DESCRIPTION AND DISTRIBUTION
Vowels :
Front Vowels
/i/ has two allophones [ I ] and [ i ]. /i/ is realized as [ I ], a lower-high front unrounded vowel initially and medially.
Examples :
Phonetic	Phonemic	Meaning
ItI	iti	‘be dark’
Ihan	ihan	‘mud’
Ičhi	ichi	‘one’
pInu	pinu	‘mother’s younger sister’
jIrpi	jirpi	‘girl friend’
kalIte	kalite	‘otherwise’
mÌr	mír	‘flower’
/i/ is realized as [i], a high front unrounded vowel in the final position of words.
bIni	bini	‘ornament maker’
damji	damji	‘will go’
krdi	kardi	‘heavy’
Ili	ili	‘we, our’
krbi	karbi	‘a language/people’
onti	onti	‘ear ring’
/e/ has two allophones [ ] and {E}. /e/ is realized as [ ε ], a lower-mid front unrounded
vowel medially in close syllables before bilabial or alveolar consonants.
nεp	nep	‘catch’
abεr	aber	‘down, low’
kEdεr	keder	‘late’
pεt	pet	‘go/move near’
dvεt	det	‘country’
chεt	chet	‘pound rice a second time’
EnvElεp	envelep	‘envelope’
/e/ is realized as [E], a mean-mid front unrounded vowel elsewhere.
mEk	mek	‘wound, letter in alphabet’
ithEk	ithek	‘big mole’
E	E	‘expression of disagreement’
Eda	eda	‘a half Mon (one Mon is forty kilogram)’
klEm	klem	‘do’
nIE	nije	‘speak’
cEthE	cethe	‘soul’
rUphE	ruyphe	‘black cobra’
Central Vowels
/a/ has three allophones [ a ], [], and [a]. /a/ is realized as [ a ], a low-back unrounded vowel after velar and glottal consonants: (i) in