Earlier Dialectal Division and External Links of East Slavic Dialects

The theory of East Slavic unity after the split of Proto-Slavic into Eastern, Western, & Southern groups is contested. An alternative interpretation of the East Slavic group is proposed, according to which there existed a variety of East Slavic dialects in the Early & Late Proto-Slavic periods that reflected the mosaic of Slavic tribes settled in the linguo-geographic territory of today's European Russia, Ukraine, & Belorussia. This hypothesis is supported with archaeological evidence furnished by birch-bark inscriptions excavated in Novgorod, reinterpretation of isoglosses between some Great Russian & Belorussian dialects, & recent studies in Slavic historical accentuology. The new theory leads to the conclusion that the current picture of East Slavic dialects resulted not so much from divergent developments within the East Slavic community, but rather from convergent processes caused by contacts between ancient dialects in the area. 3 Maps, 44 References. Z. Dubiel