On the Mid and High Non-Labial Vowels in Luuditsa Votic
On the Mid and High Non-Labial Vowels in Luuditsa Votic

Summary/Abstract: This article investigates two questions concerning the Votic vowel system: (1) Is the contrast between e and e̮ vowel phonemes preserved in contexts after j; (2) Does contemporary Votic distinguish the vowel e̮ used in Russian borrowings from other Votic vowels? The study is based on materials recorded from the last speakers of Votic. The analysis shows that in contexts after j the vowel e̮ is phonetically similar but not identical to e; therefore, the contrast between the two vowels is not neutralized. The vowel i̮ in Russian borrowings did not merge with any Votic vowels, but it had been adopted differently into Jõgõperä and Luuditsa varieties. The Jõgõperä speaker pronounces the vowel similarly to the Russian i̮, so this high non-front vowel becomes a pair to the high front i̮. The Luuditsa speaker, however, pronounces i̮ almost as i. This fact is unexpected, but it can be explained with the hypothesis of ”double borrowing” under the influence of the contacting Ingrian language. Notably, the Luuditsa Votic speaker may have adopted the Ingrian pronunciation of the Russian borrowings where the Russian vowel i̮ is pronounced similarly to i.

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