The accent of disyllabic o-stems with a short falling accent in Dubrovnik

Abstract

The article deals with the archaic accentuation of disyllabic o-stems (i.e. grad – grada type nouns) with a short falling accent on the first syllable (jȁblān/gȍlūb type) in the Štokavina dialect of Dubrovnik. Unlike other dialects, where the old accentual difference has been lost, in Dubrovnik the Proto-Slavic opposition of the accentual paradigm a and accentual paradigm c is, with some minor drifts and changes, preserved – like in the genitive plural gȁvrānā (a) but golúbaִ (c). This kind of accentual archaism has not been noted in the literature up till now. In addition, the lengthenings, shortenings and analogical changes that occur in the second syllable of the disyllabic o-stems (in gȍvōr and kȁmēn type words) in the dialect of Dubrovnik are described as well. The analysis is founded mostly upon the Dubrovnik dialectal data gathered by field-work for the purpose of this very article.