Contract
of / /
and /:/
may be seen in the following: |
|
|
/o:/ |
This is a high-mid back vowel with a slant towards
a short diphthong /ou/. It occurs in medial positions
only as /où/ and in final positions mostly
as /ou/. It is also used in combination with other
vowels to derive other diphthongs like /uo/ and
/uou/. When it forms a diphthong the sound is closer
to short /o/ or / /.
In {-loù} and {-boù}2 which
also function as affixes, the [-où] tends
to be pronounced as [ou]. Thus, the correct representation
of {-loù} and {-boù} would be {-lou}
and {-bou} respectively. Their uses in full forms
could be seen in the following examples. |
/ hángló:vìn/~ |
/ha louin/
|
[take part no] |
‘in absance of’ |
| /rúolbó:vín/
~ |
/ruolbouin/
|
[friend no] |
‘alone’ |
| /níló:vé/
~ |
/niloue/
|
[it is no] |
‘no’, never’ |
|
|
|
|
|
| Here,
infixation of ‘v’ is optional. |
When
/o:/ follows /o/ to form a diphthong, [o:] becomes
short [o]. But if length is maintained, initial
[u] becomes almost silent. Thus /o:/ and /o/ vary
extensively. Therefore, both are considered to be
the members of one phoneme /o:/. The following examples
showing variance of /o:/ and /ou/ could be seen. |
Initial
|
| /Ó:~Úo~Ó:/
|
‘proud’, ‘conceited’ |
| /Ò:r~Ùor~Ò:r/
|
‘emphasise’
|
| /Ò:p~Ùop~Ò:p/
|
‘stew’
|
| /Ò:~Ùou~Ò:u/
|
‘yes’
|
| /Ùoi~Ò:i/
|
‘swing’,
‘long-lasting’ |
| /Ùok~Ò:k/
|
‘denial’
|
| /Ùoláu~Ó:láu/
|
‘openly’
|
| /Úoi-ín-ài~Ó:i-ín-à:i/
|
‘indecisive’
|
| /úorsúol~Ó:rsÓ:l/ |
‘over-emphasise’
|
/úo thúo~ó:thÓ:/
|
‘arrogant’
‘boastful’ |
| |
|
Medial
|
| /dúoi~dÓ:i/
|
‘much’,
‘defeated’ |
| /núoi~nÓ:i/
|
‘a
lakh’ |
| /phúoi~phó:i/ |
‘soft
wool of palm’ |
| /kùoi~kÒ:i/
|
‘invite’
|
| /àkùoi~àkÒ:i/
|
‘fish
hook’ |
| /ìnphúoi~ìnphÓ:i/
|
‘dishevelled’
|
| /vàdúoi~và:dÓ:i/
|
‘unlucky’
|
| /huoitu~ho:itu/
|
‘leader’
|
| /hnúoitìe~hnÓ:itìe/
|
‘beneath’,
down-side’ |
| /bùoiná~bò:iná/
|
‘trouble’
|
| /chúochùn~có:cùn/
|
‘thus’,
‘then’, ‘and’ |
| /rópúi~róupûi/
|
‘glorious’
|
| /thòhúr~thòuhúr/
|
‘a
species of ant’ |
/thòtáwl~thòu l/
|
‘a
species of fly’ |
| /ìnhròsà~ìnhròusà:/
|
‘to
be prepared for assault’ |
| /móthár~móuthár/
|
‘new
bride’ |
| /mónéitù~móunéitù:/
|
‘bride
groom’ |
| /nótú~nóutú/
|
‘mug’
|
| /lólài~lóulà:i/
|
‘jhum
area’ |
| |
|
Final
|
| /ló:~lóu/
|
‘jhum’
|
| /tó~tóu/
|
‘costly’
|
| /nó~nóu/
|
‘cup’
|
| /mó~móu/
|
‘bride’
|
|
k/
