a question about Russian spelling

[Jules Levin]

At 11:02 AM 12/23/98 +0900, you wrote:
>In the course of editing a manuscript written in 1918, I have
>come across numerous cases of "borjat", "skazhat", etc.
>  I wonder if it used to be a correct spelling or if it is just
>an illiteracy.
>  Thank you.
>
>Tsuji

I suspect these are hypercorrections, since in Old Moscow norm and many
dialect regions (to the present) unstressed endings in -'at (and -at?) were
*pronounced*
['ut].  Of course literate writers spelled them correctly.  But these facts
might induce a less than perfectly literate writer to be insecure about
*writing* -ut instead of the presumed "correct" -at.
Jules Levin
>