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The second palatalization of velars is a direct consequence of the monophthongization of diphthongs, or more precisely, the change *aj > e. While *kaj, *gaj and *xaj were in accordance with the principle of so-called intrasyllabic synharmony that operated during the Common Slavic period, the resulting *ke, *ge, and *xe defied the intrasyllabic synharmony. Namely, the velars ended up in front of the front vowel e, and this contradicted the Proto-Slavic phonotactical constraints.

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