ACCENT AS A BALKAN FEATURE
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Published:
Jun 24, 2025
Keywords:
Balkan Sprachbund, phonetics, language contact, dialects
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Abstract
The article examines two phonetic phenomena in the Balkan dialects of Macedonia: the restriction of accent placement to the last three syllables and double accentuation. These phenomena are characteristic of the Macedonian-Albanian-Greek area at the center of the Balkan Sprachbund. The author disagrees with the widely accepted thesis in Balkan literature that the western and central Macedonian dialects share a common accentual system with the Greek, Aromanian, and Albanian dialects in this region. The article presents arguments that challenge previous views on the central Balkan nature of the restriction of accent placement to the last three syllables. The author argues that this phenomenon does not merit special attention, as it represents a universal tendency driven by natural linguistic preferences. Regarding double accentuation, the author identifies a specific type of this phenomenon that may be considered a distinct Balkan trait. This type of accentuation is characteristic of a Balkan micro-region where Slavic and Greek dialects are in contact.
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Sawicka , Irena. 2025. “ACCENT AS A BALKAN FEATURE”. Journal of Contemporary Philology 8 (1), 107-14. https://doi.org/10.37834/JCP2581107s.
Section
Special Issue -Dedicated to the study of the Balkan languages
Copyright © 2014 Blaže Koneski Faculty of Philology, Skopje
Journal of Contemporary Philology (JCP)
Современа филологија
References
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Lehiste, I. (1977). Isochrony reconsidered. Journal of Phonetics, 5: 253–263. Accessed: Nazzi, I., Jakiova, G., Betoncini, J., Fedonie, S., and Alcantara, C. (2006). Early segmentation
of fluent speech by infants acquiring French: Emerging evidence for crosslinguistic
differences. Journal of Memory and Language: 54 (3), 283–299.
Papanastasiou, G., and Papadamou, E. (2013). The position of the northern Greek dialects of
Kastoria among the Modern Greek dialects. In M. Janse, B. Joseph, A. Ralli, and M. Bağriaçik (eds.). Studies in Modern Greek dialects and linguistic theory, 389–401.
Proceedings of the 5th International Conference of Modern Greek Dialects and Linguistic Theory. Ghent 20–22 September 2012. Patras: University of Patras.
Ramus, F., Nespor, M., and Mehle, J. (1999). Correlates of linguistic rhythm in the speech signal. Cognition, 73: 265–292.
Sawicka, I. (2023). Studies in Balkan Phonetics (Język na Pograniczach). Warszawa: Instytut Slawistyki Polskiej Akademii Nauk and Fundacja Slawistyczna 2023, seria: Język
na Pograniczach 48. [Available from handle: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12528/1966]. Accessed: May 5th, 2024.
Schaller, H. (1975). Die Balkansprachen: Eine Einführung in die Balkanologie. Heidelberg: Carl Winter Universitätsverlag.
MANU. [available at http://ical.manu.edu.mk/index.php /publications]. Accessed 29 август 2021.
Златоустова, Л. В. (1983). Универсалии в просодической организации текста (на материале славянских, германских и романских языков). Вестник Московского Университета, серия 9, Филология 4: 69–79. [Zlatoustova, L. V. (1983). Universalii v prosodicheskoj organizacii teksta. Vestnik Moskovskogo Universiteta, serija 9, Filologija 4: 69–79]
Стойков, С. (2002). Българска диалектология. София: Академично издателство Марин Дринов. [Stojkov, S. (2002) Bălgarska dialektologija. Sofija: akademichesko izdatelstvo Marin Drinov]
Топоров, В. Н. (1965). Несколько замечаний о фонологической характеристике центрально-азиатского языкового союза. [Toporov, V. N. (1965). Neskolkol’ko zamechaniy o fonologicheskoy harakteristike central’no-aziatskogo jazykovogo sojuza] In S. Drewiak (ed.). Simbolae linguisticae in honorem Georgii Kuryłowicz. 322–328. Wrocław: Ossolineum Institute.
Фридман, В. (2011). Македонистички студии. Скопје: МАНУ. [Friedman, V. (2011). Makedonistički studii. Skopje: MANU]
Alexander, R. (1995). The Balkanization of Wackernagel’s law. Indiana Slavic Studies,7: 1–8.
Alexander, R. (2004). The scope of double accent in Bulgarian dialects. In R. Alexander and
V. Zhobov (eds.), Revitalizing Bulgarian dialectology, 193–210. Published in association with University of California Press. [Available from handle: http://books.library.upenn.edu/webbin/book/lookupid?key=olbp46045]. Accessed on: October 10th, 2024.
Auer, P. (1993). Is a rhythm-based typology possible? A study of the role of prosody in
phonological typology. KontRI Working Paper, 21. Hamburg: Universität Hamburg.
Bolinger, D. (1965). Pitch accent and sentence rhythm. Forms of English: Accent, morpheme,
order. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Canalis, S. (2007). To what extent is Albanian word stress predictable?. In A. Bisetto and F.
Barbieri (eds.). Proceedings of the XXXIII Incontro di grammatica generativa, 1–14.
Bologna: University of Bologna.
Dauer, M. (1983). Stress-timing and syllable-timing reanalysed. Journal of Phonetics 11: 5162.
Decsy, G. (1973). Die linguistische Structure Europas. Wiesbaden: Harrasovitz.
Dellwo, V. (2010). Influences of speech rate on the acoustic correlates of speech rhythm: An experimental phonetic study based on acoustic and perceptual evidence. PhD Dissertation. Bonn, Universität Bonn.
Grabe, E., and Low, E. L. (2002). Durational variability in speech and the rhythm class hypothesis. In C. Gussenhoven and N. Warner (eds.), Papers in Laboratory Phonology 7:
515–546. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
Halle, M., and Vergnaud, J. R. (1987). An Essay on Stress. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.
Hayes, B. (1981). A metrical theory of stress. Bloomington: Indiana University Linguistic Club.
Hayes, B. (1995). Metrical stress theory: principles and case studies. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Jassem, V., Hill, D. R., and Witten, I. (1984). Isochrony in English Speech: its Statistical Validity and Linguistic Relevance. In D. Gibbon and H. Richter (eds.). Intonation, accent, and rhythm: studies in discourse phonology, 203–225. Berlin: De Gruyter.
Kolev, V. (2004). Dialectal accent shifts and double accent in the Bulgarian linguistic region. In R. Alexander and V. Zhobov (eds.). Revitalizing Bulgarian dialectology, 215–226.
Berkeley: University of California Press. [Availablefromhandle: http://books.library.upenn.edu/webbin/book/lookupid?key=olbp46045]. October 10th, 2024.
Lehiste, I. (1977). Isochrony reconsidered. Journal of Phonetics, 5: 253–263. Accessed: Nazzi, I., Jakiova, G., Betoncini, J., Fedonie, S., and Alcantara, C. (2006). Early segmentation
of fluent speech by infants acquiring French: Emerging evidence for crosslinguistic
differences. Journal of Memory and Language: 54 (3), 283–299.
Papanastasiou, G., and Papadamou, E. (2013). The position of the northern Greek dialects of
Kastoria among the Modern Greek dialects. In M. Janse, B. Joseph, A. Ralli, and M. Bağriaçik (eds.). Studies in Modern Greek dialects and linguistic theory, 389–401.
Proceedings of the 5th International Conference of Modern Greek Dialects and Linguistic Theory. Ghent 20–22 September 2012. Patras: University of Patras.
Ramus, F., Nespor, M., and Mehle, J. (1999). Correlates of linguistic rhythm in the speech signal. Cognition, 73: 265–292.
Sawicka, I. (2023). Studies in Balkan Phonetics (Język na Pograniczach). Warszawa: Instytut Slawistyki Polskiej Akademii Nauk and Fundacja Slawistyczna 2023, seria: Język
na Pograniczach 48. [Available from handle: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12528/1966]. Accessed: May 5th, 2024.
Schaller, H. (1975). Die Balkansprachen: Eine Einführung in die Balkanologie. Heidelberg: Carl Winter Universitätsverlag.