Mergers in Mongsen-Ao

Abstract In this paper, I examine two cases of merger, by comparing the fricatives (/s/, /ʃ/) and affricates (/ts/ and /tʃ/) in ten varieties of Mongsen-Ao, including Changki, which is structurally close to Mongsen. Based on the comparison of fricatives and affricates in the ten selected varieties, I show that the merger of /s/ and /ʃ/ as observed by Bruhn (2014) and merger of affricates /ts/ and /tʃ/ as proposed by Coupe ( 2003 , 2007 ), did not take place in all varieties of Mongsen. The merger also had an impact on the following vowel, leading to a process of vowel reduction in most of the Mongsen varieties. As part of the analysis, two fricatives- *s and *ʃ , and two affricates- *ts and *tʃ , are reconstructed with all the four vowels in Proto-Mongsen. Given the phonological variation within Mongsen varieties spoken in different villages, this paper also sheds light on some of the phonological changes across varieties.