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PHONOLOGY |
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2.1
In Yerava 11 short vowel phones, 7 long vowel phones, 23 consonant phones and 6 suprasegmental phones are identified. Among the 11 short vowel phones, 4 are front unrounded, 3 are central unrounded and 4 are back rounded. And out the 7 long vowel phones, 3 are front rounded, one is central unrounded and 3 are back rounded. Among the 23 consonant tones, 10 are stops, one is a fricative, one is an affricate, 6 are nasals, 2 are laterals, one is a trill and 2 are semi vowels. And out of the 6 suprasegmental phones, 3 are junctures and another three are terminal contours. |
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| Through phonemicization, 36 phonemes are arrived , Out of these phonemes, 10 are vowels—5 short and 5 long, are consonants—10 stops, one affricate, 4 nasals, 2 laterals, one trill, 2 semivowels, and 6 suprasegmentals—3 juncture and terminal contours. |
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In Yerava phonology it is to be noted that a gap exists in the affricate slot; only a voiceless affricate is present and the voiced affricate is conspicuous by its absence. |
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In some of the frequent words like /ku i/ 'drink', in the speech of all the informants, the voiceless ll and voiced / /, retroflex stops which have a phonemic status are in free variation. The frequency of occurrence of bilabial voiced stop /b/, apico-dental voiced stop /d/, palatal voiced stop /j/ and velar voiced stop /g/ in word initial position is comparatively less when compared to the occurrence of their voiceless counterparts. |
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| 2.2 Phonetic chart |
2.2.1 Segmentals |
Short vowels |
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Front
Unrounded |
Central
Unrounded |
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| High |
i |
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u |
| Lower-high |
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U |
| Higher-mid |
e |
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o |
| Mean-mid |
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á |
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| Lower-mid |
E |
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O |
| Higher-low |
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A |
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| Low |
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a |
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| Long vowels |
| High |
i: |
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u: |
| Higher-mid |
e: |
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o: |
| Lower-mid |
E: |
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O: |
| Low |
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a: |
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