more on ixnij

[Michael Flier]

Dear Colleague!

Once again, thank you for the reply. By the way, one important correction:
the underlying stems for the lexemes in question are, of course, {jix-n}
and {jix-n'}, respectively.

By the way, in your experience, which of these is favored by your
"well-educated" Belarusans?  Or is the choice a question of region,
generation, etc.?


Sincerely,


Michael Flier


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                                PROF. MICHAEL S. FLIER
                                ======================

Dept. of Slavic Languages and Literatures  OR   Dept. of Linguistics
Harvard University                              Harvard University
Barker Center, 12 Quincy Street                 305 Boylston Hall
Cambridge, MA 02138                             Cambridge, MA 02138
      - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
TEL (617) 495-4065 [Slavic],  495-4054 [Linguistics],  495-7833 [HURI]
                        FAX (617) 864-2167 [home]
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On Thu, 22 Apr 1999, Uladzimir Katkouski wrote:

> On 22 Apr 99 at 11:19, Michael Flier wrote:
>
> > problem at hand. To my knowledge there are _two_ lexemes competing with
> > one another, a "hard-stem" _ixny_ with an underlying stem {ix-n} (your
> > choice as normative) and a "soft-stem" _ixni_ with an underlying stem
> > {ix-n'} (the norm cited in the Soviet references). The difference in
> > spelling is a simple reflection of two different stems. The use of either
> > one makes Belarusian unlike standard Russian in the representation of
> > 'their'.
>
> I get your point. Both are distinct from Russian, but "ixni" is also
> a part of the Ukrainian and (non-standard, street) vocabulary of
> Southern Russia population (Remember, someone sent Gorbachev's speech
> excerpts to demonstrate that). Anyway, I suppose it is not that
> crucial after all, even though those small linguistic differnces are
> like tender touches of a brush in the painting that distinguish a
> mediocre artist from a genius. In a similar fashion the correct
> handling of these linguistic subtleties (sp?) distinguishes a well-
> educated Belarusan from the crowd of "trasianka" or Russian-speaking
> people.
>
>
> Z pavahaj,
> U.K.
>
>
> > Sincerely,
> >
> > Michael Flier
> >
> >
 *******************************************************************************
> >                                 PROF. MICHAEL S. FLIER
> >                                 ======================
> >
> > Dept. of Slavic Languages and Literatures  OR   Dept. of Linguistics
> > Harvard University                              Harvard University
> > Barker Center, 12 Quincy Street                 305 Boylston Hall
> > Cambridge, MA 02138                             Cambridge, MA 02138
> >       - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
> > TEL (617) 495-4065 [Slavic],  495-4054 [Linguistics],  495-7833 [HURI]
> >                         FAX (617) 864-2167 [home]
> >
 *******************************************************************************
>