Re: Russian vowel ы

Satish,

> I'm curious about the vowel ы in Russian. I'm sorry I don't know
> the IPA way of representing this, but it's what is often
> transliterated as 'y', e.g., 'mysh' = mouse.

It's basically the barred-i, though the vowel itself is more velarized...

> How widespread is this vowel in other languages, either those
> that are in geographical proximity to the areas where Russian is
> spoken, or in languages that are related to Russian (Slavic)?
> How common is it in other areas and other language families?

I think the quality of the ы in Russian is fairly unique within Slavic
-- it tends to have more of a diphthongal quality to is, particularly
when preceded by a labial. I don't hear that sort of thing in Polish or
Ukrainian. Haven't heard enough Belarusian to be able to judge. (And
in Czech and Croatian/Serbian, historical <y> merged with <i>
phonetically.)

> Finally, are there any theories of how this vowel evolved in
> Russian?

Not just a theory, but a fact... ;) It is generally the reflex of
*u: (a long u). Basically, it's a process of de-labialization and
backing -- but it's still a high vowel. The word you cite above,
<mysh'> мышь, is a nice example. If you look at the Latin word for
'mouse', <mu:s>, you can see that it's a perfect match. (The <sh> arose
due to other phonological processes.) The same thing with Russian <ty>
ты, compared to Latin <tu:> 'thou'; or Russian <byt'> быть, compared to
Lithuanian <bu:ti>. There are instances of analogical leveling that
have resulted in <y> in places you wouldn't expect it on etymological
grounds (morphological bits, mainly), but generally speaking, in roots,
it will go back to a historical long u.

Miguel, feel free to add/amend!

Cheers,
Keith
.

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