Voiced Obstruents in the Eastern Dialect of Mokhwang Kadu

Abstract

Kadu (Luish group of Tibeto-Burman spoken in Burma) can be divided into three dialects: Moteik Kadu, Molang Kadu, and Mokhwang Kadu. In Kadu languages, generally speaking, voiced obstruents are allophones of corresponding voiceless unaspirated obstruents in intervocalic positions. Thus, they are not phonemic. However, the author has discovered that in the Eastern dialect of Mokhwang Kadu, voiced obstruents have become phonemic as a result of the loss of preceding prefixes in Kadu and related languages.