How Russian came to be the way it is : a student's guide to the history of the Russian language

Time machines do not exist, but books are good substitutes. This book takes you two thousand years back in time and explains how the Russian language came to be the way it is by reviewing all major changes in the grammar and sound system. In addition to chapters on syntax, morphology, and phonology, the book offers brief introductions to Russian history, medieval writing and literature, the theory of historical linguistics, and the Old Novgorod dialect. Appendices with morphological tables and chronologies of sound laws make the book useful as a reference tool. How Russian Came to Be the Way It Is is written as a textbook for graduate students of Slavic and Russian linguistics, but it is also useful for specialists of Russian literature, Russian history, or general linguistics who would like to learn more about the history of the Russian language. No previous exposure to Old Rusian or Old Church Slavonic is required, but the book presupposes basic knowledge of Modern Russian. Introduction : Today's Exceptions--yesterday's Rules -- The Scene : From Prehistory To Peter I The Great -- The Texts : Writing And Literature In Kievan Rus' And Muscovy -- The Toolbox : Linguistic Tools For Analyzing The History Of Russian -- Morphology : Nouns -- Morphology : Pronouns -- Morphology : Adjectives -- Morphology : Numbers And Numerals -- Morphology : Verbs -- Syntax -- Phonology : Pre-slavic And Common Slavic Vowels And Diphthongs -- Phonology : Pre-slavic And Common Slavic Consonants -- Phonology : From Old Rusian To Modern Russian -- Phonology : Stress And Vowel Reduction -- A Visit From Novgorod : The Language Of The Birch Bark Letters -- Epilogue : Reflections On A Triangle. Tore Nesset. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 339-347) And Indexes. Introduction: today's exceptions; yesterday's rules -- The scene: from prehistory to Peter I "The Great" -- The texts: writing and literature in Kievan Rus' and Muscovy -- The toolbox: linguistic tools for analyzing the history of Russian -- Morphology: nouns -- Morphology: pronouns -- Morphology: adjectives -- Morphology: numbers and numerals -- Morphology: verbs -- Syntax -- Phonology: pre-Slavic and common Slavic vowels and diphthongs -- Phonology: pre-Slavic and common Slavic consonants -- Phonology: from old Rusian to modern Russian -- Phonology: stress and vowel reduction -- A visit from Novgorod: the language of the birch bark -- Letters -- Epilogue: reflections on a triangle