Rhythm and Vocalic Drift in Munda and Mon - Khmer Patricia

Opposite rhythmic principles are responsible for the opposite typological tendencies of the Southeast Asian (Mon-Khmer) and Indlc (Mundal branches of the Austroaslatlc language famBy. The phonological dIvergence between MonKhmer and Munda Is largely the result of stress-timIng In Mon-Khmer and mora-timing In Munda; their vowel phonologies. especially. show how the two branches represent opposite phonological types. Mon-Khmer and Munda dIffer sharply In their vowel phoneme Inventories. and also In the kInds of phonological processes that have applled throughout their hlstorles. The phoneme Inventorles and process types of Mon-Khmer and Munda parallel those of other stressand mora-timed languages. respectively. and they l1Iustrate particularly well that rhythmIc type Is the most reveallng and unifying aspect of