Page 82 - A GRAMMAR OF BHOJPURI _ PhD Dissertation 2020 TU

भाल /b ̤ ɑl/ 'bear' लभनी /lʌb ̤ ʌni/ 'obeying'

बार /bɑr/ 'obstruct' उबार /ubɑr/ 'relieve'

भार /b ̤ ɑr/ 'weight' उभार /ub ̤ ɑr/ 'uprise'
बर /bʌr/ 'bridegroom' उबरल /ubʌrʌl/ 'to remain, to recover'

d. Minimal pairs of फ /pʰ/ and भ /b ̤ /

Word-initial Inter-vocalic Word-final

फर /pʰʌr/ 'fruit' आफार /ɑpʰɑr/ 'uncultivated' लफ /lʌpʰ/ 'palmful'
भर /b̤ ʌr/ 'fill, support' आभार /ɑb̤ ɑr/ 'gratitude' लभ /lʌb̤ / 'bow'

फू ल /pʰul/ 'flower' गोफा /ɡopʰɑ/ 'angry'

भूल /b ̤ ul/ 'mistake' गोभा /ɡob ̤ ɑ/ 'blossom'
फोर /pʰor/ 'break' सोफा /sopʰɑ/ 'sofa'

भोर /b ̤ or/ 'dawn' शोभा /sob ̤ ɑ/ 'attraction'

b) Dental stops

There are four dental stops in Bhojpuri: त /t/, थ /tʰ/, द /d/ and ध /d ̤ /. The dendal

stops in Bhojpuri are the same as exhibited in Maithili (Yadav 1996:21), Chitoniya
Tharu (Paudyal 2013:61), Awadhi (Saksena 1937/1971:24) and Hindi (Koul

2008:15). But Nepali (Adhikari 2014:10) displays they are apico-dental. The phoneme
त /t/ is a voiceless dental unaspirated stop whereas थ /tʰ/ is a voiceless dental aspirated

stop. The phoneme द /d/ is a voiced dental unaspirated stop whereas ध /d ̤ / is a breathy

dental stop. They show phonological contrast in all positions: word-initial, inter-
vocalic and word-final, as shown in (2a-d).

(2) a. Minimal pairs of त /t/ and थ /tʰ/
Word-initial Inter-vocalic Word-final

तर /tʌr/ 'below, soaked' सुतरी /sutʌri/ 'a jute thread' लात /lɑt/ 'foot'

थर /tʰʌr/ 'cowshed' सुथरी /sutʰʌri/ 'beautiful' लाथ /lɑtʰ/ 'falsification'
तार /tɑr/ 'wire' हाता /ɦɑtɑ/ 'bounary' बात /bɑt/ 'talk'

थार /tʰɑr/ 'a metal plate' हाथा /ɦɑtʰɑ/ 'bunch' बाथ /bɑtʰ/ 'rheumatism'

तोर /tor/ 'your, yours' माता /mɑtɑ/ 'mother' सात /sat/ 'seven'

थोर /tʰor/ 'less' माथा /mɑtʰɑ/ 'forehead' साथ /sɑtʰ/ 'support'

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