Meitei script

This article is about the historic and naturally evolved writing system. For the 20th century constructed script, see Naoriya Phulo script.

Meitei script (Meitei: ꯃꯩꯇꯩ ꯃꯌꯦꯛ, romanized: Meitei Mayek)
File:18 Ancient Meitei Letters.jpg The original 18 letters used in the Meitei Mayek writing system
Script type	Abugida
Period	6th-18th centuries AD, revived 1930 – present
Official script	for Meitei language in India
Region	India Manipur
Languages	Meitei (Manipuri) language
Related scripts
Parent systems	Egyptian hieroglyphs Proto-Sinaitic script Phoenician alphabet Aramaic alphabet Brahmi script Gupta script Meitei script
Sister systems	Tibetan, Lepcha, Khema, ʼPhags-pa, Marchen
ISO 15924
ISO 15924	Mtei (337), ​Meitei Mayek (Meithei, Meetei)
Unicode
Unicode alias	Meetei Mayek
Unicode range	Meetei Mayek (Unicode block)

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, Assam and one of the 22 official languages of India. It is first known from engravings on 6th century CE coins and copper plate inscriptions. 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.

History

File:Yumbanlol (Yumpanlol) - a 6th century Classical Meitei language copper manuscript text - in Meetei script - works on sensuality & relationship between husbands & wives and how to run a household in Ancient Kangleipak civilisation state.jpg

Yumbanlol (Yumpanlol), a group of 6th century ancient Meitei language copper plate inscriptions, written in Meetei script.

Regarding epigraphic records, Meitei script appears in the Yumbanlol (Yumpanlol), composed in the 6th century C.E. It was a group of copper plate inscriptions about an ancient Meitei language literary work.

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

The origin of the official script of Manipur is derived from religious book Wakoklon Puya. But, 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 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.

Another early copper plate Meitei inscription dates to the 8th century CE, 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 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.

File:ANDRO INSCRIBED STONE.jpg

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.

File:Meithei manuscript, a Indian language.jpg

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.

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 and are used to indicate stop consonants.

File:AMA Symbol of Meetei Sanamahism.jpg

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

In the traditional Meitei religion of Sanamahism Meitei letters and numerals are believed to be the creations of the supreme God.

Primary letters

Letter (inc. IPA)	Name	Meaning(s)	Lonsum
ꯀ IPA: /k/	ꯀꯣꯛ, kok	head or brain	ꯛ
ꯈ IPA: /kʰ/	ꯈꯧ, khou	throat, palate, neck
ꯉ IPA: /ŋ/	ꯉꯧ, ngou	pharynx, larynx	ꯡ
ꯆ IPA: /t͡ʃ/	ꯆꯤꯜ, chil	lips
ꯇ IPA: /t/	ꯇꯤꯜ, til	saliva	ꯠ
ꯊ IPA: /tʰ/	ꯊꯧ, thou	breast, chest, ribs
ꯅ IPA: /n/	ꯅꯥ, nā	ear	ꯟ
ꯄ IPA: /p/	ꯄꯥ, pā	eyelash	ꯞ
ꯐ IPA: /pʰ/	ꯐꯝ, pham	anus, buttocks, or uterus
ꯃ IPA: /m/	ꯃꯤꯠ, mit	eye	ꯝ
ꯌ IPA: /j/	ꯌꯥꯡ, yang	spine
ꯂ IPA: /l/	ꯂꯥꯏ, lai	God	ꯜ
ꯋ IPA: /w/	ꯋꯥꯏ, wai	navel, heart
ꯁ IPA: /s/	ꯁꯝ, sam	hair
ꯍ IPA: /h/	ꯍꯨꯛ, huk	joint
ꯑ IPA: /ɐ/	ꯑꯇꯤꯡꯉꯥ, atinga ꯑꯇꯤꯌꯥ, atiya	immortality, heaven, divinity, birth
ꯏ IPA: /iː/	ꯏ, e	blood	ꯢ
ꯎ IPA: /u(ː)/	ꯎꯟ, un	skin

Additional consonants

Letter (inc. IPA)	Name	Evolved from
ꯒ IPA: /g/	ꯒꯣꯛ, gok	ꯀ
ꯘ IPA: /gʱ/	ꯘꯧ, ghou	ꯈ
ꫢ IPA: /t͡ʃʰ/	ꫢ, cha
ꯖ IPA: /d͡ʒ/	ꯖꯤꯜ, jil	ꯆ
ꯓ IPA: /d͡ʒʱ/	ꯓꯝ, jham	ꯁ
ꫣ IPA: /ɲ/	ꫣ, nya
ꫤ IPA: /ʈ/	ꫤ, tta
ꫥ IPA: /ʈʰ/	ꫥ, ttha
ꫦ IPA: /ɖ/	ꫦ, dda
ꫧ IPA: /ɖʱ/	ꫧ, ddha
ꫨ IPA: /ɳ/	ꫨ, nna
ꯗ IPA: /d/	ꯗꯤꯜ, dil	ꯇ
ꯙ IPA: /dʱ/	ꯙꯧ, dhou	ꯊ
ꯕ IPA: /b/	ꯕꯥ, bā	ꯄ
ꯚ IPA: /bʱ/	ꯚꯝ, bham	ꯐ
ꯔ IPA: /ɾ/	ꯔꯥꯏ, rai	ꯂ
ꫩ IPA: /ɕ/	ꫩ, sha
ꫪ IPA: /ʂ/	ꫪ, ssa

Independent vowels

In Meitei Mayek, vowels are not listed separately before the consonants, unlike in most Brahmic scripts. Instead, they appear within the main sequence of the script, making it structurally different from scripts like Devanagari.

Independent vowels are used only when a word starts with a vowel, just like in most Indic scripts. Otherwise, vowels appear as diacritics attached to consonants.

Meitei Mayek has seven independent vowel letters, including ⟨ꯑ⟩, which is used as a default vowel carrier, similar to ⟨अ⟩ in Devanagari:

ꯑ IPA: /ə/

ꯏ IPA: /i/

ꯍ IPA: /u/

ꯑꯣ IPA: /o/

ꯑꯦ IPA: /e/

ꯑꯨ IPA: /uː/

ꯑꯩ IPA: /ai/

Examples:

• ꯑꯣꯏꯅꯥ (oina) – ‘like ( comparatively ) / left'
• ꯑꯣꯖꯥ (oja) - 'teacher'

Since Meitei Mayek preserves independent vowels, it functions similarly to Brahmic scripts in terms of structure, even though the vowel ordering differs from most Indic alphabets.

Vowel diacritics

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

Diacritics

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

Numerals

Meitei numerals 0-9

0 ꯰ phun

1 ꯱ ama

2 ꯲ ani

3 ꯳ ahum

4 ꯴ mari

5 ꯵ mangā

6 ꯶ taruk

7 ꯷ taret

8 ꯸ nipāl

9 ꯹ mapāl

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[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

ꯀ

ꯁ

ꯂ

ꯃ

ꯄ

ꯅ

ꯆ

ꯇ

ꯈ

ꯉ

ꯊ

ꯋ

ꯌ

ꯍ

ꯎ

ꯏ

U+ABDx

ꯐ

ꯑ

ꯒ

ꯓ

ꯔ

ꯕ

ꯖ

ꯗ

ꯘ

ꯙ

ꯚ

ꯛ

ꯜ

ꯝ

ꯞ

ꯟ

U+ABEx

ꯠ

ꯡ

ꯢ

ꯣ

ꯤ

ꯥ

ꯦ

ꯧ

ꯨ

ꯩ

ꯪ

꯫

꯬

꯭

U+ABFx

꯰

꯱

꯲

꯳

꯴

꯵

꯶

꯷

꯸

꯹

Notes 1.^ As of Unicode version 17.0 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

ꫠ

ꫡ

ꫢ

ꫣ

ꫤ

ꫥ

ꫦ

ꫧ

ꫨ

ꫩ

ꫪ

ꫫ

ꫬ

ꫭ

ꫮ

ꫯ

U+AAFx

꫰

꫱

ꫲ

ꫳ

ꫴ

ꫵ

꫶

Notes 1.^ As of Unicode version 17.0 2.^ Grey areas indicate non-assigned code points

Software

Main article: Meitei input methods

File:A Typical Meitei Keyboard.jpg

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
• Windows

In popular culture

• The Living God: Medicine and The Ancient Meetei Civilization, 2015 documentary film

See also

• Meitei inscriptions
• List of Meitei-language newspapers
• Meetei Mayek (Unicode block)
• Meetei Mayek Extensions (Unicode block)
• Wikipedia:Meitei script display help
• Bengali–Assamese script
• Bengali alphabet
• Mayek (disambiguation)

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
• MANIPURI FONTS at Directorate of Language Planning and Implementation