The Neocircumflex in Western South Slavic

The neocircumflex has most often been described as being phonologically conditioned and is usually understood to represent lengthening in compensation for the loss of an internal weak jer or the shortening of an original long vowel in the following syllable. This article examines evidence that calls this explanation into question and argues that the neocircumflex does not represent compensatory lengthening, but should be attributed to a combination of morphological and phonological factors.