--- In cybalist@..., george knysh <gknysh@...> wrote:
> ******GK: This is extremely interesting information.
> Let me ask a follow up question. In one of your
> previous messages you had listed a number of "dialect
> bunches" in the Old Rus' complex. 2.2 was that of the
> <Polany=Siverjany=Sloveny> Would it be this bunch that
> is referred to above when you speak of "obvious
> Slovene features", or something distinctly "Slovene"?
> And if the latter what does Zalizniak say about the
> characteristics and affinities of "Slovene"? (just
> roughly and in general so that you don't need to waste
> time looking it up)*****
>
Despite your request I still have scanned the two relevant sources I
got at hand (the book and an article), since it seemes Zalizniak
tries to avoid concise and clear expression of his point of view.
I've also noted his views have evolved for the past five years (eg,
he's become much more cautious on supposed West Slavic connections;
by the way, the milk-word is absent from his complete register of the
birch bark inscriptions' lexis).
The bunches I've listed is, as I've noted, just one of many possible
solutions, and the scheme should be taken into account with caution.
Before answering your specific question I would like to update some
of my previous statements.
The language of Pskov and the western part of the proper Novgorodian
lands was North Krivichian (no special affinities with any other
Slavic idiom). The language of the eastern part of the Novgorodian
territory was Ilmen-Slovenian (close to Standard Old Rus(sian)
(=Kievan koine? [the question mark is Zalizniak's despite his
probably Ukrainian last name :)]) within East Slavic and also
demostrates some affinities with South Slavic - Slovenian and Serbo-
Croatian). The language of Novgorod itself (probably also serving as
koine for the Novgorod-ruled territory) is a result of the later
strong Ilmen-Slovenian influence on the earlier North Krivichian
base; still North Krivichian features prevail.
The question why South Krivichian (Polotsko-Smolenskian dialectal
zone) doesn't demonstrate the most charactrestic North Krivichian
features still has no answer; probably originally Krivichian features
have been superceded by "southern" ones.
Rostov-Suzdalian dialects were probably transitional (between
Krivichian and Ilmen-Slovenian) by nature; no comments on whether it
has made them close to the Novgorodian koine.
I was puzzled by a pair of self-contradicting, IMO, statements that
North Krivichian shares many features with the dialects of the future
Belaruso-Ukrainian territory, while Ilmen-Slovenian is closer to
Standard Old Russian and partly to the future proper Russian (??).
As to your question, I grouped Ilmen-Slovenian (the term "Slovene" I
used is indeed confusing; nothing distinctly Slovene was intended)
with Polianian and Severianian mostly because of the routinely
repeated statement of the closeness (implying genetical affinity?) of
Ilmen-Slovenian to Standard Old Russian, the latter being, I believe,
Polianian by and large.
At last, Zalizniak states he wouldn't like to discuss the linguistic
structure of the East Slavic zone in general and refers those
interested to the following Nikolaev's (another recognized authority
on the matter) article: "S. L. Nikolaev. Rannee dialektnoje c^lenenie
i vnes^nie sviazi vostoc^noslavianskix dialektov. Voprosy
jazykoznanija, 1994, Nr. 3, p. 23-49" (which I don't have at hand).
Sergei