The
functional load of contrast between the alveolar affricates and
their palatal counterparts is very very low as noted earlier.
8. ts ÷ tsh
ts
‘head’
tsh
‘to roll (paper)’
9. c ÷ ch
c
‘tea’
mci
‘salt’
ch
‘ray’ mchi
‘funnel’
10. f ÷ v
f
‘irritating smell’
tf
‘dog’
v
‘to beat’
thv
‘fowl’
11. s ÷
÷ z ÷
s
‘thick’
‘wing’
z ‘to recline’
‘night’
12. m ÷ n ÷
(th)mi
‘man’
ni
‘they (du)’
i
‘ear’
13.
÷ h
‘to be mad’
mh
‘to be shy’
14. mh ÷ nh
mh
‘thing’
nh
‘grass’
15. l ÷ r ÷
lh ÷ rh
l
‘for’
r
‘place, village’
lh
‘to search’
mrh
‘basket’
16. w ÷ v ÷ wh
w
‘bison’
v
‘to be good’
wh
‘to pick up from fire’
17. y ÷ yh
y
‘to defend’
hy
‘to raise hands’
1.0.5. Semi-Vowels
Semi-vowels have been posited for the following reasons as
opposed to diphthongs in their place:
(1) A dipthong alone does not constitute a syllable so that /w/
‘bison’ which is a syllable can not be [i]
(2) As Angami has frincativized semi-vowels, a positing of a
vowel as part of adiphthong instead of a semi-vowel would lead
to the impossible situation of fricativized vowels.
(3) Angami does not have a sequence of three vowels in a
morpheme so that /ky/
‘marriage’ can not be analysed as [kia].
ts
‘head’
‘to roll (paper)’
‘tea’
m
ci
‘salt’
‘ray’ m
‘irritating smell’
t
‘fowl’
÷ z ÷
‘man’
ni
‘thing’
‘bison’
‘to pick up from fire’
i]
a].
‘to defend’
‘to cover’
‘strong’
