The alternation of stem-internal a and o and pragmatic mechanisms of alternant distribution

The article considers the alternation of letters a and o in the stem, missing in school and academic grammars, for example, shpargalka — shpora, boshka — boshki, simpatichnyj — simpotnyj, platit’ — plotit, nalit’ — nolito. We attempt to combine a number of heterogeneous (including unique) phenomena within the framework of a special alternation, and more specifically, the transition from a to o in an uncodified area of the language: in professional and youth jargons, popular language, emphatically colloquial speech. Thus, one can speak of relatively regular alternations of a and o at the junction of literary and non-literary language. The letter o conveys the phoneme [o], which appears under stress in not quite normative or informal word forms and words (colloquial, slang, etc.), that is, it emphasizes this informality of a word and often also its expressiveness.