Contamination of the vowels і (у) ~ e under Polish influence in the history of the Belarusian language

Abstract

The article analyses a number of different examples of Polish influence on the Old and Modern Belarusian language in the phonetic domain; the results of such influence are actually now represented only lexically. The phonetic phenomena analysed in the article arose in Old and Middle Polish when the sound і (у) appeared instead of a correct e and, vice versa, hypercorrection led to the pronunciation of e instead of і (у) in such inappropriate cases as Latinisms and non-Slavic loanwords. Such phonetic phenomena were transmitted into Old Belarusian as a result of orthoepy of some Polonized circles of the Belarusian population and frequently occurred in the Cyrillic writing of Belarus. The results of the Polish phonetic impact can sometimes be confused with the influence of Ukrainian dialects, thus requiring care in attributing such cases to Polish or Ukrainian influence. Finally, Polish phonetic influences are also found in Belarusian toponymy and even probably in some features of Belarusian dialect speech. This material indicates a great Polish influence in the history of the Belarusian language.