Vowel Reduction in Russian: A Unified Accountof Standard, Dialectal, and “Dissimilative” Patterns

This paper provides an Optimality-Theoretic analysis of a number of Russian vowel reduction patterns. In particular, the analysis presented here relies on a non-unitary approach (Crosswhite 1999) to two-pattern vowel reduction systems, such as those typically seen in Russian dialects. Furthermore, a particularly complex dialectal pattern, traditionally referred to as "dissimilative" reduction, is analyzed here without use of direct featural dissimilation. Instead, constraints on sonority, lengthening under stress, and foot form conspire to allow the quality of the stressed vowel of some word to indirectly affect the surface quality of the preceding unstressed vowel.