Proto-Slavic (PSl) has been reconstructed as having three accentual paradigms (APs) for nouns: AP-A, AP-B, and AP-C. AP-A is reconstructed with consistent root stress (barytone), AP-B with consistent ending stress (oxytone), and AP-C with a mobile stress pattern where stress alternates between the first syllable and the ending. A new theory proposes a fourth AP for PSl masculine nouns, AP-D, which incorporates elements of AP-B and of AP-C, and hence is referred to as "the mixed paradigm". AP-D was first noted in Croatian Cakavian and west Ukrainian dialects, and recently in some northwest Russian and northeast Belarus dialects. These are referred to as the "Krivici" dialects since they are located in the same area of the 12th century Krivici tribe. A comprehensive study of these dialects has not yet been carried out. Therefore, the archaic nature of AP-D is still an issue for investigation.^

This dissertation consists of a comprehensive study of the accentual systems of nineteen "Krivici" dialects with special attention to the reflexes of AP-D. The present work builds mostly upon archival data and also on the author's field data. The dialects for the synchronic analysis have been grouped according to geographic proximity and shared phonological features. Each dialect was analyzed separately, and the words were classified according to their original AP. A further quantitative analysis was conducted of the PSl root vowel distribution. Finally, a comparative list of all the AP-D nouns was compiled, comparing the data from all the dialects as well as some other Slavic, Baltic, and Indo-European Languages. The results of the study show that almost all the analyzed dialects exhibit the AP-D reflexes in the same nouns across the dialects. The greatest frequency of AP-D reflexes is seen in the most northwestern areas of Russia and northeast of Belarus.^

The vowel root distribution demonstrates that oxytone stress has the tendency to occur in certain types of roots, which points to a particular relative chronology. The results of the analysis suggest that AP-D is an archaic isogloss which runs from northwest to east, and that this isogloss goes back to prehistoric times.