THE CHANGE FROM [E] TO [O] IN A SERIES OF OTHER SYSTEMIC OCCURRENCES

The article discusses the contradictions in phonetic concepts of the change of [e] to [o] in the Old Russian language — concepts of labialization of the vowel [e] by the influence of the following labialized consonant and the interpretation of the change of [e] to [o] as а phenomenon of intersyllabic vocalic harmony. The article presents possibilities of a phonological explanation of the change of [e] to [o] which follows the logic of the historical development of the phonological system of the Russian language are presented. The change from [e] to [o] is considered in as a series of changes of a systemic nature — the weakening of the vocalic system and the increasing complexity of the consonantal system, the loss of front/back distinction for vowel phonemes, the formation of a category of hard/soft for consonants, the elimination of positional softening for consonants before front vowels. It is asserted that the essence of the change of [e] to [o] consists in the generalization of the basic variant of the phoneme (the variant [o]), and the elimination of positional variant of the phoneme (as a variant of [e]). 

From the given position it follows that the replacement of [e] by [o] occurred inde pendently from the position in the word, that is, before a hard consonant in an open or closed syllable as well as at the end of a word. In the position before a soft consonant, the resulting change of [e] to [o] is not observed because, in that position, the sound [e] took on a high-mid level and сoincided with the sound [ě]. The author supports I. G. Dob rodomov’s conclusion on the change of [e] before soft consonants to [ě] not only on the phonetic level, but also on the phonemic level, that is, on the partial convergence of the phoneme with the phoneme <ě>, as well as the conclusion about the loss of the phoneme in the Old Russian language as a result of the change of [e] to [o].