Identyfikacja tematów na *-(j)ū w materiale polskim i słowiańskim
Identification of *-(j)ū-stems in polish and slavic material

Summary/Abstract: The paper discusses the question of the substitution of the stem suffix *-ъv- for the suffix *-ъka, which converts words from the *-(j)ū- to the *-a-declension, as well as the problem of identification of original *-(j)ū-stems. An analysis of Polish and Slavic material leads to the conclusion that a part of nouns that are commonly regarded as *-(j)ū-stems have in fact a different origin: some can be derived from collective nouns in *-va (still productive in East Slavic), e.g. *kuropъtva, *plotva, *ǫtva, and a part have probably been extended with an unmotivated labial element -v- which has the appearance of a relic of a *-ū-stem, but appears most commonly after roots that end in a velar consonant or a spirant-stop sequence. The paper argues against the hypothesis about late (Proto-)Slavic activization of *-ū-stems and proposes instead that a part of this class had been eliminated at a prehistoric stage, depending on the quality of the stem consonant.

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