Категорія роду словацьких іменників слов’янського походження

Abstract

The article deals with the main trends of diachronic changes in the grammar category of gender of Slovak nouns of Slavic origin. Their comparison with corresponding lexemes of the East Slavic languages enables to determine reasons of the changes. The major direction of changes in the category of gender of Slovak nouns is the change of the feminine gender for the masculine gender; the phonetic phenomenon of disappearing of reduced and hardening of final constonants was the main and the most frequently followed factor of this impact. To some extent the change of the gender meaning was also semantically motivated.