Editing Slavic languages (section)

===Linguistic history===
{{Main|History of the Slavic languages#Historical development up to Proto-Slavic|l1=Historical development of the Slavic languages up to the Proto-Slavic}}
{{See also|Proto-Slavic}}

The following is a summary of the main changes from [[Proto-Indo-European language|Proto-Indo-European]] (PIE) leading up to the [[Common Slavic]] (CS) period immediately following the [[Proto-Slavic language]] (PS).

# [[Centum and satem languages|Satemisation]]:
#* PIE *ḱ, *ǵ, *ǵʰ → *ś, *ź, *źʰ (→ CS *s, *z, *z)
#* PIE *kʷ, *gʷ, *gʷʰ → *k, *g, *gʰ
# [[Ruki sound law|Ruki]] rule: Following *r, *u, *k or *i, PIE *s → *š (→ CS *x)
# Loss of [[voiced aspirate]]s: PIE *bʰ, *dʰ, *gʰ → *b, *d, *g
# Merger of *o and *a: PIE *a/*o, *ā/*ō → PS *a, *ā (→ CS *o, *a)
# Law of [[open syllable]]s: All [[closed syllable]]s (syllables ending in a consonant) are eventually eliminated, in the following stages:
## [[Nasalization]]: With *N indicating either *n or *m not immediately followed by a vowel: PIE *aN, *eN, *iN, *oN, *uN → *ą, *ę, *į, *ǫ, *ų (→ CS *ǫ, *ę, *ę, *ǫ, *y). (NOTE: *ą *ę etc. indicates a nasalized vowel.)
## In a cluster of [[obstruent]] (stop or fricative) + another consonant, the obstruent is deleted unless the cluster can occur word-initially.
## (occurs later, see below) [[Monophthongization]] of [[diphthong]]s.
## (occurs much later, see below) [[Slavic liquid metathesis and pleophony|Elimination of liquid diphthongs]] (e.g. *er, *ol when not followed immediately by a vowel).
# [[Slavic first palatalization|First palatalization]]: *k, *g, *x → CS *č, *ž, *š (pronounced {{IPAblink|tʃ}}, {{IPAblink|ʒ}}, {{IPAblink|ʃ}} respectively) before a front vocalic sound (*e, *ē, *i, *ī, *j).
# Iotation: Consonants are [[Palatalization (phonetics)|palatalized]] by an immediately following *j:
#** sj, *zj → CS *š, *ž
#** nj, *lj, *rj → CS *ň, *ľ, *ř (pronounced {{IPA|[nʲ lʲ rʲ]}} or similar)
#** tj, *dj → CS *ť, *ď (probably [[palatal stop]]s, e.g. {{IPA|[c ɟ]}}, but developing in different ways depending on the language)
#** bj, *pj, *mj, *wj → *bľ, *pľ, *mľ, *wľ (the [[lateral consonant]] *ľ is mostly lost later on in [[West Slavic languages|West Slavic]])
# Vowel fronting: After *j or some other palatal sound, back vowels are fronted (*a, *ā, *u, *ū, *ai, *au → *e, *ē, *i, *ī, *ei, *eu). This leads to hard/soft alternations in noun and adjective declensions.
# Prothesis: Before a word-initial vowel, *j or *w is usually inserted.
# [[Monophthongization]]: *ai, *au, *ei, *eu, *ū → *ē, *ū, *ī, *jū, *ȳ {{IPA|[ɨː]}}
# [[Slavic second palatalization|Second palatalization]]: *k, *g, *x → CS *c {{IPA|[ts]}}, *dz, *ś before new *ē (from earlier *ai). *ś later splits into *š (West Slavic), *s (East/South Slavic).
# Progressive palatalization (or "third palatalization"): *k, *g, *x → CS *c, *dz, *ś ''after'' *i, *ī in certain circumstances.
# Vowel quality shifts: All pairs of long/short vowels become differentiated as well by [[vowel quality]]:
#** a, *ā → CS *o, *a
#** e, *ē → CS *e, *ě (originally a low-front sound {{IPA|[æ]}} but eventually raised to {{IPA|[ie]}} in most dialects, developing in divergent ways)
#** i, *u → CS *ь, *ъ (also written *ĭ, *ŭ; lax vowels as in the English words ''pit, put'')
#** ī, *ū, *ȳ → CS *i, *u, *y
# [[Slavic liquid metathesis and pleophony|Elimination of liquid diphthongs]]: [[Liquid diphthong]]s (sequences of vowel plus *l or *r, when not immediately followed by a vowel) are changed so that the syllable becomes [[open syllable|open]]:
#** or, *ol, *er, *el → *ro, *lo, *re, *le in [[West Slavic languages|West Slavic]].
#** or, *ol, *er, *el → *oro, *olo, *ere, *olo in [[East Slavic languages|East Slavic]].
#** or, *ol, *er, *el → *rā, *lā, *re, *le in [[South Slavic languages|South Slavic]].
#* Possibly, *ur, *ul, *ir, *il → syllabic *r, *l, *ř, *ľ (then develops in divergent ways).
# Development of phonemic tone and [[vowel length]] (independent of vowel quality): Complex developments (see [[History of the Slavic languages#Accentual developments|History of accentual developments in Slavic languages]]).