| |
Front |
Retroflex |
Central |
Back |
| high |
i |
|
|
ü |
| |
I |
|
|
U |
| highmid |
e |
ë |
|
|
| mid low |
E |
|
e |
|
| low |
|
|
a |
|
| |
Tone |
High |
marked
by |
/ '/ |
| |
|
Level |
unmarked |
|
| |
|
Low |
marked
by |
/ \/ |
|
|
|
1.11 Syllable Division |
| A word can be defined
in Missing as the minimum unit of forms both free and bound (with
some exceptions). Free forms are those, which may or may not contain
bound forms (such as inflectional and derivative particles) in their
constituent elements. The compounds i.e., combinations of more than
one free form, have also been treated as free forms and hence they
are to be taken as words. Only those bound forms, which occur at grammatical
levels higher than words such as phrase, clause and sentence, have
been treated as words. |
| Words, when uttered, have
differences in sonority from one point to the next. This is caused
by voicing furnished by the vocal cords and by the amount of air coming
from the lungs and of resonance produced by its passage through the
organs of speech. We will define syllable as a segment of speech which
aare more sonorous than consonants, form peaks and are the nuclei
of syllables. In other words, in any Missing word, there are as many
syllables as there are vowels. By and large, Missing words are disyllabic.
Words having more than two syllables including compounds are derived
words. A few mono-syllabic words are also available, but most of them
are bound forms. If a syllable has CVC pattern, the first consonant
is called onset and the second consonant occurring after vowel is
called coda. If a syllable ends in a vowel, it is known as an open
syllable, and if it ends in consonant, it is a closed syllable. |
| 1.11.1 In Mising, the structure
of an open syllable is |
|
Ā± C + V |
| /é] |
'yes' |
| /má/ |
'not' |
/  / |
'I' |
|
|
| 1.11.2 The structure of
closed syllable is usually |
| Ā±
C + V + C |
/ g/
|
'pig'
|
/ën/
|
'woman'
|
|
/pan/
|
'betel leaf'
|
|
|
| Examples
of syllabic patterns |
| V |
/í/ |
'blood' |
| VV |
/ui/ |
'spirit' |
| VC |
/pë/ |
'at' |
| CVC |
/dë / |
'country' |
| CVCV |
/d t/ |
'eat' |
| CVCVV |
/babi/ |
'uncle' |
| CVV |
/tëu/ |
'yet' |
| CVVC |
/këig/ |
'down' |
| CVVCV |
/mida/ |
'flour' |
| |
/kina/ |
'bride' |
| CVVCVC |
/gana/ |
'ornament' |
| |
/tatk/ |
'up' |
| CVCVC |
/këbu/ |
'rat' |
| CVCCV |
/tumpi/ |
'semen' |
| CVCCVC |
/mittup/ |
'head' |
| CVCCVCVV |
/miglúrië/ |
'blind' |
| CVCVCCV |
/pkuklu/ |
'owl' |
| CVCVCCVC |
/mëlignam/ |
'putting' |
|
|
