Accentuation Tendencies of Locative Cases in the Southern Aukštaitian Subdialects

Abstract

The study delves into accentuation patterns within the locative cases — singular and plural inessive and illative — in the Southern Aukštaitian dialect. It draws upon written sources spanning the second half og the 20^th century to the early 21^st century. The article aims to describe the accentuation features of the locative cases from a synchronic perspective, explain the reasons behind accent diversification, and map the areal distribution of accented variants within the same subdialect. The findings reveal that the accentuation of locatives in the Southern Aukštaitian dialects is influenced by accentuation analogy, semantics, and a tendency for accentual variation and oxytonesis. Interestigly, it emerged that locative forms exhibiting dual stress patterns are more prevalent in southwestern and southern subdialects.