Syllable Structure in Pahari

Abstract

The current study presents a comprehensive description of Syllable structure of Pahari, an undocumented language, spoken in Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Murree Hills. The study shows that: 1) all Pahari consonants occur on word initial position except / ; 2) only obstruent-liquid onset clusters and homorganic nasal-obstruent coda clusters are allowed; 3) rhyme can have 3-X positions maximum;4) minimum requirement for a syllable is a short vowel, but minimum requirement for a monosyllabic word is a long vowel or a diphthong;5) onset and coda are optional in a syllable;6) the language does not allow words to end with short vowels.