Sandbox.

History of Polish

From Common Slavic to Old Polish

This section uses typical Slavist notation. The apostrophe (’) is used to indicate palatalization.

Metathesis of initial liquid diphthongs:^[1]

orT, olT > raT, laT in acute syllables:

òrmę > ramę > ramię ("shoulder")

òlkomъ > lakomъ > łakomy ("greedy")

orT, olT > roT, loT in circumflex syllables:

orbiti > robiti > robić ("to do; to work")

ȍlkъtь > lokъtь > łokieć ("elbow")

Metathesis of remaining liquid diphthongs (still productive ca. 800):^[2]

TorT > TroT

vorbьľь > vrobьľь > wróbel ("sparrow")

gordъ > grodъ > gród ("fortified town")

TolT > TloT

volčiti > vločiti > włóczyć ("to drag, to draw, to trail")

bolna > blona > błona ("membrane")

TerT > TreT (> TŕeT)

terti > treti > tŕet’i > trzeć ("to rub")

bermę > bremę > bŕem’ę > brzemię ("burden")

TelT > TleT (> TĺeT) in most cases, but > TloT after š, ž, č (the same as TolT)

melko > mleko > mĺeko > mleko ("milk")

velťi > vleťi > vĺeťi > wlec ("to drag")

šelmъ > šlomъ > szłom ("helmet", Old Polish)

želbъ > žlobъ > żłób ("crib")

The initial stage of the metathesis was probably TъroT, TъloT etc.
Words with the development TorT > TarT are sporadically encountered in older Polish: karw ("ox"), zgardzić ("to fence off"), the name Warcisław, Karwin and others. An unmetathesized TolT is possibly attested in the place name Kołdrąb. Such outcomes were more frequent in Pomerania and the further west the more common they were. In Polabian only two attested words had the metathesis. It is often hypothesized that in the past stages of the Lechitic languages both outcomes existed side by side, but there was a tendency to generalize one type of them by levelling – Polish generalized the metathesized outcomes, Polabian the unmetathesized, and the dialects of Pomerania were transitional.

Prothesis of certain vowels:^[3]

j (preiotation) before a, e, ě, ę:

arьmo > jarьmo > jarzmo ("yoke")

emela > jemela > jemioła ("mistletoe")

ězditi > jězditi > jeździć ("to ride, to drive")

ęzykъ > językъ > język ("tongue; language")

ędro > jędro > jądro ("core")

v (prelabialization) before ǫ:

ǫzъkъ > vǫzъkъ > wązki ("narrow"; nowadays spelled wąski)

ǫglь > vǫglь > węgiel ("coal")

Exceptions are the two conjunctions: a and its numerous derivatives (ale, albo, ani etc.) and the Old Polish dialectal (Lesser Polish and Masovian) eż/eże ("that", introduces a subordinate clause)

The two ultrashort vowels (yers) ь and ъ develop two variants – weak and strong – according to Havlík's law:

A yer is weak when it is word-final or when it precedes a syllable with any vowel other than another weak yer
A yer is strong when it precedes a syllable with a weak yer

(In the following syllables strong yers are marked with a macron over it: ь̄, ъ̄. Weak yers are marked with a breve: ь̆, ъ̆.)

kъto > kъ̆to ("who")

bergъ > bergъ̆ ("bank, coast")

pьsъ > pь̄sъ̆ ("dog (nominative)") but pьsa > pь̆sa ("dog (genitive)")

sьrdьce > sь̄rdь̆ce ("heart")

zъlodějь > zъ̆lodějь̆ ("evildoer; thief")

mьňьjь > mь̆ňь̄jь̆ ("smaller, lesser")

Changes to vowel length related to accentuation (see Proto-Slavic accent) and the yers:^[4]

Length is preserved in syllables under the neoacute accent, while short vowels in these positions are lengthened (that is: the neoacute invariably makes a vowel long)
Length is preserved in pre-tonic syllables in two-syllable words (that is: in two-syllable words, of which the first vowel is long, and the stress falls on the second, the first vowel preserves its length)
In all other positions vowels are shortened

Palatalization (softening) of labials and dentals before the front vowels i, ь, e, ę, ě – allophonic at first:^[5]

bělъjь > b’ělъjь > biały ("white")

metъla > m’etъla > miotła ("broom")

tьnъkъ > t’ьnъkъ > cienki ("thin")

sę > s’ę > się (reflexive pronoun)

ličiti > l’ičit’i > liczyć ("to count")

Apophony of vowels before hard (non-palatalized) dental consonants: e > o, ě > a, ę > ǫ (Polish: przegłos polski):^[6]

nesǫ > niosę but nesešь > niesiesz ("I carry", "you carry")

bělъjь > biały but bělitъ > bieli ("white", "whitens")

světъ > świat but světě > świecie ("world (nominative)", "world (locative)")

The apophony did not occur when the following consonant was even weakly palatalized, as from a following soft consonant or front yer.

věrьnъjь > wierny ("faithful") without apophony because the r was weakly palatalized by the following ь

This phonemicizes the hard–soft distinction in consonants described above^[5], while i and y collapse into a single phoneme. They are now in complementary distribution – y after hard consonants, i elsewhere.^[7]

Changes of yers affected by neighboring j:^[8]

ь, ъ before j often change to i, y
ь after j sometimes changed to i

………

The disappearance of weak yers and the change of strong yers into short e (estimated date ca. 1000):^[9]

bykъ̆ > byk ("bull")

grъ̆tanь̆ > grtań > krtań ("larynx")

pь̄sъ̆ > p’es > pies ("dog (nom.)") but pь̆sa > p’sa >> psa ("dog (gen.)")

sъ̄nъ̆ > sen ("sleep (nom.)") but *sъ̆nomъ̆ > snom ("dreams (dat.)")

strь̆žь̄nь̆ > stržeń > zdrżeń > (cluster reduction) rdzeń ("core")

Deleted final yers cause compensatory lengthening of the vowel in the preceding (penultimate) syllable if the latter stood before a voiced consonant

stalъ > stāł but stala > stała ("she stood")

gněvъ > gniēw ("anger (nominative)") but gněvě > gniewie ("anger (locative)")

bogъ > bōg ("god (nominative)") but boga > boga ("god (genitive)")

rędъ > rzę̄d ("row (nominative)") but rędy > rzę̄dy ("rows (accusative)")

dǫbъ > dǭb ("oak (nominative)") but dǫbъmь > dǫbem ("oak (instrumental)")

Northern Polish dialectal change ra- > re- (ca. before 12th century)^[10]

ě merges into e^[11]

At some point word stress becomes fixed on the first syllable.^[12]

From Old Polish to Middle Polish

This and following sections will use the IPA rather than the Slavist notation.

Strengthening of palatalization in dentals: /sʲ/, /zʲ/, /tʲ/, /dʲ/ > /ɕ/, /ʑ/, /t͡ɕ/, /d͡ʑ/ (ca. 13th century)^[13]
Fricativization of /rʲ/ without the loss of trilled articulation, resulting in a fricative trill /r̝ʲ/ (ca. 13th century)^[14]

Northern Polish dialectal change ja- > je- (ca. late 13th century)^[15]
Northern Polish dialectal change a > e after soft consonants (some time after the above)^[16]

Dialectal change of mazuration: the postalveolar sibilants /ʃ/, /ʒ/, /t͡ʃ/, [d͡ʒ] merge into the dental sibilants /s/, /z/, /t͡s/, /d͡z/ in many dialects. The dating is disputed, but …^[17]

Merger of /ɛ̃(ː)/ and /ɔ̃(ː)/ as /ã(ː)/. This hides the earlier ę > ǫ change before hard dentals (ca. early 14th century)^[18]

Various contractions of sequences V + /j/ + V give rise to new long vowels. These contractions were not a regular sound change, instead they mostly operated in cases where frequency of use caused a tendency to shorten them (especially inflectional endings). Morphemes hit by contractions include:^[19]

Palatalization of velars: [kɛ], [kɨ], [ɡɛ], [ɡɨ] > [kʲɛ], [kʲi], [ɡʲɛ], [ɡʲi] – allophonic at first (ca. 15th century)^[20]

kyjь > kyj > kij ("stick")

kъlbasa > kełbasa > kiełbasa ("sausage")

bogyni > bogini ("goddess")

ogňь > ogeń > ogień ("fire")

The disappearance of vowel length (ca. 1500):^[21]

/iː/, /uː/ merge with /i/, /u/ without a change in quality
/aː/, /ɛː/, /ɔː/, /ãː/ change in quality before shortening, preventing their merger with other vowels:

/aː/ > /ɒ/

stalъ > stāł' > ståł ("he stood") but stala > stała ("she stood")

/ɛː/ > /e/

gněvъ > gniēw > gniéw [ɡɲef] ("anger (nominative)") but gněvě > gniewie [ɡɲɛvʲɛ] ("anger (locative)")

/ɔː/ > /o/

bogъ > bōg > bóg [boɡ] ("god (nominative)") but boga > boga [bɔɡa] ("god (genitive)")

/ãː/ > /ɒ̃/

dǫbъ > dą̄b > dąb [dɒ̃b] ("oak (nominative)") but dǫbъmь > dąbem > dębem [dãbɛm]~[dɛ̃bɛm] ("oak (instrumental)")

From Middle Polish to Modern Polish

Palatal assimilation

gostь > gost’ > gos’t’ > gość ("guest")

sъpi > sp’i > s’p’i > śpi ("is asleep")

Depalatalization of the postalveolars:

š, ž, č, dž, cʲ, dzʲ lost their palatalization altogether:

či > czy (interrogative particle)

pʲ, bʲ, wʲ, fʲ, mʲ depalatalized at the end of a word and before a consonant:

golǫbь > gołãbʲ > gołąb ("dove")

sʲ, zʲ, tʲ, dʲ, nʲ in some cases depalatalized before a non-palatal consonant:

Simplification of consonant clusters

kń > kś

kъnędzь > kniądz > ksiądz ("priest")

czs > cs > c, dźs > ćs > c, żs > szs > s

czso > co ("what")

lud – ludzki /lut͡skʲi/ < ludźski ("people" – "human (adjective)")

bogaty – bogactwo < bogaćstwo ("rich" – "wealth")

Bóg – boski < bożski ("God" – "divine")

Włochy – włoski < włoszski ("Italy" – "Italian")

Ruś – ruski < ruśski ("Rus', Ruthenia" – "Ruthenian")

śćc > jc, dźc > ćc > jc

miejsce < mieśćce < městьce ("place")

ojca < oćca < otьca ("father")

rajca < radźca ("councilman")

źdźs > śćs > js

miasto – miejski < mieśćski ("city" – "urban")

ujazd – ujejski < ujeźdźski

sześćset /ʂɛjsɛt/ ("six hundred")

srʲ > sʲrʲ > śrz > śr, similarly zrʲ > źr (in dialects of Wielkopolska and Silesia: strz, zdrz, in the dialect of Małopolska: rś, rź)

sreda > środa (dial. strzoda, rsioda) ("Wednesday")

zrěnica > źrenica (dial. zdrzenica, rzienica) ("pupil")

zgn, rgn, rgm > zn, rn, rm

burgmistrz (cf. German Bürgermeister) > burmistrz ("mayor")

rdc, zdn, łdn, cztw, stb, stł, stl > rc, zn, łn, czw, zb, sł, śl

sьrdьce > sierdce > sierce ("heart (archaic)")

cztwarty > czwarty ("fourth")

l-vocalization (Polish: wałczenie)

kolo > koło (initially /kɔɫɔ/, nowadays mostly /kɔwɔ/) ("koło")

Word stress shifts to penultimate.

Notes

References

^ Stieber 1966, p. 57–58.
^ Stieber 1966, p. 58–60.
^ Stieber 1966, p. 27–28.
^ Stieber 1966, p. 12.
^ ^a ^b Stieber 1966, p. 61–62.
^ Stieber 1966, p. 11–13.
^ Stieber 1966, p. 11.
^ Stieber 1966, p. 14.
^ Stieber 1966, p. 14–17.
^ Stieber 1966, p. 18.
^ Stieber 1966, p. 19.
^ Stieber 1966, p. 44–45.
^ Stieber 1966, p. 63–64.
^ Stieber 1966, p. 64.
^ Stieber 1966, p. 21–22.
^ Stieber 1966, p. 22.
^ Stieber 1966, p. 64–66.
^ Stieber 1966, p. 19–21.
^ Stieber 1966, p. 23–24.
^ Stieber 1966, p. 68.
^ Stieber 1966, p. 29–30.

Bibliography

Kuraszkiewicz, Władysław (1972). Gramatyka historyczna języka polskiego (in Polish). Warszawa: Państwowe Zakłady Wydawnictw Szkolnych.
Klemensiewicz, Zenon (1985). Historia języka polskiego (in Polish). Warszawa: Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe.
Rospond, Stanisław (1973). Gramatyka historyczna języka polskiego (in Polish). Warszawa: Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe.
Dejna, Karol (1993). Dialekty polskie (in Polish). Wrocław: Zakład Narodowy im. Ossolińskich. ISBN 83-04-04129-4.
Nitsch, Kazimierz (1958). Pisma dialektologiczne (in Polish). Wrocław–Kraków: Zakład Narodowy im. Ossolińskich.
Urbańczyk, Stanisław (1972). Zarys dialektologii polskiej (in Polish). Warszawa: Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe.
Stieber, Zdzisław (1966). Historyczna i współczesna fonologia języka polskiego (in Polish). Warszawa: Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe.

[FOOTNOTEStieber196657–58-1] Stieber 1966, p. 57–58.

[FOOTNOTEStieber196658–60-2] Stieber 1966, p. 58–60.

[FOOTNOTEStieber196627–28-3] Stieber 1966, p. 27–28.

[FOOTNOTEStieber196612-4] Stieber 1966, p. 12.

[FOOTNOTEStieber196661–62-5] Stieber 1966, p. 61–62.

[FOOTNOTEStieber196611–13-6] Stieber 1966, p. 11–13.

[FOOTNOTEStieber196611-7] Stieber 1966, p. 11.

[FOOTNOTEStieber196614-8] Stieber 1966, p. 14.

[FOOTNOTEStieber196614–17-9] Stieber 1966, p. 14–17.

[FOOTNOTEStieber196618-10] Stieber 1966, p. 18.

[FOOTNOTEStieber196619-11] Stieber 1966, p. 19.

[FOOTNOTEStieber196644–45-12] Stieber 1966, p. 44–45.

[FOOTNOTEStieber196663–64-13] Stieber 1966, p. 63–64.

[FOOTNOTEStieber196664-14] Stieber 1966, p. 64.

[FOOTNOTEStieber196621–22-15] Stieber 1966, p. 21–22.

[FOOTNOTEStieber196622-16] Stieber 1966, p. 22.

[FOOTNOTEStieber196664–66-17] Stieber 1966, p. 64–66.

[FOOTNOTEStieber196619–21-18] Stieber 1966, p. 19–21.

[FOOTNOTEStieber196623–24-19] Stieber 1966, p. 23–24.

[FOOTNOTEStieber196668-20] Stieber 1966, p. 68.

[FOOTNOTEStieber196629–30-21] Stieber 1966, p. 29–30.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]

[15]

[16]

[17]

[18]

[19]

[20]

[21]