The Leke script, previously known as Karen Chicken Scratch script, is an

abugida An abugida (; from Geʽez: , )sometimes also called alphasyllabary, neosyllabary, or pseudo-alphabetis a segmental Writing systems#Segmental writing system, writing system in which consonant–vowel sequences are written as units; each unit ...

used to write the Pwo Karen language and Sgaw language in

Burma Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...

(

Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...

) and

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

. It has 25

consonants In articulatory phonetics, a consonant is a speech sound that is articulated with complete or partial closure of the vocal tract, except for the h sound, which is pronounced without any stricture in the vocal tract. Examples are and pronou ...

, 17

vowels A vowel is a speech sound pronounced without any stricture in the vocal tract, forming the nucleus of a syllable. Vowels are one of the two principal classes of speech sounds, the other being the consonant. Vowels vary in quality, in loudness a ...

and 3 tones. The script also has a unique set of numerals and punctuation, such as a full stop (period) and a comma. Leke is a

phonemic A phoneme () is any set of similar speech sounds that are perceptually regarded by the speakers of a language as a single basic sound—a smallest possible phonetic unit—that helps distinguish one word from another. All languages con ...

script: words are written the way they are pronounced. In modern Leke script, consonants are written first, then the vowels and tones are written around them. In text encoding, the vowels of a syllable always follow the consonant, even the two vowels ''dwia thwai'' and ''ri yah'', though they're written to the left of the consonant.

History

According to traditional Karen history, the Leke script was known as the Karen Chicken Scratch script. Why the earlier older Karen people was named this script as Chicken Scratch is because the story was told from generation to generation. It's said the first human lived in this planet is God's Ariya and his Seven sons in this world.

Summary

The Leke script was developed between 1830 and 1860 and is used by members of the

millenarian Millenarianism or millenarism () is the belief by a religious organization, religious, social, or political party, political group or Social movement, movement in a coming fundamental Social transformation, transformation of society, after which ...

Leke

sect A sect is a subgroup of a religion, religious, politics, political, or philosophy, philosophical belief system, typically emerging as an offshoot of a larger organization. Originally, the term referred specifically to religious groups that had s ...

Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

. It is believed to have borrowed from ancient Mon, based on the shapes and functions of older versions of the Burmese

script Script may refer to: Writing systems * Script, a distinctive writing system, based on a repertoire of specific elements or symbols, or that repertoire * Script (styles of handwriting) ** Script typeface, a typeface with characteristics of handw ...

. The

is also used by other Buddhists,

Christians A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words '' Christ'' and ''C ...

, and members of the unique Ariya

religion Religion is a range of social system, social-cultural systems, including designated religious behaviour, behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, religious text, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics in religion, ethics, or ...

. According to the chief Leke priest, there are over 3,200 trained teachers of the alphabet. Other scripts are also used by the Leke, including varieties of the Mon and

Burmese alphabet The Burmese alphabet (, MLCTS: ''mranma akkha.ya'', ) is an abugida used for writing Burmese, based on the Mon–Burmese script. It is ultimately adapted from a Brahmic script, either the Kadamba or Pallava alphabet of South India. The ...

s, and refugees in

have created a Thai alphabet, which is in limited use.

References

Brahmic scripts {{brahmic-script-stub