Morphological Architecture of Liangmai: A Comprehensive Analysis of Word Formation

Abstract

This paper examines the morphological architecture of Liangmai, an under-documented Tibeto-Burman language spoken predominantly in Manipur and Nagaland in Northeast India. The study explores how lexical and grammatical units are structured and combined to form words and express grammatical meanings. Drawing on primary field data collected from native speakers, the paper focuses particularly on three major word-formation processes in Liangmai: affixation, compounding, and reduplication. The analysis shows that many basic lexical forms are monosyllabic and that roots frequently combine with prefixes and suffixes to form different classes of words and derive new lexical and grammatical forms. A significant feature of Liangmai morphology is the occurrence of bound roots, with affixes playing an important role in determining the grammatical and lexical category of derived forms. Compounding contributes to lexical expansion through the combination of independent or dependent forms, while reduplication performs both lexical and grammatical functions. The study demonstrates the systematic nature of Liangmai word formation and contributes to the broader documentation of its morphological structure. It also underscores the importance of morphological documentation for language preservation, linguistic research, pedagogical development, and the future creation of educational and digital resources for Liangmai.