A STUDY ON GENDER DISTINCTION IN BISHNUPRIYA MANIPURI

The study primarily focuses on the morphological investigation of gender marking in the Bishnupriya Manipuri language. The Bishnupriya Manipuri community speaks this Indo-Aryan language as their first language. The gender markers within several categories were highlighted in the study. The language does not have grammatical gender. The majority of male genders are unmarked in the Bishnupriya Manipuri language. The morpheme 'jela/jelei' and the suffix /-i/ are used by Bishnupriya Manipuri to denote female gender. The customary assignment of specific masculine and feminine genders to human and non-human conceptions is one of the gender-specific forms of the language that the study also identifies. These are a few conclusions drawn from the initial inquiry. The study was based on data collected in Silchar, Cachar District, Assam.