A Study on Rongmei Syllable Structure

Abstract

A syllable is a sound or succession of a sounds uttered within a single breath-impulse. Syllable is a unit of pronunciation consisting of a vowel alone or of a vowel with one or more consonants. Phonologically, the syllable is “a unit containing one and only one vowel either alone or surrounded by consonants in certain arrangements”. (O’Connor 1973). It is generally accepted that nucleus is obligatory in all languages, thus, the same is true in case of Rongmei. Rongmei is one of the schedule tribe of Northeast India, mainly concentrated in Assam (Barak Valley), Manipur and Nagaland. Ethnically, Rongmeis are Mongloids and their language belongs to Kuki-Naga section of the Kamarupan group of the Baric sub-division of Tibeto-Burman family of languages (Matisoff, 2001). The analysis indicates that Rongmei treats both onset and coda as optional. Besides, the clustering phenomenon is absent at both onset position coda position. This paper is an effort to look into the possible syllable structure in Rongmei Naga language spoken in Barak Valley of South Assam.

Keywords: Syllable, Syllable Tree, Heavy Syllable, Light Syllable, Syllable Structure,

DOI: 10.7176/JLLL/56-07

Publication date:May 31^st 2019