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From: iad@cogsci.ed.ac.uk (Ivan A Derzhanski)
Subject: Re: Question: Vowelless word
Message-ID: <D60IqF.9Bt@cogsci.ed.ac.uk>
Organization: Centre for Cognitive Science, Edinburgh, UK
References: <3k0rl6$mq7@netnews.upenn.edu> <AARS9PlG74@mlan.msk.ru> <1995Mar16.040125.11430@chemabs.uucp>
Date: Sat, 25 Mar 1995 20:11:00 GMT
Lines: 53

In article <1995Mar16.040125.11430@chemabs.uucp> rturkel@cas.org (Rick Turkel) writes:
>In article <AARS9PlG74@mlan.msk.ru>, Helena V. Lazareva  <helena@mlan.msk.ru> wrote:
>>[...] the symbol "tvyordy znak" from the point
>>of view of a Russian cannot be considered a vowell.
>
>Ah, but _not_ from the point of view of a Bulgarian.  The "back jer"
>in Bulgarian actually _is_ a vowel, a schwa.

The big _er_, you mean.  That's the Bulgarian name of the letter.

>Historically and in form it is cognate with a Russian tv. znak

In form, yes; but while many of its occurrences in Modern Bulgarian go
back to Old Slavic, where it stood for a phonetically similar vowel,
its use in Russian orthography (for a barrier for palatalisation) is a
secondary development.

>(sometimes - the first one in your example below derives from an
>earlier back nasal, which merged with "u" in Russian;

And until 50 years ago it was written as a big _jus_ (an ugly letter
which has been out of use in Russian for centuries), so that the word
glossed as `corner, angle' started with a _jus_, had a big _er_ in the
middle and ended in another big _er_, a mute one.  Naturally, one had
to remember how the vowel was spelt in each word where it occurs,
unless one knew Russian (or another Slavic language).

>the second one, however, is the modern reflex of a Common
>Slavic back jer, which merged with "o" in Russian when it wasn't lost
>altogether --> Russian "ugol'").

Make that R _ugol_, B _wgwl_ `corner, angle'.  R _ugol'_ `coal'
corresponds to B _vwglen_ `ember', _vwglishta_ `coal'; there the
Old Slavic jer fell out, but the nasal became _w_.  (I use _w_ for
the big _er_ in romanised Bulgarian.)

For an even more vowelless-looking Bulgarian word, try _pwdpwdwk_ `quail'.
(Or _pwdpwdwkwt_ `the quail', if it doesn't have to be a citation form.)

>>With best wishes,
>>Helen W.Lazareva, Moscow
>
>I Vam.
>-- 
>Rick Turkel

ChIK,

-- 
`"Na, na ... ah mean, *no wey*, wi aw due respect, ma lady," stammers Joe.'
Ivan A Derzhanski (iad@cogsci.ed.ac.uk)    (J Stuart, _Auld Testament Tales_)
* Centre for Cognitive Science,  2 Buccleuch Place,   Edinburgh EH8 9LW,  UK
* Cowan House E113, Pollock Halls, 18 Holyrood Pk Rd, Edinburgh EH16 5BD, UK
