LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 13:8 August 2013
ISSN 1930-2940

Managing Editor: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.
Editors: B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
         Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D.
         B. A. Sharada, Ph.D.
         A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D.
         Lakhan Gusain, Ph.D.
         Jennifer Marie Bayer, Ph.D.
         S. M. Ravichandran, Ph.D.
         G. Baskaran, Ph.D.
         L. Ramamoorthy, Ph.D.
Assistant Managing Editor: Swarna Thirumalai, M.A.

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Identity of Meiteilon Segmental Phonemes

Dr. Irom Robindro Singh, Ph.D.

Introduction

Manipuri, also known as Meiteilon, the native tongue of the Meiteis, is a member of the Kuki-Chin group of the Arakan-Burmese branch of the Tibeto-Burman sub-family of the Sino-Tibetan family of languages. M. A. Pie & F. Gaynor, 1954 and Grierson (1908) considered it to be a link between Kuki-Chin languages and Kachin languages. Shafer (1966) included it under a separate branch called Meithei, which comes under Kukish section of the Burmic division. Geographically, Manipuri is the connecting link between the two important members, i.e., Tibetan and Burmese. The Himalayan, Assam (Indic language) and Naga groups of the Tibeto-Burman Sub-family separate Manipuri in the North and Northeast from the Tibetan. In the South and Southeast, there are Kuki-Chin and Kachin groups of the sub-family between the two sister languages, i.e., Manipuri and Burmese. Grierson LSI, (part-III, Vol. III) mentions that it sometimes agrees more closely with Burmese, and even with Tibetan, than with the Kuki-Chin languages proper. Nevertheless, Manipuri is intimately related to Burmese, Tibetan and in some ways, with Chinese. We have to make a note of the fact that Manipuri and its three sister languages developed on parallel lines with their peculiar dialectal predispositions and often developed contradictory idiosyncrasies.

1. Meiteilon Speech Sounds

Despite having dialectal variations Manipuri has twenty four consonant sounds including /??/, which is found only with /??????? ‘cymbal’, twelve vowel sounds of which six pure vowels and six diphthongs under segmental phonemes, and two tones under suprasegmental phonemes, i.e., level and falling. Suprasegmental phoneme is not discussed here in this article.

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

Dr. Irom Robindro Singh, Ph.D.
Academic Resource Person
Department of Manipuri
Northeastern Regional Language Centre
Beltola College Road
Guwahati-781 028
Assam
India
drrobindro@sify.com
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