Page 84 - A GRAMMAR OF BHOJPURI _ PhD Dissertation 2020 TU

alveolar and Nepali (Adhikari 2014:10) mentions they are post-alveolar. The
phoneme ट /ʈ/ is a voiceless apico-alveolar unaspirated stop whereas ठ /ʈʰ/ is a voiceless

apico-alveolar aspirated stop. The phoneme ड /ɖ/ is a voiced apico-alveolar unaspirated
̈
stop whereas ढ /ɖ/ is a breathy apico-alveolar stop. Among them, ट /ʈ/ and ठ /ʈʰ/ show

phonological contrast in all positions: word-initial, inter-vocalic and word-initial;
̈
whereas ठ /ʈʰ/, ड /ɖ/ and ढ /ɖ/ do not show contrast in word-final, as shown in (3a-d).
(3) a. Minimal pairs of ट /ʈ/ and ठ /ʈʰ/

Word-initial Inter-vocalic Word-final
टाड़ /ʈɑɽ/ 'push' घाटा /ɡ ̈ ɑʈɑ/ 'loss' काट /kɑʈ/ 'cut'

ठाड़ /ʈʰɑɽ/ 'standing' घाठा /ɡ ̈ ɑʈʰɑ/ 'habit' काठ /kɑʈʰ/ 'wood'

टन /ʈʌn/ 'noise of a bell' माटा /mɑʈɑ/ 'red ant' पाट /pɑʈ/ 'silk, throne'

ठन /ʈʰʌn/ 'noise of coins' माठा /mɑʈʰɑ/ 'churned curd' पाठ /pɑʈʰ/ 'a lesson'
टनक$ /ʈʌnki/ 'a bird of prey' पाटा /pɑʈɑ/ 'thigh' साट /sɑʈ/ 'a sign of beating'

ठनक$ /ʈʰʌnki/ 'hard crust' पाठा /pɑʈʰɑ/ 'wrestler' साठ /sɑʈʰ/ 'sixty'

b. Minimal pairs of ट /ʈ/ and ड /ɖ/
Word-initial Inter-vocalic Word-final
टहल /ʈʌɦʌl/ 'command' गटी /ɡʌʈi/ 'majority' कोट /koʈ/ 'sensitive'

डहल /ɖʌɦʌl/ 'to burn' गडी /ɡʌɖi/ 'a bundle' कोड /koɖ/ 'code'

टाँड़ /ʈɑɽ/ 'a bat' हाटा /ɦɑʈɑ/ 'market'
̃
डाँड़ /ɖɑɽ/ 'waist, fine' हाडा /ɦɑɖɑ/ '
̃
टोला /ʈolɑ/ 'a small village' आटा /ɑʈɑ/ 'slapping'

डोला /ɖolɑ/ 'a planquin' आडा /ɑɖɑ/ 'office'
̈
c. Minimal pairs of ड /ɖ/ and ढ /ɖ/
Word-initial Inter-vocalic Word-final

डोली /ɖoli/ 'a planquin' औडर /ɔɖʌr/ 'order'
̈
̈
ढोली /ɖoli/ 'a pack of औढर /ɔɖʌr/ 'obstinate'
twenty pieces'

डाला /ɖɑlɑ/ 'a bamboo
container essential for wedding'

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