Raspodela deklinacija i uslovi krajnjeg obezvučavanja u srpskohrvatskom jeziku
The Distribution of Declensions and the Conditions for the Devoicing of the Final Consonants in Serbo-Croat

Summary/Abstract: I show in this paper that a final consonant may be voiced in SC only in monosyllabic words, in compounds whose second element is monosyllabic, or in words which have length on the last syllable. If a word does not belong to any of these categories, and ends in a voiced consonant, it must undergo feminine a-declension. This rule accounts for the grammatical gender of a large class of nouns. Some foreign borrowings seem not to comply with this rule. I argue, however, that in these cases doublets characteristically appear in SC dictionaries since these words are often pronounced with a voicelles final consonant. I further argue that the rule of final-devoicing plays a major role in the adoption of foreign borrowings. And this is a fact which agrees well with the notion of competence of the native speakers.

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