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The Vowel System of Maola
The Vowel System of Maola
Introduction
The Maos inhibit the northern part of Manipur State of India, bounded by similar Naga tribes such as
the Angami and Chakhesang tribes in the north, the Maram naga tribes in the west and south, and the Tankhul
and Poumai tribes in the east. The Maos are also known as Memei or Ememei, in their own language. According
to Grierson (1903),Maola is included in the Naga Kuki group of the Tibeto-Burman language family. Benedict
P.K. (1972) described that Maola belongs to the Naga group of Sino-Tibetan language family. According to
Scott Delancy(1987)Maola belongs to the Naga group under the Assam Burmese section of the Tibeto-Burman
language family. Ethnoculturally, the Mao is with the Nagas of Nagaland being closely related to the Angami
Nagas (P.P.Giridhar 1994)
There are so few written works on Maola such as Mao Naga Grammar by P.P.Giridhar(1994).The
Mao English Dictionary by Fr. Dr. William Nepuni (2014).George van Driem(2001) put the Mao language as
one of the Angami-Pochuri languages classified as an independent branch of the Tibeo-Burman languages.
Daniel.M.(2008) has also written about the socio-cultural and religious life of Mao Naga tribe.
II.
Articulation
In Maola, six vowel phonemes can be established as /i, e, ,a, o, u/. These vowel phonemes are
generally classified in terms of three main articulatory dimensions viz.
i. The degree to which the mouth is opened.
ii. the position of the highest part of the tongue and
iii. The position of the lips.
In the high vowels such as /i/ and /u/, the position of the tongue is high in the mouth. The mid vowels
like /e/, //, and /o/, the position of tongue is low in the mouth. In the horizontal axes, front vowels /i/ and /e/,
the tongue is forward in the mouth. The central vowels, //and /a/, the position of the tongue in central part is
raised and in the back vowels i.e.: /u/ and /o/, the position of tongue is also towards the back of the mouth. The
front and central vowels i.e. /i, e, a and / are known as unrounded vowel phonemes and back vowels i.e.
/u/and/o/ are known as rounded vowel phonemes. It is shown as below:
os
osa
breath
shawl
u/o
ovu
ovo
star
pig
i/o
ozi
ozo
share
face
DOI: 10.9790/0837-20352225
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tala
talo
throat
easy
i/e
mati
mate
salt
sorry
a/e
mada
made
folk yell
basket
village
yesterday
today
Medial
pito
pikhra
piki
cucumber
bat
ant
Final
oleli inside
obi
trunk
osi
dog
of the vowel
is as follows:
Medial
hedz
khebi
belu
ideko
tears
stag
november
last year
Final
kohe
ne
kase
kade
problem
suckle
collision
barking
who
me/I
myself
we
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Medial
kahi
kavabv
oramei
prakolo
near
lamp
god
evolution
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Final
kasa
kata
kaka
asa
friend
marshy
cross
happy
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Medial
dzhe
osri
ojphe
kakrco
Final
phits
bobv
nos
mos
umbrella
windpipe
universe
talking
heel
stomach
temple
liver
The back vowels: During the production of back vowels, the back of the tongue is raised towards the soft
palate. The descriptions of the back vowel of Maola are /o/ and /u/.
/o/: The position of the speech organs during the production of this vowel is described as:
(i)
The height of the back of the tongue is the same as the height of the front of the tongue for /e/.It is
a little lower than the height for /u/.
(ii)
The lips are rounded.
(iii)
The soft palate is in its raised position.
(iv)
The vocal cords vibrate.
/o/: It occurs at the medial and final positions.
Examples:
Initial
oha
osi
oratu
ou
religion
dog
camel
deer
Medial
movu
king
nobi
ear
mozo equal
omoro garlic
Final
kovo
vtho
odo
olo
bamboo
banana
field
song
/u/:The production of this vowel may be described with the following movements of the speech organs:
(i)
The back of the tongue is raised to the highest position as in the case of/i/.
(ii)
The lips are rounded.
(iii)
The soft palate is raised.
(iv)
The vocal cords are in vibration.
/u/: It occurs at the medial and final position.
Examples:
Medial
ovuni
oruna
otuc
khubu
sand
weapon
stable
gun
Final
obu
cu
nolu
oru
place
peep
young
war
Diphthongs of Maola
Diphthongs are very rare in this language. In Maola only the diphthong /i/ is found..In this diphthong
the tongue glides from the first vowel to the second vowel and the second vowel is more prominent.
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III.
Conclusion
This paper briefly shows the six vowel phonemes of Maola. They are /i, e, , a, o and u/. Not all the
vowel phonemes can occur at the initial, medial and final positions of words. Only the vowels /i, e, , o and a/
can occur in the initial position. The vowel /u/ cannot occur at the initial position. The initial position of vowel
/o/ is found maximum in this language. In addition only the diphthong /i/ is found in this language. It is also
found that the maximum words in this language end with a vowel sound.
Bibliography
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