high front round vowel, unrounding, “irregular u”, velar fronting (tsitakism), backing, Old Athenian
Περίληψη
The paper deals with major aspects of the development of the Medieval Greek vowel /y/ (Koine Greek /y/ <Ancient Greek /y/ /y:/ /oi/ - <υ>, <οι>) towards Modern Greek. The vowel was unrounded by the 11th c., yet there is strong written, as well as direct evidence (recordings) for its (partial) retention in some Modern Greek varieties, and the emergence of high front rounded realizations of /i/ in specific environments in several varieties.
