The Interpersonal Function of Tones in Mizo

Abstract

This thesis examines the interpersonal function of tones in Mizo, a Tibeto- Burman language spoken mainly in Mizoram, the North-Eastern part of India. The theoretical framework employed for this research is the Systemic Functional theory of Halliday (1970, 2004). The main objective of this research work is to investigate the interpersonal function of tones in Mizo, focusing on the systems of MOOD (lexicogrammar), SPEECH FUNCTIONS (semantics), and KEY (the phonological realization of attitudinal meanings). The present study investigated the relationship between the linguistic and extralinguistic levels of language, i.e. the realization of contextualized meanings, by adopting a trinocular perspective. This entailed a study of the construal of meanings (semantics) by clauses of different Mood types (lexicogrammar), and the realization of these meanings by the system of TONE (phonology). Mizo, like most Southeast Asian languages, employs distinct interpersonal elements for Mood distinction. Therefore, firstly, the Mood types were identified by a thorough study of the interpersonal elements of Mizo and the MOOD system for each Mood type was set up. Secondly, the system of SPEECH FUNCTIONS was set up and the realization (both congruent and incongruent) of the speech functions in the lexicogrammar was studied. Finally, the interpersonal function of the TONE system of Mizo was researched through the acoustic study of contextualized examples to determine the function of Mizo tones in the construal of attitudinal meanings.