BOAS] HANDBOOK OF INDIAN LANGUAGES CHUKGHEE 653 



§ 6, Vocalic Contraction 



When sounds that form inadmissible combinations come into contact 

 through composition, phonetic changes occur. 



(1) Of two weak or strong vowels in contact, the first one is elided. 



qaL-aa'ce]c<qaLe'-aa'cek lazy boy 

 d^q-u'ttuut<d^qd-u'ttuut bad wood 



(2) Obscure /, e,'u,a, a, a^, following another vowel are elided. The 

 glottal stop is always retained. 



anqa-nna'n < anqa! -Enna! n sea-fish 

 gapg.u'lhiKga-iipgfuUn he drank 

 ie'riH<.6e'ri'd^'Lel muddy snow 

 neu^'ttin<ne'u-a^'Uin female dog 



§ 7. Medial Consonantic Processes 



When two consonants come into contact, certain changes occur. 

 The consonants given on the left-hand side form, when followed by 

 the consonants at the head of the columns, the following combinations: 



These changes may be summarized in part as follows: 



(1) Voiceless labial and dental stops before nasals become nasals. 



(2) fc and g before labials become w; with v and w^ they form a 

 labialized Jc. 



(3) ^, ^, and y before dentals become g. 



56,7 



