The aim of the paper is to explore two sandhi phenomena of liquid-zero alternations, i.e. linking and intrusion in two varieties of English recorded in southern England and north-eastern United States. Since, however, the analysis of linking/intrusive r can be found elsewhere (e.g. Kijak 2009), the main concern here, is the phenomenon of linking/ intrusive l. We address the questions concerning the distribution, representation and interaction of the lateral with the preceding vowel. We explain the mechanics behind the l-zero alternations. Additionally, we explore the problem of lexical representation of etymologically l-less and l-full forms participating in the linking/intrusion processes.

The article aims at the explanation of some distributional peculiarities of two high unrounded vowels [i] and [È] in Russian. More generally, it looks at some phonotactic constraints of Russian vowels which are directly related to a broader topic of palatalization and vowel reduction in this language. Although the discussion in this paper concerns only a tiny section of Russian phonology, which is the distribution of high unrounded vowels, it is necessary to introduce several facts from Russian phonology, such as palatalization, velarization, stress and vowel reduction. They, at first sight, may look pretty much irrelevant to the main topic of the paper but, as it will become evident, are closely related and actually indispensable to the understanding of vowel distribution including the two high unrounded vowels in Russian.

In this study we look closely at the set of dorsal fricatives in Ukrainian with the purpose to explain their distributional peculiarities and phonological behavior. The analysis focuses on certain phonetic characteristics and the phonological represen-tation of the segments in question. Some other issues addressed in this study include the segmental strength which is calculated by the complexity of a segment and the presence of headed elements, the consonant-vowel interactions in which the segments in question participate and the impact of vowels on the distribution of back fricatives in Ukrainian. The main aim of this study is to propose and justify a particular phonological representation of the back fricatives in Ukrainian.

The aim of the paper is to explore the process of diphthongization which is known in the literature as Old English Breaking. After the discussion of some earlier solutions proposed by researchers working in different theoretical frameworks, we propose a new solution couched in Element Theory (Backley 2011). The main questions we address in this paper concern the context, the effect of breaking and the interaction between the consonants and the preceding front vowels. Additionally, we explore the internal structure of the consonants triggering breaking and try to fi nd the element which links liquids and the velar fricative. The solution proposed here can help to understand the behaviour of velars and liquids in various phonological processes (both historical and in Modern English).

The aim of the paper is to explore the process of r obstruentisation which can be found in Polish in the ‘trapped’ context, i.e. between two obstruents or at the end of the word after an obstruent. More specifi cally, in order to explain the mechanics of the [r] > [/] shift, the author looks at the phenomenon of sonorant devoicing and some historical facts concerning the development of r. Since r obstruentisation can also be found in a closely related Czech, the data from both languages are confronted and discussed. The solution offered here is based on the analysis of w obstruentisation proposed by Cyran and Nisson (1998).

The aim of the paper is to examine a single case of random substitution which con-sists in the replacement of liquids by glides, that is, gliding. This process occurs in both English and Polish and it affects children’s speech as well as the speech of those adults who did not acquire the proper pronunciation of liquids. We address the following questions: is the substitution really random, why in the majority of cases it results in glides and not in something else, what is the relationship between two articulatorily distant segments which allows them to participate in substitution, among many others. It is argued that some examples of gliding can be analysed as a simple reduction in the elemental make-up of segments, e.g. [] ~ [], others like English [] ~ [] can be the effect of phonetic enhancement sometimes called phonological reinterpretation.