Chapter - 1

PHONOTACTICS & MORPHOPHONEMICS

Tangkhul-Naga Grammar ( A Study of Word Formation )

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1.0 Introduction

There are 7 vowels and 21 consonants in Tangkhul-Naga. As suprasegmental features, there are tones, length and nasality. The vowels are nasalized in the vicinity of nasals consonants. Inter-nasal vowels are vowels are always nasalized while pre-nasals or post-nasals are slightly nasalized. Nasalization of vowels, therefore, is not phonemic and the nasal vowels are the contextually conditioned variants of the oral ones. Also, there is a large number of freely varying varieties of vowels and vowel clusters conditioned by different pitch heights and intonations.

1.1 Phonemic inventory of Tangkhul-Naga

Schematically we can present the phonemic inventory of the language as follows :

Vowels :

Consonants :

		Bila-bial	Labio-dental	Dental- alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glo-ttal
O b s t r u e n t s	Plosive	p p^h		t t^h	c	k k^h	?
	Fricative		F	z s			h
	Nasal	m		n		η
S o n o r a n t s	Lateral			l
	Thrill			r
	Approximant	w	v		Y

Suprasegmentals :

(i)	Length	=	:
(ii)	Nasality	=	~
(iii)	Tones:	High	=	΄e.g. p^há = rt. of ‘good’)
		Mid	=	Not marked (e.g. p^ha = rt. of ‘search’)
		Low	=	(e.g. p^hà = rt. of ‘pluck’)

1.2 Allophonic distribution of vowels

In all there are 11 vowel sounds in Tangkhul-Naga. All the vowels except [u], [o] and [∂] have allophones. [i], [e] , [a] and [ü, ū] respectively. In the following discussion, however, we have to note that the difference between tense and lax pairs such as [i] and [I], [e] and [ε],[a]and[ā] and [ü, ū] respectively. In the following discussion, however, we have to note that the difference between tense and lax pairs such as [i] and [I], [e] and [ε,[a]and[ā] is not very significant in the sense that they are in free variation and their differences are not predictable in terms of their position in a word. Comparatively, the difference between the allophones [ū] and [ü] is easily predictable in terms of their position in a word. For the rest vowel phonemes and allophones the following examples show only the ‘more acceptable’ pronunciation. (The allophonic variations will be indicated in the section only).

We can present all the vowel sounds as under:

[i] has two allophones - - [i] and [I]. They occur freely except in word initial position where [i] is conspicuous by its absence.

[i], the high unrounded front vowel, occurs in word medial and final positions. It occurs with all tones.

Medially		Finally
t^hiη	‘wood’	à-t^hí	‘gall bladder’
sìna	‘gold’	hi	‘boat’
tín	‘spade’	m∂̀í	‘salt’

[I], the lower high unrounded front vowel, occurs initially, medially and finally and with all tones.

Initially		Medially		Finally
I	‘I’	niη	‘mind’	àšI	‘blood'
Ìk-r ü	‘dew’	šIm	‘house’	mÌ	‘man’
Íyáowó	‘alas!’	mÌk	‘eye’	hI	‘this’

[e] has two allophones - - [e] and [ε].

[e], the higher mid unrounded front vowel, occur initially, medially and finally

Initially		Medially		Finally
éin∂	‘and, with’	šèm	‘to make’	me	‘goat’
é?	‘interjection (for surprise)’	nem	‘be low’	k∂̀p^he	‘to slap’

[ε], the mid unrounded front vowel occurs word finally after [r] and [l]. It occurs in low tone.

Finally

Initially		Medially
v∂rè	‘God’	m ∂̀ lE$	‘ tongue’
k^h∂̀^-rE$	‘first , former’

[a] has two allophones - - [a] [A#]

[a], the low unrounded front vowel occurs initially, medially and finally and with all tones.

Initially		Medially		Finally
á-cü	‘today’	pàη	‘hand’	hà	‘tooth’
à-rá	‘style’	yaη	‘strength’	sà	‘meat’
à	‘he/she’	vár	‘mushroom’	kh∂̀nà	‘ear’

[A#], the higher low unrounded central vowel, is slightly higher than [a]. It occurs only in word initial position with mid and low tones.

Initially

Initially		Medially
À# - wón	‘flower’	À# -k^hón	‘sound’
À# - ton	‘top’	À#-t ∂́m	‘time’

[∂], the mean mid unrounded central vowel has no allophonic variations. It occurs medially and finally. Initially occurs only with expressive words.

Initially		Medially		Finally
∂̀̀i	‘yes (I will)	z∂m	‘liquor’	m∂̀	‘yes (that’s right)’
∂s	‘expression of disgust’	v ∂̀t	‘cotton’	á-k^h ∂́m∂	‘tomorrow’

[o], the higher mid rounded back vowel has no allophonic variations. It occurs initially, medially and finally and with all tones.

Initially		Medially		Finally
ot	‘thing’	hòk	‘swine’	à-wò	‘grandfather’
oca	‘teacher’	sop	‘basket’	šo	‘lock
oko	‘box’	koη	‘river’	po	‘to beg, request’

[u], the high rounded back vowel has no allophonic variation. It occurs initially, medially and finally. It occurs with all tones.

Initially		Medially		Finally
ùk	‘abdomen’	lùk	‘basket’	m ∂cu	‘color’
úrüwok	‘spring, well’	tùì	‘language/speech’	-lù	‘imperative suffix’
ùt	‘camel’	pùη	‘hour/watch’	hu	‘poison’

[ü], the high unrounded central vowel has two allophones - - [ü, ū]

[ü], occurs medially and finally. It occurs in the syllable final position preceded by any consonant except the semi-vowel [w].

Medially		Finally
sǘkéí	‘domestic animals’	à-mü	‘picture’
kǘla	‘luck/shadow’	à-rü	‘liquid’
rümok	‘name of a bird	násü	‘dove’

[ū], the high unrounded back vowel occurs only finally preceded by labio-dental fricative [f] and labio-dental preceded by labio-dental fricative [f] and labio-dental approximant [v]. It occurs will all tones.

Finally
f ū	‘dog’	à-vū́	‘mother’
m ∂̀f ū	‘elephant’	c ∂́mv ū	‘cicada’

1.3 Vowel sequences / diphthongs

There are seven types of diphthong in Tangkhul-Naga . They usually occur in syllable final position. Initial vowel sequence is found only in expressive word and some affixes.

Diphthongs.

Occurrence

Medially			Finally
ei	sèìhá	‘prayer’	mei	‘fire’
	keinú η	‘city’	k^h∂leì	‘squirrel’
eo	réósa	‘name of a children’s game’	k∂méó	‘god, demon’
			teo	‘small’
∂u	t^h ∂una	‘courage’	t^h ∂u	‘concern’
	c∂uki	‘chair’	c∂ú:	‘yelling sound in hunting’
ai	láírik	‘book;	k^háí	‘fish’
	ráíci	‘scabies’	mai	‘face’
ao	karkàò	‘spider’	yàò	‘sheep’
	nàòmei	‘gun’	páó	‘news’
oi	----		šoi	‘signature’
	----		šòì	‘to fail’
ui	mùìya	‘cloud’	k^h ∂̀ mùì	‘bread’
	kúírü	‘mister, sir’	kúí	‘head’

1.4 Allophonic status of consonants

In all there are 21 consonant phonemes I Tangkhul- Naga. Stops (p, t, k) have two allophones each - - [p,b], [t,d] and [k,g] respectively. Affricate [c] has two allophones - [c] and [j]. Aspirated stop [p^h, t^h, k^h], glottal stop [?]. fricatives [f, z, s, š, h], nasal [n, η] and lateral [l] have no allophonic variations. Bilabial nasal [m] and trill [r] have two allophones each – [m, M] and [r, r==] respectively. Approximants [v], [w] and [y] have no allophonic variation.

The opposition of voice and voicelessness is attested to fricatives only. Elsewhere, voice is not a phonemic feature. Voiced and voiceless plosives are in free variation, and consequently the difference between [p] and [b], [t] and [d], or [k] and [g] are not predictable in terms o f their position in a word. Thrill [r] and [r==] are also in free variation. Consequent6ly there is no distinction between :

mìk	~	mìg	‘eye’	kúí	~	gúí	‘head’
n∂p	~	n∂b	‘mucus’	pà η	~	bà η	‘hand’
zat	~	zad	‘food’	tùì	~	dùì	‘language’
oca	~	oja	‘teacher’	ca	~	ja	‘tea’
rǜrèì	~	rǜrèì	‘python’	à-rü	~	à-rü	‘liquid’

Studies in both inter-group and intra-group variations shows that the allophones, except [m] and [M], are used in free variation. Hence, in spite of the widely used, rather strictly, orthography, I do not see the need to account [b, d, g, j, r=] as structured allophones of [p, t, k, c, r] respectively. Again, only a few educated speakers tend to distinguish between [s] and [š]. One reason for the widespread occurrence of free variation of the allophones may be that speakers of standardized Tangkhul-Naga belong to some 20 villages having different dialects, and there is no conformity in the majority speakers’ pronunciation. In some cases the British missionaries (who invented the Tangkhul Naga orthography) might have arbitrarily invented some sounds as structured phoneme of the language. For instance, slightly nasalized voiceless alveolar fricative [š] is often mistaken with [S] which is not found in any of the various village dialects, and we can readily conclude that [S] is a post-British sound (tat is, invented by the missionaries).

1.5 Phonemic contrast and positional distribution of consonants

Distributionally, almost all the consonant phonemes can occur in word initial and medial positions. Aspirated stops [p^h, t^h, k^h], glottal stop [?], affricate [c] and fricatives [f, s, z, š, h] am approximant [v] do not occur in word final position.

Now, let us examine the distribution and phonemic contrast of consonants from the following data. To illustrate the contrast, words with the same tone have been selected as far as possible.

[p] : [p^h]. Voiceless bilabial stop [p] occurs in word initial, medial and final positions. Voiceless aspirated bilabial stop [p^h] occurs initially and medially.

	[p]		p^h
Initially :	pùn	‘hour, watch’	p^huη	‘drum’
	pà η	‘hand’	p^hà η	‘a poisonous tree’
Medially:	k∂̀pá	‘bamboo’	n∂ p^hò η	‘to float’
	k∂̀pei	‘spoon’	rü p^hei	‘northern Tangkul’
Finally :	n∂p	‘mucus’	- - - -
	à-k∂́p	‘machine’	- - - -

[t] : [t^h] Voiceless dental-alveolar stop [t] occurs word initially, medially and finally. Voiceless aspirated dental alveolar stop [t^h] occurs initially and medially.

	[t]		[p^h]
Initial :	tao	‘luck’	t^háó	‘oil’
	tí η	‘sound of bell’	t^hiη	‘wood’
Medially:	à-η∂̀tiη	‘marrow’	n∂̀t^hòr	‘morning’
	η∂̀téí	‘different’	m∂̀t^há	‘good/nice’
Finally :	zat	‘food’	- - - -
	v∂̀t	‘cotton’	- - - -

[k] : [k^h] Voiceless velar stop [k] occurs word initially, medially and finally. Voiceless aspirated velar stop [k^h] occurs initially and medially.

	[k]		[k^h]
Initial :	kúí	‘luck’	k^hùì	‘oil’
	kán	‘sound of bell’	k^háη	‘wood’
Medially:	m∂̀kéí	‘marrow’	š∂̀ηk^hü	‘morning’
	η∂̀káí	‘different’	rìk^han	‘good/nice’
Finally :	hòk	‘food’	- - - -
	mìk	‘cotton’	- - - -

[f] : [v] Voiceless labio-dental fricative [f] and voiced labio-dental approximant /v/ occur in word initial and final positions. [f] occurs only if followed by high unrounded central vowel [ü].

	[s]		[v]
Initial :	fü	‘dog’	vü	‘feminine marker’
	füηùm	‘a kind of wood pigeon’	vànao	‘bird’
Medially:	c∂̀rfü	‘window’	à-z∂rvü	‘younger sister of a man’
	r∂m̀fü	‘fox’	z∂̀mvü	‘cicada’

[s] : [š] Both voiceless dental-alveolar fricative [s] and slightly nasalized voiceless dental alveolar fricative [š] occur in word initial and medial positions. [s] occurs finally in some expressives :

	[f]		[š]
Initial :	síráó	‘antelope’	šìràò	‘a species of dry land paddy’
	so	‘to bless’	šó	‘lock’
Medial:	η∂̀só	‘to be with’	η∂̀š∂̀n	‘custom’
	ŋ∂̀sǜ	‘to wash cloth’	k∂̀šùì	‘bobby trap’
Final	∂̀ís	‘No! I don’t think …..	- - - -

[c] : [z] Voiceless palatal affricate [c] occurs initially and medially. Voiced dental-alveolar fricative [z] occurs only in word initial positions.

	[c]		[z]
Initial :	cat	‘people, tribe’	zat	‘food’
	cà	‘necklace’	zà	‘to eat’
Medial:	m∂̀cí	‘salt’	- - - -
	à- η∂̀caη	‘wing’	- - - -

[h] : [?] Voiceless glottal fricative [h] occurs in word initial and medial positions. Glottal stop [?] occurs finally in some interjective and expressive words.

	[h]		[?]
Initial :	hui	‘ginger’	- - - -
	h∂m	‘pot’	- - - -
Medial:	à-húí	‘skin’	- - - -
	k∂̀hà	‘bamboo’	- - - -
Final	∂̀ís	- - - -	yo?	‘expression for surprise’
		- - - -	sà	‘Do! (imperative/urgency)’

[m] : [M] Labio-dental [M] is an allophone of bilabial [m]. [m] occurs in word initial, medial and final positions. [M] occurs medially followed by [v] or [f].

	[m]		[M]
Initial :	mì	‘man’	- - - -
	mei	‘fire’	- - - -
Medial:	à-m∂ n	‘price’	r∂̀Mfü	‘fox’
	k^h∂̀mà	‘wound’	c∂̀Mvü	‘cicada’
Final	à-t∂ m	‘time’	- - - -
	à-p∂ m	‘place’	- - - -

[n] : [η] Both dental-alveolar nasal [n] and velar nasal [η] occur in word initial, medial and final positions.

	[n]		[η]
Initial :	n∂	‘you’	η ∂̀t^húm	‘hide’
	nàò	‘child’	ηàò	‘expression used in frightening children’
Medial:	η∂̀n∂̀m	‘smell’	k^h∂ ηáí	‘meadow’
	sìna	‘gold’	sì ηa	‘back, future’
Final	ròn	‘to lock’	rò η	‘to flow’
	tòn	‘to be awkward’	tò η	‘to ride’

[l] : [r]. Alveolar lateral [l] occurs in word initial and medial positions. Alveolar trill [r] occurs initially, medially and finally.

	[l]		[r]
Initial :	l∂m	‘fathom’	r∂̀m	‘land’
Medial:	η∂̀lei	‘land’	η∂̀rei	‘to turn around’
Final	----		zúr	‘rainy season’

1.6 Consonant clusters

Only a few consonant clusters (intrasyllabic) and a fairly large number of consonant sequences (intersyllabic) are found in Tangkhul-Naga. Like other Tibeto-Burmic-Naga languages, the Tangkhul-Naga village dialects are very rich in word/syllable initial consonant clusters. But this feature gradually got lost in today’s standardized Tangkhul Naga with the introduction of school text books, dictionaries and grammars, and religious books, which were all written and compiled by the British missionaries in the late 19^th century. Today’s speakers have acquired the form of the non-native speakers’ works in which a lot of ‘vowel insertion’ had been made. Now, there are less than 10 intrasyllabic consonant clusters in the language which occur both in word initial and medial positions. As a rule consonant cluster does not occur in syllable final positions. As a rule consonant cluster does not occur in syllable final positions.

1.6.1. Initial cluster

There are nine types of two-member initial clusters

p + r	préì-nao	‘married woman’
p^h +r	p^hraηci	‘a red woolen blanket’
η + k	ηk∂̀ì	‘expression of unwillingness, rejection; ‘No’’
t + r	tràk^hà- t^hei	‘grapes’
k + w	kwa- t^hei	‘pan (betal nut)’
k + r	kruη	‘thundering sound’
k^h + r	k^hrus	‘cross’
t^h + r	t^hr∂ k	‘sound of clearing phlegm-filled throat’
y + r	yhèr yhèr	‘the way water flows out smoothly from a pipe’

1.6.2. Medial clusters

Almost any pair of consonants can occur in word medial position in a sequence as a syllable closing consonant, i.e. as coda margin, and as a syllable opening consonant, i.e., as an onset margin of a succeeding syllable. In many instances the clusters occur across the morpheme boundaries of the word concerned. Germinated consonants of the type – C₁C₁ – and intrasyllabic medial clusters are very few in number. Within the word boundary, the following patterns are usually attested. [Hyphen indicates syllable boundary]

1.6.2.1. Three consonant clusters

In a medial three- consonant cluster, the first phoneme is either a nasal, a stop of a trill; the second is a stop and the third is always trill [r].

mpr	c∂m-pra	‘lemon’
tt^hr	pìt-t^hrai	‘bronze’
ηkr	k^hòη-krao	‘trouzer’
kpr	prik-prǜ	‘a kind of spotted green pumpkin’

1.6.2.2. Heterogeneous clusters

All the following examples of consonant clusters are of the inter-syllabic type, that is, the first member of the sequence occurs a syllable closing consonant and the second as a syllable opening consonant.

(i)	Stop + Stop
	p + t	h∂̀p-ta	‘week’
	t + p	yòt-pi	‘nail’
	k + k^h	rìk-k^han	‘lightning’
	k + t	kok-tùì	‘cuckoo’

(ii)	Stop + Affricate/Fricative
	t + c	hùt-ci	‘parrot’
	t + s	l∂̀t-sai	‘a long-beaked ant-eating bird’
	k + c	kok-ca	‘cicada’
	k + z	kàη-zei	‘football’
(ii)	Stop + Nasal/Lateral/Trill
	t + c	hùt-ci	‘parrot’
	t + s	l∂̀t-sai	‘a long-beaked ant-eating bird’
	k + c	kok-ca	‘cicada’
	k + z	Kàη-zei	‘football’

(iii)	Stop + Nasal/Lateral/Trill
	p + l	lep-lei	‘auger’
	t + n	hòt-nà	‘to try’
	t + l	hòt-là	‘ash’
	t + r	ot-r∂ m	‘service’
	k + l	lìk-li	‘glass, bottle’
	k+ r	rìk-rǘ	‘porcupine’

(iv)	Nasal + Stop
	m + p	t∂ m-pak	‘valley’
	m + t	l∂m-ta	‘direction’
	n + t	kan-ta	‘bell’
	n + t^h	kan-t^há	‘quilt’
	η + t	pu η-ton	‘guava’
	η + k^h	h∂̀ η-k^ha	‘crow’

(v)	Nasal + Affrocate/Fricative
	m + s	k^ham - súí	‘walking stick’
	m + z	hàm-zik	‘adder’
	m= + f	r∂̀m-fü	‘jackal’
	M + v	c∂ m-vü	‘cicada’
	n + c	l∂ n-ci	‘straw’
	η + h	p^h∂ η-hai	‘husk’
	η + v	càη-véí	‘shield’
	η + z	šàη-ziη	‘name of a village’
	n + v	z∂ n-và	‘a pretty-colored bird frequenting rocky spots’

(vi)	Nasal + Lateral/Trill/Semi-vowel
	m + l	kom-la	‘orange’
	n + l	t∂ n-lùì	‘name of a village’
	n + r	c∂ n-rèì	‘highway’
	n + y	zin-yór	‘name of a species of sesame’
	η + 1	m∂ η-là	‘soul’
	η + y	yà η-yáó	‘swallow’
	η + r	cà η-réí	‘name of a species of paddy’

(vi)	Trill + Non-trill
	r + p^h	k^hor-p^hù η-là	‘water snail’
	r + t	yàr-tui	‘shoulder’
	r + k	kar-kàò	‘spider’
	r + f	c∂̀r-fü	‘window’
	r + v	s∂̀r-và	‘village priest’

From the above data of medial consonant clusters in Tangkhul-Naga it may be observed that the first members are nasals, lateral, trill and stops. Aspirated stops, fricatives and affricates do not occur in syllable final position in the language, and as such they do not occur as the first member in the medial clusters. It is also to be noted that all medial clusters shown above are inter-syllabic, and further combinations are possible across the morpheme boundaries in various derived/inflected words.

1.7 Tone

Tangkhul-Naga is a tone language having lexically significant, contrastive, but relative pitch on each syllable. Tone serves to distinguish the meanings of words otherwise composed of the same sound. The contrastive, lexical units of sound are phonemes, or, in tonal analysis, tonemes.

There are three ‘level’ tonemes and two ‘gliding’ tonemes in the language. By definition, a level toneme is one in which the pitch of a syllable does not rise or fall during its production whereas a gliding toneme is one in which the pitch of a syllable rises or falls, or some combination of rise and fall such as rising-falling or falling-rising occurs.

We can represent the level tonemes and gliding tonemes as under :

	Tone
Level			Gliding
High	=	á	High	+	Mid			=	á
Mid	=	a (not marked)	High	+	Low			=	â
Low	=	à	Low	+	Mid			=	a
			Low	+	High				ǎ
			High	+	Low	+	High	=	ã
			Low	+	High	+	Low	=	a

Level tones :
Mid	p^ha	‘to search’
High	p^há	‘be good’
Low	p^hà	‘to pluck’
Mid	pai	‘edible bulb’
High	páí	‘excreta’
Low	pàì	‘to fly’

Gliding tones :
Rising -Falling	ηâ?	‘buffaloes crying sound (especially when they are about to fight)’
Falling-rising	ηǎ :	‘small baby’s crying sound’

1.7.1. Allotones

Tangkhul-Naga tonemic rules are rather very regular. In most cases neighboring tonemes do not affect one another. There may be a change in the tone of a syllable in derivation and reduplication but not in compounding and inflection. Changes may, of course, occur to indicate interrogation emphasis, or the status of the speaker as compared to that of the addressee, or it may reflects various implications, such as politeness, threat, urgency, intensity, or proximity. The change of tonemes may also be caused by factors like emotion, or stylistics.

Examples :
sei	(Mid - toned)	‘Let’s go’ (request without respect)
séi	(High + Mid)	‘Let’ go’ (request without respect)
seì	(Mid + Low)	‘Let’s go’ (request with respect)
sèí	(Low + High)	(‘Let’s go’ (implying urgency and compulsion)
ó:	(High + toned)	‘Interjective expression of wonderment’
	(High + Mid)	‘expression of wonderment as something happened as expected’
ô:	(High + Low)	‘expression of wonderment as something expected does not happen’
õ:	(High + Low + High)	‘expression of wonderment and anger as something
õ:	(Low + High + Low)	‘expression of wonderment and insult as somebody cannot do something as expected’
mèì	(Low - toned)	‘Yes. (It is)’
méí	(High)	‘Is it? (I don’t believe)’
méi	(High + Mid)	‘Yes. (It is. Don’t ask me again)’
mèí	(Low-High)	‘Yes. (It would. Let’s not worry)’

1.7.2. Tonal change in derivation

The tone of a root is not changeable in the process of inflection and compounding. However, when a root is subjected to derivation, its tone is often changed obligatorily. The following examples illustrate tonal change in derivation of noun from roots. Tonal change in derivation is idiosyncratic and thus, no rule can be formulated.

Root		Derived noun
thì	‘to die’	à-t^hít	‘death’
sà	‘be hot’	à-sát	‘heat’
pak	‘be wide’	à-pàk	‘width’
lèì- šì	‘to love’	lei- šat	‘love’
k^hón- šì	‘to curse’	k^hón- šat	‘curse’
làη-so	‘be proud’	làη-sot	‘pride’
m∂η-mü	‘be foolish’	m∂η-mút	‘foolishness’

A more complicated tonal system might contain differential qualities of glides such as differences of beginning-point height, differences in beginning and ending points, differences of distance (slight fall; great fall), differences of time (shorter time; longer time), differences in correlation between the time and the distance of rise or fall (fast beginning rise with slow ending; slow beginning fall with fast ending), and so on.

1.8 Syllabic structure

Syllable may be defined as a unit of sound or sequence of sounds produced with a single pulse of air pressure from the lungs. A syllable may form one word or part of a word. In Tangkhul-Naga, a simple vowel (vocalic unit), a diphthong, a vocalic unit preceded by a consonant or consonant cluster, or a vocalic unit preceded and followed by consonants, form a syllable. Thus, Tangkhul-Naga syllable structure is :

(C) (C) V (V) (C)

Presence of a vowel is necessary in every syllabic structure. Permitted occurrence of initial and final consonants and their clusters determine the syllabic boundary of the language. In close wyllables final consonants form the syllabic boundary whereas in open syllables final vowel form the syllabic boundary. The vowel constitutes the ‘peak’ of the syllable.

A word level analysis of Tangkhul-Naga attests the following syllabic patterns. There can be one t four phonemic units in a syllable which can occur in their permissible order.

(Syllabic sequence of VV type are diphthongs and therefore, unsegmentable. [V represents semi-vowel]

(i)	V	i	‘I’
*(ii)	VV	∂̀i	‘yes (I will)’
*(iii)	VVC	àíš	‘expression of disbelieve or doubt’
(iv)	VV	yá	‘right (hand/side)’
(v)	VVV	yàò	‘sheep’
(vi)	VC	ot	‘thing’
(vii)	CVV	mei	‘fire’
(viii)	CVV	kwa	‘pan (betel nut)’
*(ix)	CVVV	k***ao	‘chicken’s crying sound in fright’
*(x)	CVVC	h∂̀ ís	‘expression of disagreement, disbelieve, or rejection’
(xi)	CCV	***k∂̀	‘No! (expression of unyielding)’
(xii)	CCVV	préi	‘rt. of ‘married woman’
(xiii)	CCVC	kruη	‘thundering sound’

All the above nine monosyllabic patterns, excluding the expressive words marked with asterisk, can constitute syllabic unit of a disyllabic or polysyllabic word.

1.9 Morphophonemics

Morphophonemic adjustments or changes take place in the process of inflection, derivation, compounding and reduplication. It reflects the relationship of the phonemic structure of the language to its grammatical structure. The morphophonemic patters of the language can be grouped as (a) phonologically conditioned and (b) morphologically conditioned alterations.

In the following discussion, attempt is made to present all the rules of euphonic combinations and morphological alterations or free variations under different heads according to the nature of different morphophonemic changes. In many cases these may overlap and interact one another too. [Symbols used under are : / for ‘or’; + for ‘followed by’; → for ‘is rewritten as’ ~ for ‘in free variation with; # for ‘word boundary’].

1.9.1. Phonologically conditioned alterations

1.9.1.1. Suffixation of /∂̀/

The most productive morphophonemic rules in the language are found in the suffixation of /∂̀/, a homophonous morpheme for (1) non-future marker; (2) nominal marker; (3) masculine marker; (4) attributive adjective marker. The phonological changes depend upon the morphemic status of /∂̀/.

Rules in non-future forms of verbs :

(i)		∂	→	i/V- #
					+		Back	-	Back
					-		High	+	Low
					-		Low
		as in
	a)	po + ∂̀	→	po – ì beg-NFUT ‘beg, begged’
	(b)	sá + à	→	sá-ì do-NFUT ‘do, did’
(ii)		∂	→	y∂/(V)V - #
					+		Back
					+		High
as in:
	(a)	pí + ∂̀	→	pí-y∂̀ sleep-NFUT’sleep, slept’
	(b)	sì + ∂̀	→	Bad-NFUT ‘is bad’
	(c)	théi+∂̀	→	t^héi+y∂̀ see-NFUT ‘see, saw’
(iii)		∂	→	w∂/VV - #
						+	Back
						+	High
as in :
	(a)	kào+∂̀	→	kào-w∂̀ thin-NFUT ‘is thin’
	(b)	teo-∂̀	→	teo-w∂̀ small-NFUT ‘is small’

if /∂̀/is nominal, masculine, agentive or attributive adjective marker, its phonemic status is always retained though it may affect the preceding phoneme. [Prefix /k∂̀/or /k^h∂̀/is the nominalizer or non-finite marker].

(1)	k∂̀-po NOMZ-beg	‘to beg, begging’
	k∂̀-po-∂̀	‘one who begs’
(2)	k∂̀-cik	‘black, blackness’
	k∂̀-cìk-∂̀	‘black, blackness, something whivh is black, one (M) who is black’

1.9.1.2. Affixation of /k∂/

/k∂̀/ is the nominalizer or non-finite marker. when it is followed b a vowel or snorant it becomes /k^h∂̀/

Rule :
k∂̀→k^h∂̀/-	[Vowel]/[Sonorant]#	k^h∂̀-m∂̀ η	‘to drink drinking’
k∂̀-pí	‘to sleep; sleeping’	m∂η-k^h∂̀-mü	‘to be foolish foolishness’
riη-k∂̀-p^há	‘to be happy, happiness’	k^h∂̀-ló̀	‘to buy buying’
k∂-sò	‘to praise, praising’	k^h∂̀-yam	‘ to flee fleeing’
k∂̀-k^hop	‘to stitch, stitching’	k^h∂̀-òn	‘to change changing’
k∂̀-hòr	‘to shine, shining’

1.9.2. Morphologically conditioned alterations

1.9.2.1.Contraction

Vocalic modification in a stem vowel is a very common phenomenon of morphological alterations. contraction of the final two morphemes occurs optionally in deriving agentive nouns or attributive adjectives. Examples :

(1) k^h∂̀-lí

NF-steal ‘to steal, stealing’

k^h∂̀-lí-y∂̀ ~ k^h∂̀-lé

NF-steal-AGT NF-steal+AGT ‘thief’

(2) m∂tùì- k^h∂̀-mì

speak-NF-give ‘to speak/speaking for others’

m∂̀tùi- k^h∂̀-mi-y∂̀ ~ m∂tù̀i-mè

speak-NF-give-AGT speak-give + AGT ‘speakers’

(3) k^h ∂ -ní ‘two’

k∂̀-ní-y∂̀ ~ k∂̀- k^h ∂ té

NF-two-AFT/ATTRI NF-two +AGT/ATTRI ‘second’

(4) m∂̀tì ‘four’

k^h∂̀-m∂̀tì - y∂̀ ~ k^h∂̀-m∂̀tè

NF-four-AGT/ATTRI NF-four+AGT/ATTRI ‘fourth’

1.9.2.2.Changes in nominalization

Alteration takes place in the process of nominalization of verbal stems ending in high vowel. this is found only in the following few examples :

lèi-k∂̀- šì	‘love; loving’	→	lei-šat	‘love’
rì η-k∂̀ -šì	‘be/being poor’	→	rì η-šat	‘poverty’
là η-k∂̀-so	‘be/being proud’	→	làη-sót	‘pride’
m∂ η-k^h∂̀-mü	‘be/being foolish’	→	m∂η-mút	‘foolishness’

Apart from the above-mentioned alterations, there are a few other types of alterations found in some constructions (derivation, inflection, compounding and reduplication). They will be discussed further in the following chapters.