| (ii)
Implied contrast in relation to presupposition on the part of the
speaker: |
|
(a)
|
mun·a
|
jagar
Ūdariam
|
[.
. . ./. .]
|
‘Can
you speakMunda? (I think you can’t)’.
|
|
(b)
|
naa?
|
Ūlanda tana-e
|
[
../. . . .]
|
‘Now he laughs(While he had to weep
before).
|
|
|
| Mundas seldom use
such clauses with a marked difference from the pattern given above
to show a contrast with what follows. Such meanings are generally
implied by the context. |
| 1.15.Length |
| Two identical vowels
within the same syllable (as per the accepted definition of a syllable)
are pronounced as a long vowel since it is articulatorily perhaps
impossible to render it otherwise. The vowels of other lengths are
predictable. Consonant length is also allophonic. Length in consonants
is to be observed in [CVCV], [VCvC] or [VCVC] positions
on the underlined consonants in case they are unvoiced stops. The
examples have been given elsewhere. |
| The length in a vowel
ranges from very long to very short in many shades so that it can
be perceived by the ear in a relative manner. It depends upon the
various factors indicated below: |
| (i) The nature
of the vowel itself: /a/ takes slightly more duration than/e/ or /i/
specially if both are pronounced in a sequence of two indentical vowels. |
| (ii) The nature
of adjoining sound: The length is greatest before [ø]
with the nasalized vowel as in [da):øa]
‘to search’. Again before [g], [r],
[ø·]
the vowel is slightly longer than the normal. A vowel before a following
glottalized vowel is also lengthened as in [boo?] ‘head’.
The final vowel specially in [CV] form is a long vowel. The initial
or final single vowel comprising a separate syllable which should
be generally short and stressed is optionally lengthened instead,
as [a.pu] ‘father’ and so on. |
| (iii)
Rise of pitch: Within the intonation pattern of a sentence or even
within a word high pitch is generally accompanied by length in place
of stress. |
| The shortest vowels
are the release vowels occurring as a manner with unvoiced stops clustering
with other consonants medially in a word. All the said lengths are
again only relative. |
| 1.16.
Juncture |
| 1.16.0. Introduction:
Juncture, here, stands for all the transitional features, including
pause, which account for explaining phonological distribution and
establishing morphological boundaries. This feature is important with
reference to Mundari because Mundari utterances are formed of easily
segment able strings of morphemes. Although usually juncture is used
as a device to establish word boundaries, but in case of this dialect
this criterion cannot be used strictly because of difficulty in recognizing
and delivering a word. However, since the rate or speed of speech
often eliminates various occurrences of junctures, the analysis has
been made here with reference to slow and cautions speech. |
| 1.16.1.
Identification of open juncture: |
| 1.16.1.0. Introduction:
By study of juncture is understood the study of open juncture taking
the close juncture as reference point. Open junctures may be and are
of various types or may have few sub-members which can be indicated
in many ways but in contrast to the close they are all open which
can broadly be named ‘plus (+) juncture’. This necessarily
implies a third category of terminal junctures which are not ‘plus’
since they occur at the end of an utterance. The terminals are intergral
part of intonation and entirely depend upon the pitch. Therefore,
more difficulty is experienced only in recognizing the various types
of open or plus junctures. Again, since the degree of duration in
a juncture is not pertinent in this dialect there will be no classification
in this respect. |
