Reviewed by Olga Thomason, University of Georgia

This volume, Halla-aho’s published dissertation, discusses the probability of an Auslautgesetz in Proto-Slavic (a law of final syllables that narrowed the Proto-Indo-European vowel */o/ to */u/ in closed word-final syllables). The investigation includes an introduction (9–23) and three chapters: Ch. 1 (24–110) gives an exhaustive synchronic overview of the nominal morphology in Old Church Slavic (OCS); Ch. 2 (111–92), the central part of the study, defends the Auslautgesetz hypothesis; and Ch. 3 (193–215) focuses on the dative singular endings in OCS. Each chapter concludes with references, which leads to unnecessary repetitions of several cited publications. The appendix (216–89) lists words that offer additional evidence for the material discussed in Ch. 1.

The exhaustive classification of the OCS nominal morphology given in Ch. 1 provides solid grounds for the central discussion of the study and proves to be useful for both experts and nonspecialists in the field of OCS. H also briefly discusses grammatical categories (i.e. gender, case, and number) that are essential for understanding the nature of OCS nominal morphology. A description of each declensional class is enriched with numerous links to corresponding derivational types in other IE languages, thus presenting a holistic picture of morphological and phonological processes that occur in the OCS nominal system (and broader in the IE nominal system). Each derivational and inflectional suffix is analyzed in great detail. OCS examples are often cited together with their cognates and some diachronic characteristics. The discussion would benefit greatly from the inclusion of entries from the multi-volume dictionary under the supervision of O. N. Trubachev (Etimologicheskij slovar’ slavjanskix jazykov, 1974–2001); it sheds more light on problematic etymologies of grěxъ (64), mlěko (72), lěto (74), and many other words discussed in this study. It also challenges the treatment of words like lice (72) as borrowings.

There are some unfortunate minor inconsistencies in the representation of morphological processes. It is not clear why the author chooses bьrati and not sъbьrati as a derivational basis for sъborъ (69; see also pp. 62 and 63 for additional examples). Several words are treated as deverbatives when they are truly denominatives (e.g. lъžesъvĕdĕtelь appears as a result of the compounding of lъžь and sъvĕdĕtelь and is not derived from sъvĕdĕti (30; see also pp. 49 and 77 for similar errors).

In Ch. 2 H defends the ‘strong’ variant of the Auslautgesetze theory that states */-os/, */-oN/ > */-u/ in Proto-Slavic. The author clearly outlines all of the language material relevant to this theory, provides a well-constructed summary and analysis of many linguists’ positions on the subject, and unambiguously states his perception of every argument of the theory. By means of deep concentration on the exceptions to the Auslautgesetze theory and suggestions of the anti-Auslautgesetze theory, H explores the nature and developments of the IE grammatical gender and proposes the Auslautgesetze as a necessary factor that insured the preserved distinction between masculine and neuter in Slavic.

Ch. 3 proposes a new solution for the */o/-stem dative singular ending -u by suggesting that this ending was adopted from the */u/-stem declension. H investigates and compares structural rearrangements that could have taken place in the */i/- and */u/-declensions. Special attention is given to the relationship between phonetic developments and morphological distinctions during the conversion of a synthetic language into an analytic one.  H also takes into consideration semantic factors (animate/inanimate).

This volume presents a scrupulous investigation of Proto-Slavic nominal morphology and a well-reasoned support of the Auslautgesetze theory. Thorough classification of the OCS nominal inflectional morphology, discussed in Ch. 1, could be used as a valuable supplement for OCS courses. The book is a must-read for anyone interested in nominal inflectional morphology or nominal etymology.