Phonetic features of Kostroma dialects in the first half of the 17th century and their further fate


2020. № 2 (40), 112-127

Vladimir Yu. Shatin
Lomonosov Moscow State University
(Moscow, Russia)
vl.shatin@gmail.com

Abstract:

The article considers phonetic features of Kostroma dialects of the 17th century and compares
them to the present situation in the Kostroma – Soligalich – Kologriv triangle. As the
primary source for this research, the Kostroma registry book for the years 1619-1634 was
used. Its data were compared with those present in the Dialectological Atlas of the Russian
Language. Northern Russian Kostroma dialects have undergone several modifications: reflexes
of the phoneme /ê/ in anteposition to palatalized consonants have changed; in the
Chukhloma region, there is nowadays an area where genetically southern Russian dialects
representing akanje are present; there is a much stronger tendency towards neutralization of
all unstressed non-high vowels in postposition to palatalized consonants in the sound [e] (regardless
of the quality of the following consonant); progressive assimilative palatalization of
velar consonants has become common, while relic palatal realizations of hushing phonemes
/š/ and /ž/ have become almost extinct, and relic palatal realizations of phoneme /c/ have
completely disappeared.