THE MORPHOLOGY OF PLURAL FORMATION IN DHAKNI URDU NOUNS: A LEXICAL PHONOLOGY AND MORPHOLOGY THEORY

Abstract

      This study investigates plural formation in Dhakni Urdu nouns within the framework of Lexical Phonology and Morphology (LPM). While Urdu pluralization has been described in traditional grammars, its interaction with phonological strata and lexical cycles remains underexplored. Drawing on elicited and naturally occurring speech data from seven Dhakni Urdu-speaking families in Gujranwala, Pakistan, the study analyzes 200 nouns using a qualitative descriptive approach. The findings reveal that plural formation in Urdu is governed by systematic morphophonemic alternations sensitive to gender, phonological endings, and lexical strata. Regular plural rules primarily operate at Stratum 3, whereas irregular and marked plurals show evidence of earlier lexical strata. Compound nouns display head-driven plural marking consistent with LPM cyclicity. The study demonstrates that Urdu pluralization is not merely suffixal but stratified, offering empirical support for the cross-linguistic applicability of LPM to Indo-Aryan languages.