Meitei script

Meitei script
(Meitei: ꯃꯩꯇꯩ ꯃꯌꯦꯛ, romanized: Meitei Mayek)
The original 18 letters used in the Meitei Mayek writing system
Script type
Time period
6th-18th centuries AD, revived 1930 – present
DirectionLeft-to-right Edit this on Wikidata
Official scriptfor Meitei language in India
Region India
LanguagesMeitei language (officially known as "Manipuri language")
Related scripts
Parent systems
Sister systems
Lepcha, Khema, ʼPhags-pa, Marchen
ISO 15924
ISO 15924Mtei (337), ​Meitei Mayek (Meithei, Meetei)
Unicode
Unicode alias
Meetei Mayek
Meetei Mayek (Unicode block)
[a] The Semitic origin of the Brahmic scripts is not universally agreed upon.
Part of a series on
Officially used writing systems in India
Category
Brahmic scripts
Arabic derived scripts
Alphabetical scripts
Related

The Meitei script (Meitei: ꯃꯩꯇꯩ ꯃꯌꯦꯛ, romanized: Meitei mayek), also known as the Kanglei script (Meitei: ꯀꯪꯂꯩ ꯃꯌꯦꯛ, romanized: Kanglei mayek) or the Kok Sam Lai script (Meitei: ꯀꯣꯛ ꯁꯝ ꯂꯥꯏ ꯃꯌꯦꯛ, romanized: Kok Sam Lai mayek), after its first three letters is an abugida in the Brahmic scripts family used to write the Meitei language, the official language of Manipur and one of the 22 official languages of India. It is first known from engravings on 6th century AD coins. as verified by the various publications of the National Sahitya Akademi. It was used until the 18th century, when it was replaced by the Bengali alphabet. A few manuscripts survive. In the 20th century, the script was revived and is again being used. Beginning in 2021, the Government of Manipur began to use the Meitei alongside the Bengali-Assamese script, per the Manipur Official Language (Amendment) Act, 2021.

Since Meitei does not have voiced consonants, there are only fifteen consonant letters used for native words, plus three letters for pure vowels. Nine additional consonants letters inherited from Indic languages are available for writing loan words. There are seven vowel diacritics and a final consonant (/ŋ/) diacritic. The names of the twenty-seven letters are based on parts of the human body.

A Meitei language stone inscription in Meitei script about a royal decree of a Meitei king found in the sacred site of God Panam Ningthou in Andro, Imphal East, Manipur.

History

There has been some controversy regarding the origin of the Meitei script. The Meitei script is a Brahmic 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, the script belongs to the Tibetan group of scripts.

The Old Manipuri script is first appears on coins issued during the reigns of Meitei Kings Ura Konthouba (568-653 AD) and Ayangba (821-910 AD). These coins are presently preserved in the Mutua Museum in Imphal.

The earliest stone inscription, found in the village of Khoibu, Manipur, is also believed to date to time of Ura Konthouba. This inscription is presently kept in the Manipur State Museum, Imphal.

The earliest copper plate Meitei inscription dates to the 8th century AD, inscribed during the reign of King Khongtekcha (c. 721 AD). It was discovered by scholar Yumjao from Phayeng in 1935. It is one of the earliest known examples of Meitei literature.

A stone inscription found[year needed] at Khoibu in Tengnoupal district, of current Manipur state, contains royal edicts of king Senbi Kiyamba (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.[better source needed]

Meitei manuscript

Recent developments

In 1980, a modernized version of the writing system was approved by Manipuri law for use in educational institutions. The modernised version of the Meitei script was encoded in Unicode in 2009.

in 2022, a joint meeting consensus of the Meetei Erol Eyek Loinasillol Apunba Lup, the All Manipur Working Journalists' Union and the Editors' Guild, Manipur agreed that Meitei language newspapers would switch from the Bengali script to the Meitei script from 15 January 2023; 13 months ago (2023-01-15).

Letters

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 association appears in the book Wakoklon Heelel Thilel Salai Amailon Pukok Puya, which details how each script originated received its nomenclature and which is widely considered to be the source of the Meitei script. Some letters have a second form (lonsom) that is used at the end of a word.

Meitei letter "Ama" (lit. One) in the symbol of Sanamahism (traditional Meitei religion)

In the traditional Meitei religion of Sanamahism Meitei letters and numeralsare believed to be the creations of the supreme.

Primary letters

Letter Name IPA Meaning(s) Lonsum
ꯀꯣꯛ, kok /k/ head or brain
ꯁꯝ, sam /s/ hair
ꯂꯥꯏ, lai /l/ forehead
ꯃꯤꯠ, mit /m/ eye
ꯄꯥ, /p/ eyelash
ꯅꯥ, /n/ ear
ꯆꯤꯜ, chil /t͡ʃ/ lips
ꯇꯤꯜ, til /t/ saliva
ꯈꯧ, khou /kʰ/ throat, palate, neck
ꯉꯧ, ngou /ŋ/ pharynx, larynx
ꯊꯧ, thou /tʰ/ breast, chest, ribs
ꯋꯥꯏ, wai /w/ navel, heart
ꯌꯥꯡ, yang /j/ spine
ꯍꯨꯛ, huk /h/ joint
ꯎꯟ, un /u(ː)/ skin
, i /i(ː)/ blood
ꯐꯝ, pham /pʰ/ anus, buttocks, or uterus
ꯑꯇꯤꯡꯉꯥ, atinga

ꯑꯇꯤꯌꯥ, atiya

/ɐ/ immortality, heaven, divinity, birth

Additional consonants

Letter Name IPA Evolved from
ꯒꯣꯛ, gok /g/
ꯓꯝ, jham /d͡ʒʱ/
ꯔꯥꯏ, rai /ɾ/
ꯕꯥ, /b/
ꯖꯤꯜ, jil /d͡ʒ/
ꯗꯤꯜ, dil /d/
ꯘꯧ, ghou /gʱ/
ꯙꯧ, dhou /dʱ/
ꯚꯝ, bham /bʱ/

Vowel diacritics

Syllables are written by adding vowel diacritics (cheitap eeyek) to consonants.

name aa-tap ee-nap 'uu-nap yet-nap ot-nap chei-nap sou-nap nung
diacritic
IPA /a/ /i/ /u/ /e/ /o/ /ɐj/ /ɐw/ /əŋ/
plus diacritic ꯀꯥ ꯀꯤ ꯀꯨ ꯀꯦ ꯀꯣ ꯀꯩ ꯀꯧ ꯀꯪ
plus diacritic ꯠꯥ ꯠꯤ ꯠꯨ ꯠꯦ ꯠꯣ ꯠꯩ ꯠꯧ ꯠꯪ

Numerals

Number 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Meitei numeral
Name ꯐꯨꯟ,
phun
ꯑꯃ,
ama
ꯑꯅꯤ,
ani
ꯑꯍꯨꯝ,
ahum
ꯃꯔꯤ,
mari
ꯃꯉꯥ,
mangā
ꯇꯔꯨꯛ,
taruk
ꯇꯔꯦꯠ,
taret
ꯅꯤꯄꯥꯜ,
nipāl
ꯃꯥꯄꯜ,
māpal

Unicode

Meetei Mayek (Meitei script) was added to the Unicode Standard in October, 2009 with the release of version 5.2.

The Unicode block for the Meitei script is U+ABC0 – U+ABFF.

Characters for historical orthographies are part of the Meetei Mayek Extensions block at U+AAE0 – U+AAFF.

Meetei Mayek
Official Unicode Consortium code chart (PDF)
  0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A B C D E F
U+ABCx
U+ABDx
U+ABEx
U+ABFx
Notes
1.^ As of Unicode version 15.1
2.^ Grey areas indicate non-assigned code points
Meetei Mayek Extensions
Official Unicode Consortium code chart (PDF)
  0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A B C D E F
U+AAEx
U+AAFx     
Notes
1.^ As of Unicode version 15.1
2.^ Grey areas indicate non-assigned code points

Software

A typical Meitei Mayek keyboard

Meitei Mayek keyboards and other input methods are available at or supported by:

  1. Gboard
  2. Apple iOS 13
  3. Linux
  4. Macintosh operating systems
  5. Microsoft SwiftKey
  6. Windows

In popular culture

See also


This page was last updated at 2024-03-15 00:28 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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