The shift away from the marked: Syllabic consonants in historical Czech
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2025 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | GLOSSA-A JOURNAL OF GENERAL LINGUISTICS |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| web | plný text |
| Doi | http://dx.doi.org/10.16995/glossa.16524 |
| Keywords | syllabic consonants; syllable markedness; historical resyllabification; edge effects; syllable based poetry; Czech; syllable theory; licensing hierarchy |
| Description | This paper analyzes the process of resyllabification in historical Czech. We argue that the diachronic shift from non-syllabic liquids to syllabic consonants reflects a broader cross-linguistic pattern of phonological change, characterized by a move away from marked structures. Resyllabification is examined in verse texts from the 14th to the 16th centuries that adhere to a regular octosyllabic rhythm. Our corpus-based research reveals that this process is influenced by morphological structure, with word-medial liquids becoming syllabic before those in word-final and morpheme-final positions. We explain this two-step change as a shift along the licensing hierarchy, from more marked to less marked licensors. |
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