Meitei is not endangered: its status has been assessed as safe by Ethnologue (where it is assigned to EGIDS level 2 "provincial language").[2] However, it is considered vulnerable by UNESCO.[9]
During the 19th and 20th centuries, different linguists tried to assign Meitei to various sub-groups. Early classifier George Abraham Grierson (1903–1924) put it in Kuki-Chin, Vegelin and Voegelin (1965) in Kuki-Chin-Naga, and Benedict (1972) in Kuki-Naga. Robbins Burling has suggested that Meitei belongs to none those groups.[18] Current academic consensus agrees with James Matisoff in placing Manipuri in its own subdivision of the Kamarupan group—a geographic rather than a genetic grouping.[17] However, some still consider Meitei to be a member of the Kuki-Chin-Naga branch.[19]
The earliest known Meitei language compositions is the ritual song Ougri (ꯑꯧꯒ꯭ꯔꯤ), which was used in religious and coronation ceremonies of Kangleipak. It may have existed before the Common Era.[22]Numit Kappa (Meitei: ꯅꯨꯃꯤꯠ ꯀꯥꯞꯄ, transl: The Shooting of the Sun), a religious epic that tells the tale of how the night was divided from the day, was also composed in the first century.[23]
Poireiton Khunthok (Meitei: ꯄꯣꯢꯔꯩꯇꯣꯟ ꯈꯨꯟꯊꯣꯛ, transl: The Immigration of Poireiton) is a 3rd-century narrative work describing the establishment of a colony in Kangleipak by a group of immigrants led by Poireiton, the younger brother of the god of the underworld.[24]
The Yumbanlol, a copper plate manuscript was composed in the 6th century or 7th century CE for the royal family of Kangleipak. It is a rare work of dharmashastra, covering sexuality, the relationships between husbands and wives, and instructions on how to run a household.[25]
The Khencho (ꯈꯦꯟꯆꯣ), an early Meitei work of poetry was composed by the beginning of the 7th century CE.[26] Although it is obscure and unintelligible to present-day Meiteis, it is still recited as part of the Lai Haraoba festival.[27]
One of the best-preserved early Meitei language epigraphic records is a copper plate inscription dating to the reign of King Khongtekcha (r. c. 763 – 773 CE).[28] During the same time period, Akoijam Tombi composed the Panthoibi Khonggul (ꯄꯥꯟꯊꯣꯏꯄꯤ ꯈꯣꯡꯀꯨꯜ), an account of the romantic adventures of the deified Meitei princess Panthoibi.[29]
Second Millennium CE
The first page of Loyumba Shinyen, the 11th-12th century Meitei-language constitution of Kangleipak.
In 1100 CE, a written constitution, (Meitei: ꯂꯣꯏꯌꯨꯝꯄ ꯁꯤꯜꯌꯦꯜ, romanized: Loyumba Shinyen), was finalised by King Loiyumba (r. c. 1074 – 1112 CE) of Kangleipak. It was a codification of the proto-constitution drafted by King Naophangba in 429 CE.[30][31]
Before 1675 CE, the Meitei language experienced no significant influence from any other languages.[20] Beginning in the late 17th century, Hindu influence on Meitei culture increased, and the Meitei language experienced some influences from other languages, on its phonology, morphology (linguistics), syntax and semantics. At the same time, the Hinduised King Pamheiba ordered that the Meitei script be replaced by the Bengali-Assamese script.[20]
An 1822 CE stone recording a royal decree attributed to King Jai Singh (r. 1759–1762, 1763–1798), erected at Andro, Imphal East, Manipur
The majority of Meitei speakers, about 1.5 million[33] live in the Indian state of Manupur. Meitei is the official language of the Government of Manipur as well as its lingua franca.[5]
Districts of Barak Valley – Meitei speaking population settlement areas of Assam
There are nearly 170,000 Meitei-speakers in Assam,[33] mainly in the Barak Valley, where it is the third most commonly-used language after Bengali and Hindi.[34] Manipuri is also spoken by about 9500 people in Nagaland, in communities such as Dimapur, Kohima, Peren and Phek.[3][33] Meitei is a second language for various Naga and Kuki-Chin ethnic groups.[3]
Areas with significany numbers of Meitei speakers in Bangladesh
Myanmar has a significant Meitei speaking population in the states of Kachin and Shan and the regions of Yangon, Sagaing, and Ayeyarwady, among others.[36]
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.[3]
The name Meitei or its alternate spelling Meithei is preferred by many native speakers of Meitei over Manipuri.[37] The term is derived from the Meitei word for the language Meitheirón (Meithei + -lon 'language', pronounced /mə́i.təi.lón/).[37][38]Meithei may be a compound from mí 'man' + they 'separate'.[37] This term is used by most Western linguistic scholarship.[37] Meitei scholars use the term Meit(h)ei when writing in English and the term Meitheirón when writing in Meitei.[37] Chelliah (2015: 89) notes that the Meitei spelling has replaced the earlier Meithei spelling.[39]
The language (and people) is also referred to by the loconym Manipuri.[37] The term is derived from the name of the state of Manipur.[37]Manipuri is the official name of the language for the Indian government and is used by government institutions and non-Meitei authors.[37] The term Manipuri is also used to refer to the different languages of Manipur and to the people.[37] 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.[40]
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.[41] The exact number of dialects of Meitei is unknown.[42]
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.[43] The brief table below compares some words in these three dialects:[44]
Meitei language was the court language of the historic Manipur Kingdom,[47] and before it merged into the Indian Republic.[48] The Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, recognised Meitei as one of the major advanced Indian literary languages in 1972, long before it became an official language in 1992.
In 1950, the Government of India did not include Meitei in its list of 14 official languages.[49] A language movement, spearheaded by organisations including the Manipuri Sahitya Parishad and the All Manipur Students' Union demanded that Meitei be made an official language for more than 40 years, until Meitei was finally added to the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India in 1992.[50][51]
The Meitei language is one of the 13 official languages of the India used to administer police, armed services, and civil service recruitment exams.[56][57]
Since 2020, the Assam Government has made an annual grant of ₹5 lakh (equivalent to ₹5.9 lakh or US$7,000 in 2023) to the Manipuri Sahitya Parishad (Manipuri Language Council). It also invested ₹6 crore (equivalent to ₹7.1 crore or US$840,000 in 2023) in the creation of a corpus for the development of the Meitei language.[63]
Since 1998, the Government of Tripura has offered Meitei language as a "first language" subject at primary level in 24 schools throughout the state.[69]
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.[72]
Meitei has a dissimilatory process similar to Grassmann's law found in Ancient Greek and Sanskrit, though occurring on the second aspirate.[74] 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]
/tʰin-/
pierce
+
/-kʰət/
upward
→
/tʰinɡət/
pierce upwards
/tʰin-/ + /-kʰət/ → /tʰinɡət/
pierce {} upward {} {pierce upwards}
/səŋ/
cow
+
/kʰom/
udder
→
/səŋɡom/
milk
/səŋ/ + /kʰom/ → /səŋɡom/
cow {} udder {} milk
/hi-/
trim
+
/-tʰok/
outward
→
/hidok/
trim outwards
/hi-/ + /-tʰok/ → /hidok/
trim {} outward {} {trim outwards}
Writing systems
Meitei script
Depiction of the 18th century historic burning of texts written in Meitei script.
The Meitei script (ꯃꯩꯇꯩ ꯃꯌꯦꯛ, Meitei mayek)[75] is one of the official scripts of the Indian Republic. Meitei mayek is also known as Kanglei script (ꯀꯪꯂꯩ ꯃꯌꯦꯛ)[76] or kok sam lai script (ꯀꯣꯛ ꯁꯝ ꯂꯥꯏ ꯃꯌꯦꯛ, romanized: kok sam lai mayeke), after its first three letters.[77][78] Its earliest known appearance is on 6th century coins.[79] It was used until the 18th century, when it was replaced by the Bengali script, and then revived in again massively in the 20th.[80] In 2021, the use of Meetei Mayek to write Manipuri was officially adopted by the Government of Manipur, alongside Bengali script.[81]
The Roman alphabet has been used in medium for teaching basic Meitei as a second language teaching by the Board of Secondary Education, Manipur.[82][83] More recently, the Board has issued a directive that no more Manipuri textbooks using the Latin alphabet be published.[84] Meitei language editions of the Bible in Roman script are very commonly used by the Christians in Manipur.[85]
Sentences in the Meitei language use the 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:[88]
Noun (Meitei)
Noun (English)
Example (Meitei)
Example (English)
angaang
baby
angaang kappi
Baby cries.
angaangsing
babies
angaangsing kappi
Babies cry.
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:[88]
Adjective (Meitei)
Adjective (English)
Example (Meitei)
Example (English)
ama
one
mi ama laak’i
A person comes.
khara
some
mi khara laak’i
Some persons come.
mayaam
many
mi mayaam laak’i
Many persons come.
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:[89]
Suffix
English translation
-thok
out/ come out
-ning
To wish/ want/ desire
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]:[89]
Language
Root verb
Suffix
Aspect marker
Combined form
Meitei
tum
-thok
-le
tumthokle
English
sleep
out/ come out
perfect aspect
has started sleeping
Meitei
tum
-ning
-le
tumningle
English
sleep
want
perfect aspect
has felt sleepy
Compound verbs can also be formed utilising both compound suffixes as well, allowing utterances such as pithokningle meaning "want to give out".
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.
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.[107][108]
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.[107][108]
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.[109][110][111]
English: 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 Meitei-language translation of the passage of the Article 1 has two foreign words present, "ꯏꯖꯖꯠ" ("iːdʒət") and "ꯍꯛ" ("hə́k"), meaning "dignity" and "rights" respectively, as given in the source website. The original Meitei-language terms for "dignity" and "rights" are "ꯏꯀꯥꯏ ꯈꯨꯝꯅꯕ" ("í.kai kʰum.nə.bə") and "ꯐꯪꯐꯝ ꯊꯣꯛꯄ" ("pʰəŋ.pʰəm tʰok.pə") respectively.
^Ningoma, M. S. (1996). Manipur Dialects. Sealang Projects.
^Devi, L. Manimala. 2002. A comparative study of Imphal, Andro, Koutruk and Kakching dialects of Meiteiron. (Doctoral dissertation, Canchipur: Manipur University; 273pp.)
^Thomas, C. Joshua; Gopalakrishnan, Ramamoorthy; Singh, R. K. Ranjan (2001). Constraints in Development of Manipur. Regency Publications [for Policy Alternatives for the North-East and Conflict Elimination Awareness]. pp. 54–55. ISBN978-81-87498-30-8.
^George, K. M. (1992). Modern Indian Literature, an Anthology: Surveys and poems. India: Sahitya Akademi. p. 258. ISBN978-81-7201-324-0. H. Anganghal Singh's Khamba Thoibi Sheireng (Poem on Khamba Thoibi, 1940) is a national epic of the Manipuris based on the story of Khamba and Thoibi of Moirang. The poet composes the whole epic in the Pena Saisak style of folk ballads sung by minstrels or bards popular in Manipur.
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. ISBN0-19-564331-3.
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. S2CID130962163.
Singh, Ningthoukhongjam Khelchandra. (1964). Manipuri to Manipuri & English dictionary.
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