Processes of Palatalization and Affrication in the Qazakh Dialect of the Western Group of the Azerbaijani Language

Abstract

The present article examines the processes of palatalization and affrication in the Qazakh dialect of the western group of the Azerbaijani language. The aim of the research is to determine the structu­ral nature of these phonetic-phonological phenomena, to define their articulatory basis, and to differentiate their functional characteristics.

Traditionally, several sound changes (d → č, k → č,  → ǯ) have been treated within the framework of affrication; however, the analysis of dialectal material demonstrates that these transformations are not realized through a uniform phonetic mechanism. The study is based on empirical data and employs the methods of articulatory phonetics and comparative dialectology.

It has been established that k → č and š → č represent cases of affrication, since the transformation of a stop consonant results in a complex consonant containing a fricative component and is not dependent sole­ly on adjacency to a palatal vowel. In contrast, the changes d → t → č,  → ǯ, k → j, and g → j are identified as results of palatalization, as they develop on the basis of positional sound coalescence and articulatory assimilation.

The findings demonstrate that palatalization and affrication in the Qazakh dialect are formally similar but mechanistically distinct processes, which necessitates their clear terminological and systemic differen­tiation. The study highlights the independent phonetic features of the Qazakh dialect and its significance for Turkological research.