Consonant clusters and syllabic structures of Meitei

Abstract

One of the most striking features of Meitei word morphology is the number and nature of medial consonant clusters; up to three consonants are permitted medially. Word initially, a maximum number of two consonants is allowed, while word finally no consonant clusters occur. Meitei is also rich in its variety of syllables as well as length of syllable sequences in a word; up to seven syllables are allowed in a word. The present paper is an attempt to look into the consonant clusters and syllabic structures of Meitei keeping in mind the universals proposed by Greenberg (1978). It is to be noted that since the article by Greenberg refers only to initial and final clusters, we could not make use of it for the medials. The paper is divided into two parts. In part one, we have dealt with the pattern and sequence of consonant clusters. In the second part, the syllabic structure of Meitei is considered. It is to be noted that semivowels are being treated as consonants for functional reasons.