Ótrodu ne vidano, sródu ne slykhano, a na rodú napisano. Features of the Development of Mobile Accent Type Nouns in Slavic Idioms

Abstract

The article considers various types of accent curves among underived substantives belonging to the accentual paradigm c in South Slavic medieval manuscripts. Three main non-trivial evolutional types of historically end-stressed forms are observed: 1) the «anti-enclinomenal» type α with substitution of end stress with stem stress in phonetically disyllabic groups and preservation of end stress in other positions (GSg гла́вы — ѹ главы̀ — свободы̀); 2) the “new-enclinomenal” type β with conversion of historically end-stressed disyllabic word forms to enclinomena and preservation of the end-stressed forms of polysyllabic stems (NAPl срь́дца — на́ срьдца — тѣлеса̀) and 3) the type γ/δ with new penultimate stress in polysyllabic stems (слове́си) or even in any position (LSg плъ́ти — въ плъ́ти — слове́си — въ слове́си). Hereby the evolution of type β preserves the set of various accent contours of common-slavic a.p. c, although the accent curve itself may be modified. The evolutions of other types change not only the accent curve but also the set of accent contours represented in a.p. c paradigms.