a second member in consonantal clusters is one of Gujarati's conservative features as a modern Indo-Aryan language. For example, languages used in Asokan inscriptions (3rd century BC) display contemporary regional variations, with words found in Gujarat's Girnar inscriptions containing clusters with as the second member not having in their occurrence in inscriptions elsewhere. This is maintained even to today, with Gujarati corresponding to Hindi and . Initially, s clusters biconsonantally with , and non-palatal voiceless stops. Triconsonantal initial clusters include - most of which occur in borrowings. Geminates were previously treated as long consonants, but they are better analyzed as clusters of two identical segments. Two proofs for this: The u in geminated uccār "pronunciation" sounds more like the one in clustered udgār ('utterance') than the one in shortened ucāṭ ('anxiety'). Geminates behave towards (that is, disallow) -deletion like clusters do. Gemination can serve as intensification. In some adjectives and adverbs, a singular consonant before the agreement vowel can be doubled for intensification. #VCũ → #VCCũ. Stress The matter of stress is not quite clear: Stress is on the first syllable except when it doesn't have and the second syllable does. Stress is barely perceptible. Stress typically falls on the penultimate syllable of a word, however, if the penultimate vowel in a word with more than two syllables is schwa, stress falls on the preceding syllable. ə-deletion Schwa-deletion, along with a-reduction and -insertion, is a phonological process at work in the combination of morphemes. It is a common feature among Indo-Aryan languages, referring to the deletion of a stem's final syllable's before a suffix starting with a vowel. This does not apply for monosyllabic stems and consonant clusters. So, better put, #VCəC + V# → #VCCV#. It also doesn't apply when the addition is an o plural marker (see Gujarati grammar#Nouns) or e as an ergative case marker (see Gujarati grammar#Postpositions). It sometimes doesn't apply for e as a locative marker. ɑ-reduction A stem's final syllable's will reduce to before a suffix starting with . #ɑC(C) + ɑ# → #eC(C)ɑ#. This can be seen in the derivation of nouns from adjective stems, and in the formation of passive and causative forms of verb stems. -insertion Between a stem ending in a vowel and its suffix starting with a vowel, a is inserted. #V + V# → #VʋV#. This can be seen in the formation of passive and causative forms of