Phonetic features of the Old Romanian language of the 16th-17th centuries (Codex Neagoeanus, 1620)

This article describes the phonetic features of the Romanian language in the 16th–17th centuries, using the Codex Neagoeanus manuscript as an example. The subject of the study is a comprehensive phonetic analysis of the manuscript "Codex Neagoeanus" (ms. rom. 3821, Library of the Romanian Academy), dating back to the early 17th century (1620). This codex is a collection of religious and folk texts (cărți populare), characteristic of Romanian culture in the 16th–17th centuries, including translations of a folk novel, a didactic treatise, a short version of the nomocanon, and a work of astrological literature. The study focuses on a systematic description and classification of archaic and variable phonetic features of the Romanian language, recorded in the codex texts, in comparison with both the modern norm and the phenomena of the 16th–17th centuries. The primary research method was a comprehensive phonetic analysis aimed at identifying and classifying characteristic archaic and innovative elements in the phonetic system of the written monument. Paleographic analysis methods were also employed. The scientific novelty of the study lies in the fact that it is the first detailed and systematic linguistic analysis of the Codex Neagoeanus, introducing new factual material into scientific circulation. The study revealed that the most unstable system of unstressed and stressed vocalizations in the phonetic system of the manuscript under study is the system of unstressed and stressed vocalizations. This is especially true for [e], [u], and [o], as these sounds are associated with the greatest number of deviations from the norm: for example, of the five cases of assimilation we recorded, four are in some way related to transitions from / to [e] and [u]. Furthermore, the most frequent phonetic phenomena are also associated with these vowels: for example, the instability of the diphthong [oa], its interchangeability with the vowel [o], is preserved throughout the manuscript. However, the main feature of vocalism in CN texts should be considered the mixture of linguistic features of both northern and southern regions. For example, a typically northern feature—the preservation of the unstressed [a]—coexists in the manuscript with a feature of the southern regions—the instability of the diphthong [oa]. Phenomena related to the consonant system are rather occasional in nature.