Ukrainian: soft sign before і

[Panceltic]

Hello,

Wiktionary says that the nominative plural of “весь” is “всі”, but the genetive is “всьіх”.

How is the soft sign explained? I though that і by itself palatalizes the preceding consonant.

Thanks!

 

[Awwal12]

Maybe it's some sort of a typo? I'm not a big expert on Ukrainian orthography, but Google translates Russian "всех" as "всіх", and it's the spelling I usually see.

I though that і by itself palatalizes the preceding consonant.

In Standard Ukrainian yes, /i/ can follow only soft consonants - which is reflected in the modern orthography. However, many dialects reflect the more archaic situation, where /i/ could follow both hard (/i/ < /*o/, /*e/) and soft (/i/ < /*ě/) consonants. The misspelling may be somehow related to that fact. You can also encounter the spelling "всїх" (which is archaic and not supported by the modern standard; however, in some of the older orthographies it was exactly intended to mark the distinction between the softening and the non-softening /i/).

 

[AndrasBP]

Wiktionary says that the nominative plural of “весь” is “всі”, but the genetive is “всьіх”.

Maybe it's some sort of a typo?

Wiktionary is not always reliable. The form "всьіх" is indeed a spelling mistake.
The correct form is "всіх".

 

[Panceltic]

Thanks both, all clear now!

 

[jasio]

In the Polish Wiktionary (Aneks:Język ukraiński - zaimki – Wikisłownik, wolny słownik wielojęzyczny) there's no soft sign before "і" either - so perhaps this mistake exists only in some language versions.