Russian Language Journal
Reviewed Work: Slavic Prosody: Language Change and Phonological Theory by Christina Y. Bethin
Keywords
Slavic linguist, linguistic literature, Slavic prosody
Abstract
This is an invaluable book which every Slavic linguist should read and own. Bethin presents a thoroughly-researched and well argued case for the development of Slavic prosodic systems. The resulting book promises to be the fundamental work on Slavic prosody for many years to come.
В is concerned with Slavic syllable structure and the role this structure played in the phonological development of Slavic. In dis- tinction to conventional thery, she asserts that fundamental pho- nological innovation occurred before the Fall of the Jers, i.e., that the loss of weak, unstressed jers did not result in a major restruc- turing of syllables (from open to closed). B's contributions are innovative, well-documented, and thoroughly supported. In addi- tion to her own original ideas, В provides detailed accounts of previous research and hypotheses, making this a real reference on Slavic, as well as being a new anaylsis of Slavic phonology. The linguistic literature on Slavic prosody and syllable structure is vast, and В provides ample references. One of the books strong points is that it synthesizes past research, while bringing the discussion into a framework based on more recent theoretical approaches. Last, В brings forward the implications of the Slavic data for current phonological theory, making this an important theoretical contribution as well.
Recommended Citation
Grenoble, L. A. (2000). Reviewed Work: Slavic Prosody: Language Change and Phonological Theory by Christina Y. Bethin. Russian Language Journal, 54(1). https://doi.org/10.70163/2831-9737.1423
