Accentuation History of Lithuanian Verbs in -(i)uoti

Abstract

The article deals with the accentuation history of Lithuanian verbs in -(i)uoti by comparing data from modern dialects, the standard language, and accentuated old texts with the reconstructed state of affairs in the proto-language. In modern Lithuanian, verbs in -(i)uoti are characterized by stress on the suffix, while various attested cases of non-suffix stress testify to the gradual disappearance of this type of accentuation and the establishment of suffix stress. Some cases of non-suffix stress can be considered archaisms (e.g., derivatives from nouns of accentual paradigm 1), while others could be of a later origin, e.g., verbs of the types lkuriuoti and batuoti (with root circumflex as an iconic marker of prolonged action). The latter type is characterized by a large dialectal variety of accentual types, and most of the article is devoted to the study of this variety. In the western area of dialects (especially in Lithuania Minor), non-suffix stress is also possible in other kinds of verbs, e.g., onomatopoeic and other expressive verbs, Germanisms, or remodeled verbs in -(i)oti.