Meithei script
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Abugida An abugida (, from Ge'ez: ), sometimes known as alphasyllabary, neosyllabary or pseudo-alphabet, is a segmental writing system in which consonant-vowel sequences are written as units; each unit is based on a consonant letter, and vowel n ...
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Meitei language Meitei (), also known as Manipuri (, ), is a Tibeto-Burman language of north-eastern India. It is spoken by around 1.8 million people, predominantly in the state of Manipur, but also by smaller communities in the rest of the country and in p ...
(officially known as
Manipuri language Meitei (), also known as Manipuri (, ), is a Tibeto-Burman language of north-eastern India. It is spoken by around 1.8 million people, predominantly in the state of Manipur, but also by smaller communities in the rest of the country and in pa ...
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Manipur Manipur () ( mni, Kangleipak) is a state in Northeast India, with the city of Imphal as its capital. It is bounded by the Indian states of Nagaland to the north, Mizoram to the south and Assam to the west. It also borders two regions of ...
, sample = "Meitei Mayek" (literally meaning "Meitei script" in Meitei language) written in Meitei script.jpg , fam1 =
Egyptian hieroglyphs Egyptian hieroglyphs (, ) were the formal writing system used in Ancient Egypt, used for writing the Egyptian language. Hieroglyphs combined logographic, syllabic and alphabetic elements, with some 1,000 distinct characters.There were about 1, ...
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Proto-Sinaitic script Proto-Sinaitic (also referred to as Sinaitic, Proto-Canaanite when found in Canaan, the North Semitic alphabet, or Early Alphabetic) is considered the earliest trace of alphabetic writing and the common ancestor of both the Ancient South Arabian ...
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Phoenician alphabet The Phoenician alphabet is an alphabet (more specifically, an abjad) known in modern times from the Canaanite and Aramaic inscriptions found across the Mediterranean region. The name comes from the Phoenician civilization. The Phoenician a ...
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Brahmi script Brahmi (; ; ISO: ''Brāhmī'') is a writing system of ancient South Asia. "Until the late nineteenth century, the script of the Aśokan (non-Kharosthi) inscriptions and its immediate derivatives was referred to by various names such as 'lath' ...
, fam6 = Gupta script , fam7 = Tibetan , footnotes = The Semitic origin of the Brahmic scripts is not universally agreed upon. , sisters = Lepcha,
Khema Khema (Pali: Khemā; Sanskrit: Kṣemā) was a Buddhist ''bhikkhuni'', or nun, who was one of the top female disciples of the Buddha. She is considered the first of the Buddha's two chief female disciples, along with Uppalavanna. Khema was b ...
, ʼPhags-pa, Marchen , time = 6th century AD – upto 1700 AD, 1930 – present , unicode = , iso15924 = Mtei , note = none The Meitei script ( mni, Meitei Mayek)() or the Meetei script ( mni, Meetei Mayek) () is an
abugida An abugida (, from Ge'ez: ), sometimes known as alphasyllabary, neosyllabary or pseudo-alphabet, is a segmental writing system in which consonant-vowel sequences are written as units; each unit is based on a consonant letter, and vowel n ...
used for the
Meitei language Meitei (), also known as Manipuri (, ), is a Tibeto-Burman language of north-eastern India. It is spoken by around 1.8 million people, predominantly in the state of Manipur, but also by smaller communities in the rest of the country and in p ...
, the official language of
Manipur Manipur () ( mni, Kangleipak) is a state in Northeast India, with the city of Imphal as its capital. It is bounded by the Indian states of Nagaland to the north, Mizoram to the south and Assam to the west. It also borders two regions of ...
state of
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
. Its earliest known evidence of existence dates back to the 6th century AD coins, engraving the Meitei letters, as verified by the various publications of the National
Sahitya Akademi The Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, is an organisation dedicated to the promotion of literature in the languages of India. Founded on 12 March 1954, it is supported by, though independent of, the Indian government. Its of ...
. It was used until the 18th century, when it was replaced by the
Bengali alphabet The Bengali script or Bangla alphabet ( bn, বাংলা বর্ণমালা, ''Bangla bôrṇômala'') is the alphabet used to write the Bengali language based on the Bengali-Assamese script, and has historically been used to w ...
. A few manuscripts survive. In the 20th century, the script has experienced a resurgence, and is again being used. Starting from the year 2021, Meitei script (officially known as Meetei Mayek) was officially used by the
Government of Manipur The Government of Manipur ( mni, Manipur Leingak; /mə.ni.pur lə́i.ŋak/), also known as the State Government of Manipur, or locally as State Government, is the supreme governing authority of the Indian state of Manipur and its 16 districts. ...
, along with the Bengali-Assamese script, to write the
Meitei language Meitei (), also known as Manipuri (, ), is a Tibeto-Burman language of north-eastern India. It is spoken by around 1.8 million people, predominantly in the state of Manipur, but also by smaller communities in the rest of the country and in p ...
, as per "The Manipur Official Language (Amendment) Act, 2021". Since Meitei does not have
voiced consonant Voice or voicing is a term used in phonetics and phonology to characterize speech sounds (usually consonants). Speech sounds can be described as either voiceless (otherwise known as ''unvoiced'') or voiced. The term, however, is used to ref ...
s, there are only fifteen consonant letters used for native words, plus three letters for pure vowels. Nine additional consonant letters inherited from the Indic languages are available for borrowings. There are seven vowel diacritics and a final consonant () diacritic. The names of the twenty-seven letters are not only phonetic names, but also based on parts of the human body.


History


6th century - 7th century

The ancient Meitei script (old Manipuri script) is first evident in the coins issued during the eras of Meitei Kings, Ura Konthouba (568-653 AD) and Ayangba (821-910 AD). These coins are presently preserved in the Mutua Museum in
Imphal Imphal ( Meitei pronunciation: /im.pʰal/; English pronunciation: ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Manipur. The metropolitan centre of the city contains the ruins of Kangla Palace (also known as Kangla Fort), the royal seat of the f ...
. The earliest stone inscription in Meitei script found from the Khoibu village in
Manipur Manipur () ( mni, Kangleipak) is a state in Northeast India, with the city of Imphal as its capital. It is bounded by the Indian states of Nagaland to the north, Mizoram to the south and Assam to the west. It also borders two regions of ...
is widely believed to of the time of King Ura Konthouba, that is around 6th-7th century CE. But there is no authenticity of the fact as of now. This Meitei inscription is presently kept in the Manipur Government Museum,
Imphal Imphal ( Meitei pronunciation: /im.pʰal/; English pronunciation: ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Manipur. The metropolitan centre of the city contains the ruins of Kangla Palace (also known as Kangla Fort), the royal seat of the f ...
.


8th century

The earliest copper plate Meitei inscription dates back to the 8th century AD. It was inscribed during the reign of Meitei King Khongtekcha (c. 721 AD). It was discovered by scholar Yumjao from Phayeng village in the east of
Imphal Imphal ( Meitei pronunciation: /im.pʰal/; English pronunciation: ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Manipur. The metropolitan centre of the city contains the ruins of Kangla Palace (also known as Kangla Fort), the royal seat of the f ...
in the year 1935. It is one of the preserved earliest known written records for
Meitei literature , image = Numit Kappa.jpg , imagesize = , caption = The Numit Kappa, a Classical Meitei epic text written during the 1st century, based on ancient Meitei mythology and religion (Sanamahism) , alt ...
. Yumjao, the discoverer of the 8th century copper plate inscription, opined that Meitei script was developed during the 8th century, but his fact was contradicted by the evidence of the Meitei script engravings on the coins of the 6th-7th century eras. This contradiction is well noted in the Volume 1 of the
Encyclopedia of Indian Literature The Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature is a multi-volume English language encyclopedia of Indian literature published by Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters. The idea for the project emerged in the mid-1970s, and three volumes w ...
published by the
Sahitya Akademi The Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, is an organisation dedicated to the promotion of literature in the languages of India. Founded on 12 March 1954, it is supported by, though independent of, the Indian government. Its of ...
in the year 1987.


11th century

Contradictory to the various publications of the National
Sahitya Akademi The Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, is an organisation dedicated to the promotion of literature in the languages of India. Founded on 12 March 1954, it is supported by, though independent of, the Indian government. Its of ...
about the unanimous earliest attested dating of the Meitei script, many people gave personal opinions in their research works as Meitei script was developed in the 11th century, 18th century, 19th century, etc. The Meitei script is a
Brahmic The Brahmic scripts, also known as Indic scripts, are a family of abugida writing systems. They are used throughout the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia and parts of East Asia. They are descended from the Brahmi script of ancient India ...
abugida. According to Singh (1962), an archaic form of the script had developed by the 11th century, and it was in use until the early 18th century, when it was replaced by the Bengali script. By contrast, Tomba (1993) claims that the script is a development of c. 1930, with all supposedly older documents being deliberate forgeries. According to K.S. Singh and Mahoharan (1993), as per the modifications of the phonemic distributions of
Meitei language Meitei (), also known as Manipuri (, ), is a Tibeto-Burman language of north-eastern India. It is spoken by around 1.8 million people, predominantly in the state of Manipur, but also by smaller communities in the rest of the country and in p ...
, the script belongs to the Tibetan group of scripts. A stone inscription found at Khoibu in
Tengnoupal district Tengnoupal district ( Meitei pronunciation:/teŋ-nə́u-pəl/) is a district in Manipur, India. It was created in December 2016 by splitting the Chandel district. The district headquarters has been relocated to Tengnoupal – (). In the 1960s a ...
, of current
Manipur Manipur () ( mni, Kangleipak) is a state in Northeast India, with the city of Imphal as its capital. It is bounded by the Indian states of Nagaland to the north, Mizoram to the south and Assam to the west. It also borders two regions of ...
state, contains royal edicts of king
Senbi Kiyamba ) , title = Ningthou, Meidingu of Kangleipak (Manipur) , titletext = , more = , type = , image = "Senpi Kiyampa" (Ancient Meitei name) and "Senbi Kiyamba" (Modern Meitei name) of the Meitei king, the rul ...
(d. 1508), representing the earliest portion of the Chietharol Kumbaba or Royal Chronicle of Manipur. It is one of the primary texts in the Meitei script.


20th century

In 1980, a modernized version of the writing system was approved by Manipur state law for use in educational institutions.


21st century


2009

The modernised version of the Meitei script was encoded in
Unicode Unicode, formally The Unicode Standard,The formal version reference is is an information technology standard for the consistent encoding, representation, and handling of text expressed in most of the world's writing systems. The standard, wh ...
in the year 2009.


2023 planning in 2022

All the newspapers in
Meitei language Meitei (), also known as Manipuri (, ), is a Tibeto-Burman language of north-eastern India. It is spoken by around 1.8 million people, predominantly in the state of Manipur, but also by smaller communities in the rest of the country and in p ...
(
Manipuri language Meitei (), also known as Manipuri (, ), is a Tibeto-Burman language of north-eastern India. It is spoken by around 1.8 million people, predominantly in the state of Manipur, but also by smaller communities in the rest of the country and in pa ...
) will be using the "Meitei script" ( mni, Meetei Mayek) instead of the Bengali script from , according to a joint meeting consensus of the ''"Meetei Erol Eyek Loinasillol Apunba Lup"'' (MEELAL), ''"All Manipur Working Journalists’ Union"'' (AMWJU) and ''"Editors' Guild Manipur"'' (EGM) in
Imphal Imphal ( Meitei pronunciation: /im.pʰal/; English pronunciation: ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Manipur. The metropolitan centre of the city contains the ruins of Kangla Palace (also known as Kangla Fort), the royal seat of the f ...
.


Letter names

One of the unique features of this script is the use of body parts in naming the letters. Every letter is named after a human body part in the Meitei language. For example, the first letter "''kok''" means "head"; the second letter "''sam''" means "hair"; the third letter "''lai''" means "forehead", and so on. This is corroborated from the holybook "Wakoklol Heelel Theelel Salai Amailol Pukok Puya", which details how each script originated received its nomenclature.


Suffix letters or addendum used


Numerals


Unicode

The Meitei script was added to the
Unicode Unicode, formally The Unicode Standard,The formal version reference is is an information technology standard for the consistent encoding, representation, and handling of text expressed in most of the world's writing systems. The standard, wh ...
Standard in October, 2009 with the release of version 5.2.


Blocks

The Unicode block for the Meitei script, called Meetei Mayek, is U+ABC0 – U+ABFF. Characters for historical orthographies are part of the Meetei Mayek Extensions block at U+AAE0 – U+AAFF.


Software

Meitei Mayek keyboards and other input methods are available at or supported by: #
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# Macintosh operating systems # Microsoft SwiftKey #
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Sample text

The following is a
Meitei language Meitei (), also known as Manipuri (, ), is a Tibeto-Burman language of north-eastern India. It is spoken by around 1.8 million people, predominantly in the state of Manipur, but also by smaller communities in the rest of the country and in p ...
sample text of the Article 1 of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is an international document adopted by the United Nations General Assembly that enshrines the rights and freedoms of all human beings. Drafted by a UN committee chaired by Eleanor Roosevelt, ...
(by the
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...
) in Meitei script, its romanisation, its IPA and its English version:


See also

* Meitei inscriptions * List of Meitei-language newspapers * Meetei Mayek (Unicode block) * Meetei Mayek Extensions (Unicode block) * Wikipedia:Meitei script display help


Notes


References


Bibliography

* Chelliah, Shobhana L. (1997). ''A grammar of Meithei''. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. . * Chelliah, Shobhana L. (2002). Early Meithei manuscripts. In C. I. Beckwith (Ed.), ''Medieval Tibeto-Burman languages: PIATS 2000: Tibetan studies: Proceedings of the ninth seminar of the International Association of Tibetan Studies, Leiden 2000'' (pp. 59–71). Leiden, Netherlands: Brill. * Chelliah, Shobhana L. (2002). A glossary of 39 basic words in archaic and modern Meithei. In C. I. Beckwith (Ed.), ''Medieval Tibeto-Burman languages: PIATS 2000: Tibetan studies: Proceedings of the ninth seminar of the International Association of Tibetan Studies, Leiden 2000'' (pp. 189–190). Leiden, Netherlands: Brill.


External links


Omniglot, a guide to written language
* {{list of writing systems Officially used writing systems of India Meitei language Brahmic scripts