The opposition */ʃ, ʒ/←→*/r/ in the contemporary central Cassubian dialect

The article concerns the opposition */ʃ, ʒ/ ←→ */r/ in central Cassubian dialects. Th e existing literature does not answer the question whether the opposition has been retained. Descriptions of the continuants */ʃ, ʒ, r/ contradict one another and the disappearance of the vibration of */r/ is regarded, unjustifi ably, as a phonological identifi cation of */r/ with */ʃ, ʒ/. Even when synchronic diff erences are identifi ed, the existing phonological interpretations are unsatisfactory. Contemporary central Cassubian data prove that the opposition continues to exist. */r/ is consistently realised as [ʂ, ʐ], while */ʃ, ʒ/ is realised optionally as [ʃ, ʒ] or [ʂ, ʐ]. Th e shift of the continuants */ʃ, ʒ/ towards clear palatalisation is most probably a result of the transfer [r] → [ʂ, ʐ].