Page 88 - A GRAMMAR OF BHOJPURI _ PhD Dissertation 2020 TU

b. Minimal pairs of of च /c/ and ज /j/

Word-initial Inter-vocalic Word-final
चाल /cɑl/ 'habit, speed' मचल /mʌcʌl/ 'to break' नाच /nɑc/ 'dance, theatre'

जाल /jɑl/ 'a net' मजल /mʌjʌl/ 'experienced' नाज /nɑj/ 'pride, glory'

चान /cɑn/ 'moon, head' काचल /kɑcʌl/ 'to slice' पाँच /pɑc/ 'five'
̃
जान /jɑn/ 'life' काजल /kɑjʌl/ 'kajal' पाँज /pɑj/ 'disobey'
̃
चाल /cɑl/ 'habit, speed' मचल /mʌcʌl/ 'to break' नाच /nɑc/ 'dance, theatre'

जाल /jɑl/ 'a net' मजल /mʌjʌl/ 'experienced' नाज /nɑj/ 'pride, glory'

c. Minimal pairs of ज /j/ and झ /ȷ ̈ /

Word-initial Inter-vocalic Word-final
जोर /jor/ 'a rope' बाजा /bɑjɑ/ 'a musical instrument' माज /mɑj/ 'clean (IMP)'

झोर /ȷ ̈ or/ 'curry, shake (IMP)' बाझा /bɑȷ ̈ ɑ/ 'business, obstacle' माझ /mɑȷ ̈ / 'middle'

जकड़ /jʌkʌɽ/ 'tighten (IMP)' बाजल /bɑjʌl/ 'to ring' सुज /suj/ 'swell (IMP)'

झकड़ /ȷ ̈ ʌkʌɽ/ 'storm' बाझल /bɑȷ ̈ ʌl/ 'to be lost' सुझ /suȷ ̈ / 'behold (IMP)'

जर /jʌr/ 'root/fever' माजा /mɑjɑ/ 'joy' ओज /oj/ 'glow, misery'
झर /ȷ ̈ ʌr/ 'placenta' माझा /mɑȷ ̈ ɑ/ 'sharpener' ओझ /oȷ ̈ / 'obstacle'

d. Minimal pairs of छ /cʰ/ and झ /ȷ ̈ /
Word-initial Inter-vocalic Word-final
छर /cʰʌr/ 'trick' बाछल /bɑcʰʌl/ 'to select and uproot' पाछ /pɑcʰ/ 'back'

झर /ȷ ̈ ʌr/ 'placenta' बाझल /bɑȷ ̈ ʌl/ 'to be trapped, engaged' पाझ /pɑȷ ̈ / 'rumination'

छोर /cʰor/ 'end' ओछा /ocʰɑ/ 'short' बाछ /bɑcʰ/ 'select and uproot plants'

झोर /ȷ ̈ or/ 'soup' ओझा /ojʰɑ/ 'witch-doctor' बाझ /bɑȷ ̈ / 'hawk'

छार /cʰɑr/ 'alkali' माछी /mɑcʰi/ 'fly' रीछ /ricʰ/ 'bear'

झार /ȷ ̈ ɑr/ 'plant' माझी /mɑȷ ̈ i/ 'boatsman' रीझ /riȷ ̈ / 'persuasion'

g) Nasals
There are six nasals in Bhojpuri: bilabial म /m/, alveolar न /n/ and velar ङ /ŋ/
all voiced anaspirated modal sonorants alongwith their aspirate sonorant counterparts
3

6 /m ̥ /, ऩ /n ̥ / and 7 /ŋ ̊ / respectively. The three nasals म /m/, न /n/ and ङ /ŋ/ are the same
exhibited in Maithili (Yadav 1996:22-3), Chitoniya Tharu (Paudyal 2013:61), Awadhi

3. All aspirate sonorant consonants in Bhojpuri are discussed in the section 4.1.2 in the chapter.
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