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Yat

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Yat
Ѣ ѣ
Usage
Writing systemCyrillic
TypeAlphabetic
Sound values[æ], [ɛ], [e], [i], [ja]
This article contains phonetic transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. For the distinction between [ ], / / and ⟨ ⟩, see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters.
Cyrillic letter yat, set in several fonts. Note that in italic, the lower-case (ѣ) resembles the iotated yat.
Alternate italic.

Yat or jat (Ѣ ѣ; italics: Ѣ ѣ) is the thirty-second letter of the old Cyrillic alphabet.

There is also another version of yat, the iotated yat (majuscule: ⟨Ꙓ⟩, minuscule: ⟨ꙓ⟩), which is a Cyrillic character combining a decimal I and a yat. There was no numerical value for this letter and it was not in the Glagolitic alphabet. It is encoded in Unicode 5.1 at positions U+A652 and U+A653.

Usage

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Yat represented a Common Slavic long vowel, usually notated as ⟨ě⟩.[citation needed] It is generally believed to have represented the sound /æ/ or /ɛ/, like the pronunciation of ⟨a⟩ in "cat" or ⟨e⟩ in "bet", respectively, which was a reflex of earlier Proto-Slavic */ē/ and */aj/. The sound represented by yat developed late in the history of Common Slavic, which is significant for its role in the Slavic second palatalization of the Slavic velar consonants.[citation needed]

The Glagolitic alphabet contained only one letter for both yat ⟨ѣ⟩ and the Cyrillic iotated a ⟨ꙗ⟩.[1] According to Kiril Mirchev, this meant that ⟨a⟩ after ⟨i⟩ in the Thessaloniki dialect (which served as a basis for Old Church Slavonic) mutated into a wide vowel that resembled or was the same as yat (/æ/).[2]

To this day, the most archaic Bulgarian dialects, i.e., the Rup and Moesian dialects feature a similar phonetic change where /a/ after iota and the formerly palatal consonants ⟨ж⟩ (/ʒ/), ⟨ш⟩ (/ʃ/) and ⟨ч⟩ (/t͡ʃ/) becomes /æ/, e.g. стоях [stoˈjah] -> стойêх [stoˈjæh] ("(I) was standing"), пияница [piˈjanit͡sɐ] -> пийêница [piˈjænit͡sɐ] ("drunkard"), жаби [ˈʒabi] -> жêби [ˈʒæbi] ("frogs"), etc.[2] Dialects that still feature this phonetic change include the Razlog dialect, the Smolyan dialect, the Hvoyna dialect, the Strandzha dialect, individual subdialects in the Thracian dialect, the Shumen dialect, etc.[3][4]

This problem did not exist in the Cyrillic alphabet, which had two separate letters for yat and iotated a, ⟨ѣ⟩ and ⟨ꙗ⟩. Any subsequent mix-ups of yat and iotated a and/or other vowels in Middle Bulgarian manuscripts are owing to the ongoing transformation of the Bulgarian vowel and consonant system in the Late Middle Ages.[5]

The letter used to constitute part of the official Cyrillic alphabet for the Interslavic language in the past, and still sees occasional use among certain users of the language due to its unambiguous function and sound. However, due to the letter being out of use in any living, national language for many decades, it was decided to replace the grapheme for the yat with Є to support the language's goal of immediate readability and understandability for people with no background in Slavic studies. Regardless, the Ѣ symbol remains in unofficial use as part of extended Cyrillic, which officially does not exist but is present de facto and employs certain archaic Cyrillic letters. The pronunciation of the yat sound in Interslavic is similar to that of Czech: [ʲɛ] or [jɛ], and it can optionally palatalize preceding consonants.[citation needed]

An extremely rare "iotated yat" form ⟨ꙓ⟩ also exists, documented only in Svyatoslav's Izbornik from 1073.[citation needed]

Standard reflexes

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In various modern Slavic languages, yat has reflected into various vowels. For example, the Proto-Slavic root *bělъ "white" became[citation needed]:

Other reflexes

[edit]

Other reflexes of yat exist; for example:

  • Proto-Slavic *telěga / телѣга became taljige (таљиге; ѣ > i reflex) in Serbo-Croatian.
  • Proto-Slavic *orěhъ / орѣхъ became orah (орах; ѣ > a reflex) in Serbo-Croatian.

Confusion with other letters

[edit]

Due to these reflexes, yat no longer represented an independent phoneme but an already existing one, represented by another Cyrillic letter. As a result, children had to memorize by rote whether or not to write yat. Therefore, the letter was dropped in a series of orthographic reforms: in Serbian with the reform of Vuk Karadžić, in Ukrainian-Ruthenian with the reform of Panteleimon Kulish, later in Russian and Belarusian with the Bolshevik reform in 1918,[6] and in Bulgarian and Carpathian dialects of Ruthenian language as late as 1945.[citation needed]

The letter is no longer used in the standard modern orthography of any of the Slavic languages written with the Cyrillic script, but survives in Ukrainian (Ruthenian) liturgical and church texts of Church Slavonic in Ruthenian (Ukrainian) edition and in some written in the Russian recension of Church Slavonic. It has, since 1991, found some favor in advertising to deliberately invoke an archaic or "old-timey" style. Likewise, it survives among some users of Interslavic to preserve its historical roots.[citation needed]

Bulgarian

[edit]
Reflexes of Stressed Yat across Eastern South Slavic
Map no. 1: Before hard syllable/hard consonant
Map no. 2: Before soft syllable/soft consonant
Map no. 3: After Tse ⟨Цц⟩ (t͡s)

In Bulgarian the different reflexes of the yat form the so-called Yat border (ятова граница), running approximately from Nikopol on the Danube to Solun (Thessaloniki) on the Aegean Sea. West of that isogloss, old yat is always realized as /ɛ/. East of it, the reflexes of yat prototypically alternate between /ja/ or /ʲa/ (in stressed syllables when not followed by a front vowel) and /ɛ/ (in all other cases). The division of the dialects of the Eastern South Slavic into western and eastern subgroup running along the yat border is the most important dividing isogloss there.[7] The open articulation of yat (as /æ/ or ja) and the reflexes of Proto-Slavic *tj/*ktĭ/*gtĭ and *dj as ⟨щ⟩ (ʃt) and ⟨жд⟩ (ʒd) have traditionally been considered the two most distinctive phonetic features of Old Bulgarian.[8][9] Based on

  • the preserved articulation of yat as /æ/ in the remote eastern Albanian villages of Boboshticë and Drenovë;[10][11][12][13]
  • preserved archaic Slavic toponyms in southern and eastern Albania, Thessaly and Epirus featuring ia, ea or a in yat's etymological place, e.g., Δρυάνιστα [ˈdrianista] or Δρυανίτσα [drianˈit͡sa] (renamed Moschopotamos in 1926) from дрѣнъ, "cornel-tree" (see also Dryanovo); Λιασκοβέτσι [liaskovet͡si] (renamed el:Λεπτοκαρυά Ιωαννίνων in 1927) from лѣска, "hazel" (see also Lyaskovets); Labovë e Kryqit and Labovë e Madhe from хлѣбъ, "bread" (see also Hlyabovo), etc.;[9][14]
  • the consistent etymological use of ⟨ѣ⟩ at the Ohrid Literary School until the mid-1200s;[15]
  • the use of ia, ea or a in yat's etymological place in a number of toponyms in a 1019 Greek-language charter by Byzantine emperor Basil II "the Bulgar Slayer" relating to the newly created Theme of Bulgaria, e.g., Πριζδριάνα [prizdriˈana] for Приздрѣнъ (Prizren); Τριάδιτζα [triˈadit͡sa] for С(т)рѣдьць (Sofia); Πρίλαπον [ˈprilapon] for Прилѣпъ (Prilep); Δεάβολις [deˈabolis] for the medieval fortress of Дѣволъ (Devol, now in eastern Albania); Πρόσακου [ˈprosakon] for the medieval fortress of Просѣкъ (Prosek), etc.;[14][16]
  • the use of ea or a in yat's etymological place in a number of local toponyms in the area of modern-day Strumica in a 1152 Greek-language charter by Byzantine emperor Manuel I Komnenos, relating to the Holy Mother of God monastery in Veljusa, e.g., Λεασκοβίτζα [leaskoˈvit͡sa] for Лѣсковица (Лѣсковьць), Λεαπίτζα [leaˈpit͡sa] for Лѣпица, Δράνοβου [ˈdranovon] for Дрѣново, Μπρεασνίκ [breasˈnik] for Брѣзникъ;[14][17]
  • the 16th-century Greek-Bulgarian lexicon from Bogatsko in southwestern Macedonia written in Greek letters, which featured ia in yat's etymological place, e.g., μλιακο, mliako ("milk"); ζελιαζo, želiazo ("iron"); βιατρο, viadro ("pale"); βριατενo, vriateno ("spindle"); πoβιασμo, poviasmo ("distaff"); βιαζτi, viaždi ("eyebrows"); κoλιανo, koliano ("knee"); νεβιαστα, neviasta ("bride"), ριακα, riaka ("river"), βιατερ, viater ("wind"), etc., indicating that the Kostur dialect was still yakavian at the time;[14][18][19] etc. The entire areas of modern Bulgarian and Macedonian are assumed to have been ѣkavian/yakavian until the Late Middle Ages.[20][21]

In addition to the replacement of ⟨ꙗ⟩ with ⟨ѣ⟩ in a number of Old and Middle Bulgarian Cyrillic manuscripts—reflecting the mutation of iotated a into /æ/, the opposite process of mutation of yat into palatalised consonant + /a/ was also underway. The process affected primarily yat in stressed syllables followed by hard consonant, with multiple examples present in manuscripts from both West and East, e.g. the Grigorovich Prophetologion of the late 1100s (e.g., тꙗло instead of тѣло, "body"), the Tarnovo Gospel of 1273 (e.g, тꙗхъ instead of тѣхъ, "them"), the Strumitsa Apostle of the mid-1200s (e.g., прꙗмѫдро instead of прѣмѫдро, "all-wise"), etc.[22][23]

However, the most certain proof of yakavian pronunciation of ⟨ѣ⟩—and another confirmation that currently Ekavian dialects used to be Yakavian in the Middle Ages—comes from the use of hardened consonant + a in yat's etymological place. While individual examples of hardened ⟨с⟩ (/s/) or ⟨р⟩ (/r/) + ⟨а⟩ can be found even in Old Bulgarian manuscripts, the mutation is most consistent after hardened ⟨ц⟩ (/t͡s/) and ⟨ꙃ⟩ (/d͡z/) in Middle Bulgarian manuscripts. Thus, the Strumitsa Apostle, for example, features hosts of examples, e.g., цало instead of цѣлo ("whole", neutr. sing.), цаловати instead of цѣлoвати ("to kiss"), цаломѫдрьно instead of цѣломѫдрьно ("chastely"), рѫца instead of рѫцѣ ("hands", dual), etc. etc.[24][21]

An opposite process of narrowing of yat into /ɛ/ started in the west in the 1200s, with a first example of consistent replacement of ⟨ѣ⟩ with ⟨є⟩ in Tsar Constantine Tikh's Virgin Charter of the early 1260s.[25] The Charter, which was written in Skopje, predates the first Ekavian Serbian document (dated to 1289) by 15–20 years, which refutes the nationalistic claims of Serbian linguists, e.g. Aleksandar Belić that Ekavism is a uniquely Serbian phenomenon and confirms, e.g., Nicolaas van Wijk's theory that it is a native Western Bulgarian development.[26]

Mirchev and Totomanova have linked the mutation of yat into /ɛ/ to either consonant depalatalization in stressed syllables or to unstressed syllables.[27] Thus, those Bulgarian dialects that retained their palatalized consonants remained Yakavian in stressed syllables, whereas those that lost them moved towards Ekavism; unstressed yat, in turn, became /ɛ/ practically everywhere.[28] This eventually led to the current dialectal division of Eastern South Slavic into Eastern Bulgarian Yakavian and Western Bulgarian and Macedonian Ekavian.

The different reflexes of yat define the so-called yat boundary (ятова граница), which currently runs roughly from Nikopol on the Danube to Thessaloniki on the Aegean Sea. West of that isogloss, yat is always realized as /ɛ/. East of it, there are different types of yakavism. Standard Bulgarian's alternation of yat between /ja/ or /ʲa/ in stressed syllable before a hard syllable/consonant and /ɛ/ in all other cases is only characteristic of the Balkan dialects (cf. Maps no. 1 & 2).

Examples of the alternation in the standard language (and the Balkan dialects) in the form (stressed, followed by hard consonant/syllable)→(stressed, followed by soft consonant/syllable)→(unstressed) follow below[citation needed]:

  • бял [ˈbʲal] ("white", masc. sing.) [adj.] → бели [ˈbɛli] ("white", pl.) [adj.] → белота [bɛloˈta] ("whiteness") [n.]
  • мляко [ˈmlʲako] ("milk") [n.] → млечен [ˈmlɛt͡ʃɛn] ("milky") [adj.] → млекар [mlɛˈkar] ("milkman") [n.]
  • пяна [ˈpʲanɐ] ("foam") [n.] → пеня се [ˈpɛnʲɐ sɛ] ("to foam") [v.] → пенлив [pɛnˈliv] ("foamy") [adj.]
  • смях [ˈsmʲah] ("laughter") [n.] → смея се [ˈsmɛjɐ sɛ] ("to laugh") [v.] → смехотворен [smɛhoˈtvɔrɛn] ("laughable") [adj.]
  • успях [osˈpʲah] ("(I) succeeded") [v.] → успешен [osˈpɛʃɛn] ("successful") [adj.] → успеваемост [ospɛˈvaɛmost] ("success rate") [n.]
  • бряг [ˈbrʲak] ("coast") [n.] → крайбрежен [krɐjˈbrɛʒɛn] ("coastal") [adj.] → брегът [brɛˈgɤt] ("the coast") [n.]

The Moesian dialects in the northeast and the Rup dialects in the southeast feature a variety of other alternations, most commonly /ja/ or /ʲa/ in stressed syllable before hard consonant/syllable, /æ/ in stressed syllable before soft consonant/syllable and /ɛ/ in unstressed syllables (cf. Maps no. 1 & 2). The open articulation as /æ/ before hard consonant/syllable has survived only in isolated dialects, e.g., Banat Bulgarian and in clusters along the yat boundary. The open articulation as ⟨а⟩ after hardened ⟨ц⟩ (/t͡s/) survives as a remnant of former yakavism in a number of western Bulgarian and eastern Macedonian dialects (cf. Map no. 3).