Ke vzniku fázových sufixů v češtině aneb Jak se <i>domček</i> změnil v <i>domeček</i>
On the emergence of phase-triggering suffixes in Czech or How <i>domček</i> became <i>domeček</i>

Summary/Abstract: This paper analyzes Czech double diminutives ending in <i>-eček</i> created by the recursive application of the suffix <i>-ek</i> whose initial vowel alternates with zero. Diachronically speaking, these diminutives display both patterns of V-zero alternations found in Slavic languages: in OCz they follow the <i>Havlík</i> pattern, where alternants are in complementary distribution (<i>domøček</i>), while in MoCz they follow the <i>Lower</i> pattern, where strong alternants (i.e. vowels) are always preceded by strong alternants (<i>domeček</i>). The analysis of the Havlík-to-Lower change presented follows Rubach’s (1984) classical analysis where the <i>Lower</i> pattern is derived from the cyclic application of the <i>Lower</i> rule which means that only the <i>Lower</i> pattern has internal phase structure. I argue that in the <i>Lower</i> pattern, all floating vowels in a row (except the final one) vocalize, because each is immediately followed by an empty nucleus which stands at the phase boundary. Furthermore, phasehood is a lexical property, i.e. a property of a particular lexical item, namely the diminutve suffix <i>-ek</i>. From this perspective, the Havlík-to-Lower change consists in a change in the properties of the lexicon: only in MoCz is the suffix <i>-ek</i> lexically specified as a phase-trigger, in OCz it did not trigger any phase.

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