LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 21:3 March 2021
ISSN 1930-2940

Editors:
         Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D.
         B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
         A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D.
         G. Baskaran, Ph.D.
         T. Deivasigamani, Ph.D.
         Pammi Pavan Kumar, Ph.D.
         Soibam Rebika Devi, M.Sc., Ph.D.

Managing Editor & Publisher: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.

Celebrate India!
Unity in Diversity!!

HOME PAGE

Click Here for Back Issues of Language in India - From 2001

BOOKS FOR YOU TO READ AND DOWNLOAD FREE!

REFERENCE MATERIALS

BACK ISSUES

  • E-mail your articles and book-length reports in Microsoft Word to languageinindiaUSA@gmail.com.

  • PLEASE READ THE GUIDELINES GIVEN IN HOME PAGE IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE LIST OF CONTENTS.

  • Your articles and book-length reports should be written following the APA, MLA, LSA, or IJDL Stylesheet.

  • The Editorial Board has the right to accept, reject, or suggest modifications to the articles submitted for publication, and to make suitable stylistic adjustments. High quality, academic integrity, ethics and morals are expected from the authors and discussants.

Copyright © 2020
M. S. Thirumalai

Publisher: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.
11249 Oregon Circle
Bloomington, MN 55438
USA
Custom Search

Consonantal System of Dukpa

Pinki Wary, Ph.D. Scholar and Prof. S. Ganesh Baskaran

Abstract

Dukpa belongs to the Central Bodish group of Tibeto-Burman language family (Bradley 1997). The term Dukpa originated from the Tibetan word Drugpa. Drug means ‘dragon’ and pa means ‘resident’ which literally co-defined the meaning of ‘the resident of the dragon land’. The total population of Dukpa is not mentioned in the Census of India. They are also one of the smaller and lesser-known tribes living in the Buxa hill forest of Alipurduar district, West Bengal with a population of 1951 according to 2011 Census of Kalchini block of Alipurdaur district, West Bengal.

The present paper is an attempt to describe the Consonantal system of Dukpa. Dukpa has twenty three/23 consonantal sounds including two semi- vowels. They are /p, ph, b, t, th, d, c, ch, k, kh, g, m, n, ?, ?, s, z, ?, h, r, l, w, and y/. Consonant combination in Dukpa can classified three categories these are: (i) consonant cluster (ii) consonant sequence and (iii) geminate. Dukpa has initial and medial consonant clusters that occur within the syllabic boundary. Two consonant clusters are present in the language i.e., initial and medial but final cluster remains absent. Consonantal sequences and geminates are only in medial position of a word.

Keywords: Central Bodish, consonantal system, combinations, consonant cluster, consonant sequence.

Introduction

Dukpa is name of the community as well as language. Dukpa is one of the endangered languages spoken in Buxa hill forest of Alipurduar district, West Bengal. They are living amidst of the fellow Nepalis for many years and have been able to maintain its traditional socio-cultural traits in spite of having less numerical strength. The term Dukpa have derived from the Tibetan word Drugpa. Drug means ‘dragon’ and pa means ‘resident’; literary meaning is resident of the dragon land. The language is very rich in folk literature like songs, dance, riddles, proverbs, etc. They live in a hilly terrain covered within the forest of Buxaduar, Chunabhati, Tasigaon, Lepchakha, Lamna, Fulbari, Lalbangla, Daragaon, Khataline, Ochulum, Sogao, Dilsokha, Chetegang and Adma. According to the Dukpa people, they are also scattered in Bhutan and their language is quite different from the Indian Dukpas. According to the Census of Kalchini block 2011, the total population of Dukpa is 1951.

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

Pinki Wary, Ph.D. Scholar
pinkiwary12@gmail.com

Prof. S. Ganesh Baskaran
baskaranld@gmail.com
Department of Linguistics, Assam University
Custom Search
  • Click Here to Go to Creative Writing Section

  • Send your articles
    as an attachment
    to your e-mail to
    languageinindiaUSA@gmail.com.
  • Please ensure that your name, academic degrees, institutional affiliation and institutional address, and your e-mail address are all given in the first page of your article. Also include a declaration that your article or work submitted for publication in LANGUAGE IN INDIA is an original work by you and that you have duly acknowledged the work or works of others you used in writing your articles, etc. Remember that by maintaining academic integrity we not only do the right thing but also help the growth, development and recognition of Indian/South Asian scholarship.