© North-Holland Publishing Company ON THE fflSTORY OF THE GENITIVE PLURAL IN SLAVIC, BALTIC, GERMANIC, AND INDO-EUROPEAN

A correct Interpretation of the genitive plural forms in Slavic and related languages requires a detailed chronological analysis of'the material. At every stage of development we have to reckon with both phonetically regulär and analogical forms, Analogy operates quite often along the same lines in different periods. Explaining an analogic change amounts to indi-cating a model, a motivation, and a stage of development for its effectua-tion. If one of these cannot be indicated, we must look for a phonetic explanation. 2. The Slavic gen. pl. ending- % points to IE *-om. It has been suggested that the ending arose from the strong reduction of an earlier *-öm and that the origin of the quantitative alternations in the stem-final syllable which are found in the daughter languages must be sought in this development (e.g., Van Wijk 1923: 97; Stang 1957: 98). The argument cannot be main-tained for chronological reasons. If the reduction was anterior to the ris