thematic neuters, which all became masculines in Proto-Slavic. Late Proto-Germanic (after the operation of
Verner's law
Verner's law describes a historical sound change in the Proto-Germanic language whereby consonants that would usually have been the voiceless fricatives , , , , , following an unstressed syllable, became the voiced fricatives , , , , . The law w ...
) had fixed accent on the first syllable. Compare:
*
PSl. *xlaiwu ''m'' 'pigsty' (OCS ''xlěvъ'' ) <
PGm. ''n''
* PSl. *xūsu/xūzu ''m'' 'house' (OCS ''xyzъ'') < PGm. ''n''
* PSl. *pulku ''m'' 'folk, people' (OCS '' plъkъ'') < PGm. ''n''
Masculine ''o''-stems
Proto-Slavic masculine ''o''-stems with fixed accent on a non-acute root (accent paradigm b) become mobile-accent (accent paradigm c). This change is also termed "Holzer's metatony", after linguist
Georg Holzer who described it.
Older literature suggests that this was not a Common Slavic innovation, and that there are exceptions in some Croatian
Čakavian
Chakavian or Čakavian (, , , sh-Latn, čakavski proper name: or own name: ''čokovski, čakavski, čekavski'') is a South Slavic regiolect or language spoken primarily by Croats along the Adriatic coast, in the historical regions of Dalmat ...
dialects of
Susak and
Istria, which have retained the original accentuation. This has been recently disputed.
[Vermeer 2001]
Notes
References
*
* Willem Vermeer (2001). ''Critical observations on the modus operandi of the Moscow Accentological School'', Werner Lehfeldt, Einführung in die morphologische Konzeption der slavischen Akzentologie, 2d edition, München: Sagner, pp. 131–161.
Proto-Slavic language
Sound laws
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