Remarks on the Phonological Evolution of Russian in Comparison with the Other Slavic Languages

Roman Jakobson, Ronald F. Feldstein

• Éditeur: The MIT Press
• Année: 2018
• ISBN de l'eBook:
  9780262348843
• Sujet: Langues et linguistique
• Sujet: Langues

This is the first English translation of a groundbreaking 1929 work in historical phonology by the renowned linguist Roman Jakobson, considered the founder of modern structural linguistics. A revolutionary treatment of Russian and Slavic linguistics, the book introduced a new type of historical linguistics that focused on the systematic reasons behind phonological change. Rather than treating such changes as haphazard, Jakobson here presents a "teleological," purposeful approach to language evolution. He concludes by placing his book in the context of the exciting structural developments of the era, including Einstein's theories, Cezanne's art, and Lev Berg's nomogenesis.

The original Russian version of the book was lost during the 1939 German invasion of Brno, Czechoslovakia, and the only edition available until now has been the French translation by Louis Brun. Thus this first English translation offers many linguists their first opportunity to read a major early work of Jakobson. Ronald Feldstein, a leading Slavicist and phonologist in his own right, has not only translated the text from French to English, he has also worked to reconstruct something as close to the missing original as possible. Feldstein's end-of-chapter annotations provide explanatory context for particularly difficult passages.

Table des matières

• Cover
• Title page
• Copyright page
• Epigraph
• Table of Contents
• Translator's Foreword: The Significance of Roman Jakobson's Remarks on the Phonological Evolution of Russian in Comparison with the Other Slavic Languages
• Notes on Early Common Slavic to Late Common Slavic
• Author's Preface
• 1: Basic Principles
• Annotations to Chapter 1, Basic Principles
• 2: Remarks on Current Issues of Comparative Historical Phonology
• Annotations to Chapter 2, Remarks on Current Issues of Comparative Historical Phonology
• 3: Remarks on the Evolution of the Phonological System of Proto-Slavic
• Annotations to Chapter 3, Remarks on the Evolution of the Phonological System of Proto-Slavic
• 4: The Proto-East-Slavic Change of Initial je- to o- and Similar Developments in the Other Slavic Languages
• Annotations to Chapter 4, The Proto-East-Slavic Change of Initial je- to o- and Similar Developments in the Other Slavic Languages
• 5: Dialectal Facts about Proto-East-Slavic
• Annotations to Chapter 5, Dialectal Facts about Proto-East-Slavic
• 6: Consequences of the Loss of Weak Jers for the Slavic Languages
• Annotations to Chapter 6, Consequences of the Loss of Weak Jers for the Slavic Languages
• 7: The Establishment of the “Soft ~ Hard Consonant” Correlation in Russian and Other Slavic Languages, and Related Facts
• Annotations to Chapter 7, The Establishment of the “Soft ~ Hard Consonant” Correlation in Russian and Other Slavic Languages, and Related Facts
• 8: Features Common to Russian and Absent in Other East Slavic Dialects
• Annotations to Chapter 8, Features Common to Russian and Absent in Other East Slavic Dialects
• 9: Russian Dialect Changes of Unaccented Vowels
• Annotations to Chapter 9, Russian Dialect Changes of Unaccented Vowels
• 10: Some Conclusions
• Annotations to Chapter 10, Some Conclusions
• Appendix A: Author's Transcription
• Appendix B: On Cyrillic Transliteration
• Appendix C: Major Jakan’e Types
• Author's References
• Annotation References
• Index