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Meitei script

The Meitei script (Meitei: ꯃꯩꯇꯩ ꯃꯌꯦꯛ, romanized: Meitei Mayek, lit.'Meitei writing system'), also known as the Meetei script (Meitei: ꯃꯤꯇꯩ ꯃꯌꯦꯛ, romanized: Meetei Mayek, lit.'Meetei writing system'),[5] is an abugida used for the Meitei language, the official language of Manipur state and one of the 22 official languages of India. It is one of the official scripts of the Indian Republic. It is also popularly known as the Kanglei script (Meitei: ꯀꯪꯂꯩ ꯃꯌꯦꯛ/ꯀꯪꯂꯩ ꯏꯌꯦꯛ, romanized: Kanglei Mayek/Kanglei Iyek)[6][7] and the Kok Sam Lai script (Meitei: ꯀꯣꯛ ꯁꯝ ꯂꯥꯏ ꯃꯌꯦꯛ, romanized: Kok Sam Lai Mayek).[a][8][9] Its earliest known evidence of existence dates back to the 6th century AD coins, engraving the Meitei letters,[10] as verified by the various publications of the National Sahitya Akademi.[1] 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 has experienced a resurgence, and is again being used.[11] Starting from 2021, Meitei script (officially known as Meetei Mayek[b]) was officially used by the Government of Manipur, along with the Bengali-Assamese script, to write the Meitei language, as per "The Manipur Official Language (Amendment) Act, 2021".[12]

Meitei script
(Meitei: ꯃꯩꯇꯩ ꯃꯌꯦꯛ, romanized: Meitei Mayek)
"Meitei Mayek" (Meitei for 'Meitei writing system') written in Meitei script; the ancient 18 letters used in the official Meitei Mayek writing system
Script type
Time period
6th century AD[1] – upto 1700 AD, 1930 – present
Directionleft-to-right 
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
  • U+ABC0–U+ABFF Meetei Mayek
  • U+AAE0–U+AAFF Meetei Mayek Extensions
[a] The Semitic origin of the Brahmic scripts is not universally agreed upon.

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 consonant letters inherited from the Indic languages are available for borrowings. There are seven vowel diacritics and a final consonant (/ŋ/) diacritic. The names of the twenty-seven letters are not only phonetic names, but also based on parts of the human body.[13]

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

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.[1]

The earliest stone inscription in Meitei script found from the Khoibu village in Manipur 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.[1]

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 in the year 1935. It is one of the preserved earliest known written records for Meitei literature.[14][15][16]

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 published by the Sahitya Akademi in the year 1987.[1]

11th century

Contradictory to the various publications of the National Sahitya Akademi 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 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.[17] By contrast, Tomba (1993) claims that the script is a development of c. 1930, with all supposedly older documents being deliberate forgeries.[18] 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.[2]

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.[19][better source needed]

 
Meitei manuscript

20th century

In 1980, a modernized version of the writing system was approved by Manipur state law for use in educational institutions.[20][21]

21st century

2009

The modernised version of the Meitei script was encoded in Unicode in the year 2009.

2023 planning in 2022

All the newspapers in Meitei language (Manipuri language) will be using the "Meitei script" (Meitei: Meetei Mayek) instead of the Bengali script from 15 January 2023; 2 months ago (2023-01-15), 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.[22][23][24][25][26]

Letters

 
The eighteen foremost letters of the ancient Meitei script (ancient Meetei script) of ancient Kangleipak (early Manipur)
 
The logograms of the Meitei script

One of the unique features of this script is the use of body parts in naming the letters.[27] 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.[28] This is corroborated from the holybook "Wakoklon Heelel Thilel Salai Amailon Pukok Puya", which details how each script originated received its nomenclature.[29]

Primary letters

Image(s) Letter(s) Name(s)/Pronunciation(s) Romanization Representation(s) Meaning(s)[c] Latin equivalent letters/sounds IPA[34]
 
ꯀꯣꯛ kok
 
head or brain K /k/
 
ꯁꯝ sam/sham
 
hair S /s/
 
ꯂꯥꯏ lai
 
forehead L /l/
 
ꯃꯤꯠ mit/meet
 
eye M /m/
 
ꯄꯥ /paa
 
eyelash P /p/
 
ꯅꯥ /naa
 
ear N /n/
 
ꯆꯤꯜ chil/cheel
 
lips Ch /t͡ʃ/
 
ꯇꯤꯜ til/teel
 
saliva T /t/
 
ꯈꯧ khou throat, palate, neck Kh /kʰ/
 
ꯉꯧ ngou pharynx, larynx Ng /ŋ/
 
ꯊꯧ thou
 
breast, chest, ribs Th /tʰ/
 
ꯋꯥꯏ wai
 
navel, heart W /w/
 
ꯌꯥꯡ yang
 
backbone, vertebral column, spine Y /j/
 
ꯍꯨꯛ huk/hook
 
joint, articulation H /h/
 
ꯎꯟ un/oon
 
skin, hair follicle U /u(ː)/
 
ee/i
 
blood I or E /i(ː)/
 
ꯐꯝ pham/fam
 
"anus" or "buttocks" or "seat" or "uterus" or "womb" F or Ph /pʰ/
 
ꯑꯇꯤꯡꯉꯥ / ꯑꯇꯤꯌꯥ atinga/atiya
 
"sky" or "immortality" or "heaven" or "eternity" or "divinity" or "celestial being" or "birth" A /ɐ/

Evolved consonant letters

Evolved Letter(s) Name(s)/Pronunciation(s) Romanization Evolved from Latin equivalent letters/sounds IPA[35]
ꯒꯣꯛ gok ꯀꯣꯛ (kok) G /g/
ꯓꯝ jham ꯁꯝ (sam) Jh /d͡ʒʱ/
ꯔꯥꯏ rai ꯂꯥꯏ (lai) R /ɾ/
ꯕꯥ /baa ꯄꯥ (pā/paa) B /b/
ꯖꯤꯜ jil ꯆꯤꯜ (chil) J /d͡ʒ/
ꯗꯤꯜ dil ꯇꯤꯜ (til) D /d/
ꯘꯧ ghou ꯈꯧ (khou) Gh /gʱ/
ꯙꯧ dhou ꯊꯧ (thou) Dh /dʱ/
ꯚꯝ bham ꯐꯝ (pham/fam) Bh /bʱ/

Lonsum letters

Lonsum letter Name Derived from Mapung Mayek letter
kok lonsum
lai lonsum
mit lonsum
pa lonsum
na lonsum
til lonsum
ngou lonsum
ee lonsum

Vowel diacritics

Cheitap letters (Cheitap mayek)
Cheitap mayek Name IPA Latin Example
aa-tap /a/ a Karl (ꯀꯥꯔꯜ)
ee-nap /i/ e or i King (ꯀꯤꯡ), Feel (ꯐꯤꯜ)
uu-nap /u/ u or oo Cool (ꯀꯨꯜ), Fumigate (ꯐꯨꯃꯤꯒꯦꯠ)
yet-nap /e/ ay or e Bay (ꯕꯦ), Kentuk (ꯀꯦꯟꯇꯨꯛ)
ot-nap /o/ o Boy (ꯕꯣꯌ), Cold (ꯀꯣꯜꯗ)
chei-nap /ej/ ei Heifer (ꯍꯩꯐꯔ), Feign (ꯐꯩꯟ)
sou-nap /ow/ ou or ow Soul (ꯁꯧꯜ), Hou (ꯍꯧ), Bowl (ꯕꯧꯜ)
nung or noong /ɐŋ/ ang or ng Anglo (ꯑꯪꯒꯂꯣ), Kangla (ꯀꯪꯂꯥ)

Numerals

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

In Meitei religion

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

In Sanamahism (traditional Meitei religion), the Meitei letters (including Meitei numerals) are believed to be the divine creations (or the divine manifestations) of the supreme deity in the universe.[36][37]

Unicode

The Meitei script was added to the Unicode 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.

Meetei Mayek[1][2]
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 15.0
2.^ Grey areas indicate non-assigned code points
Meetei Mayek Extensions[1][2]
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 15.0
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

Sample text

The following is a Meitei language sample text of the Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (by the United Nations) in Meitei script, its romanisation, its IPA and its English version:[38]

ꯃꯤꯑꯣꯏꯕ ꯈꯨꯗꯤꯡꯃꯛ ꯄꯣꯛꯄ ꯃꯇꯝꯗ ꯅꯤꯡꯇꯝꯃꯤ, ꯑꯃꯗꯤ ꯏꯖꯖꯠ ꯑꯃꯁꯨꯡ ꯍꯛ ꯃꯥꯟꯅꯅ ꯂꯩꯖꯩ ꯫ ꯃꯈꯣꯏ ꯄꯨꯝꯅꯃꯛ ꯋꯥꯈꯜ ꯂꯧꯁꯤꯡ ꯁꯦꯡꯏ, ꯑꯐ ꯐꯠꯇ ꯈꯪꯏ, ꯑꯗꯨꯅ ꯑꯃꯅ ꯑꯃꯒ ꯂꯣꯏꯅꯕꯗ ꯃꯆꯤꯟ ꯃꯅꯥꯎꯒꯨꯝꯅ ꯂꯣꯏꯅꯒꯗꯕꯅꯤ ꯫

— Meitei-language translation in Meitei script

Mioiba khudingmak pokpa matamda ningtammi amadi ijjat amasung hak mānnana leijei, makhoi pumnamak wākhal loushing shengi, apha phatta khangi, aduna amana amaga loinabada machin manāogumna loinagadabani.

— The passage in Roman transliteration

míːójbə kʰud̯íŋmək pókpə mət̯ə̀md̯ə níːŋt̯ə̀mmi, əməd̯i iːdʒət əməʃùng hə́k màːnənə lɐ̀jdʒɐ̀j. məkʰój púmnəmək wakʰə̀l lə̀wʃiŋ ʃèŋi, əpʱə̀ pʱə́ːt̯ə kʰə́ŋi, əd̯unə əmənə əməgə lòjnəbəd̯ə mət͡ʃìn mənáwgùmnə lójnəgəd̯əbəni'.

— The passage in IPA

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

— The passage in English version

See also

Notes

  1. ^ named after the first three letters "Kok" (K), "Sam" (S) and "Lai" (L) of the Meitei writing system.
  2. ^ The terms, "Meitei", "Meetei" and "Manipuri" are synonymous. While "Meitei" is more popular than "Meetei", "Meetei" is the officially mentioned synonym of the term "Manipuri".
  3. ^ Some of the meanings rendered by some letters (characters) are different according to different sources. So, if found different, they're added together in the same section.[30][31][32][33]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Datta, Amaresh (1987). Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature. Sahitya Akademi. p. 142. ISBN 978-81-260-1803-1.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  2. ^ a b Chelliah, Shobhana Lakshmi (2011). A Grammar of Meithei. De Gruyter. p. 355. ISBN 9783110801118. Meithei Mayek is part of the Tibetan group of scripts,which originated from the Gupta Brahmi script
  3. ^ Singh, Harimohon Thounaojam (January 2011), The Evolution and Recent Development of the Meetei Mayek Script, Cambridge University Press India, p. 28
  4. ^ Hyslop, Gwendolyn; Morey, Stephen; Post, Mark W (January 2011). North East Indian Linguistics Volume 3. Cambridge University Press India. ISBN 9788175967939.
  5. ^ Khuman, Yanglem Loijing Khomba; Devi, Salam Dickeeta; Singh, Ch. Ponykumar; Devi, H. Mamata; Singh, N. Ajith (1 December 2022). "A benchmark dataset for printed Meitei/Meetei script character recognition". Data in Brief. 45: 108585. doi:10.1016/j.dib.2022.108585. ISSN 2352-3409. PMC 9679442. PMID 36426059.
  6. ^ Noni, Arambam; Sanatomba, Kangujam (16 October 2015). Colonialism and Resistance: Society and State in Manipur. Routledge. pp. 223, 235, 237. ISBN 978-1-317-27066-9.
  7. ^ O'Keeffe, Anne; McCarthy, Michael (5 April 2010). The Routledge Handbook of Corpus Linguistics. Taylor and Francis. p. 146. ISBN 978-1-135-15363-2. Meetei Mayek (Meitei Mayek, ... Kanglei)
  8. ^ "মণিপুরদা লোলয়ান চঙলকপা অমদি মীতৈ ইয়েক্না থোঙজিন্দা ৱারৌজনা লেপ্লরবদা !" (PDF). hueiyenlanpao.com (in Manipuri).
  9. ^ "Lost and revived: The story of Meitei script". The Indian Express. 11 December 2022. Retrieved 29 January 2023.
  10. ^ Fresh Fictions: Folk Tales, Plays, Novellas from the North East. Katha. 2005. p. 4. ISBN 978-81-87649-44-1.
  11. ^ Laithangbam, Iboyaima (23 September 2017). "Banished Manipuri script stages a comeback". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 25 August 2021.
  12. ^ "GAZETTE TITLE: The Manipur Official Language (Amendment) Act, 2021". manipurgovtpress.nic.in.
  13. ^ Ray, Sohini (2009). "Writing the Body: Cosmology, Orthography, and Fragments of Modernity in Northeastern India". Anthropological Quarterly. 82 (1): 150. ISSN 0003-5491. JSTOR 25488260.
  14. ^ Devi, Dr Yumlembam Gopi. Glimpses of Manipuri Culture. p. 25. ISBN 978-0-359-72919-7.
  15. ^ Paniker, K. Ayyappa (1997). Medieval Indian Literature: Surveys and selections (Assamese-Dogri). Sahitya Akademi. p. 325. ISBN 978-81-260-0365-5.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  16. ^ Sen, Sipra (1 January 1992). Tribes and Castes of Manipur: Description and Select Bibliography. Mittal Publications. p. 28. ISBN 978-81-7099-310-0.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  17. ^ K.B. Singh, The Meiteis of Manipur (1989 [1962]), p. 157.
  18. ^ Frans Welman, Out of Isolation – Exploring a Forgotten World (2011), 468f., citing O.Tomba, The Need to rewrite Manipuri History, Imphal, 1993.
  19. ^ Everson, Michael (20 September 2006). "Preliminary Proposal for Encoding the Meithei Mayek Script in the BMP of the UCS" (PDF). Unicode.
  20. ^ "Approved Meitei Mayek Govt Gazzette 1980". e-pao.net. Retrieved 31 July 2019.
  21. ^ Devi, S. (May 2013). "Is Manipuri an Endangered Language?" (PDF). Language in India. 13 (5): 520–533.
  22. ^ "Meetei Mayek in newspapers". www.thesangaiexpress.com. Retrieved 3 August 2022.
  23. ^ "Meetei Mayek in newspapers : 29th jan22 ~ E-Pao! Headlines". e-pao.net. Retrieved 3 August 2022.
  24. ^ Time, Pratidin. "Meetei Mayek to Replace Bengali Script in Manipuri Newspapers from 2023". Pratidin Time. Retrieved 3 August 2022.
  25. ^ HYNews. "All Bengali script Manipuri Dailies in Manipur to Print in Meitei Eyek (Script) from 15th January 2023". hynews.in. Retrieved 3 August 2022.
  26. ^ "State dailies to cease Bengali script Manipuri papers from Jan, 2023 : 29th jan22 ~ E-Pao! Headlines". e-pao.net. Retrieved 3 August 2022.
  27. ^ "A comparative study of Meetei Mayek" (PDF). typoday. Retrieved 13 May 2019.
  28. ^ "Atlas of Endangered Alphabets: Indigenous and minority writing systems, and the people who are trying to save them". Retrieved 6 March 2023. The Meitei Mayek script has a unique built-in learning device: the use of body parts in naming the letters. Every letter is named after a human body part in the Manipuri. The first letter, "kok" means "head," for example; the second letter, "sam" means "hair"; the third letter "lai" means "forehead."
  29. ^ Ray, Sohini (2009). "Writing the Body: Cosmology, Orthography, and Fragments of Modernity in Northeastern India". Anthropological Quarterly. 82 (1): 129–154. doi:10.1353/anq.0.0047. ISSN 0003-5491. JSTOR 25488260. S2CID 140755509.
  30. ^ Arambarn Parratt, Saroj Nalini, ed. (2009), "Meetei Mayek or Meetei script chart", The Court Chronicle of the Kings of Manipur, Foundation Books, pp. 145–148, ISBN 978-81-7596-854-7, retrieved 6 March 2023
  31. ^ Watham, S.; Vimal, V. (2013). "Transliteration from Hindi Script to Meetei Mayek : ( A Rule Based Approach )". www.semanticscholar.org. S2CID 16339978. Retrieved 6 March 2023.
  32. ^ "Meetei Mayek: The Script". tabish.freeshell.org. Retrieved 6 March 2023.
  33. ^ "Meitei Mayek Alphabets". www.researchgate.net.
  34. ^ "Manipuri (Meeteilon / Meithei)". Omniglot. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
  35. ^ "Manipuri (Meeteilon / Meithei)". Omniglot. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
  36. ^ "Discovery of Kangleipak 11". e-pao.net. Retrieved 8 March 2023.
  37. ^ "Discovery of Kangleipak 12". e-pao.net. Retrieved 8 March 2023.
  38. ^ "Manipuri language and alphabets". omniglot.com. Retrieved 12 August 2022.

Bibliography

  • Chelliah, Shobhana L. (1997). A grammar of Meithei. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. ISBN 0-19-564331-3.
  • 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

meitei, script, confused, with, bengali, alphabet, bengali, assamese, script, this, article, about, historically, naturally, evolved, writing, system, used, write, meitei, language, constructed, script, invented, 20th, century, naoriya, phulo, script, disambig. Not to be confused with Bengali alphabet or Bengali Assamese script This article is about the historically and naturally evolved writing system used to write Meitei language For the constructed script invented in 20th century CE see Naoriya Phulo script For disambiguation see Meitei Yelhou Mayek This article may be expanded with text translated from the corresponding article in Ukrainian Click show for important translation instructions Machine translation like DeepL or Google Translate is a useful starting point for translations but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate rather than simply copy pasting machine translated text into the English Wikipedia Consider adding a topic to this template there are already 646 articles in the main category and specifying topic will aid in categorization Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low quality If possible verify the text with references provided in the foreign language article You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing Ukrainian Wikipedia article at uk Manipuri pismo see its history for attribution You should also add the template Translated uk Manipuri pismo to the talk page For more guidance see Wikipedia Translation This article is missing information about how Lonsum works syllable coda which ones are the basic fifteen consonants Please expand the article to include this information Further details may exist on the talk page February 2021 The Meitei script Meitei ꯃ ꯇ ꯃꯌ ꯛ romanized Meitei Mayek lit Meitei writing system also known as the Meetei script Meitei ꯃ ꯇ ꯃꯌ ꯛ romanized Meetei Mayek lit Meetei writing system 5 is an abugida used for the Meitei language the official language of Manipur state and one of the 22 official languages of India It is one of the official scripts of the Indian Republic It is also popularly known as the Kanglei script Meitei ꯀ ꯂ ꯃꯌ ꯛ ꯀ ꯂ ꯏꯌ ꯛ romanized Kanglei Mayek Kanglei Iyek 6 7 and the Kok Sam Lai script Meitei ꯀ ꯛ ꯁꯝ ꯂ ꯏ ꯃꯌ ꯛ romanized Kok Sam Lai Mayek a 8 9 Its earliest known evidence of existence dates back to the 6th century AD coins engraving the Meitei letters 10 as verified by the various publications of the National Sahitya Akademi 1 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 has experienced a resurgence and is again being used 11 Starting from 2021 Meitei script officially known as Meetei Mayek b was officially used by the Government of Manipur along with the Bengali Assamese script to write the Meitei language as per The Manipur Official Language Amendment Act 2021 12 Meitei script Meitei ꯃ ꯇ ꯃꯌ ꯛ romanized Meitei Mayek Meitei Mayek Meitei for Meitei writing system written in Meitei script the ancient 18 letters used in the official Meitei Mayek writing systemScript typeAbugidaTime period6th century AD 1 upto 1700 AD 1930 presentDirectionleft to right Official scriptfor Meitei language in IndiaRegion India ManipurLanguagesMeitei language officially known as Manipuri language Related scriptsParent systemsEgyptian hieroglyphs a Proto Sinaitic script a Phoenician alphabet a Aramaic alphabet a Brahmi scriptGupta scriptTibetan 2 3 4 Meitei scriptSister systemsLepcha Khema ʼPhags pa MarchenISO 15924ISO 15924Mtei 337 Meitei Mayek Meithei Meetei UnicodeUnicode aliasMeetei MayekUnicode rangeU ABC0 U ABFF Meetei MayekU AAE0 U AAFF Meetei Mayek Extensions a The Semitic origin of the Brahmic scripts is not universally agreed upon Part of a series onOfficially used writing systems in IndiaCategoryIndic scriptsBengali Assamese script Devanagari script Gujarati script Gurmukhi script Kannada script Malayalam script Meitei script Odia script Tamil script Telugu scriptArabic derived scriptsPerso Arabic script Urdu scriptAlphabetical scriptsOl Chiki script Latin scriptRelatedOfficial scripts of the Indian Republic Writing systems of India Languages of India Asia portal India portal Language portal Writing portalThis article contains the Meitei alphabet Without proper rendering support you may see errors in display 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 consonant letters inherited from the Indic languages are available for borrowings There are seven vowel diacritics and a final consonant ŋ diacritic The names of the twenty seven letters are not only phonetic names but also based on parts of the human body 13 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 Contents 1 History 1 1 6th century 7th century 1 2 8th century 1 3 11th century 1 4 20th century 1 5 21st century 1 5 1 2009 1 5 2 2023 planning in 2022 2 Letters 2 1 Primary letters 2 2 Evolved consonant letters 2 3 Lonsum letters 3 Vowel diacritics 4 Numerals 5 In Meitei religion 6 Unicode 6 1 Blocks 7 Software 8 Sample text 9 See also 10 Notes 11 References 12 Bibliography 13 External linksHistory Edit6th century 7th century Edit 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 1 The earliest stone inscription in Meitei script found from the Khoibu village in Manipur 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 1 8th century Edit 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 in the year 1935 It is one of the preserved earliest known written records for Meitei literature 14 15 16 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 published by the Sahitya Akademi in the year 1987 1 11th century Edit Contradictory to the various publications of the National Sahitya Akademi 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 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 17 By contrast Tomba 1993 claims that the script is a development of c 1930 with all supposedly older documents being deliberate forgeries 18 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 2 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 19 better source needed Meitei manuscript 20th century Edit In 1980 a modernized version of the writing system was approved by Manipur state law for use in educational institutions 20 21 21st century Edit 2009 Edit The modernised version of the Meitei script was encoded in Unicode in the year 2009 2023 planning in 2022 Edit All the newspapers in Meitei language Manipuri language will be using the Meitei script Meitei Meetei Mayek instead of the Bengali script from 15 January 2023 2 months ago 2023 01 15 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 22 23 24 25 26 Letters Edit The eighteen foremost letters of the ancient Meitei script ancient Meetei script of ancient Kangleipak early Manipur The logograms of the Meitei script One of the unique features of this script is the use of body parts in naming the letters 27 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 28 This is corroborated from the holybook Wakoklon Heelel Thilel Salai Amailon Pukok Puya which details how each script originated received its nomenclature 29 Primary letters Edit Image s Letter s Name s Pronunciation s Romanization Representation s Meaning s c Latin equivalent letters sounds IPA 34 ꯀ ꯀ ꯛ kok head or brain K k ꯁ ꯁꯝ sam sham hair S s ꯂ ꯂ ꯏ lai forehead L l ꯃ ꯃ ꯠ mit meet eye M m ꯄ ꯄ pa paa eyelash P p ꯅ ꯅ na naa ear N n ꯆ ꯆ ꯜ chil cheel lips Ch t ʃ ꯇ ꯇ ꯜ til teel saliva T t ꯈ ꯈ khou throat palate neck Kh kʰ ꯉ ꯉ ngou pharynx larynx Ng ŋ ꯊ ꯊ thou breast chest ribs Th tʰ ꯋ ꯋ ꯏ wai navel heart W w ꯌ ꯌ ꯡ yang backbone vertebral column spine Y j ꯍ ꯍ ꯛ huk hook joint articulation H h ꯎ ꯎꯟ un oon skin hair follicle U u ː ꯏ ꯏ ee i blood I or E i ː ꯐ ꯐꯝ pham fam anus or buttocks or seat or uterus or womb F or Ph pʰ ꯑ ꯑꯇ ꯡꯉ ꯑꯇ ꯌ atinga atiya sky or immortality or heaven or eternity or divinity or celestial being or birth A ɐ Evolved consonant letters Edit Evolved Letter s Name s Pronunciation s Romanization Evolved from Latin equivalent letters sounds IPA 35 ꯒ ꯒ ꯛ gok ꯀ ꯛ kok G g ꯓ ꯓꯝ jham ꯁꯝ sam Jh d ʒʱ ꯔ ꯔ ꯏ rai ꯂ ꯏ lai R ɾ ꯕ ꯕ ba baa ꯄ pa paa B b ꯖ ꯖ ꯜ jil ꯆ ꯜ chil J d ʒ ꯗ ꯗ ꯜ dil ꯇ ꯜ til D d ꯘ ꯘ ghou ꯈ khou Gh gʱ ꯙ ꯙ dhou ꯊ thou Dh dʱ ꯚ ꯚꯝ bham ꯐꯝ pham fam Bh bʱ Lonsum letters Edit Lonsum letter Name Derived from Mapung Mayek letterꯛ kok lonsum ꯀꯜ lai lonsum ꯂꯝ mit lonsum ꯃꯞ pa lonsum ꯄꯟ na lonsum ꯅꯠ til lonsum ꯇꯡ ngou lonsum ꯉꯢ ee lonsum ꯏVowel diacritics EditCheitap letters Cheitap mayek Cheitap mayek Name IPA Latin Example aa tap a a Karl ꯀ ꯔꯜ ee nap i e or i King ꯀ ꯡ Feel ꯐ ꯜ uu nap u u or oo Cool ꯀ ꯜ Fumigate ꯐ ꯃ ꯒ ꯠ yet nap e ay or e Bay ꯕ Kentuk ꯀ ꯟꯇ ꯛ ot nap o o Boy ꯕ ꯌ Cold ꯀ ꯜꯗ chei nap ej ei Heifer ꯍ ꯐꯔ Feign ꯐ ꯟ sou nap ow ou or ow Soul ꯁ ꯜ Hou ꯍ Bowl ꯕ ꯜ nung or noong ɐŋ ang or ng Anglo ꯑ ꯒꯂ Kangla ꯀ ꯂ Numerals EditArabic numerals 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9Meitei numerals ꯰ ꯱ ꯲ ꯳ ꯴ ꯵ ꯶ ꯷ ꯸ ꯹Names ꯐ ꯟ phun ꯑꯃ ama ꯑꯅ ani ꯑꯍ ꯝ ahum ꯃꯔ mari ꯃꯉ manga ꯇꯔ ꯛ taruk ꯇꯔ ꯠ taret ꯅ ꯄ ꯜ nipal ꯃ ꯄꯜ mapalIn Meitei religion Edit Meitei letter Ama lit One in the symbol of Sanamahism traditional Meitei religion Meitei letter Ama lit One In Sanamahism traditional Meitei religion the Meitei letters including Meitei numerals are believed to be the divine creations or the divine manifestations of the supreme deity in the universe 36 37 Unicode EditThe Meitei script was added to the Unicode Standard in October 2009 with the release of version 5 2 Blocks Edit Main articles Meetei Mayek Unicode block and Meetei Mayek Extensions Unicode block 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 Meetei Mayek 1 2 Official Unicode Consortium code chart PDF 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A B C D E FU ABCx ꯀ ꯁ ꯂ ꯃ ꯄ ꯅ ꯆ ꯇ ꯈ ꯉ ꯊ ꯋ ꯌ ꯍ ꯎ ꯏU ABDx ꯐ ꯑ ꯒ ꯓ ꯔ ꯕ ꯖ ꯗ ꯘ ꯙ ꯚ ꯛ ꯜ ꯝ ꯞ ꯟU ABEx ꯠ ꯡ ꯢ U ABFx ꯰ ꯱ ꯲ ꯳ ꯴ ꯵ ꯶ ꯷ ꯸ ꯹Notes 1 As of Unicode version 15 0 2 Grey areas indicate non assigned code pointsMeetei Mayek Extensions 1 2 Official Unicode Consortium code chart PDF 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A B C D E FU AAEx ꫠ ꫡ ꫢ ꫣ ꫤ ꫥ ꫦ ꫧ ꫨ ꫩ ꫪ U AAFx ꫲ ꫳ ꫴ Notes 1 As of Unicode version 15 0 2 Grey areas indicate non assigned code pointsSoftware EditMain article Meitei input methods A typical Meitei Mayek keyboard Meitei Mayek keyboards and other input methods are available at or supported by Gboard Apple iOS 13 Linux Macintosh operating systems Microsoft SwiftKey WindowsSample text EditThe following is a Meitei language sample text of the Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations in Meitei script its romanisation its IPA and its English version 38 ꯃ ꯑ ꯏꯕ ꯈ ꯗ ꯡꯃꯛ ꯄ ꯛꯄ ꯃꯇꯝꯗ ꯅ ꯡꯇꯝꯃ ꯑꯃꯗ ꯏꯖꯖꯠ ꯑꯃꯁ ꯡ ꯍꯛ ꯃ ꯟꯅꯅ ꯂ ꯖ ꯃꯈ ꯏ ꯄ ꯝꯅꯃꯛ ꯋ ꯈꯜ ꯂ ꯁ ꯡ ꯁ ꯡꯏ ꯑꯐ ꯐꯠꯇ ꯈ ꯏ ꯑꯗ ꯅ ꯑꯃꯅ ꯑꯃꯒ ꯂ ꯏꯅꯕꯗ ꯃꯆ ꯟ ꯃꯅ ꯎꯒ ꯝꯅ ꯂ ꯏꯅꯒꯗꯕꯅ Meitei language translation in Meitei script Mioiba khudingmak pokpa matamda ningtammi amadi ijjat amasung hak mannana leijei makhoi pumnamak wakhal loushing shengi apha phatta khangi aduna amana amaga loinabada machin manaogumna loinagadabani The passage in Roman transliteration miːojbe kʰud iŋmek pokpe met e md e niːŋt e mmi emed i iːdʒet emeʃung he k maːnene lɐ jdʒɐ j mekʰoj pumnemek wakʰe l le wʃiŋ ʃeŋi epʱe pʱe ːt e kʰe ŋi ed une emene emege lojnebed e met ʃin menawgumne lojneged ebeni The passage in IPA All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood The passage in English versionSee also Edit Arts portal Asia portal Languages portal India portal Writing portalMeitei inscriptions List of Meitei language newspapers Meetei Mayek Unicode block Meetei Mayek Extensions Unicode block Wikipedia Meitei script display helpNotes Edit named after the first three letters Kok K Sam S and Lai L of the Meitei writing system The terms Meitei Meetei and Manipuri are synonymous While Meitei is more popular than Meetei Meetei is the officially mentioned synonym of the term Manipuri Some of the meanings rendered by some letters characters are different according to different sources So if found different they re added together in the same section 30 31 32 33 References Edit a b c d e Datta Amaresh 1987 Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature Sahitya Akademi p 142 ISBN 978 81 260 1803 1 a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a CS1 maint date and year link a b Chelliah Shobhana Lakshmi 2011 A Grammar of Meithei De Gruyter p 355 ISBN 9783110801118 Meithei Mayek is part of the Tibetan group of scripts which originated from the Gupta Brahmi script Singh Harimohon Thounaojam January 2011 The Evolution and Recent Development of the Meetei Mayek Script Cambridge University Press India p 28 Hyslop Gwendolyn Morey Stephen Post Mark W January 2011 North East Indian Linguistics Volume 3 Cambridge University Press India ISBN 9788175967939 Khuman Yanglem Loijing Khomba Devi Salam Dickeeta Singh Ch Ponykumar Devi H Mamata Singh N Ajith 1 December 2022 A benchmark dataset for printed Meitei Meetei script character recognition Data in Brief 45 108585 doi 10 1016 j dib 2022 108585 ISSN 2352 3409 PMC 9679442 PMID 36426059 Noni Arambam Sanatomba Kangujam 16 October 2015 Colonialism and Resistance Society and State in Manipur Routledge pp 223 235 237 ISBN 978 1 317 27066 9 O Keeffe Anne McCarthy Michael 5 April 2010 The Routledge Handbook of Corpus Linguistics Taylor and Francis p 146 ISBN 978 1 135 15363 2 Meetei Mayek Meitei Mayek Kanglei মণ প রদ ল লয ন চঙলকপ অমদ ম ত ইয ক ন থ ঙজ ন দ ৱ র জন ল প লরবদ PDF hueiyenlanpao com in Manipuri Lost and revived The story of Meitei script The Indian Express 11 December 2022 Retrieved 29 January 2023 Fresh Fictions Folk Tales Plays Novellas from the North East Katha 2005 p 4 ISBN 978 81 87649 44 1 Laithangbam Iboyaima 23 September 2017 Banished Manipuri script stages a comeback The Hindu ISSN 0971 751X Retrieved 25 August 2021 GAZETTE TITLE The Manipur Official Language Amendment Act 2021 manipurgovtpress nic in Ray Sohini 2009 Writing the Body Cosmology Orthography and Fragments of Modernity in Northeastern India Anthropological Quarterly 82 1 150 ISSN 0003 5491 JSTOR 25488260 Devi Dr Yumlembam Gopi Glimpses of Manipuri Culture p 25 ISBN 978 0 359 72919 7 Paniker K Ayyappa 1997 Medieval Indian Literature Surveys and selections Assamese Dogri Sahitya Akademi p 325 ISBN 978 81 260 0365 5 a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a CS1 maint date and year link Sen Sipra 1 January 1992 Tribes and Castes of Manipur Description and Select Bibliography Mittal Publications p 28 ISBN 978 81 7099 310 0 a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a CS1 maint date and year link K B Singh The Meiteis of Manipur 1989 1962 p 157 Frans Welman Out of Isolation Exploring a Forgotten World 2011 468f citing O Tomba The Need to rewrite Manipuri History Imphal 1993 Everson Michael 20 September 2006 Preliminary Proposal for Encoding the Meithei Mayek Script in the BMP of the UCS PDF Unicode Approved Meitei Mayek Govt Gazzette 1980 e pao net Retrieved 31 July 2019 Devi S May 2013 Is Manipuri an Endangered Language PDF Language in India 13 5 520 533 Meetei Mayek in newspapers www thesangaiexpress com Retrieved 3 August 2022 Meetei Mayek in newspapers 29th jan22 E Pao Headlines e pao net Retrieved 3 August 2022 Time Pratidin Meetei Mayek to Replace Bengali Script in Manipuri Newspapers from 2023 Pratidin Time Retrieved 3 August 2022 HYNews All Bengali script Manipuri Dailies in Manipur to Print in Meitei Eyek Script from 15th January 2023 hynews in Retrieved 3 August 2022 State dailies to cease Bengali script Manipuri papers from Jan 2023 29th jan22 E Pao Headlines e pao net Retrieved 3 August 2022 A comparative study of Meetei Mayek PDF typoday Retrieved 13 May 2019 Atlas of Endangered Alphabets Indigenous and minority writing systems and the people who are trying to save them Retrieved 6 March 2023 The Meitei Mayek script has a unique built in learning device the use of body parts in naming the letters Every letter is named after a human body part in the Manipuri The first letter kok means head for example the second letter sam means hair the third letter lai means forehead Ray Sohini 2009 Writing the Body Cosmology Orthography and Fragments of Modernity in Northeastern India Anthropological Quarterly 82 1 129 154 doi 10 1353 anq 0 0047 ISSN 0003 5491 JSTOR 25488260 S2CID 140755509 Arambarn Parratt Saroj Nalini ed 2009 Meetei Mayek or Meetei script chart The Court Chronicle of the Kings of Manipur Foundation Books pp 145 148 ISBN 978 81 7596 854 7 retrieved 6 March 2023 Watham S Vimal V 2013 Transliteration from Hindi Script to Meetei Mayek A Rule Based Approach www semanticscholar org S2CID 16339978 Retrieved 6 March 2023 Meetei Mayek The Script tabish freeshell org Retrieved 6 March 2023 Meitei Mayek Alphabets www researchgate net Manipuri Meeteilon Meithei Omniglot Retrieved 28 March 2021 Manipuri Meeteilon Meithei Omniglot Retrieved 28 March 2021 Discovery of Kangleipak 11 e pao net Retrieved 8 March 2023 Discovery of Kangleipak 12 e pao net Retrieved 8 March 2023 Manipuri language and alphabets omniglot com Retrieved 12 August 2022 Bibliography EditChelliah Shobhana L 1997 A grammar of Meithei Berlin Mouton de Gruyter ISBN 0 19 564331 3 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 Edit Manipuri edition of Wikipedia the free encyclopedia Meitei script test of Wiktionary at Wikimedia Incubator Meitei script test of Wikiquote at Wikimedia Incubator Omniglot a guide to written language Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Meitei script amp oldid 1145510664, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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