Features Polabian retains some archaic features from Proto-Slavic: Preservation of the nasal vowels [ǫ], [ą], [ę]: *pętь > pąt Preservation of the aorist and imperfect in the conjugation system Trace preservation of the dual number Absence of metathesis of *TorT Polabian also has many innovations, in part due to neighboring German and in part due to being more remote: Diphthongization of monophthongs Formation of complex, periphrastic tenses Restructuring of the case system The Proto-Slavic vowels developed thusly: Unlike most other Slavic languages, the weak yers ъ and ь were not lost not only before a syllable with another reduced yer (Proto-Slavic *mъхъ > måx), but also in initial stressed and pre-stressed syllables: *dъno > dånü “bottom” ", *sъpati > såpot "sleep", *tъkati > tåkat "weave", *tьma > tåmă "darkness", *pьsi > pasaɪ̯ "dogs". A. M. Selishchev notes similar phenomena in the dialects of the Bulgarian, Serbian, Slovenian and Slovak languages. In positions before a hard consonant, *ь in Polabian shifted to å (*pьsъ > ṕås “dog”), in other positions to a (*dьnь > dan “day”) and only in some cases between soft consonants to i (*vьši > visi "All"). *ъ usually gave å (*vъšь > vås “louse”), but after velars (*k , g , x) it turned into ė (*olkъtь > lüťėt “elbow”, *nogъtь > nüďėt “(finger/toe)nail”, *xъmelь > x́ėmil “hop”). Reduced vowels arose in Polabian as a result of stress. In stressed syllables, the vowels *a, *ě, *ъ, and *ь reduced to ă, and the vowels *i, *y, *u, *o, *e reduced to ĕ. The vowel *o became ö before a hard consonant (*kosa > ťösa, *kolo > ťölü) and å after v before a hard consonant (*oko > våťü, *voda > våda), in ü in other positions (*sobota > süböta, *noga > nüga). The vowels *i, *y, and *u in Polabian were diphthongized in stressed and pre-stressed syllables: *zima > zai̯mă, *nitь > nai̯t, *byti > båi̯t, *dymъ > dåi̯m, *duša > daṷsă, *ubĕžati > ai̯bezăt, *jutrě > jaṷtră, jai̯tră. In the same position, a became o : *žaba > zobo, *korva > korvo. The vowel *ě before hard dental consonants turned into o with a softening of the preceding consonant (*lěto > ľotü), before j it turned into i (*sějanьje > sijonă), in other cases - into e (*běliti > belĕt). The Proto-Slavic consonants developed thusly: The sibilant consonants *č, *š, *ž in Polabian underwent masuration, changing into c, s, z, which, unlike the original c, s, z, were always hard. T. Lehr-Spławiński, based on relative chronological data, originally dated the appearance of masuration in the Polabian language no earlier than the beginning of the 16th century, and that this phenomenon must be a Polabian innovation, and it cannot be explained by the influence of the German language, which has č and š. A. M. Selishchev dated this process to the 16th-17th centuries, believing that it did not take place in all Polabian dialects, as a few documents have examples with these sibilants, despite the predominance of masurized forms, and associated it with the influence of the Low Saxon and East Low German dialects of German settlers, in which š is missing. Later it was proven that in the dialect presented in the Pfeffinger dictionary, masuration was absent and for it it is necessary to reconstruct sibilants (š , ž , č), absent in other dialects. The back-lingual consonants *k, *g, and *x before the front vowels i (< *y), ė (< *ъ) ü and ö (< *o) softened to ḱ, ǵ, x́. Subsequently, ḱ and ǵ became ť and ď respectively.
Features Polabian retains some archaic features from Proto-Slavic: Preservation of the nasal vowels [ǫ], [ą], [ę]: *pętь > pąt Preservation of the aorist and imperfect in the conjugation system Trace preservation of the dual number Absence of metathesis of *TorT Polabian also has many innovations, in part due to neighboring German and in part due to being more remote: Diphthongization of monophthongs Formation of complex, periphrastic tenses Restructuring of the case system The Proto-Slavic vowels developed thusly: Unlike most other Slavic languages, the weak yers ъ and ь were not lost not only before a syllable with another reduced yer (Proto-Slavic *mъхъ > måx), but also in initial stressed and pre-stressed syllables: *dъno > dånü “bottom” ", *sъpati > såpot "sleep", *tъkati > tåkat "weave", *tьma > tåmă "darkness", *pьsi > pasaɪ̯ "dogs". A. M. Selishchev notes similar phenomena in the dialects of the Bulgarian, Serbian, Slovenian and Slovak languages. In positions before a hard consonant, *ь in Polabian shifted to å (*pьsъ > ṕås “dog”), in other positions to a (*dьnь > dan “day”) and only in some cases between soft consonants to i (*vьši > visi "All"). *ъ usually gave å (*vъšь > vås “louse”), but after velars (*k , g , x) it turned into ė (*olkъtь > lüťėt “elbow”, *nogъtь > nüďėt “(finger/toe)nail”, *xъmelь > x́ėmil “hop”). Reduced vowels arose in Polabian as a result of stress. In stressed syllables, the vowels *a, *ě, *ъ, and *ь reduced to ă, and the vowels *i, *y, *u, *o, *e reduced to ĕ. The vowel *o became ö before a hard consonant (*kosa > ťösa, *kolo > ťölü) and å after v before a hard consonant (*oko > våťü, *voda > våda), in ü in other positions (*sobota > süböta, *noga > nüga). The vowels *i, *y, and *u in Polabian were diphthongized in stressed and pre-stressed syllables: *zima > zai̯mă, *nitь > nai̯t, *byti > båi̯t, *dymъ > dåi̯m, *duša > daṷsă, *ubĕžati > ai̯bezăt, *jutrě > jaṷtră, jai̯tră. In the same position, a became o : *žaba > zobo, *korva > korvo. The vowel *ě before hard dental consonants turned into o with a softening of the preceding consonant (*lěto > ľotü), before j it turned into i (*sějanьje > sijonă), in other cases - into e (*běliti > belĕt). The Proto-Slavic consonants developed thusly: The sibilant consonants *č, *š, *ž in Polabian underwent masuration, changing into c, s, z, which, unlike the original c, s, z, were always hard. T. Lehr-Spławiński, based on relative chronological data, originally dated the appearance of masuration in the Polabian language no earlier than the beginning of the 16th century, and that this phenomenon must be a Polabian innovation, and it cannot be explained by the influence of the German language, which has č and š. A. M. Selishchev dated this process to the 16th-17th centuries, believing that it did not take place in all Polabian dialects, as a few documents have examples with these sibilants, despite the predominance of masurized forms, and associated it with the influence of the Low Saxon and East Low German dialects of German settlers, in which š is missing. Later it was proven that in the dialect presented in the Pfeffinger dictionary, masuration was absent and for it it is necessary to reconstruct sibilants (š , ž , č), absent in other dialects. The back-lingual consonants *k, *g, and *x before the front vowels i (< *y), ė (< *ъ) ü and ö (< *o) softened to ḱ, ǵ, x́. Subsequently, ḱ and ǵ became ť and ď respectively.