Kontrakcja samogłosek w języku polskim i słowackim
Vowel contraction in Polish and Slovak

Summary/Abstract: The purpose of the article is to show that vowel contraction in Polish and Slovak is not a regular sound change, but an irregular sound change due to frequency. From the point of view of vowel contraction, endings and words are divided into three groups: (1) endings and words in which vowel contraction always occurs, e.g. in the ending ‑ego < *‑ajego or in the word pas < *pojasъ; (2) words in which vowel contraction sometimes occurs, e.g. memu/mojemu; (3) endings and words in which vowel contraction never occurs, e.g. in the ending ‑uje or in the word nadzieję. The analysis of the Polish piece Zemsta by Fredro and of the Slovak piece Sneh nad limbou by Bukovčan has shown that the mean frequency of endings and words in which vowel contraction always occurs is higher than that of endings and words in which vowel contraction sometimes occurs, and that the mean frequency of endings and words in which vowel contraction never occurs is the lowest. In addition, the author quotes the opinion of a statistician on irregular sound change due to frequency in general.

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