Meitei language

Meitei
Manipuri (Meiteilon, Meetei, Meeteilon)
ꯃꯩꯇꯩꯂꯣꯟ • মৈতৈলোন • Meiteilon
"Meitei Lon" written in Meitei script
Native to	Manipur, Assam and Tripura
Region	India, Bangladesh and Myanmar
Ethnicity	Meitei people
Total speakers	e25
Language family	Sino-Tibetan Tibeto-Burman Central Tibeto-Burman Meitei
Early forms	Proto-Sino-Tibetan Proto-Tibeto-Burman Ancient Meitei
Dialects	Standard Meitei, Chakpa (also called Loi) and Meitei Pangal (Muslim dialect)[1]
Writing system	Meitei script (officially known as Meetei Mayek[lower-alpha 1]) (officially used according to "The Manipur Official Language (Amendment) Act, 2021")[2][3] Bengali script (officially used according to "The Manipur Official Language (Amendment) Act, 2021")[4][3] Naoriya Phulo script (invented Meitei Yelhou Mayek script)[5][6] Latin script (unofficial)[7]
Official status
Official language in	India (as scheduled language)[8] Manipur (as state official language)[9] Sahitya Akademi (as recognised literary language)[lower-alpha 2]
Recognised minority language in	India (outside Manipur) Assam[12] (as literary language)[13] Tripura (as educational language)[14]  Bangladesh[15]  Myanmar[16]
Regulated by	Directorate of Language Planning and Implementation (DLPI), Government of Manipur
Development body	Ministry of Culture (India) Sahitya Akademi Central Institute of Indian Languages Government of Manipur Department of Art and Culture Directorate of Language Planning and Implementation (DLPI) Manipuri Sahitya Parishad (MSP) Department of Manipuri, Assam University Department of Manipuri, Manipur University
Language codes
ISO 639-1	mni
ISO 639-3	Either: mni – Manipuri omp – Old Manipuri
Glottolog	mani1292  Manipuri[17] meit1246  Meitei (standard dialect)[18] loii1241  Loi (Chakpa dialect)[19] pang1284  Pangal (Muslim dialect)[20]
Regions where Meitei is native, majority, official and educational language   Regions where Meitei is recognised and educational language but not official   Regions where Meitei is not recognised and not official but educational   Regions where Meitei is recognised but not official and educational   Regions with significant Meitei speaking minorities Template:Infobox Scheduled Language of India
This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.

Meitei (/ˈmeɪteɪ/; ꯃꯩꯇꯩꯂꯣꯟ; মৈতৈলোন্, romanised: "Meiteilon"),^[21] officially known as Manipuri (/ˌmænɪˈpʊəri/, /mʌ-/; ꯃꯅꯤꯄꯨꯔꯤ; মণিপুরী),^[22] is a Tibeto-Burman language of northeast India. It is the official language and the lingua franca of Manipur,^[23] as well as one of the 22 official languages of the Indian Republic, included in the 8th Schedule to the Indian Constitution.^[23][24] It is one of the advanced literary languages, recognised by Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters.^{[lower-alpha 2]} It serves as one of the recognised educational and literary languages in Assam^[25][13] and Tripura.^[14] Native to the Meitei people, it has around 3 million total speakers,^[26] and is used as L1 by around 1.8 million people, predominantly in the state of Manipur, and as L2 by different ethnic groups, in different parts of India, Myanmar and Bangladesh.^[1] It was used as a court language in the historic Manipur Kingdom, in accordance to the Manipur State Constitution Act 1947.^[27]

Meitei, along with Gujarati, hold the third place among the fastest growing languages of India, following Hindi (first place) and Kashmiri (second place), according to the 2011 census of India.^[28]

Meitei is the most widely spoken Tibeto-Burman language of India and the most spoken indigenous language of northeast India after Assamese and Bengali.^[29][30] There are 1.76 million Meitei native speakers in India according to the 2011 census. Most of these, or 1.52 million, are found in the state of Manipur, where they represent majority of its population. There are smaller communities in neighbouring Indian states, such as Assam (168,000), Tripura (24,000), Nagaland (9,500), and elsewhere in the country (37,500).^[31] Additionally, there are more than 1 million L2 speakers.^{[lower-alpha 3]} The language is also spoken by smaller groups in neighbouring Myanmar^[35] and Bangladesh.^[3] Meitei is not endangered: its status has been assessed as safe in Ethnologue (where it is assigned to EGIDS level 2 "provincial language"),^[3] but is considered vulnerable in UNESCO's Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger.^[36]

Classification

History

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

Meitei language has been in existence since 2000 years back till present times, preserving a classical cultural heritage of literature.^[37]

First Millennium CE

1st half : 1st century-5th century CE

The Ougri (ꯑꯧꯒ꯭ꯔꯤ) is an ancient Meitei ritualistic musical composition which dated back to the 1st century CE. It was used mostly in the religious ceremonies of the early Meitei society and the coronation ceremonies of rulers in Ancient Kangleipak (early Manipur).^[38] Many scholars are of the opinion that this ritual song existed even before the beginning of the Common Era.^[39]

The Numit Kappa for 'The shooting of the Sun' is another 1st century CE religious narrative epic literary work, based on both Meitei mythology as well as history of Manipur.^[40]

In the 3rd century CE, Poireiton Khunthok (ꯄꯣꯏꯔꯩꯇꯣꯟ ꯈꯨꯟꯊꯣꯛ), an ancient Meitei literary narrative work, about a legendary establishment of a colony in the Imphal Valley, under the leadership of Poireiton, was composed. The "Report on the Archaeological studies in Manipur Bulletin No. 1" affirmed the antiquity of this literary work.^[41]

2nd half : 6th century-10th century CE

The Khencho (ꯈꯦꯟꯆꯣ) is another ancient Meitei poetry work, which was composed at least before the beginning of 7th century CE.^[42] It is noted to be "quite obscure and entirely unintelligible" to the present-day generations of people but still it is an integral part of the Lai Haraoba festival.^[43]

According to the "Report on the Archaeological Studies in Manipur, Bulletin No-1", a Meitei language copper plate inscription was found to be dated back to the 7th-8th century CE. It is one of the most well preserved ancient Meitei language epigraphic records.^[44] It was inscribed during the reign of Meitei King Khongtekcha (763-773 CE). It was discovered by scholar W. Yumjao from Phayeng village in the east of Imphal in the year 1935 CE.^[44]

In c. 763 CE, Akoijam Tombi (also called Akoijam Tomboy^[45]) composed the Panthoibi Khonggul (Ancient Meitei: ꯄꯥꯟꯊꯣꯏꯄꯤ ꯈꯣꯡꯀꯨꯜ, Template:Script/Classical and Medieval Latin), also termed as the Panthoibi Khongul, an ancient Meitei language narrative text of the romantic adventures of deified Meitei princess Panthoibi.^[45][46][47]

Second Millennium CE

1st half : 11th century-15th century CE

In 1100 CE, the Loyumba Shinyen (Ancient Meitei: ꯂꯣꯏꯌꯨꯝꯄ ꯁꯤꯜꯌꯦꯜ, Template:Script/Classical and Medieval Latin), a written constitution was finalised and enacted by Meitei King Loiyumba (Loyumba) (1074 CE-1112 CE), as a formal edict of the "proto-constitution" which was first drafted in 429 CE by his ancestor ruler, Meitei King Naophangba.^[48]

2nd half : 16th century-20th century CE

Before 1675 CE, Meitei language experienced no significant influences from any other groups of languages.^[49]

From the last part of the 17th century CE and from the beginning of the 18th century CE, with the increase in Hindu cultural influence on Meitei civilization, the then Meitei language experienced some influences from other languages, in terms of its phonology, morphology (linguistics), syntax and semantics, at the same time when Meetei Mayek for 'traditional Meitei writing system' was replaced by Eastern Nagari script (better known as Bengali-Assamese script), for writing Meitei language, due to the deeds of Hinduised Meitei King Pamheiba (Garib Niwaz).^[49]

In Saka 1647 (equivalent to 1725 CE), Parikshit, possibly the first Meitei language book on Hindu literature, was written, which was based on the story of the eponymous king Parikshit of the Mahabharata. It was authored by Hinduised Meitei King Pamheiba (Garib Niwaz).^[50][51][52] In Saka 1702 (equivalent to 1780 CE), Virat Santhuplon, possibly the second Hindu literary work on Meitei language, was written by the then Meitei crown prince Yubaraj Sri Nabananda in the Kingdom of Manipur.^[53][52]

During the 19th-20th century CE, Naoriya Phulo script, a newly constructed writing system, was invented by Laininghal Naoriya Phulo (1888-1941 CE), for writing Meitei language in Assam, India.^[54][55][56]

Major landmarks in the 20th century CE

• In 1935, the Manipuri Sahitya Parishad was established for the active promotion and the development of Meitei literature (Manipuri literature) in the then Kingdom of Manipur.^[57][58]
• In 1940, Khamba Thoibi Sheireng, the national epic of the Manipuris, was published in the then Kingdom of Manipur.^[59][60][61]
• The Manipur State Constitution Act 1947 accorded that Meitei language be used as the court language of the then Kingdom of Manipur.^[27]
• In 1956, Meitei language was made one of the educational languages in Assam, India.^[13]
• In 1971, Meitei language was recognised as an advanced literary language of India by the Sahitya Akademi.^{[lower-alpha 2]}
• In 1972, the Department of Manipuri, Manipur University was established in India.^[62]
• In 1972, Matamgi Manipur, the first Meitei cinema, was produced in India.^[63][64]
• In 1979, Meitei language was made the official language of the Government of Manipur, through the "Manipur Official Language Act, 1979".^[65]
• In 1982, India was represented by Imagi Ningthem, a Meitei film, in the Festival des 3 Continents for 'Three Continents Festival', and won the Montgolfière d'or for 'Golden Montgolfiere' in Nantes, France.^[66]
• The 1991 Cannes Film Festival honoured Ishanou, a Meitei film, representing India, in its Un Certain Regard section in France.^[67][68]
• In 1992, Meitei language was enlisted in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India, thereby making it one of the official languages of the Indian Republic, through the historic Seventy-first Amendment of the Constitution of India.^[69]
• In 1996, the University Grants Commission (UGC) approved for the establishment of Department of Manipuri, Assam University, simultaneously with those of those of Arabic, Social Work, Business Administration and Computer Science, in Assam, India.^[70]
• In 1998, the Government of Tripura made Meitei language one of the educational languages of Tripura state.^[71]

Third Millennium CE

• In 2006 CE, Meetei Mayek for 'traditional Meitei writing system' was introduced to the educational system of standard III, for writing Meitei language in Manipur. Simultaneously, usage of archaic forms of Meitei language started.^[49]
• Since 2008, the annual celebration of Meitei language festival (Manipuri Bhasha Utsav) started for the Meitei language in Bangladesh.^[72]
• Since 2013, the Meitei classical language movement started in India.^[73]
• Since 2020, the Meitei associate official language movement started in Assam, India.^[74][75]
• Since 2020, the Government of Assam started granting 5,00,000 INR as an annual financial assistance to the Manipuri Sahitya Parishad branch of Assam.^[76]
• In 2021, Meitei language's first comparable text to text corpus was created in Waseda University of Japan .^[77][78]
• In February 2021, Meitei language edition of Wikipedia was launched in Meitei script.^[79]
• In 2022, the "Manipur Official Language Act, 1979" was amended as "The Manipur Official Language (Amendment) Act, 2021", officialising the usage of Meitei script alongside the Bengali script, for writing Meitei, the state's official language.^[80]
• On 11 May 2022, Meitei language was supported by the Google Translate.^[81][82][83]
• The 2023 Cannes Film Festival honoured Ishanou, a Meitei film, representing India, as a "World Classic", through the efforts of Film Heritage Foundation.^[67][68]

Geographical distribution

Bangladesh

Areas where there is significant population of Meitei speakers (Manipuris) in Bangladesh

The population of Meitei speakers (Manipuris) are found in four districts, namely Sylhet District, Moulvibazar District, Sunamganj District and Habiganj District of the Sylhet Division of Bangladesh. In early times, there were Meitei speaking population in Dhaka, Mymensingh and Comilla also.^[84]

Sylhet district

There are thirteen villages in Sylhet District, which are Amborkhana (Nongthombam Leikai in Meitei language), Nayabazar, Shibgonj, Goaipara, Kewapara, Sagordighirpar (Pukhri Mapan in Meitei language), Baghbari, Laladighipar (Sapam Leikai in Meitei language), Lamabazar (Leichom Leikai in Meitei language), Doxingach, Rajbari (Konung Leikai in Meitei language), Brojonath Tila (Meitei people refer to it as Brajanath Leikai but earlier it was known as Narasingh Tila) and Noyabazar (Sylhet P.S.) among others.^[84]

Mouluvibazar district

Moulvibazar District has twenty-eight Meitei populated settlements, which are Photiguli, Goalbari, Naldhari, Boroiloli (Kulaura P.S.), Ramnagar, Khaspur, Balishira (Shrimongol P.S.), Gouranagar, Puthadhor, Chotodhamai, Patharia, Gourangabil (Borolekha P.S.), Madhobpur, Chaiciri (Nongthombam Leikai in Meitei language), Homerjan, Majhergaon, Shangaon (Hamom Khul in Meitei language), Haqtiarkhola, Shripiire, Bhandarigaon, Chitlia, Noyapattan, Ganganagar, Bhanubil, Katabil Tateygaon (Mange Makhong Khul in Meitei language), Mongolpur (Haobam Leikai in Meitei language), Konagoan (Kamalgonj P.S.), among others.^[84]

Habiganj district

Habigonj District (Chunarghat P.S.) had four Meitei settlement areas, which are Gaborkhula, Abadgaon, Shibnagar and Dudhpatil.^[84]

Sunamganj district

Sunamgonj District (Chatak P.S.) has three Meitei populated settlements, which are Nayanpur, Lakhat and Ratanpur.^[84]

India

Assam

Districts of Barak Valley - Meitei speaking population settlement areas of Assam

Meitei language is the third most widely spoken language, after Bengali and Hindi, in the Barak Valley region of Assam state of India.^[85]

Manipur

The Indian state of Manipur has the largest Meitei speaking population among all its geographical distribution. Native to as well as predominantly spoken in the state, Meitei language is the official language of the Government of Manipur as well as the lingua franca of the different communities living in Manipur.^[23]

Nagaland

According to Ethnologue, Meitei language is also spoken in Dimapur, Kohima, Peren and Phek of Nagaland.^[1]

Myanmar

Myanmar has significant Meitei speaking population in Kachin state, Yangon Region, Sagaing Region, Shan state, Ayeyarwady Region, among others.^[86]

As a second or foreign language

According to the Ethnologue, in India, Meitei language is used as a second language (L2) by the various Naga ethnic groups and Kuki-Chin ethnic groups, including Aimol, Anal, Chiru, Chothe, Gangte, Hmar, Inpui, Kharam, Koireng, Kom, Lamkang, Mao, Maram, Monsang, Moyon, Purum, Tarao, Thadou (Chin people), Thangal Naga peoples.^[1]

The Ethnologue also reports that Meitei language in Bangladesh is used as a second language (L2) by the Bishnupriya people.^[1]

Name

According to the Ethnologue, the alternative names of Meitei language are Kathe, Kathi, Manipuri, Meetei, Meeteilon, Meiteilon, Meiteiron, Meithe, Meithei, Menipuri, Mitei, Mithe, Ponna.^[1]

The name Meitei or its alternate spelling Meithei is preferred by many native speakers of Meitei over Manipuri.^[87] The term is derived from the Meitei word for the language Meitheirón (Meithei + -lon 'language', pronounced /mə́i.təi.lón/).^[87][88] Meithei may be a compound from mí 'man' + they 'separate'.^[87] This term is used by most Western linguistic scholarship.^[87] Meitei scholars use the term Meit(h)ei when writing in English and the term Meitheirón when writing in Meitei.^[87] Chelliah (2015: 89) notes that the Meitei spelling has replaced the earlier Meithei spelling.^[89]

The language (and people) is also referred to by the loconym Manipuri.^[87] The term is derived from the name of the state of Manipur.^[87] Manipuri is the official name of the language for the India n government and is used by government institutions and non-Meitei authors.^[87] The term Manipuri is also used to refer to the different languages of Manipur and to the people.^[87] Additionally, Manipuri, being a loconym, can refer to anything pertaining to the Manipur state.

Speakers of Meitei language are known as "Kathe" by the Burmese people, "Moglie" or "Mekhlee" by the people of Cachar, Assam (Dimasas and Assamese) and "Cassay" by the Shan people and the other peoples living in the east of the Ningthee River (or Khyendwen River). "Ponna" is the Burmese term used to refer to the Meiteis living inside Burma.^[90]

Dialects

The Meitei language exhibits a degree of regional variation; however, in recent years the broadening of communication, as well as intermarriage, has caused the dialectal differences to become relatively insignificant. The only exceptions to this occurrence are the speech differences of the dialects found in Tripura, Bangladesh and Myanmar.^[91] The exact number of dialects of Meitei is unknown.^[92]

The three main dialects of Meitei are: Meitei proper, Loi and Pangal. Differences between these dialects are primarily characterised by the extensions of new sounds and tonal shifts. Meitei proper is considered to be the standard variety—and is viewed as more dynamic than the other two dialects.^[93] The brief table below compares some words in these three dialects:^[94]

Devi (2002)^[95] compares the Imphal, Andro, Koutruk, and Kakching dialects of Meitei.

Status

The Emblem of Manipur uses Meitei language, written in Meitei script.

Official language status

Meitei is the sole official language of the Government of Manipur. It is used for all official purposes, except for some interstate cases. Meitei is included among the languages that are part of the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India, thus granting it the status of a "scheduled language".^[96][23]

Amendment to the script policy

In 2021, there were changes to the Manipur Official Language Act by the Government of Manipur as follows:

"Manipuri Language" means Meeteilon written in Meetei Mayek and spoken by the majority of Manipur population: Provided that the concurrent use of Bengali Script and Meetei Mayek shall be allowed in addition to English language, for a period up to 10(ten) years from the date of commencement of this Act.

—The Manipur Official Language (Amendment) Act, 2021 (Amendment to the Section 2 of the "Manipur Official Language Act, 1979", for clause "f")^[97]

Court language status

Meitei language was the court language of the historic Manipur Kingdom (Meeteileipak),^[98][99] and was declared as such in the kingdom's 1947 Constitution, before it merged into the Indian Republic.^[27]

Recognition by the Sahitya Akademi

With nearly two dozen dailies and a good deal of periodicals,^{[lower-alpha 4]} and more than 1000 ancient and medieval texts, written in Meitei Mayek (Manipuri script),^[98] Meitei language was recognised by the National Sahitya Akademi of New Delhi, as one of the major advanced Indian literary languages in 1972, long before it was recognised as a constitutionally scheduled language in 1992. The National Sahitya Academy bestow multiple annual awards for the promotion, recognition of the language and its literature.^[100][101]

Scheduled language status

BE it enacted by Parliament in the Forty-third Year of the Republic of India as follows:-
1. Short title.-This Act may be called the Constitution (Seventy-first Amendment) Act, 1992.
2. Amendment of Eighth Schedule. In the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution,-
(a) existing entry 7 shall be re-numbered as entry 8, and before entry 8 as so re-numbered, the entry "7. Konkani." shall be inserted;
(b) existing entry 8 shall be re-numbered as entry 10, and before entry 10 as so re-numbered, the entry "9. Manipuri." shall be inserted;

(c) existing entries 9 to 15 shall be re-numbered as entries 12 to 18 respectively, and before entry 12 as so re-numbered, the entry "11. Nepali." shall be inserted.

—THE CONSTITUTION (SEVENTY-FIRST AMENDMENT) ACT, 1992, 31st August, 1992^{[102][lower-alpha 5]}

The Meitei language has been recognised (under the name Manipuri) by the Indian Union and was included in the list of scheduled languages (included in the 8th schedule by the 71st amendment of the constitution in 1992).^[103][104] The day of the inclusion of Meitei language in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India and making it one of the official languages of the Indian Republic is annually commemorated as Meitei Language Day (also called Manipuri Language Day) on 20 August.^[105][106]

Language movements

In the modern era, several Meitei language movements have been in existence, including the linguistic purism movement, scheduled language movement, classical language movement, associate official language movement. There is a proposal for the language to be granted the elite status of "Classical Languages of India".^{[107][108][109]} Besides, it is also proposed to be recognised as an "associate official language" of the Government of Assam. According to Leishemba Sanajaoba, the present titular king of Manipur and a Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha from Manipur state, by recognising Meitei as an associate official language of Assam, the identity, history, culture and tradition of Manipuris residing in Assam could be able to get protected and preserved.^{[110][111][112]}

In the Prime Minister's Office

Meitei language is selected as one of the 11 Indian languages, out of the 22 official languages of the Indian Republic, to be made available in the official website of the Indian Prime Minister's Office.^[113]

In the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting

Meitei is one of the 14 Indian languages, out of the 22 official languages of the Indian Republic, made available in the Press Information Bureau (PIB) by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting of the Government of India (GOI). The Meitei language versions of the press releases are presently available in Bengali script, but there is a plan to changing the script into Meitei script (Manipuri script) in due course of time.^[114][115]

In the Staff Selection Commission

Meitei language is one of the 13 Indian languages, out of the 22 official languages of the Indian Republic, selected by the Staff Selection Commission (SSC) of the Government of India, to be made available in the conduction of the Multi-Tasking (Non-Technical) Staff examination across the country. The Staff Selection Commission is one of the biggest job recruiting agencies belonging to the Indian Government. It mainly recruits people to "Group B" (Non-Gazetted Posts) and "Group C" (Non-Technical Posts) in diverse governmental ministries and departments.^[116][117]

In the Central Armed Police Forces

Meitei language is selected by the Union Government of India as one of the 13 Indian languages, out of the 22 official languages of the Indian Republic, to be used in the recruitment examination of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF). The decision, for all these 13 languages, was taken by an official agreement between the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Staff Selection Commission,^[118][119] and it will be converted into action from 1 January 2024; 6 months ago (2024-01-01).^[120][121]

In the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology

Meitei language is selected as one of the 5 Indian languages, for publishing information on the Indian heritage by the Indian Government's Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology sponsored "Northeast Heritage" Web, besides Hindi and English.^[122][123]

In the National Education Policy

Meitei language is one of the 28 languages selected across the world, besides French, Sanskrit, Tamil, etc. to be used in teaching and learning in grades (1-5) by the "Unified District Information System for Education Plus" (UDISE+), as per the reports of the Press Information Bureau (PIB). It is a part of the National Education Policy 2020 started by the Union Cabinet of India.^[124][125]

Education

Besides being a medium of instructions in the educational institutions in Manipur, Meitei language is taught as a subject up to the post-graduate level (Ph.D.) in major universities of India, including but not limited to Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi University, Gauhati University, and University of North Bengal.^[126][127]

All India

CBSE

Meitei language (under the subject name "Manipuri") is one of the 40 languages (including indigenous/local and foreign/international) offered for academics in the curriculum for the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), controlled and managed by the Ministry of Education of the Government of India.^{[128][129][130]}

IGNOU

Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), the largest university in the world, offers education in Meitei language as one of the 14 major "Modern Indian Languages" (MILs) for undergraduate students.^[131]

Assam

Board of Secondary Education, Assam (SEBA) offers Meitei language subject under the name "Manipuri".^[132][133] Assam Higher Secondary Education Council (AHSEC) of Assam offers Meitei language subjects, under the names "Manipuri" and "Advance Manipuri".^{[134][135][136][137]}

Meitei language subject is offered by the Government of Assam in the lower primary schools of Assam, since 1956. Meitei language subject is offered for the education in the Bachelor's degree in the Gauhati University.^[13]

Since 2020, Assam Government is annually granting ₹5 lakh as financial assistance to the Assam Manipuri Sahitya Parishad. Moreover, the Assam government financed Template:INR Convert and created a corpus for the development of the Meitei language.^[13]

The "Department of Manipuri" (estd. in July 1997) of Assam University in Silchar offers education of Master's degree, Master of Philosophy degree and Doctor of Philosophy degree in Meitei language, under the title "Manipuri".^{[138][139][140]}

Tripura

The Government of Tripura offers Meitei language as "first language" subject at primary level in 24 notified schools throughout the state. It was introduced since 1998.^[141]

In December 2021, Tripura University proposed to the Ministry of Human Resource Development and the University Grants Council (UGC), about the introduction of diploma courses in Meitei language, along with other international languages like Japanese, Korean and Nepali simultaneously.^[142]

Phonology

The exact classification of the Meitei language within Sino-Tibetan remains unclear. It has lexical resemblances to Kuki and Tangkhul.^[143]

Tone

The Meitei language is a tonal language. There is a controversy over whether there are two or three tones.^[144]

Segments

Meitei distinguishes the following phonemes:^[145]

Consonants

Vowels

Note: the central vowel /ɐ/ is transcribed as <ə> in recent linguistic work on Meitei. However, phonetically it is never [ə], but more usually [ɐ]. It is assimilated to a following approximant: /ɐw/ = /ow/, /ɐj/ = [ej].

Phonological processes

A velar deletion is noted to occur on the suffix -lək when following a syllable ending with a /k/ phoneme.^[144]

Meitei has a dissimilatory process similar to Grassmann's law found in Ancient Greek and Sanskrit, though occurring on the second aspirate.^[146] Here, an aspirated consonant is deaspirated if preceded by an aspirated consonant (including /h/, /s/) in the previous syllable. The deaspirated consonants are then voiced between sonorants.^{[citation needed]}

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Writing systems

Meitei script

Depiction of the 18th century historic burning of the texts written in Meitei script so as to replace it with Bengali script for writing Meitei language afterwards, ordered by Hinduised Meitei King Pamheiba (popularly called, Garib Niwaj) under the influence of Bengali Hindu missionary Shantidas Gosai

The Meitei script (ꯃꯩꯇꯩ ꯃꯌꯦꯛ, romanised: Meitei Mayek), also known as the Meetei script (ꯃꯤꯇꯩ ꯃꯌꯦꯛ, romanised: Meetei Mayek),^[147] used for writing in Meitei language, is one of the official scripts of the Indian Republic. Also known as the Kanglei script (ꯀꯪꯂꯩ ꯃꯌꯦꯛ/ꯀꯪꯂꯩ ꯏꯌꯦꯛ, romanised: Kanglei Mayek/Kanglei Iyek)^[148][149] and the Kok Sam Lai script (ꯀꯣꯛ ꯁꯝ ꯂꯥꯏ ꯃꯌꯦꯛ, romanised: Kok Sam Lai Mayek),^{[lower-alpha 6][150][151]} its earliest known epigraphic evidence of existence dates back to the 6th century CE coins issued by Meitei kings, engraving the Meitei letters,^[152] as verified by the National Sahitya Akademi.^[153] It was used until the 18th century, when it was replaced by the Bengali script, and reused again massively in the 20th century.^[154] Starting from 2021, Meitei script (officially known as Meetei Mayek^{[lower-alpha 7]}) was officially used by the Government of Manipur, along with the Bengali script, to write the Meitei language, as per "The Manipur Official Language (Amendment) Act, 2021".^[155]

Naoriya Phulo script

Latin script

Elementary Manipuri (Roman Script) is one of the subjects offered to the students by The Board of Secondary Education Manipur.^[156][157] It is a subject categorised under the "Subjects In Lieu Of First Language", for being used in lieu of "Manipuri".^[158] It is a commonly opted subject to the students of the hill people of Manipur.^[159]

The Meitei language editions of the Bible in Roman script is very commonly used by the Christians of Manipur.^[160]

There exists an informal, but fairly consistent practical spelling of Meitei in Latin script.^{[citation needed]} This spelling is used in the transcription of personal names and place names, and it is extensively used on the internet (Facebook, blogspots, etc.). It is also found in academic publications, for the spelling of Meitei book titles and the like (examples can be seen in the References, below). This spelling, on the whole, offers a transparent, unambiguous representation of the Meitei sound system, although the tones are usually not marked. It is practical in the sense that it does not use extra-alphabetical symbols, and can, therefore, be produced easily on any standard keyboard. The only point of ambiguity is found in the spelling of the vowels /ɐ/ and /a/, which are usually both written "a", except when they occur before an approximant (see table below). The vowel /a/ is sometimes written as "aa" to distinguish it from /ɐ/.^{[citation needed]}

Bengali script

The term "Manipuri Lon" and its endonym "Meitei Lon", literally meaning "Manipuri language" and "Meitei language" respectively, written in the Eastern Nagari script (Bengali script)

Meitei in Bangladesh and India currently uses the Bengali script, alongside the Meitei script.^[3]

Grammar

Sentences in the Meitei language use the format subject–object–verb word order (SOV). For example, in the sentence Ei chak chai (ꯑꯩ ꯆꯥꯛ ꯆꯥꯢ), which translates to I eat rice, the gloss is "ei" (I), "chak" (rice), "chai" (eat).

Nouns

Nouns and pronouns are marked for number in Meitei. The plural is indicated by the suffixes -khoi (for personal pronouns and human proper nouns) and -sing (for all other nouns). Verbs associated with the pluralised nouns are unaffected. Examples are demonstrated below:^[161]

When adjectives are used to be more clear, Meitei utilises separate words and does not add a suffix to the noun. Examples are show in the chart below:^[161]

Compound verbs

Compound verbs are created by combining root verbs each ending with aspect markers. While the variety of suffixes is high, all compound verbs utilise one of two:^[162]

Aspect markers appear as suffixes that clarify verb tense and appear at the end of the compound verb. Overall, the formula to construct a compound verb becomes [root verb] + [suffix] + [aspect marker]:^[162]

Compound verbs can also be formed utilising both compound suffixes as well, allowing utterances such as pithokningle meaning "want to give out".

Number words

Literature

The Numit Kappa, a Classical Meitei 1st century epic based on Meitei mythology and religion (Sanamahism)

The Khamba Thoibi Sheireng, also spelled as the Khamba Thoibi Seireng (ꯈꯝꯕ ꯊꯣꯏꯕꯤ ꯁꯩꯔꯦꯡ, lit. Poem on Khamba Thoibi^[163]), which is regarded as the national epic of the Manipuris,^{[60][164][61]} is a classical Meitei language epic poem based on the ancient romantic adventure tale of Khamba and Thoibi of Moirang kingdom^{[lower-alpha 8]} of Ancient Kangleipak (early Manipur). It is the masterpiece of Hijam Anganghal, the "Bard of Samurou", and is regarded as the greatest of all the epic poems in Meitei literature, having a length of 39,000 verses.^{[59][61][165]}

Linguistic tradition

The culture involved with the Meitei language is rooted deeply with pride and tradition based on having respect to the community elders. Young children who do not know about the tales that have been passed on from generation to generation are very rare. Regarding the history behind the ancient use of proverbs that defines the way conversation is held with the Meitei language, it is a way of expressing and telling stories and even using modern slang with old proverbs to communicate between one another.^[166]

Literary Awards

Media

Main pages: List of Meitei-language newspapers, List of Meitei-language television channels, List of Meitei-language films, and Meitei cinema

An illustration of the Maniwood clapperboard

After the birth of Meitei cinema in 1972 as Matamgi Manipur (ꯃꯇꯝꯒꯤ ꯃꯅꯤꯄꯨꯔ), Maniwood, the Meitei language film industry, began to bring fame and prestige to India at the international level and to Manipur at the nation level. Notable internationally acclaimed and renowned films include 1981 film Imagi Ningthem (first Indian film to win a grand prix award of the Golden Montgolfiere at the Festival des 3 Continents, Nantes),^[167] 1990 film Ishanou (screened at the Un Certain Regard section of the 1991 Cannes International Film Festival),^[168] the 1984 film "Pebet" (Best Short Fiction Film in the International Short Film Festival, Kolkata 1985), the 2008 film "Nungee Mit" (Best Short Film in 2nd Cine ASA International Film Festival 2009, Guwahati), the 2009 film "Ilisha Amagi Mahao" (Best Director Award in the Cine ASA International Film Festival 2009, Guwahati), 2014 film "Phum Shang" (Best Medium Length Film at 18th International Environmental Film & Video Festival, Goias, Brazil 2016), 2016 film "Ima Sabitri" (Best Documentary Film Award at the 15th Mumbai International Film Festival), 2017 film "Theatre of the Earth" (Winner of Satyajit Ray Bronze Award for the 3rd Best Documentary at the 2nd South Asian Short Film Festival), 2018 film "Fireflies" (Best Documentary Short at Arthouse Asia International Film Festival 2018), "Naapal" (Best Short Film Award at the 1st Guwahati International Documentary, Short and Animation Film Festival), 2019 film "Highways of Life" (Best Film Award at the 8th Liberation DocFest, Bangladesh 2020), "I Rise" (Best Documentary Award at the Mumbai Short International Film Festival 2020), Motsillaba Mingsel (The Tainted Mirror) (Best Director and Best Child Artist awards at the Cochin International Shortfilm Awards 2021, Best Short Film Award at The Himalayan Film Festival 2021), 2020 film "Nawa Seidum" (Outstanding Achievement Award at the Tagore International Film Festival 2020, Best Narrative Film in Moment International 2020), "Samnaba - Merge" (Best Cinematography Award at The Himalayan Film Festival 2021), 2021 film "Class@6pm" (Best Asian Short Film Award at the Golden Leaf International Film Festival 2021), "Monsoon of Life" (Best Film at Unibrow Film Festival 2021 at the MOKKHO International Film Festival 2022), "Beyond Blast" (Best Director of Photography in the Goa International Film Festival 2021 and Best Documentary Feature Film in the Port Blair International Film Festival 2021), 2022 film "Erolnungdagi" (2nd Best Film Award at the 14th International Guwahati Film Festival 2022), "Re-Inkarnation" (DocEdge New Zealand Award in the Dhaka Doc Lab 2022), etc.

Annual events

Various annual events are organised to promote, protect and develop Meitei language, in the sovereign states of India and Bangladesh in particular as well as in other parts of the world in general.

Meitei language day

The Meitei language day (ꯃꯩꯇꯩꯂꯣꯟꯒꯤ ꯅꯨꯃꯤꯠ, romanised: Meiteilon-gi Numit), formally known as the Manipuri language day (ꯃꯅꯤꯄꯨꯔꯤ ꯂꯣꯟꯒꯤ ꯅꯨꯃꯤꯠ, romanised: Manipuri Lon-gi Numit), is annually observed on 20 August, in memory of the historic day on which the language was included in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India and made one of the official languages of the Indian Republic on 20 August 1992.^{[169][170][171][105][106]}

Meitei poetry day

The Meitei poetry day (ꯃꯩꯇꯩꯂꯣꯟ ꯁꯩꯔꯦꯡꯒꯤ ꯅꯨꯃꯤꯠ, romanised: Meiteilon Sheirenggi Numit), formally termed as the Manipuri poetry day (ꯃꯅꯤꯄꯨꯔꯤ ꯁꯩꯔꯦꯡꯒꯤ ꯅꯨꯃꯤꯠ, romanised: Manipuri Sheirenggi Numit), is an annual literary event that promotes the Meitei language poetries and honours the contributions of the poets as well as the diverse and distinctive uncommon literary traditions of Meitei language,^[172][173] organised in Manipur as well as in other Meitei speakers populated areas (Northeast India and West Bengal^{[lower-alpha 9]} inside India), aiming to popularise and expose Meitei literature (Manipuri literature) to the greater world.^[176]

Meitei language festival

The Meitei language festival (ꯃꯩꯇꯩꯂꯣꯟꯒꯤ ꯀꯨꯝꯃꯩ, romanised: Meiteilon-gi Kummei), formally known as the Manipuri language festival (ꯃꯅꯤꯄꯨꯔꯤ ꯂꯣꯟꯒꯤ ꯀꯨꯝꯃꯩ, romanised: Manipuri Lon-gi Kummei) or the Manipuri Bhasha Utsav (মণিপুরী ভাষা উৎসব), is an annual cultural event that aims to the protection and the development of Meitei language, indigenous Meitei script^{[lower-alpha 10]} and Meitei culture^{[lower-alpha 11]} in the Republic of Bangladesh.^[179] The event is organised by the "Bangladesh Manipuri Sahitya Sangsad" since the year 2008.^[180][181]

Software

In 2021, Rudali Huidrom, a Manipuri researcher of the EBMT/NLP laboratory, Waseda University, Japan , created a text corpus named "EM Corpus" (shortened form of "Emalon Manipuri Corpus"). It is the first comparable text to text corpus built for Meitei language (mni) and English language (eng) pair from sentences. The writing system used for Meitei language in this corpus is Bengali script. It was crawled and collected from thesangaiexpress.com - the news website of "The Sangai Express", a daily newspaper of Manipur from August 2020 to 2021. In version 1, she created the monolingual data, having 1,034,715 Meitei language sentences and 846,796 English language sentences. In version 2, she created the monolingual data, having 1,880,035 Meitei language sentences and 1,450,053 English language sentences.^[182][183]

EM-ALBERT is the first ALBERT model available for Meitei language. EM-FT is also FastText word embedding available for Meitei language. These resources were created by Rudali Huidrom and are now available at free of cost at the European Language Resources Association catalogue (ELRA catalogue) under CC-BY-NC-4.0 licence.^[182][183]

A screen shot of Google Translate translating a sentence from English language into Meitei language

On 11 May 2022, Google Translate added Meitei-language (under the name "Meiteilon (Manipuri)") during its addition of 24 new languages to the translation tool. The writing system used for Meitei language in this tool is Meitei script.^{[184][185][186]}

Influence on other speech forms

Words of Meitei origin occur in other languages, dialects and lects.

In Bishnupriya lect

Bishnupriya, also termed as "Bishnupriya Manipuri" or "Bishnupriya Meitei",^[187] a creole^[188] of Bengali language and Meitei language, besides still retaining its pre-Bengali features,^{[189][190][191]} uses around 4000 borrowed root words from Meitei language.^[192]

In Tangkhul

"Tangkhul" (ꯇꯥꯡꯈꯨꯜ) is a speech form as well as an ethnicity. The term "Tangkhul" got its name from the Meitei language terms, "Tang" (ꯇꯥꯡ) meaning "scarce" and "Khul" (ꯈꯨꯜ) meaning "village" respectively.^[193] According to another theory, the term "Tangkhul" is derived from "Thankhul", meaning "Than village" in Meitei language.^{[194][195][196]}

In Lamkang/Lamgang

"Lamkang" (ꯂꯝꯀꯥꯡ) or "Lamgang" (ꯂꯝꯒꯥꯡ) is a speech form as well as an ethnic group. The term is derived from the Meitei language words, "Lam" (ꯂꯝ^[197]) meaning "land" and "Kang" (ꯀꯡ^[198]) meaning "dry". The overall meaning of "Lamkang" is rendered as "people who settled on the dry hilly areas" by the Meitei people. In old Meitei records, the Lamkang people were termed as the "Hiroi Lamkang". The prefixed term "Hiroi" is derived from the Meitei language word for boat ("hi") and work group ("loi").^[199][200]

In Anal/Anan

"Anāl" (ꯑꯅꯥꯜ) is a speech form as well as an ethnic group. The term "Anāl" (ꯑꯅꯥꯜ) is derived from the Meitei language term "Anan" (ꯑꯅꯥꯟ) meaning "cleanliness". The Anāl people are named so by the Meitei people because of their cleanliness in comparison to other tribes.^{[201][202][203][204]}

Sample text

The following is a sample text in Modern Meitei of the Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (by the United Nations ):^{[205][lower-alpha 12]}

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

—Modern Meitei in Meitei script

মিওইবা খুদিংমক পোকপা মতমদা নিংতম্মী, অমদি ইজ্জৎ অমসুং হক মান্ননা লৌজৈ । মখোই পুম্নমক ৱাখল লৌশিং শেঙই, অফ ফত্তা খঙই, অদুনা অমনা অমগা লোইনবদা মচীন মনাওগুম্না লোইনগদবনি ।

—Modern Meitei in Bengali 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.

—Modern Meitei in Roman transliteration, faithful to script

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'.

—Modern Meitei in IPA

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are all pure in mind, knowing right from wrong, and should be treated like brothers and sisters when they treat each other.

—Gloss, word-for-word

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.

—Translation, grammatical

See also

• Languages of India
• List of languages by number of native speakers in India
• List of Manipuri poets
• Meitei inscriptions
• Meitei literature
• Meitei Language Day
• List of epics in Meitei language
• List of Sahitya Akademi Award winners for Meitei
• List of Sahitya Akademi Translation Prize winners for Meitei
• List of Yuva Puraskar winners for Meitei
• List of Bal Sahitya Puraskar winners for Meitei
• Vikaspedia

Footnotes

References

Further reading

• 1. A Short History of Kangleipak (Manipur) Part-I, by Chingtamlen, 2005
• 2. A Short History of Kangleipak (Manipur) Part-II, by Chingtamlen, 2007
• 3. A Short History of Kangleipak (Manipur) Part-III, by Chingtamlen, 2008
• 4. The Meetei and the Bishnupriya, by Chingtamlen, 2008

Culture

• Brara, N. Vijaylakshmi. (1998). Politics, society, and cosmology in India's North East. Delphi: Oxford University Press.
• Budha, W. (1992). Indigenous games of the Meiteis. Manipur: Wangkeimayum Publications.
• Kshetrimayum, Otojit. (2014). Ritual, Politics and Power in North East India: Contexualising the Lai Haraoba of Manipur. Delhi: Ruby Press & Co.
• Singh, M. Kirti. (1988). Religion and culture of Manipur. Delhi: Manas Publications.
• Singh, M. Kirti. (1993). Folk culture of Manipur. Delhi: Manas Publications.
• Singh, Saikhom Gopal. (2014). The Meeteis of Manipur: A Study in Human Geography. Delhi: Ruby Press & Co.

Language

• Bhat, D. N. S.; & Ningomba, S. (1997). Manipuri grammar. Munich: Lincom Europa.
• Chelliah, Shobhana L. (1990). Experiencer subjects in Manipuri. In V. M. Manindra & K. P. Mohanan (Eds.), Experiencer subjects in South Asian languages (pp. 195–211). Stanford: The Center for the Study of Language and Information.
• Chelliah, Shobhana L. (1992). Tone in Manipuri. In K. L. Adams & T. J. Hudak (Eds.), Papers from the first annual meeting of the Southeast Asian Linguistics Society 1991 (pp. 65–85). Tempe, AZ: Arizona State University.
• Chelliah, Shobhana L. (1992). Bracketing paradoxes in Manipuri. In M. Aronoff (Ed.), Morphology now (pp. 33–47). Albany: State University of New York Press.
• Chelliah, Shobhana L. (1994). Morphological change and fast speech phenomena in the Manipuri verb. In K. L. Adams & T. J. Hudak (Eds.), Papers from the second annual meeting of the Southeast Asian Linguistics Society 1992 (pp. 121–134). Tempe, AZ: Arizona State University.
• Chelliah, Shobhana L. (1997). A grammar of Meitei. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. ISBN:0-19-564331-3.
• Chelliah, Shobhana L. (2002). Early Meitei 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 Meitei. 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.
• Chelliah, Shobhana L. (2004). "Polysemy through metonymy: The case of Meitei pi 'grandmother'". Studies in Language 28 (2): 363–386. doi:10.1075/sl.28.2.04che. 
• Chelliah, Shobhana L. (2015). "Is Manipur a linguistic area?". Journal of South Asian Languages and Linguistics 2 (1): 87–109. doi:10.1515/jsall-2015-0004. 
• Singh, Ningthoukhongjam Khelchandra. (1964). Manipuri to Manipuri & English dictionary.

External links

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Meitei language.

Meitei edition of Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Meitei language test of Wikiquote at Wikimedia Incubator

Meitei language test of Wikivoyage at Wikimedia Incubator

Ancient Meitei test of Wikipedia at Wikimedia Incubator

• "Meetei Mayek". http://tabish.freeshell.org/eeyek/. 
  • "Manipuri/Meiteilon/Meithei". http://tabish.freeshell.org/eeyek/mani_intro.html. 
• "Manipuri language and alphabets". https://omniglot.com/writing/manipuri.htm. 
• "Learn to speak Manipuri". http://tabish.freeshell.org/manipuri/. 
• "Learn Manipuri". http://www.e-pao.net/epPageExtractor.asp?src=education.Learn_Manipuri.html. 
• "Meetei Mayek keys". http://www.e-pao.net/epPageExtractor.asp?src=manipur.meetei_mayek_keys.html... 
• "Meetei Mayek Poems". http://www.e-pao.net/epPageExtractor.asp?src=MeiteiMayek.meetei_mayek_Poems.html../. 

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