VOWEL O AFTER PALATAL / PALATALIZED CONSONANTS IN UKRAINIAN DIALECTS

In Ukrainian dialects there’s observed a vowel shift from e > o in dependence on the degree the consonant before *e retained its palatalization. It is shown to be consistent in closed syllables while vowel o in this position reflects dialectal difference, namely articulation peculiarities concerning substitute prolongation of the vowel e. In open syllables the consonant retained its palatalization on word-by-word basis, in which case there’s observed the e > o shift. Vowel o usage after palatal / palatalized consonants peculiar to the Ukrainian dialects attests to the fact that Ukrainian dialects differentiated phonetically from other Old Russian dialects relatively early on.