| Vowel/zero alternations in the modern Slavic languages are commonly assumed to be represented by underlying vowels called jers (M-jers), in reference to their historical predecessors (H-jers). It is concluded that the correct representation makes use of a autosegmental model with material on both the skeletal and the melodic tiers that is not linked prior to vocalization. This configuration accounts for the following properties of M-jers: any vowel can potentially participate in alternations; they prevent the tautosyllabic parsing of the consonants adjacent to them; they themselves do not participate in syllabification before vocalization. Vocalization (YVoc) occurs when a M-jer is followed by an unlicensed consonant, causing the feature melody and skeletal slot to link up. This rule is cyclic in the modern grammars. Unlinked M-jers are summarily deleted post-cyclically by a separate rule (Y-Del). It is argued that the only difference between M-jers and H-jers is the component of the grammar in which YVoc occurs. Historically, new surface constraints in feature melodies caused delinking at the post-cyclic level, so YVoc was necessarily post-cyclic. It operated in conjunction with syllabification rules to license the stray consonants left behind after the H-jers delinked; syllabification proceeds directionally in Slavic from right to left. The coda position, made available only at the close of the Late Common Slavic period, allowed YVoc to apply to alternating H-jers in accordance with the pattern described by Havlik's Law. In the modern languages, the delinked configuration has been lexicalized as a phoneme, so YVoc is cyclic. This causes M-jers to be vocalized as soon as new morphemes are attached, eliminating the alternating pattern. Finally, it is argued that as the delinked configuration became lexicalized, other instances of epenthesis were reanalyzed as M-jers. With increased M-jer productivity comes increased predictability, which leads in turn to ambiguity with epenthesis. |
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