SOUTH ASIAN LANGUAGE REVIEW

VOL.XVIII. No. 1, January 2008.

Phonological Structure of Thadou

Pauthang Haokip
Assam University, Silchar

Abstract. The present study describes the phonetic and phonemic

structures of the segmental and suprasegmental sounds of Thadou, a
Tibeto-Burman language spoken in Myanmar (Burman) and India.
Among the segmental sounds, eight vowels and twenty one consonants
have been established. Under the suprasegmental feature, three tones
have been posited in monosyllabic words in isolation and two tones at
the lexical level. Like many tonal Asian languages, the syllable is a
crucial phonological unit in Thadou and often the syllable ending
consonants play an important role in determining tone. Depending on
whether a syllable is open or close, vowels in Thadou can be either short
or long. However, the contrast between short and long vowel is
contrastive only in closed syllable. As in many Kuki-Chin languages,
verbs in Thadou have two forms which appear in various morphological
and syntactic environments. Under the present study, the role of tone on
the stem2 formation is shown, where the low tone is found to occur
mostly with stem2. All the vowels are pure and have a distinct syllabic
nucleus. Thadou lacks nasalized vowels and vowels tend to be long
when followed by sonorant consonants. Vowels with a falling tone are
relatively shorter than vowels carrying a level or rising tone.

1. The Language
Thadou, as it is available from the LSI. Vol 3, part 3 by Grierson-Konow
(1903-1928) and Bradley (1997), belongs to the Northern Kuki-Chin sub-group
of Tibeto-Burman family of languages. The Kuki-Chin cluster, called ‘Kukish’
proper by Shafer, (1955, 1966) encompasses a number of related dialects and
languages of which Lushai or Dulian dialect is the most widely spoken. Lushai
is spoken in the whole of Mizoram, and by other Kuki-Chin speakers in
Manipur and the Chittagong Hill Tracts. The Kuki-Chin groups are called
‘Kuki’ in Assam, whereas they are collectively referred by Burmese as ‘Chin’
pronounced as [khyâη] in the Arakan and [chỄ] in Burmese (Van Driem 2001).
Chin is divided into Northern and Southern groups by Bernot and Bernot
(1958) and Khyang in the Southern Chin. More traditionally, the Mizo-Kuki-
Chin languages are divided into Northern, Central and Southern Chin.
Thadou is one of the major recognized tribes of Manipur and comes under
the blanket term Kuki (a cover term for all the Kuki-Chin languages since the
British era). The same is recognized as “Kuki” in the neighbouring states of
Phonological Structure of Thadou 43

Nagaland and Assam where the speakers of the language are also found to live.
The speakers of the language are also found in Chin Hills of Myanmar along
with other closely related Kuki-Chin languages. Though, many scholars
claimed the existence of Thadous in Tripura and Chittagong track of
Bangladesh, it remains very doubtful as, such claims may be a mistaken
identity to mean other old Kuki tribes, such as Ranglong and Darlong, etc.
When it comes to denote the name of the language (tribe), Thadou has been a
subject of controversy. The general belief of the people is that there was no
separate name for this group of people, but the term such as Khongsai or
Khongzai were employed by Manipuri while referring to the group in question.
The term ‘Thadou’ was first used as the name of the language only after the
tribe recognition act 1956. The used of the term ‘Thadou’ as the name of the
language has been a subject of much heated debate among the speakers of the
language as not all sections of the community were happy and felt that Thadou
being just one of the clans in the genealogy of their tribe could not be used to
embrace them all. Since then, an attempt to change the language from ‘Thadou’
to ‘Kuki’ was initiated by certain sections of the people who were not in favour
of the use of the term ‘Thadou’.
But, such an attempt to change the existing name from ‘Thadou’ to ‘Kuki’
was not free from resistance from the pro-Thadous, because during the course
of time, a feeling of pro-Thadou and pro-Kuki had developed in the minds of
the speakers of the language. Thus, the inability on the part of the speakers to
arrive at a consensus name for the name of their language led to a split in the
name of the language into two: Thadou and Kuki. This is evident from first
national census of India 1961 where the census figure for the speakers of the
language in question was bifurcated into two, viz., Thadou and Kuki. Thus, the
total population of Thadous and Kukis reported in 2001 census of India is
190,595 for Thadou and 916,222 for Kuki.

2. Earlier works
Grierson (LSI Vol. III Part III, 1904) was the first to describe the language,
Thadou. He presents a very elementary sketch of Thadou pronunciation at the
levels of vowels and consonants, but does not go beyond it.
The book entitled “Thadou: A Grammatical Sketch” by Shree Krishan
(Anthropological Survey of India, 1980) presents the first chapter on the
phonology of Thadou. Though he provided a detailed analysis of Thadou
sounds, he has over-looked into the sounds of the language by providing pre-
aspirated nasal sounds, viz., /hm, hn, and hŋ/ which are not present in the
language. Shree Krishan also misses the lower mid front vowel /Ű/ and the
lower mid back vowel /Ŧ/. Among others, the data he provided to substantiate
his claims are often not acceptable from the native speaker point of view.
44 Pauthang Haokip

“Thadou Phonetic Reader” by M.S.Thirumalai (CIIL, 1972) did a fairly good

description of the phonology of Thadou. But he failed to discuss in depth some
important aspects of the phonology of the language, such as, consonant and
vowel sequences, syllable types and allophonic variants of vowels.

3. Segmental Phonology
Thadou speech sounds may be classified into vowels and consonants. Like
many Asian tonal languages, the syllable is the crucial phonological unit in
Thadou, and the inventory of syllable initial consonants is quite different and
larger than those of the syllable final. Thadou phonemic inventory consists of
twenty nine phonemes, of which twenty one are consonants, eight vowels and
three tones, rising (H) high falling (HL) and low falling (L).
3.1. Vowels
Out of the eight vowels, two are high vowels, two higher mid, 2 lower mid
vowels one central vowel and one central low. There are no front rounded
vowels and all the rounded vowels are back vowels. They are illustrated below:

Vowel chart

Unrounded Rounded
Front Central Back
High i u
Higher-Mid e o
Central-Mid Ə
Lower-Mid Ű Ŧ
Low a

It should be noted that the higher mid front vowel /e/ and the lower mid front
vowel /Ű/ are higher than their actual position in the chart given above.
The vowels in Thadou differ in frequency as well as in distribution. The
vowel /e/ can occur initially only in combination with another vowel /i/ as in
/éihŦ
/ ‘we inclusive’. In medial and final positions, it can occur only in few
words viz., /pé/ ʧ /péȤ/ ‘give’ /sé/ ‘torn’ /lè/ ’shadow’, /mé/ ʧ /e/ ’affirmative
marker’. It has been found out that /e/ occurs mostly with high tone whereas /Ű/
occurs with low tone. In contrast, the vowel /Ə/ does not occur in word final
position. In terms of occurrences, the vowels /i, u, Ű, Ŧ, a/ are found to occur in
high frequency of words.
Phonological Structure of Thadou 45

3.1.1. Length Contrast

Another important observation which remains unrecognized by the previous
scholars working on Thadou is that, length contrast is found to be maintained in
closed syllables only. In principle, we can have two words of the shape CVC
vs. CV: C which forms a minimal pair, e.g.

Table 1 Minimal Pairs

CV:C CVC
/sù:t/ ‘to reveal’ /sùt/ ‘write’
/pù:t/ ‘spring of water /pùt/ ‘carry one shoulder’
/mú:t’/ ‘blow’ /mùt/ ‘sleep’
/zù:t/ ‘massage’ /zùt/ ‘follow’

As can be seen in the example in Table 2, length contrast between CV:C and
CVC is also maintained with tonal contrast.

Table 2 Tonal contrast in vowel length

CV:C CVC
/lì:t/ ‘leech’ /lìt/ ‘to be big’
/sŦ:t/ ‘long’ (in time) /sŦ
t/ ‘push’
/kŦ:t/ ‘to be wet’ /kŦ
t/ ‘door’
/lŦ:t/ ‘over flow’ /lŦ
Ȥ/ ‘shake’
/tsí:p/ ‘suck’ (liquid) /tsìp/ ‘break’
/xú:p/ ‘knee’ /xùp/ ‘cover’
/gŦ:p/ ‘dry’ /gŦ
p/ ‘unite’
/pŰ:Ȥ/ ‘go astray’ /pŰ
Ȥ/ ‘kick’
One example where the CV:C syllable does not carries a high tone is identified.
/ì:m/ ‘conceal’ /ín/ ‘house’

Vowel length is always short before /Ȥ/. When a vowel preceding the glottal
stop carries a rising tone the vowel length is slightly lengthened. /tsíȤ/ [tsí:Ȥ]
‘intellect’ /láȤ/ [lá:Ȥ] ‘siege’. Also the glottal sound is more prominently heard
before /a/ and /Ŧ/ and redundantly weaker with other vowels. The diphthongs
/ie/ and /uo/ are redundantly long before sonorant consonant.
Among other things, Length contrast accounts for verb stem alternations.
Verbs in Thadou have two forms, referred to as stem 1 and stem 2. Historically,
stem 2 was derived from stem 1 by adding a suffix which had a tonal
consequence.
46 Pauthang Haokip

Table 3 Length contrast in Verb Stem Alternations

Stem 1 Stem 2 Meaning
/lá:ŋ/ /làn/ ‘naughty’
/gŰ
:m/ /gŰ
p/ ‘adultery’
/gƏ:m/ /gƏ
p/ ‘fine’
/¬Ə
:m/ /¬Ə
p/ ‘untie’
/sƏ
:m/ /sƏ
p/ ‘call’
/sì:m/ /sìp/ ‘block a hole’
/sŦ
:n/ /sŦ
t/ ‘push’
/mƏ:n/ /mƏ
t/ ‘catch’
/pƏ
:n/ /pƏ
t/ ‘start’
/sù:t¬ùȤ/ /sù¬ù/ ‘cause something to fall’
/sù:tsiȤ/ /sùsi/ ‘destroy’
/vŦ
:t¬ùȤ/ /vŦ
¬ù/ ‘beat someone to death’
h h ‘act of killing’
/t a:/ /t Ə
t/

In the above example, stem 1 has CV: if followed either by sonorant, stop or
end in vowel, but CV in stem 2 if followed by stops or sonorant sounds. Note
that the /t/ of stem 1 gets deleted in stem 2 in bisyllabic words while /t/ is added
in stem 2 if a word in stem 1 ends with a vowel. As will be seen later section,
the syllable ending consonant is a crucial determining factor in the phonology
of the language. Elsewhere, length contrast is the result of the contrast between
H tone and L tone where H tone caused the vowels to become long and vis-
visa.
In open syllables, all lexical morphemes (nouns, verbs, etc, are long.
However, these become shorten by vowel shortening rule which applies to a
class of CV: syllables. /zi:/ ‘spouse’ /zípa/ ‘husband’ /ní:/ ‘sun’ /nisa/ ‘sun
light’ /pa:/ ‘father’ /pagŦŋ/ ‘widower’ /zà:/ ‘respect’ /zàpi/ ‘feeling shy’ /xó:/
‘village’ /xópi/ ‘town/city’ /sò:/ ‘east’ /sòlƏ
m/ ‘eastward’. Although vowel
length in CV: syllable is predictable, the contrast between short and long vowel
in open syllable is not maintained and hence the vowel length is not marked.
The phonetic contrasts in the available positions are given below:

3.1.2. Phonemic Contrast

Vowels:
Initially: /i/ /ìt/ ‘to value’
/Ű/ /ŰȤ/ ‘dung’
/u/ /ùt/ ‘jealous’
Phonological Structure of Thadou 47

/o/ /óp/ ‘mourning by the side of a corpse’’

/Ŧ/ /Ŧ/ ‘voice’
/Ə/ /Ə
pí/ ‘mother’
Medially: /i/ /píl/ ‘clever’
/e/ /lè/ shadow’
/Ű/ /lŰ
/ ‘throw upwards’
/u/ /búŋ/ ‘bent’
/Ŧ/ /pŦm/ ‘swelling’
/a/ /lám/ ‘dance’ (v)
Finally: /i/ /lí/ ‘four’
/e/ /lè/ ‘shadow’
/Ű/ /lŰ
/ ‘throw up’
/u/ /bù/ ‘cook rice’
/Ŧ/ /pŦ
/ ‘comb’ (v)
/a/ /lá/ ‘song’

Table 4 Phonemic distribution chart: Vowels

i e Ű a Ə u o Ŧ
Initially + + + + + + + +
Medially + + + + + + + +
Finally + + + + - + + +

3.1.3. Phonetic Description of Vowel Phonemes and their Allophonic

Variations
Vowels in Thadou display a wide range of phonetic variations. First, we shall
point out the general phonetic variants applicable to all vowels classes and sub
classes.
1. All the vowels are pure and have a distinct syllabic nucleus.
2. Vowels are nasalized when preceded and followed by nasal
consonants. This nasalization is automatic and hence not marked in the
phonetic transcription.
3. Vowels tend to be long when followed by sonorant consonants.
4. All vowels are long when they occur at the end of a word.
5. All the vowels with a falling tone are relatively shorter than vowels
carrying a level or rising tone.
6. All the vowels accept the central vowel /Ə/ can occur in word-initial,
medial, and final positions of a word. /Ə/ does not occur in the word-
final position.
48 Pauthang Haokip

3.1.4. Allophonic Variations

/i/ It is a high front unrounded vowel. It has two allophones [] and [I].
[], high, central, unrounded occurs in closed syllable where the initial sound is
sonorant sound (m, n, η, and l) as in
/nìt/ [nt] ‘observe’
/mìt/ [mt] ‘eye’
/ηím/ [ηm] ‘clean’
/lím/ [lm] ‘picture’
[i] high, front, short, unrounded. This occurs elsewhere as in
/kí/ [kí] ‘horn’
/tsì/ [tsì] ‘salt’
/xì/ [xì] ‘tie’

/e/ has the allophones: [e] and [e]

[e], higher mid, front, unrounded, short vowel occurs while forming a sequence
with /i/ and before glottal stop as in
/éimi/ [éimi] ‘Thadou people’
/kéi/ [kéi] ‘i/me’
/léi/ [léi] ‘tongue’
/péȤ/ [péȤ] ‘give’
[e] higher mid, front, unrounded, long. This occurs elsewhere as in
/pé/ [pé] ‘give’
/mé/ [mé] ‘affirmative marker’

/Ű/ It is a lower mid front unrounded vowel. It has two allophones [Ű:] and [Ű].
[Ű:], the lower mid, front, unrounded, long vowel occurs before a sonorant
sound and in word final position as in
/kŰŋ/ [kŰ:ŋ] ‘leg’
/bŰ
ŋ/ [bŰ
:ŋ] ‘slap’
/mŰ
/ [mŰ
:] ‘curry’
/kŰ
/ [kŰ
:] ‘spit’ (wood or bamboo)
[Ű], the short lower mid, front, unrounded vowel occurs elsewhere as in
/tŰ
p/ [tŰ
p] ‘taste a sample’
/ŰȤ/ [ŰȤ] ‘dung’
/sŰ
p/ [sŰ
p] ‘winnowing’

/u/ in closed syllable high back rounded vowel /u/ has two realizations, [u] and
[u].
Phonological Structure of Thadou 49

[u:] high, back, rounded, long, tense;

(i) This occurs initially with a rising tone
(ii) In closed syllable before a sonorant sound with a rising tone and word
finally as in
/ú/ [ú:] ‘elder brother or sister’
/búŋ/ [bú:ŋ] ‘bent’
/kúl/ [kú:l] ‘fortress’
/[nú/ [nú:] ‘mother’
/mù/ [mù:] ‘see’
/nú/ [nú:] ‘mother’
[u] lower, high, back, rounded, lax occurs elsewhere as in
/gùp/ [gùp] ‘six’
/ùm/ [ùm] ‘surround’
/thùm/ [thùm] ‘beg’
/kùm/ [kùm] ‘year’
/ùm/ [ùm] ‘stay’

/o/ has the allophones: [o:] and [o].

[o:] mid, back, rounded, long occurs finally as in
/ko/ [ko:] ‘nine’
/po/ [po:] ‘carry’
/koŋ/ [kó:ŋ] ‘boat’
/pon/ [po:n] ‘cloth’
[o] mid, back, rounded, short occurs elsewhere as in
/op/ [óp] ‘mourning by the side of the corpse’
/ot/ [ót] ‘envy’

/Ŧ/ has the following allophones. [Ŧ:], [Ŧ]

[Ŧ:] low, back, rounded, long occurs finally as in
/pŦ
/ [pŦ
:] ‘comb’
/Ŧ/ [Ŧ:] ‘noise’
/Ŧm/ [Ŧ:m] ‘boil’
/sŦ/ [sŦ:] ‘key’
[Ŧ] mid, back, rounded, short occurs elsewhere as in
/kŦ
t/ [kŦ
t] ‘door’
/gŦ
i/ [gŦ
i] ‘pound’

/Ə/ has two allophones.

[Λ] central, short, lax, back. This occurs with high consonants as in
/xƏmúl/ [xƏmúl] ‘beard’
/xƏŋphéi/ [xƏŋphéi] ‘upper part of central house’
50 Pauthang Haokip

/xƏ
p/ [xΛ
p] ‘bed bug’

/kƏ
m/ [kΛ
m] ‘to set trap’
/ƏnkƏ
m/ [ƏnkΛ
m] ‘mustard leaf’
[Ə] mid, central, short, lax occurs elsewhere as in
/bƏŋ/ [bƏŋ] ‘whiteness’
/Ə
tsƏl/ [Ə
tsƏl] ‘male’
/Ə
gei/ [Ə
gei] ‘rim of basket’
/Ə
gŦ/ [Ə
gŦ] ‘to wither (plant etc)
/a/ It is a low central vowel. It occurs in all positions.
/áȤ/ [áȤ] ‘to put on shirt’
/áȤsí/ [áȤsí] ‘star’
/báŋ/ [báŋ] ‘wall’
/lám/ [lám] ‘dance’
/pá/ [pá] ‘father’

3.1.5. Vowel Sequences

There are not many sequences found in a word. Vowel sequences occur in all
positions in Thadou.

Table 5 Vowel Sequences

i e Ű a Ə Ŧ o u
i - + - - - - - +
e + - - - - - - +
Ű - - - - - - - -
a + - - - - - - +
Ə - - - - - - - +
Ŧ + - - - - - - -
o + - - - - - - +
u + - - - - - - -

Co-occurrence restrictions on vowels are apparent from the above tabulation.

The vowels in fact, neatly fall into two groups: front and back. No sequence of
central-front and central-back vowels is possible; only /e, i. o, Ŧ, Ə, u/ can occur
as the first member of a vowel sequence with both front and non-front (back as
well as central) vowels occurring as the second member. /Ű/ does not form any
sequence with any other vowels. A few examples are given below:
ei /éimi/ ‘Thadou people’
eu /Əkéu/ ‘naked’
ie /síel/ ‘mithun’
iu /kìu/ ‘elbow’
Phonological Structure of Thadou 51

oi /sói/ ‘signature’
ou /móu/ ‘bride’
Ŧi /ŦipóȤ/ ‘stomach’
Əu /sƏu/ ‘boiling’
ui /úitsà/ ‘dog’

Note: In adjacent vowels the sequence of two identical vowels are not found in
Thadou.

3.1.6. Diphthongs
As can be seen in the above permissible vowel sequences, only four vowels
form diphthongs, viz., /ai, au, Ŧu, ie/ as shown in the examples below:

Open syllable
/ai/ /hài/ ‘bottle’
/au/ /kàu/ ‘ghost’, vampire’
/Ŧu/ /dŦ
u/ ‘luck’
Closed syllable
/ie/ /nieŋ/ ‘abundant’
/giel/ ‘hailstone’
/giet/ ‘eight’
/lieŋkóu/ ‘shoulder’

Note: the diphthong /ie/ is found to occur if the following consonants is either
/ŋ, l, or t/.

3.1.7. Glide Insertion

When a lexical morpheme which ends in vowel is combined with another
grammatical morpheme (a, e, in or un) a glide is inserted to break the vowel
sequence.
/noi a/ ‘under at’ /noiya/ ‘under’
/nui e/ ‘he laugh’ /inuiye/ ‘he laugh’
/mei in/ ‘with the fire’ /meiyin/ ‘with the fire’
/kòu un/ ‘call’ (Imp mkr) /kòuwùn/ ‘called them’
/zùi un/ ‘follow’ (imp mkr) /zùiwùn/ ‘follow them’

3.2. Consonants
Out of the 21 consonants, nine are stops, five fricatives, three nasals, one
affricate, two laterals and one trill. Voiced aspirated sounds are absent in this
language. Similarly, Thadou lacks fricative /f/ though it is found in closely
52 Pauthang Haokip

related languages such as Mizo and Hmar. Depending on the place of

articulation the stops can be divided into five, viz., bilabial, alveolar, palatal,
velar and glottal. These stops may be further divided as unaspirated and
aspirated, voiceless and voiced. /p/, /t/, /k/, /Ȥ/ are voiceless unaspirated stops,
/ph/ and /th/ are aspirated stops, and /b/, /d/, /g/ are voiced unaspirated stops.
The inventory of Thadou consonants is illustrated below.

Table 6 An Inventory of Thadou Consonants

Bilabial Labio- Alveolar Velar Glottal
dental
VL. Unasp. p - t k Ȥ
h - h
VL. Asp. p t - -
Vd. Unasp. b - d g -
Nasals m - n ŋ -
VL. Fricative. - - s - -
¬
VD. Fricative. - v z x h
VL. Unasp. - - ts - -
Affricate.
Lateral. - - l - -
Trill. - - r - -
VL means voiceless; VD means voiced; ASP mean aspirated and UNASP means
unaspirated.

It should be further noted that Thadou native sound does not have /r/ which
was borrowed from Manipuri. But it is in the process of becoming native sound
in many loan words, e.g., /tsampara/ ‘lemon’, /bahara/ ‘rent’, and /roŋ/ ‘colour’,
etc.

Places of articulation:
As shown in the schematic consonant Chart, the place of articulation
distinguished for the classification and description of Thadou sounds are:
1. The glottis
2. The velum
3. The palate
4. Alveolar
5. Labio- dental
6. Labial
Manners of articulation
1. Stops/plosives
2. Nasals
Phonological Structure of Thadou 53

3. Fricatives
4. Affricates
5. Laterals
6. Trill.
3.2.1 Phonemic Contrasts
Initially
/p/, /b/, /m/ /pá/ ‘father’
/bá/ ‘to put ear ring’
/phà/ ‘good’
/ma/ ‘front’
/v/b/ /va/ ‘bird’
/bà/ ‘wear’ (ear ring)
/vùt/ ‘bore a hole’
/bùt/ ‘wrestle’
/p/t//ts/k/ /pŰ
/ ‘bite’
/tŰ
/ ‘thrust’
/tsŰ
/ ‘compressed’
/kŰ
/ ‘spilt’ (wood or bamboo)
/ts/z/s/ /tsŰ
p/ ‘smoke’ (v)
/zŰ
p/ ‘beat’
/sŰ
p/ ‘winnowing paddy’
/t/ th/d/ /tù/ ‘to sow’
/dù/ ‘taste for food’
/thú/ ‘word’
/tƏn/ ‘calf of the leg’
/dƏ
n/ ‘room’
/k/g/x/ŋ/ /kŦ
/ ‘point’
/gŦ
/ ‘roast’
/xŦ
/ ‘pierce’
/ŋŦŋ/ ‘neck’
/m/n/ŋ/ /mŦ
/ ‘fault’
/nŦ
/ ‘push’
/ŋŦ
t/ ‘decay’
/mi/ ‘man’
/nì/ ‘two’
/ph/th/¬/l/ /phŦ
/ ‘scold’
/thŦ
/ ‘fence’
/¬Ŧ
/ ‘cultivate’
/lŦ
/ ‘pluck’
54 Pauthang Haokip

/b/d/g/z/ /bŰ
/ ‘relatives’

/dŰ
/ ‘sting’
/gŰŋ/ ‘slim’
/zŰ
/ ‘abstinence’
/s/x/h/ /sìl/ ‘to wear cloth’
/xìt/ ‘tie’
/hìt/ ‘louse’
Medially
p/ph/b/v/m /tsàpa/ ‘son’
/tsàpha/ ‘obedience son’
/phƏ
lbì/ ‘winter’
/savun/ ‘animal skin’
/vàmìn/ ‘kind of bird’
t/th/d/n/ /nítín/ ‘every day’
/toithu/ ‘fermented bamboo shoot’
/tidim/ ‘Tidim people’
/kàná/ ‘grief/sorrow’
The glottal stop /Ȥ/ does not occur initially. It can occur only at syllable or word
boundary and does not form minimal pair with any other phonemes.

3.2.2. Phonetic Description and Allophonic Variations

Bilabial stops
/p/ has the following allophones: [p7], and [p]
[p7] bilabial, voiceless, unaspirated, unreleased, stop occur in final position as
in
/tsòp/ [tsòp7] ‘jump’
/gùp/ [gùp7] ‘six’
[p] bilabial, voiceless, unaspirated, released, stop occurs elsewhere, e.g.
/pú/ [pú] ‘grand father’
/pùŋ/ [pùŋ] ‘watch’
/Əpa/ [Əpa] ‘his/her father’
/ph/ [ph] bilabial, voiceless, occurs initially and medially.
/phà/ [phà] ‘good’
h
/p Ŧ
/ [phŦ
] ‘scold’
/góphƏ
l/ [góphƏ
l] ‘catapult’
The frequency of occurrence is highest in initial position.
/b/ [b] bilabial, voiced, unaspirated, stop occur initially and medially.
/bál/ [bál] ‘yam’
/búi/ [búi] ‘a type of rat’
/bƏ
ŋ/ [ƏbƏ
ŋ] ‘broken in pieces’
/tsìbeì/ [tsìbeì] ‘hand shake’
Phonological Structure of Thadou 55

Alveolar stops:
/t/ has the following allophones: [t7 ], [t].
[t7] a voiceless, alveolar, unreleased, stop; It occurs finally, e.g.
/lùt/ [lùt7] ‘enter’
/sùt/ [sùt7] ‘pestle’
/mùt/ [mùt7] ‘blow’
[t] a voiceless, alveolar, unreleased, stop; occur elsewhere, e.g.
/òt/ [òt] ‘envy’
/sùt/ [sùt] ‘write’
/mùt/ [mùt] ‘blow’
/th/ [th] a voiceless, aspirated, alveolar, stop, it occur initially and
medially.
/thúm/ [thúm] ‘three’
h
/t Əl/ [thƏl] ‘gun’
/kithà/ [kithà] ‘suicide’
h
/mùt i/ [mùthi] ‘hawk’
/d/ [d] an alveolar, voiced, unaspirated, stop, It occurs initially and
medially.
/dƏ
t/ [dƏ
t] ‘firm’
/dƏ
l/ [dƏ
l] ‘chase’
/vƏdúŋ/ [vƏdúŋ] ‘river’
/kìdòu/ [kìdòu] ‘enmity’
Velar stops
/k/ [k] velar, voiceless, unaspirated, released, stop. It occurs initially and
medially.
/kúl/ [kúl] ‘exceptionally old’
/kùm/ [kùm] ‘year’
/kŰŋtsùt/ [kŰŋtsùt] ‘shoes’
/kŰŋ/ [kŰŋ] ‘leg’
/g/ voiced, unaspirated, velar, stop; it occurs initially and medially.
/gil/ [gil] ‘intestine’
/gúl/ [gúl] ‘snake’
/¬ Əgúi/ [¬Əgúi] ‘rainbow’
/¬Əgáu/ [¬Əgáu] ‘soul’
Velar are fronted whenever followed by front vowel /i/.

Glottal: Glottal stop.

/Ȥ/ [Ȥ] voiceless, glottal, stop, occur medially and finally.
/àȤtsá/ [àȤtsá] ‘chicken’
/ŰȤ/ [ŰȤ] ‘dung’
56 Pauthang Haokip

Glottal fricative.
/h/ [h] voiceless, glottal, fricative, occurs initially and medially.
/há/ [há] ‘teeth’
/hù/ [hù] ‘breath’
/sáhƏm/ [sáhƏm] ‘kind of animal’
/mihiem/ [mihîem] ‘mankind’

Affricate: alveolar affricate

/ts/ has two allophones [ȷ], [ts].
[ȷ] The voiceless palatal affricate occurs with back vowel.
/ȷum/ [ȷum] ‘beat’
/ȷŦl/ [ȷŦl] ‘yeast’
[ts] a voiceless, alveolar, unaspirated, affricate occurs elsewhere.
/tsƏm]/ [tsƏm] ‘knife’
/tsƏ
n/ [tsƏ
n] ‘share of portion’

Nasals
/m/ [m] bilabial, voiced, nasal, occurs in all positions:
e.g. /[mù/ [mù] ‘see’
/sùmil/ [sùmìl] ‘forget’
/gim/ [gim7] ‘tired’
/n/ [n] alveolar, voiced, nasal, occurs in all position: e.g.
/nú] [nú] ‘mother’
/tsƏnù/ [tsƏnù] ‘daughter’
/ŋ/ [ŋ] velar, voiced, nasal, occurs in all positions: e.g.:
/ŋúi/ [ŋúi] ‘calm’
/kiŋái/ [kiŋái] ‘lean on’
/liŋ/ [liŋ7] ‘thorn’
Lateral
/l/ [l] voiced, alveolar, lateral, occur in all position.
/lúŋ/ [lúŋ] ‘worm’
/salam/ [sƏlƏm] ‘handshake’
/mƏ
l/ [mƏ
l] ‘stick’
Fricatives:
Labio-dental fricative
/v/ [v], voiced, alveolar, fricative, occur initially and medially as in
/vŰŋ/ [vŰŋ] ‘locality’
/vún/ [vún] ‘skin’
/léivúi/ [léivúi] ‘mud’
/sèivàl/ [sèivàl] ‘extra talks’
Phonological Structure of Thadou 57

Alveolar fricative
/s/ is a voiceless, alveolar, fricative. It has two allophones [š] and [s].
[š] alveolar, palatalalized, fricative, voiceless, occurs before unrounded
high front vowel [i], e.g.
/ši/ [ši] ‘type of millet’
/šil] [šil] ‘wear’
[s] alveolar, fricative, voiceless, occurs elsewhere.
/sùt/ [sùt] ‘write’
/sŦl/ [sŦl] ‘send’
/kìsùȤ/ [kìsùȤ] ‘fight’
./z/ [z] voiced, alveolar, fricative, occur initially and medially, e.g.
/zàxàt/ [zàxàt] ‘one hundred’
/zám/ [zám] ‘run away’
/kìzàp/ [kìzàp] ‘fan’ (v)
/kìzƏ
n/ [kìzƏ
n] ‘treatment’
/¬/. [¬] voiceless, alveolar, fricative, occurs initially and medially as in
/¬ìn/ [¬ìn] ‘marrow’
/¬ùn/ [¬ùn] ‘arrival’
/¬á/ [¬á] ‘ghost’
h h
/t á¬áŋ/ [t á¬áŋ] ‘representative’
/sŦ
t¬ùȤ/ [sŦ
t¬ùȤ] ‘push down’
/x/ [x] a voiceless, velar, fricative occurs initially and medially.
/xí/ [xí] ‘necklace’
/saxí/ [saxí] ‘dear’

3.2.3. Distribution of Phonemes

Consonants
With exception to glottal stop, all consonants can occur in initial as well as in
medial position. The consonants of Thadou which cannot occur in final position
are; voiced stops, voiceless aspirated stops, fricatives, affricates, and trill. The
aspirated stops occur only initially and medially but never finally. Aspiration is
also weaker in medial position. Hence, except for /Ȥ/ and /r/, the frequency of
occurrence of all consonants is highest in initial position. Out of 21 consonants,
only seven consonants, viz., /p/, /t/, /m/, /n/, /ŋ/, /l/, /Ȥ/, can occur word finally.
Initial
/p/ /pŦ
/ ‘to comb’
/ph/ /phú/ ‘revenge’
/b/ /bì/ ‘ceased to cry’
/t/ /tù/ ‘to sow seed’
/th/ /thƏl/ ‘gun’
58 Pauthang Haokip

/d/ /dù/ ‘tasty’

/k/ /ká/ ‘cry’
/g/ /gù/ ‘bone’
/Ȥ/ /àȤpi/ ‘hen’
/m/ /món/ ‘rotten’
/n/ /ná/ ‘leaf’
/ŋ/ /ŋŦŋ/ ‘neck’
/v/ /vá/ ‘bird’
/s/ /sƏn/ ‘red’
/z/ /zíŋ/ ‘tomorrow’
/x/ /xŰ/ ‘spoon’
/h/ /hƏ
l/ ‘mix’
/ts/ /tsŦ
/ ‘stir’
/l/ /lŰŋ/ ‘king’
/¬/ /¬à / ‘moon’
Medial
/p/ /nùpi/ ‘woman’
/ph/ /góphúŋ/ ‘bamboo tree’
/b/ /phúbá/ ‘revenge’
/t/ /gótói/ ‘bamboo shoot’
/th/ /muthi/ ‘kite’
/d/ /gódál/ ‘winnower’
/k/ /kŦ
kai/ ‘sweet potato
/g/ /sâgì/ ‘seven’
/Ȥ/ /àȤtúi/ ‘egg’
/m/ /tsƏŋmai/ ‘cucumber’
/n/ /léiná/ ‘tongue pain’
/ŋ/ /sáŋŦŋ/ ‘neck of animal’
/v/ /náváȤ/ ‘at ease’
/s/ /súmsƏ
n/ ‘coin used in olden time’
/z/ /váizú/ ‘native wine made of husk’
/x/ /xáŋxàt/ ‘one generation’
/h/ /mèihŦl/ ‘charcoal’
/ts/ /mìttsŰ/ ‘eye wax’
/l/ /bŦ
lím/ ‘inborn nature’
/¬/ /tsŦ
¬a / ‘poetic word for moon’
/r/ /tsƏmpara/ ‘lemon’
Final
/p/ /vƏ
lùp/ ‘bird’
/t/ /tŦ
t/ ‘joke’
Phonological Structure of Thadou 59

/Ȥ/ /vaàȤ/ ‘crow’

/m/ /kùm/ ‘year’
/n/ /tsùn/ ‘wrap’
/ŋ/ /ŋŦŋ/ ‘neck’
/l/ /mƏl/ ‘thigh’

Distribution of consonant chart

Phonemes Initial Medial Final

/p/ + + +
/ph/ + + -
/b/ + + -
/t/ + + -
/th/ + + -
/d/ + + -
/k/ + + -
/g/ + + -
/Ȥ/ - + +
/m/ + + +
/n/ + + +
/ŋ/ + + +
/v/ + + -
/s/ + + -
/¬/ + + -
/z/ + + -
/x/ + + -
/h/ + + -
/ts/ + + -
/l/ + + +
/r/ + + -

4.4. Consonant Sequence

The term consonant sequence is used in the analysis of connected speech to
refer to any sequence of adjacent consonants occurring across morpheme or
syllable boundary. Usually a distinction is made between consonant clusters
and consonant sequences. Consonant clusters occur within a syllable while
consonant sequences occur across morpheme/syllables. Thadou does not allow
consonant clusters within syllabic boundary, but consonant sequences across
morpheme/syllabic boundary with a maximum of two consonants are common.
60 Pauthang Haokip

Word-medially, sequences of the two consonants are possible and hence there
is no possibility of having word medial sequences of three consonants. Thus,
according to the syllable structure of this language, whenever two consonant
sequences occur, the syllable break is between the two consonants. Given
below are lists of words for illustrating consonant sequences in Thadou
Stop +Stop
/-pp-/ /lùppi/ ‘to be friendly with’
/-pt-/ /tsèptƏn/ ‘to circumcise’
/-pd-/ /¬Ə
pdŦ
Ȥ/ ‘unfold’
/-pts-/ /ŋƏ
ptsá/ ‘able to do’
/-px-/ /lùpxŦm/ ‘sleep with’
/-pph-/ /Ŧ
pphà/ ‘cover with body’ (flat)
h
/-pt -/ /sŦ
pthîeŋ/ ‘wash (clean)’
/-pg-/ /topgin/ ‘sound of cannon’
/-tp-/ /kŦ
tpi/ ‘gate’
/-tp-/ /kibùtpi/ ‘wrestle with’
/-tt-/ /hìttui/ ‘louse (egg)’
/-td-/ /gƏ
tdƏ
n/ ‘to fence around’
/-tk-/ /pútkit/ ‘to spring out again (liquid)’
/-tph-/ /xùtpháŋ/ ‘palm’
/-tth-/ /phƏ
tthèi/ ‘prosperity’
/-tb-/ /kŦ
tbil/ ‘handle of the door’
/-td-/ /xùtdò/ ‘to beg’
/-tg-/ /xùtgo/ ‘empty handed’
Stop+Nasal
/-pm-/ /zŦ
pmƏ
t/ ‘to join’
/-pn-/ /¬Ű
pna/ ‘temptation’
/-pŋ-/ /kàpŋui/ ‘fainted (by injection), proper name’
/-tm-/ /hìtmé/ ‘small louse’
/-tn-/ /¬Ə
tnom/ ‘to change money’
/-tŋ-/ /xùtŋŦŋ/ ‘wrist’
Stop +Fricative
/-pz-/ /sƏ
pzƏ
p/ ‘call once’
/-Ȥv-/ /àȤtvƏŋ/ ‘cut into hole’
/-ts-/ /sùtsàȤ/ ‘to write’
/-tx-/ /kŦ
txùm/ ‘side pillars of the door’
/-tz-/ /xùtzŰm/ ‘ring’
/-pv-/ /gùpvèi/ ‘six times’
/-px-/ /hŦ
pxƏ
t/ ‘one part (portion)’
Phonological Structure of Thadou 61

/-ph-/ /tsŰ
phƏ
m/ ‘are (you) smoking’

/-ps-/ /sƏ
psîeȤ/ ‘to call names, curse’
/-tv-/ /vùtvái/ ‘dust’
/-th-/ /vùthŦm/ ‘to bore a hole’
Stop +Lateral
/-pl-/ /kàplút/ ‘to inject inside’
/-tl-/ /thƏlpí/ ‘arrow’
/-p¬-/ /gƏ
p¬àŋ/ ‘the stick on which meat
is suspended on the fire’.
Nasal +Stop
/-mp-/ /hùmpi/ ‘lion’
/-mt-/ /púmtòn/ ‘guava’
/-mk-/ /tsƏ
mkàȤ/ ‘short, a while’
/-mth-/ /kùmtháȤ/ ‘new year’
/-mkh-/ /hîemxàm/ ‘ceasefire’
/-mph-/ /lƏmphéi/ ‘plain road, path’
/-mb-/ /sìmbùpí/ ‘owl’
/-md-/ /lƏmdƏŋ/ ‘wonder’
/-mg-/ /gƏmgí/ ‘boundary’
/-mts-/ /mímtsƏŋ/ ‘corn’
/-np-/ /pƏ
npì/ ‘to favour someone’
/-nt-/ /mƏ
ntƏm/ ‘costly’
/-nk-/ /ínkƏ
m/ ‘central beam of the roof’
/-nb-/ /zùnbúȤ/ ‘urinal’
/-nd-/ /hìndàn/ ‘mode, manner of life’
/-ng-/ /vàngìn/ ‘thunder’
/-nts-/ /mƏ
ntsƏ
Ȥ/ ‘tools’
/-nph-/ /tƏnphŰ/ ‘calves’
/-nth-/ /mìnthƏ
n/ ‘famous’
/-ŋp-/ /lúŋpí/ ‘broad minded’
/-ŋt-/ /kŰŋtŦ
/ ‘feet, leg’
/-ŋk-/ /sóŋkúl/ ‘cave’
/-ŋb-/ /¬óŋbúȤ/ ‘hut made of wood’
/-ŋd-/ /híŋdŦ
Ȥ/ ‘become alive’
/-ŋg-/ /sƏŋgƏm/ ‘relatives’
/-ŋts-/ /lúŋtsín/ ‘memorize’
/-ŋph-/ /mƏŋphà/ ‘good wish good night’
/-ŋth-/ /tsìŋthèi/ ‘alert cautious’
62 Pauthang Haokip

Nasal+ Fricative
/-mv-/ /lƏ
mvài/ ‘bewildered’
/-mx-/ /thƏmxƏ
t/ ‘few/less’
/-mh-/ /kùmhei/ ‘celebration of new year’
/-ms-/ /kàmsƏn/ ‘fire’ (old term)’
/-mz-/ /tsƏmzam/ ‘sword’
/-nv-/ /lîenvàl/ ‘extra big’
/-nz-/ /pónzŰm/ ‘embroidered cloth’
/-ns-/ /ínsùn/ ‘rafter’
/-nx-/ /dŦ
nxó/ ‘melon’
/-nh-/ /gƏnhíŋ/ ‘creatures’
/-ŋv-/ /tháŋváȤ/ ‘to praise’
/-ŋz-/ /sáŋzà/ ‘lakhs’
/-ŋs-/ /tsáŋsúȤ/ ‘rice pounding’
/-ŋx-/ /tsƏ
ŋxà/ ‘a kind of bitter vegetable’
Nasal + Nasal
/-mm-/ /gƏmmáŋ/ ‘jungle, woods’
/-mn-/ /Ŧmná/ ‘chest pain’
/-mŋ-/ /sŦmŋá/ ‘fifty’
/-nm-/ /kƏ
nmím/ ‘roasted’
/-nn-/ /kìgìnní/ ‘saturday’
/-mŋ-/ /hàmŋƏm/ ‘bold in speaking’
/-ŋm-/ /xƏŋmƏŋ/ ‘dream’
/-ŋn-/ /lúŋnŰm/ ‘soft hearted person’
/-ŋŋ-/ /thíŋŋŦ
Ȥ/ ‘worm eaten tree’
Nasal+ Lateral
/-ml-/ /úmlóu/ ‘absent’
/-ŋl-/ /lúŋlƏm/ ‘wish’
/-nl-/ /tsúnlƏm/ ‘above’
/-m¬-/ /¬imła/ ‘to forsake’
Lateral +Stop
/-ld-/ /gƏ
ldŦ
t/ ‘to observe afar off’
/-lk-/ /tilkilat/ ‘castrate’
/-lph-/ /kŦlphŰ/ ‘lightening’
/-lth-/ /kŦlthéi/ ‘guava’
/-lb-/ /kƏ
lbì/ ‘rungs’
/-lg-/ /lŦlgúi/ ‘neck’
/-lp-/ /pîelpá/ ‘sparrow’
/-lts-/ /mƏ
ltsà/ ‘chilly’
Phonological Structure of Thadou 63

Lateral + fricative
/-lv-/ /gólvàȤ/ ‘to celebrate’
/-lx-/ /zàlxùn/ ‘bed’
/-lh-/ /lŦlhŦm/ ‘throat’
/-ls-/ /gúlsŦ
Ȥ/ ‘cobra’
/-lz-/ /xúlzìn/ ‘tour’
/-lh-/ /gúlhá/ ‘winged snake’
Lateral + Nasal
/-lm-/ /mìlmŦ
/ ‘unforgettable’
/-ln-/ /sîelnóu/ ‘calf (of mithun)’
Glottal Stop + Plosive
/-Ȥp-/ /áȤpí/ ‘hen’
/-Ȥb-/ /vŦ
ȤbùȤ/ ‘pig sty’
/-Ȥt-/ /áȤtúi/ ‘egg’
/-Ȥts-/ /áȤtsó/ ‘beard of cock’
/-Ȥk-/ /vŦ
Ȥkóŋ/ ‘plate for pig’
h
/-Ȥp -/ /sùȤphón/ ‘to bubble’
h
/-Ȥt -/ /sùȤthón/ ‘fail to produce sound’
/-Ȥb-/ /áȤbŦm/ ‘foul case’
/-Ȥd-/ /dàȤdîeŋ/ ‘animal’
/-Ȥg-/ /tsántéȤga/ ‘dragon fly’
/-Ȥ¬-/ /sùȤ¬Ŧm/ ‘decrease’
Glottal Stop + Fricative
/-Ȥv-/ /pàȤvúi/ ‘garland’
/-Ȥh-/ /nàȤhái/ ‘snore’
/-Ȥs-/ /àȤsí/ ‘star’
Glottal Stop +Nasal
/-Ȥm- /zòȤmƏŋ/ ‘to sell away’
/-Ȥn-/ /áȤnóu/ ‘chicken’

Note: From the consonant sequences which have been worked out in this
paper, it seems to be clear that there are no restrictions on the type of vowels
which may precede/follow consonant sequences.

4. Syllable Structure

As seen in previous section, words in Thadou can be open or close. Except for
names of objects and proper names which are mostly compound words, the
Thadou words are either monosyllabic or disyllabic. However, polysyllabic
64 Pauthang Haokip

words with the maximum of four syllables are also formed by the word
formation processes of derivation, compounding and reduplication. The
following syllable types are attested in the language.
4.1 Monosyllabic Words
The syllable patterns of monosyllabic words in Thadou may be illustrated as
follows:
(i) V Structure
/ái/ ‘crab’
/ú/ ‘elder brother, sister’
/íu/ ‘dog’
An analysis of Thadou lexis shows that the words of this structure are rare.
(ii) VC Structure:
/ìm/ ‘to hush up, to hide oneself’
/ín/ ‘house’
/Ən/ ‘food’
/Ŧl/ ‘slow, gradual, etc.’
/áŋ/ ‘breast’
/úl/ ‘noisy’
(iii) CV Structure:
A large number of words in Thadou have the CV structure. Some of the
examples of this structure are listed below:
/xá/ ‘bitter’
/zà/ ‘respect’
/há/ ‘teeth’
/tsì/ ‘salt’
/zú/ ‘alcohol’
/ŋá/ ‘fish’
/pú/ ‘grand father’
(iv) CVC Structure:
A fairly large number of words in Thadou have CVC structure. Some of the
examples are listed below:
/mìt/ ‘eyes’
/dƏ
n/ ‘room’
/xƏ
t/ ‘ones
/gúl/ ‘snake’
/tsíl/ ‘saliva’, spittle’
/dúŋ/ ‘length’
/hŦŋ/ ‘open’
/kòp/ ‘veil’
/liŋ/ ‘thorn’
Phonological Structure of Thadou 65

/mƏ
l/ ‘blunt, stick’

/núŋ/ ‘to blow, to wind, etc.’

4.2. Permissible Syllabic Sequences in a Disyllabic Word

A large number of words in Thadou are disyllabic. In the disyllabic and
polysyllabic words, mostly the above mentioned monosyllabic patterns are
repeated in various combinations. The following are some of the permissible
syllabic sequences in disyllabic words:
V$CV /Ə
nóu/ ‘offspring’
V$CVC /ípúŋ/ ‘our watch’
VC$CVC /Ə
ntsƏŋ/ ‘rice’
VC$CV /áȤpi/ ‘hen’
CV$VC /váàȤ/ ‘crow’
CV$CV /pútsá/ ‘small basket’
CV$CVC /púsƏ
l/ ‘boy’
CVC$CVC /tsémpŦŋ/ ‘knife’
CVC$CV /gúlpíi/ ‘python’
V$CVC /íkín/ ‘our duty’
VC$CVC /ìnkƏ
m/ ‘roof’
VC$CV /ínpí/ ‘assembly’

4.3. Permissible Syllabic Sequences in a Trisyllabic Word

A large number of phonological words containing three syllables seem to be
quite large in Thadou. Some of the permissible syllabic sequences in trisyllabic
words may be represented as follows.
V$CV$CV /Ənìná/ ‘second’
V$CVC$CVC /ƏbŦ
ntsán/ ‘whole, all’
VC$CV$CV /àȤsípí/ ‘planet’
VC$CVC$CV /Ə
nkƏ
mmú/ ‘mustard seed’
V$CVC$CV /Ədìnná/ ‘position of standing’
CV$CVC$CV /tsƏpƏŋpá/ ‘the boy’
CV$CV$CVC /gótŦlƏŋ/ ‘bottom of bamboo’
CVC$CV$CV /kùmzànì/ ‘two hundred years’
CVC$CVC$CV /bŦŋtsíŋmí/ ‘cowherd’
CVC$CVC$CVC /lúŋtsíntsáŋ/ ‘memorise’
CVC$CVC$CV /kíntàȤín/ ‘quickly’
66 Pauthang Haokip

4.4. Permissible Syllabic Sequences in Quadric-syllabic Words

There are very few words with four or more syllables in Thadou. Most of these
are compound words. The following are some of the examples of possible
structures available in the language.
CV$CVC$CVC$CV /kìtsúŋnúntsù/ ‘defend to be on
the right side’
CVC$CVC$CVC$CV /pónmƏŋzƏ
pná/ ‘laces’
CV$CVC$CVC$CVC /kìlúŋtŦnsàȤ/ ‘short tempered’
CVC$CV$CV$CVC /góltsálúpîen/ ‘beloved friend’

6. Tones

Tone in Thadou has been studied by different linguists, viz., M.S.Thirumalai

(1972), Shree Krishan (1980), and by Hyman 2004. But there is no one to one
agreement among these linguists on the number of tones. Shree Krishan posited
5 tones, viz., level tone/mid, sharp rising, sharp falling, slow rising, and slow
falling. He is also of the opinion that the contrast between slow rising vs. sharp
rising and slow falling vs. sharp falling tones is very much limited.
M.S.Thirumalai has listed three tones, viz., rising, level and falling.
In this paper, I show that monosyllabic words in isolation carry three
contrasting tone patterns: rising (which is fairly high), high falling and low
falling. These can be analyzed as underlying H, HL, and L respectively. I will
assume that at the lexical level, Thadou is a two level tone language, using
highs and lows. Additional levels come about through down step processes.
Tone is an important feature in distinguishing words in Thadou. Examples of
minimal triplets illustrate the distinction between the three tones.
High to low
Rising tone (H) Falling tone (HL) Low tone (L)
/hái/ ‘mango’ /hâi/ ‘glass’ /hài/ ‘breath’
/kŦl/ ‘burmese’ /kŦ
l/ ‘hindi’ /kŦ
l/ ‘mountain cliff’
/lŦi/ ‘buffalo’ /lŦ
i/ ‘friend’ /lŦ
i/ ‘plaster/ paint’
/léi/ ‘tongue’ /lêi/ ‘bridge’ /lèi/ ‘earth’
/méi/ ‘cloud’ /mêi/ ‘fire’ /mèi/ ‘search around’
/mú/ ‘eagle’ /mû/ ‘seed’ /mù/ ‘see’
/ŋá/ ‘five’ /ŋâ/ ‘fish’ /ŋà/ ‘wait’
/sá/ ‘hot’ /sâ/ ‘meat’ /sà/ ‘thick’
/túi/ ‘tasty’ /tûi/ ‘water’ /tùi/ ‘soak’
/vái/ ‘husk’ /vâi/ ‘morning’ /vài/ ‘to be poor’
Phonological Structure of Thadou 67

It should be noted here that the contrast between HL tone with either H or L is
very limited. But the contrast between H and L are found in large number of
words.
6.1. Tone Contrast at the Lexical Levels
As stated above, at the lexical level, the occurrences of H and L tone are
prominently felt. Examples of contrast between H and L in open syllables can
be seen in minimal pairs given below:
/béi/ ‘exhausted’ /bèi/ ‘easy’
/bú/ ‘chapter’ /bù/ ‘wear’
/Ŧ/ ‘voice’ /Ŧ
/ ‘wear on a neck’
/gá/ ‘kind of fruit’ /gà/ ‘to bear fruit’
/gú/ ‘venom’ /gù/ ‘bone’
/gú/ ‘venom’ /gù/ ‘bone’
/há/ ‘teeth’ /há/ ‘awake’
/hái/ ‘mango’ /hài/ ‘breath’
/lá/ ‘song’ /là/ ‘lung’
/lŦi/ ‘buffalo’ /lŦ
i/ ‘paint’
/léi/ ‘tongue’ /lèi/ ‘mud’
/lú/ ‘head’ /nà/ ‘leaf’
/mái/ ‘pumpkin’ /mài/ ‘face’
/mŦ/ ‘dull’ /mŦ
/ ‘false’
/méi/ ‘cloud’ /mèi/ ‘tail’
/mú/ ‘eagle’ /mù/ ‘see’
/nŦ
/ ‘breast’ /nŦ
i/ ‘under’
/nŦi/ ‘under’ /nŦ
i/ ‘breast’
/ní/ ‘aunt’ /nì/ ‘two’
/ŋá/ ‘fish’ /ŋà/ ‘wait’
/pá/ ‘mushroom’ /pà/ ‘manly’
/sá/ ‘hot’ /sà/ ‘thick’
/thŦ/ ‘fence’ /thŦ
/ ‘imitate
h
/t í/ ‘blood’ /thì/ ‘dead’
/tí/ ‘body’ /tì/ ‘to light fire’
/tú/ ‘now’ /tù/ ‘sow
/ú/ ‘elder brother/sister’ /ùi/ ‘sting’
/vá/ ‘bird’ /và/ ‘fully fed’
/vŰ/ ‘watch’ /vŰ
/ ‘to put on longi’
/xá/ ‘bitter’ /xà/ ‘shut’
/xó/ ‘village’ /xò/ ‘unload’
/xú/ ‘smoke’ /xù/ ‘cover’
68 Pauthang Haokip

In the above examples, the H and L tones affect the length of vowels in that,
vowels become long with H tone and short with L tones. But, since length is
not phonemic in the examples, their distinctions are not marked.
As can be seen below, in case of verbs, a tonal minimal pair may result from
stem 2 formation.
Stem 1 stem 2
/tŦt/ /tŦ
t/ ‘joke’
/ót/ /òt/ ‘envy’
/pŦt/ /pŦ
t/ ‘go out’
/háŋ/ /hàn/ ‘very bold’
/zíŋ/ /zìn/ ‘darkness’
/minthƏŋ/ /minthƏ
n/ ‘fame’
/ná/ /nƏ
t/ ‘pain’
/záŋ/ /zàn/ ‘light’ (weight)
/ná/ /nƏ
t/ ‘pain’
/sá/ /sƏ
t/ ‘heat’
/káŋ/ /kàn/ ‘white’
/bá/ /bƏ
t/ ‘debt’
/ká/ /kƏ
t/ ‘open mouth’
/hŦŋ/ /hŦ
n/ ‘open’
/síŋ/ /sìn/ ‘cover’
/gŦt/ /gŦ
t/ ‘verbal abuse’
/gŦm/ /gŦ
p/ ‘unite’
/¬Əŋ/ /¬Ə
n/ ‘choose’
/¬Űmbì/ /¬Ű
pbì/ ‘console’
/sáŋ/ /sàn/ ‘tall’

The above list of verbs and for that matter adjectives (adjective behaves like
verbs) have H tone in stem 1, but L tone in stem 2.
The contrast between H and L is also maintained in closed syllables ending
in sonorant sounds and stop sounds.
Closed syllable ending in sonorant sounds:
high tone low tone
/dŦ:ŋ/ ‘young’ /dŦ
n/ ‘sprout’
/lú:m/ ‘warm’ /lùm/ ‘lay down’
/mó:l/ ‘mountain’ /mòl/ ‘blur’
/dá:m/ ‘well’ /dàm/ ‘criticize’
/níe:ŋ/ ‘plenty /nìeŋ/ ‘stale’
/gƏ:m/ ‘land’ /gƏ
m/ ‘to fine’
Phonological Structure of Thadou 69

Closed syllable ending in stop sounds:

/dá:p/ cover’ /ŋàp/ ‘to lean on’
/dŦ:t/ ‘pierce’ /sùȤ/ ‘pound’
/gŦ:p/ ‘dry’ /gŦ
p/ ‘to unite’
/ì:t/ ‘to value’ /sŦ
t/ ‘push’
/ká:p/ shoot’ /và:t/ ‘insufficient’
/kú:t/ ‘harvest festival’ /xìt/ ‘bind’
/lá:p/ ‘provide’ /hìt/ ‘louse’
/lŦ:t/ ‘over flow’ /tsùȤ/ ‘lust’
/lí:t/ ‘leech’ /lìt/ ‘to be big’
/lú:t/ ‘enter’ /vùt/ ‘ash’
/má:t/ ‘stuck’ /vŦ
t/ ‘leech’
/mŦ:t/ ‘banana’ /mŦ
t/ ‘dullness’
/mú:t/ ‘blow’ /mùt/ ‘steep’
/pŦ:t/ ‘go out’ /pŦ
t/ ‘to comb’
/sá:p/ ‘officer’ /nàp/ ‘mucus’
/sŦ:t/ ‘long time’ /tsŦ
p/ ‘jump’
/sú:t/ ‘to tell (story) /sùt/ ‘to write
/thŰ:Ȥ/ ‘sweep’ /thŰ
Ȥ/ ‘support’
/tsí:p/ ‘stingy’ /tsìp/ ‘broken to pieces’
/xá:p/ ‘finger measurement’ /xìt/ ‘bind’
/xú:p/ ‘knee’ /xùp/ ‘fold’
6. 2 Tone across syllable
The same tone can occur in both the syllables of a bisyllabic words as shown in
the following examples.
/méi/ ‘cloud’ /ból/ ‘bundle /méiból/ ‘bundle of cloud’
/léi/ ‘tongue’ /mƏŋ/ ‘edge’ /léimƏŋ/ ‘tip of tongue’
/ŋá/ ‘five’ /ná/ ‘place’ /ŋáná/ ‘fifth place’
/móu/ ‘bride’ /nú/ ‘female’ /móunú/ ‘bride’
/ní/ ‘father sister’ /lîen/ ‘big’ /nílîen/ ‘father sister elder’
/mƏŋ/ ‘dream /phà/ ‘good’ /mƏŋphà/ ‘good night’

7. Conclusion
Tone is the most prominent suprasegmental feature in Thadou. Hence other
suprasegmental features such as intonation, stress and juncture have not been
incorporated under the present study. Hence, there is a scope to further examine
70 Pauthang Haokip

them at the syntactic level. Apart from intonation, there is also a scope to
examine the working of juncture in the speech activity of Thadou.

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