Variant-Based Analogy

Innovative consonant alternations in Slovak and Ukrainian comparatives

Bibliographic Data

ID17805152
AuthorsRafał Szeptyński (0000-0003-2292-4151, The Institute of the Polish Language of the Polish Academy of Sciences, corresponding author), Marek Majer (0000-0002-0885-5789, University of Lodz)
Year2026
Volume19
Issue1
Pages92-133
Publication date2026-03-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueWORD Structure (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1750-1245 • E-ISSN: 1755-2036
PublisherEdinburgh University Press (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.3366/word.2026.0262
OpenAlexW7140281030
LanguageEN
References cited20

Two discontinuous areas of Slavic – viz. Slovak and Ukrainian dialects – display etymologically unexpected and synchronically isolated alternations in the root-final consonant preceding the comparative marker -š-: Slk dial. vys-ok- ‘tall’ → vyk-š- ‘taller’; Ukr dial. blyz’-k- ‘close’ → blyk-š- ‘closer’. We investigate such alternations in both languages, taking into account previously unconsidered dialectal and historical data, and propose a novel analysis. We explain the phenomenon as due to analogical change, specifically a type we call Variant-Based Analogy (VBA), which consists in the replication of overabundance. In the situation a : α : α′ :: b : β, where α and α′ are isofunctional free variants paradigmatically related to a, an innovative form β′ may arise, copying the formal relationship between α and α′ (irrespective of the structure of a and b). Thus we explain Slk dial. vyk-š-í as an innovative variant of inherited vy-š-í, copying overabundance in cases such as dra-š-í ∼ drak-š-í ‘dearer’ (where both variants are motivated by their corresponding positive drah-ý ‘dear’). The mechanism differs from classical four-part analogy in that there is no structural parallelism between the relations a : α/ α′ and b : β/ β′: rather, β′ emerges as a free variant of an existing form and the preexistence of overabundance in the model is required. Due to the blindness to the “bases” a and b, the explanatory potential of VBA resembles Product-Oriented Innovation (POI) postulated in earlier literature, but it is more principled and constrained

Analogy · Consonant · Consonant cluster · Copying · Phenomenon · Slavic languages · Slovak · Ukrainian · Linguistic Variation and Morphology · Linguistics and language evolution · Phonetics and Phonology Research

Tools

Open DOI