LANGUAGE IN INDIA

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Volume 22:12 December 2022
ISSN 1930-2940

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Phonemic Inventory in Mising Language

Nisha Paul, M.A. Linguistics

Abstract

The present study, "Phonemic Inventory in Mising Language," discusses the Mising language of Assam. The research study has been conducted to find out the phonological features of the language. According to the 2011 Indian Census, the total population of Mising is around 6,000 people. Mising belongs to the Tibeto-Burman language family of the Sino-Tibetan group, residing on the banks of the Brahmaputra Valley in Assam and in some parts of Arunachal Pradesh.

The paper attempts to discuss "Phonemic Inventory in Mising Language." The Mising language has a total of twenty-eight (29) segmental phonemes in its phonetic inventory, including fourteen vowels (14) and fifteen (15) consonants. Firstly, the paper emphasises the consonant sound in the language. Plosive /p, b, t, d, k/, nasal /m, n/, trill /r/, fricative /s, z/, approximant /j/, and lateral approximant /l/ are among the fourteen consonant sounds in the language. Secondly, the paper will emphasise the vowel sounds in the Mising language, including long and short vowels.

The paper focuses on contrastive pairs and the syllabic structure found in the language. Lastly, the paper attempts to find out the variety of consonant sequences in the language: germination, homorganic, and contiguous.

Keywords: Mising, consonants, vowels, contrastive pairs, syllabic structure, consonant sequence.

Introduction

Mis(h)ing, also known as "plain miri," is a Tani language from the Eastern Tani branch of the Sino-Tibetan subgroup belonging to the Tibeto-Burman language family. It is the second-largest community in Assam. It is one of the endangered languages spoken in the states of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. A British Administrator named J.F Needham in his publication of Outline of Grammar of Shaiyang Miri language in 1886 was the first to mention that the Miris call themselves ‘Mishing’ using ‘h’ in spelling the word (Chetia.M,2020).

Mising has a total population of 5,51,182 people, according to the 2001 Indian census. According to the Mising Autonomous Council 2001, the population is 7,87,436. According to the census of India 2011, the total number of Mising population is 6,00,000 approximately. Mising language speakers are mostly found in Assam's Brahmaputra Valley districts and Arunachal Pradesh's East Siang, Lower Dibang, Namsai, and Lohit districts in the hills of the upper Brahmaputra Valley. The language consists of nine dialects: Pagro, Dílu, Ojan, Sajang, Moying, Dambug, Samuguria, Tamargoja, and Bongkhul. The Samuguria, Tamargoja, and Bongkhul groups have largely adopted Assamese (an Indo-Aryan language) in preference to Mising for the majority of language situations (Doley.S. & Post.M.W 2012: 3.3). Based on the population and its rich culture, research has been conducted.

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

Nisha Paul, M.A. Linguistics
nishapaul1998@gmail.com
Assam University, Silchar
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