Dispalatalization of Common Slavic *ri̯ in Ukrainian: The case of family names in -uk- in the Hutsul parish registers

Abstract

Dispalatalization of the Common Slavic *r’ refers to a phonological innovation realized on broad Slavic territory in the 10th—13th century. In Ukrainian, it did not encompass the Carpathian region, e.g., the Hutsul dialect and its Kryvorivnia dialect in particular. I argue that the tendency toward intrasyllabic harmony serves as a requirement for a lack of dispa latalization of Common Slavic *r’ in the Kryvorivnia dialect. I reinterpret the concept of intrasyllabic harmony as first outlined by Roman Jakobson and further explored by George Y. Shevelov with respect to the tonality feature of flatness (rounded/unrounded) for Common Slavic and Hutsul: most of the Kryvorivnia consonants are palatalized before unrounded vowels and nonpalatalized before rounded vowels. The earliest manifestations of the confusion between r and r’ can be found in the Kry voriv nia parish register books going back to the 1770s. Historical changes in spelling may have three reasons: 1) the non-Carpathian origin of a registrar; 2) standardization of Ukrainian in accordance with Dnieper Ukrainian norms; 3) a lack of the morphonological value of a change. Keywords: Common Slavic *ri̯, Ukrainian, family names in -uk-, Kryvorivnia (Hutsul) dialect, intrasyllabic harmony, dispalatalization