LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 23:5 May 2023
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

Poetic Encounter
Available in https://www.amazon.in/dp/B09TT86S4T

Poems
Naked: the honest browsings of two brown women
Available in https://www.amazon.in

Decrees
Available in https://www.amazon.com




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 © 2023
M. S. Thirumalai

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


Custom Search

Consonantal Phonemes in Lotha:
A Study of Inventory, Realization, and Distribution

Yantsubeni Ngullie, PhD and Barika Khyriem, PhD


Abstract

The phonemic inventory of Lotha consonants, a Tibeto-Burman language spoken by the Lotha people in Nagaland, India offers a remarkable inventory of consonants in Lotha.The study focuses on the inventory of consonants in the language, their phonetic realization, and their distribution in different phonological contexts. Lotha has thirty-seven consonantal phonemes that can be further classified based on their manner of articulation and place of articulation. Lotha consonants are divided into two classes: obstruents and sonorants. The obstruents consist of plosives, fricatives, and affricates, and are predominantly voiceless, whereas the sonorants comprises of nasals, liquids, and approximants, and are generally voiced. The study reveals that Lotha exhibits a sizeable inventory of obstruent sounds, with twenty-three consonantal phonemes, and fourteen sonorant phonemes. The work examines the voicing properties of these consonantal phonemes, with seventeen voiceless obstruents, six voiced obstruents, eight voiced sonorants, and six voiceless sonorants. The paper provides an in-depth analysis of Lotha consonants and their distribution of sounds in the language.

Keywords: Lotha, Naga, Tibeto-Burman, Phonology, Consonants, Voicing, Articulation

Introduction

1.1. Brief background of the Language

Genetically Lotha belongs to the central Naga group of the Tibeto-Burman sub-branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family, which is spoken by an estimated population of 179,000 individuals, as per the Census of India, 2011. Lotha is spoken all over Nagaland, with the majority of speakers residing in the Wokha district. Lotha does not possess its own script, and instead utilizes the Roman script introduced by the British and American Missionaries during the late 19th century.

Despite having various dialectal variations, linguistic variation in Lotha is primarily observed at the lexical variation, specifically in the accent of the speakers, which may vary from village to village due to regional differences. Literary works in Lotha are predominantly composed in the variety spoken in central villages, specifically in and around Wokha town.

The study focuses on the standard variety of the Lotha language spoken in and around Wokha Town. By examining this variety, the study aims to provide a comprehensive analysis of the language's sound system, with a particular focus on the consonantal phonemes. Through this analysis, we hope to contribute to a deeper understanding of the Lotha consonantal phonemes.


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


YantsubeniNgullie, PhD
yansngul@gmail.com
North-Eastern Hill University

BarikaKhyriem, PhD
barikhyriem14@gmail.com
North-Eastern Hill 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.