48-479: (Manipuri literature) Old Manipuri : Meitei Loinasinlol Puya Meithaba ( Libricide of the PuYas ) Meitei language movements Meitei linguistic purism movement Meitei literature , also known as Manipuri literature , is literature written in the Meitei language of Manipur . An ancient institution of learning, the Luwang Nonghumsang , later known as the Pandit Loishang , collected sources of indigenous Meitei knowledge and philosophy until
96-760: A "first language" subject at primary level in 24 schools throughout the state. In December 2021, Tripura University proposed to the Indian Ministry of Education and the University Grants Council (UGC) , regarding the introduction of diploma courses in Meitei, along with international languages like Japanese, Korean and Nepali. The exact classification of the Meitei language within Sino-Tibetan remains unclear. It has lexical resemblances to Kuki and Tangkhul . The Meitei language
144-453: A beautiful lady brought up by a rich father. Henjunaha is murdered by evil spirits. Lairoulembi follows her lover by killing herself, after which she faces troubles and adventures in the underworld . During the reign of King Iwang Puriklai Sana Lakhwa (185-236 AD), Khuyol Haoba, was the son of late Khundouremba, a court official of Moirang. Yaithing Konu was the daughter of Luwang Huiningsumba, an influential nobleman. During an escape from
192-514: A compound from mí 'man' + they 'separate'. This term is used by most Western linguistic scholarship. Meitei scholars use the term Meit(h)ei when writing in English and the term Meitheirón when writing in Meitei. Chelliah (2015: 89) notes that the Meitei spelling has replaced the earlier Meithei spelling. The language (and people) is also referred to by the loconym Manipuri. The term
240-500: A favourite nobleman of the King of Moirang. During the absence of Thangjahanba, Tonu is married to the King of Moirang, who was unaware of the relationship between the two lovers. Once the king found out the truth, he generously returns the lady to her true lover. During the reign of King Iwang Puriklai Laijing Punsiba (1138-1210 AD), Khongjomba (1210-1263 AD) was the son of King Laijing Ningthou Punsiba and Lady Tonu Laijinglembi, but he
288-440: A handsome, married nobleman of Moirang , was captivated by the goddess Phouoibi , who fell in love with him. Due to Akongjamba's failure to keep his word and the cruelty of Akongjamba's wife, Phouoibi decides to leave the human world as well as her lover. During the reign of King Iwang Puriklai Telheiba (28-78 AD), Henjunaha Yangleingamba, a fatherless lad, was brought up by a poor widowed mother. He loved Thongnang Lairoulembi,
336-514: A household. The Khencho ( ꯈꯦꯟꯆꯣ ), an early Meitei work of poetry was composed by the beginning of the 7th century CE. Although it is obscure and unintelligible to present-day Meiteis, it is still recited as part of the Lai Haraoba festival. 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 ). During
384-407: A murderous attack by his enemies, Khuyol Haoba falls in love with Yaithing Konu. Konu is married, but fate permits Konu to unite with Haoba in the end. During the reign of King Iwang Puriklai Laijing Punsiba (1138-1210 AD), Kadeng Thangjahanba is a talented and skilful royal chief metalsmith appointed by King Laijing Ningthou Punsiba. He loves Tonu Laijinglembi, the only daughter of Laijing Lakpa,
432-624: Is a Tibeto-Burman language of northeast India . It is the official language and the lingua franca of Manipur and an additional official language in four districts of Assam . It is one of the constitutionally scheduled official languages of the Indian Republic . Meitei is the most widely-spoken Tibeto-Burman language of India and the third most widely spoken language of northeast India after Assamese and Bengali . There are 1.76 million Meitei native speakers in India according to
480-412: Is a tonal language . There is a controversy over whether there are two or three tones. Meitei distinguishes the following phonemes : 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]. A velar deletion
528-514: 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. 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
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#1732765248212576-555: Is derived from the name of the state of Manipur . Manipuri is the official name of the language for the Indian government and is used by government institutions and non-Meitei authors. The term Manipuri is also used to refer to the different languages of Manipur and to the people. Additionally, Manipuri, being a loconym, can refer to anything pertaining to the Manipur state. Speakers of Meitei language are known as "Kathe" by
624-599: Is noted to occur on the suffix -lək when following a syllable ending with a /k/ phoneme. Meitei has a dissimilatory process similar to Grassmann's law found in Ancient Greek and Sanskrit , though occurring on the second aspirate. 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. /tʰin-/ pierce + Epic cycles of incarnations In Meitei mythology and folklore ,
672-811: Is the official language of the Government of Manipur as well as its lingua franca . There are nearly 170,000 Meitei-speakers in Assam, mainly in the Barak Valley , where it is the third most commonly-used language after Bengali and Hindi. Manipuri is also spoken by about 9500 people in Nagaland, in communities such as Dimapur , Kohima , Peren and Phek . Meitei is a second language for various Naga and Kuki-Chin ethnic groups. There are around 15,000 Meitei speakers in Bangladesh mainly are in
720-679: 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 . The Meitei language exhibits a degree of regional variation; however, in recent years
768-509: The Ethnologue , the alternative names of Meitei language are Kathe, Kathi, Manipuri, Meetei, Meeteilon, Meiteilon, Meiteiron, Meithe, Meithei, Menipuri, Mitei, Mithe, Ponna . The name Meitei or its alternate spelling Meithei is preferred by many native speakers of Meitei over Manipuri. The term is derived from the Meitei word for the language Meitheirón ( Meithei + -lon 'language', pronounced /mə́i.təi.lón/ ). Meithei may be
816-540: The Manipuri Sahitya Parishad (Manipuri Language Council). It also invested ₹ 6 crore (equivalent to ₹ 7.1 crore or US$ 850,000 in 2023) in the creation of a corpus for the development of the Meitei language. The Department of Manipuri of Assam University offers education up to the Ph.D. level in Meitei language. Since 1998, the Government of Tripura has offered Meitei language as
864-600: 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. Meitei became an associate official language of Assam in 2024, following several years of effort by the Meitei associate official language movement to protect
912-755: The Moirangs , the Angoms , the Luwangs , the Chengleis ( Sarang-Leishangthems ), and the Khaba-Nganbas . Each had their respective distinct dialects and were politically independent from one another. Later, all of them fell under the dominion of the Ningthouja dynasty , changing their status of being independent "ethnicities" into those of "clans" of the collective Meitei community . The Ningthouja dialect
960-455: The epic cycles of incarnations in Moirang ( Meitei : Moirang Shayon, Moirang Sayon ; Old Manipuri : Moilang Shaion, Moilang Saion ) is a cyclic epic of seven incarnations (nine in some versions) of two divine lovers in the kingdom of Moirang in the realm of Ancient Kangleipak (early Manipur ). During the reign of King Iwang Puriklai Kaba Purang (917-981 AD), Akongjamba ,
1008-565: The 18th century. Writing by Meiteis is assumed to go back to the Kingdom of Kangleipak in the early 12th century. The Meitei script is a Brahmic abugida. It is known only from the Puya manuscripts discovered in the first half of the 20th century. Manuscripts of the 18th and 19th centuries were written using the Bengali alphabet . The existence of the Meitei script in the 15th-century hinges on
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#17327652482121056-500: The 1930s. The chronicles of puya state that Hindus arrived from the Indian subcontinent with royal marriages by the 14th century, from what are now modern Assam, Bengal, Uttar Pradesh , Dravidian kingdoms, and other regions. Another manuscript suggests that Muslims arrived in Manipur in the 17th century, from what is now Bangladesh, during the reign of king Khagemba . Cheitharol kumbaba and other puya such as Ningthourol Lambuba documents
1104-429: The 2011 census , 1.52 million of whom are found in the state of Manipur , where they represent the 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). The language is also spoken by smaller groups in neighbouring Myanmar and Bangladesh . Meitei and Gujarati jointly hold
1152-587: The Hindu and Jain Puranas, the extant Puyas contain cosmology, genealogies of gods and goddesses, and royal chronicles. The Numit Kappa ("Shooting the Sun") is a mythological text in narrative verse. It was published in English translation by T.C. Hodson (1908). A translation into modern Meitei was published in 1908. Ougri (also known as Leiroi Ngongloi Eshei ) is a poem written in archaic Meitei. The sagas of
1200-561: The Kamarupan group—a geographic rather than a genetic grouping. However, some still consider Meitei to be a member of the Kuki-Chin-Naga branch . The Meitei language has existed for at least 2000 years. According to linguist Suniti Kumar Chatterjee , the ancient Meitei literature dates back to 1500 to 2000 years before present . The earliest known Meitei language compositions is the ritual song Ougri ( ꯑꯧꯒ꯭ꯔꯤ ), which
1248-547: The Meitei kings from their mothers' sides. It traces the genealogical account of the kings' mothers' lineage. It is a supplementary document to the Cheitharol Kumbaba , the foremost royal chronicle of Manipur . "Moirang Ningthourol Lambuba" ( Meitei : ꯃꯣꯢꯔꯥꯡ ꯅꯤꯡꯊꯧꯔꯣꯜ ꯂꯝꯕꯨꯕ ) is a historical document ( puya ), which served as the court chronicle of the rulers of the kingdom in Ancient Moirang . It records
1296-554: The authenticity of an inscription dated to the reign of Senbi Kiyamba . The first printed Manipuri book, Manipurer Itihas, appeared in 1890 from the Baptist Mission Press, Calcutta. Though the kings of Manipur had established contact with the British from the middle of the eighteenth century onward the real impact of the contact came much later. Johnstone Middle English School, based on the western system of education,
1344-503: 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. The exact number of dialects of Meitei is unknown. The three main dialects of Meitei are: Meitei proper, Loi and Pangal. Differences between these dialects are primarily characterised by
1392-649: The districts of Sylhet , Moulvibazar , Sunamganj and Habiganj in the Sylhet Division of Bangladesh. In the past, there was a Meitei speaking population in Dhaka , Mymensingh and Comilla also. Manipuri is used as a second language by the Bishnupriya Manipuri people . Myanmar has a significant Meitei speaking population in the states of Kachin and Shan and the regions of Yangon , Sagaing , and Ayeyarwady , among others. According to
1440-710: The educational institutions in Manipur. It is one of the 40 instructional languages offered by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), controlled and managed by the Ministry of Education . Meitei is taught as a subject up to the post-graduate level in Indian universities, including Jawaharlal Nehru University , Delhi University , Gauhati University , and the University of North Bengal . Indira Gandhi National Open University teaches Meitei to undergraduates. Meitei language instruction has been offered in
1488-522: 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. The brief table below compares some words in these three dialects: Devi (2002) compares the Imphal , Andro , Koutruk, and Kakching dialects of Meitei. Meitei is the sole official language of the Government of Manipur , and has been an official language of India since 1992. Meitei language
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1536-529: The genealogy of the kings of the Moirang dynasty. The chronicle also slightly mentioned about the history of the Zeliangrong people. Puyas are Meitei manuscripts written in Meitei script . They encompass a wide variety of topics such as religion, mythology, chronicle, folk medicine of Meitei people , history etc. Archaic Meitei script which consist of 18 alphabets is derived from Wakoklon Puya Puya manuscripts have been discovered by scholars, beginning in
1584-407: The identity, history, culture and tradition of Manipuris in Assam. The Meitei language is one of the 13 official languages of the India used to administer police, armed services, and civil service recruitment exams. The Press Information Bureau of the Indian Ministry of Information and Broadcasting publishes in 14 languages, including Meitei. Meitei is a language of instruction in all in
1632-530: The lower primary schools of Assam since 1956. The Board of Secondary Education, Assam offers secondary education in Manipuri. The Assam Higher Secondary Education Council of Assam offers both Meitei-language schooling and instruction in Meitei as a second language. Since 2020, the Assam Government has made an annual grant of ₹ 5 lakh (equivalent to ₹ 5.9 lakh or US$ 7,100 in 2023) to
1680-464: The persistent and devastating Manipur–Burma wars. Lists of Puya After the adoption of Hinduism as state religion under Gharib Nawaz ( Meitei : Pamheiba ) (1717), the Puyas were "burnt completely" at Kangla Uttra under royal orders, in either 1729 or in 1732. The Puya manuscripts discovered in the 20th century at best have a tenuous connection with the texts burned under Gharib Nawaz. Like
1728-399: The reign of King Iwang Puriklai Ura Khongyamba (533-574 AD), Wanglen Pungdingheiba was a skilled maker of pung (a type of drum). Lady Sappa Chanu Silheibi was a skilful weaver. The two lovers compete to determine who can perform their craft the fastest. Due to a misunderstanding, Lady Silheibi believes she is being mocked for her defeat and kills herself. Upon discovering his lover's corpse in
1776-412: The rule of Khagemba (r. 1597–1652) and thus foretelling the birth and reign of Gharib Nawaz and his religious reforms. The Cheitharol Kumbaba or "Royal Chronicle" is a text written down in the early 19th century, under Jai Singh, the puppet king installed after the Burmese invasion , purportedly based on an older copy which was no longer available. It contains day-to-day transactions and occurrences
1824-466: The same time period, Akoijam Tombi composed the Panthoibi Khonggul ( ꯄꯥꯟꯊꯣꯏꯄꯤ ꯈꯣꯡꯀꯨꯜ ), an account of the romantic adventures of the deified Meitei princess Panthoibi . 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
1872-611: The same time, the Hinduised King Pamheiba ordered that the Meitei script be replaced by the Bengali-Assamese script . In 1725 CE, Pamheiba wrote Parikshit , possibly the first piece of Meitei-language Hindu literature , based on the story of the eponymous king Parikshit of the Mahabharata . The majority of Meitei speakers, about 1.5 million live in the Indian state of Manupur. Meitei
1920-521: The seven epic cycles of incarnations of the two divine lovers were originated from Moirang kingdom near the shores of the Loktak lake in Ancient Kangleipak (early Manipur ). Among them, Khamba Thoibi is regarded as the last and the greatest epic. The Ningthourol Shingkak is a work written under Gharib Nawaz ( Meitei : Pamheiba ), written in the mode of "predictions" made during
1968-567: The state. The Meitei scriptures are texts regarding the Meitei religion ( Sanamahism ) as well as Meitei mythology . They are the sacred literature to the followers of the Meitei religion. Some of the puyas are regarded as scriptures, but not all of them. Old Manipuri language Meitei ( / ˈ m eɪ t eɪ / ; ꯃꯩꯇꯩꯂꯣꯟ , Eastern Nagari script : মৈতৈলোন্ , [mejtejlon] ( IPA ) , romanized: meiteilon ) also known as Manipuri ( ꯃꯅꯤꯄꯨꯔꯤ , Eastern Nagari script : মণিপুরী , [mɐnipuɾi] ( IPA ) ),
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2016-456: The third place among the fastest growing languages of India , following Hindi and Kashmiri . Meitei is not endangered : its status has been assessed as safe by Ethnologue (where it is assigned to EGIDS level 2 "provincial language"). However, it is considered vulnerable by UNESCO. The Manipuri language is associated with the Ningthouja dynasty ( Mangangs ), the Khuman dynasty ,
2064-420: Was a codification of the proto-constitution drafted by King Naophangba in 429 CE. Before 1675 CE, the Meitei language experienced no significant influence from any other languages. 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
2112-438: Was born in the house of his foster father Kadeng Thangjahanba, the second husband of Tonu Laijinglembi. Pidonnu was the daughter of a nobleman. Born as a legitimate but unrecognized royal offspring, Khongjomba faced abuse from the king's adopted son and her for his love affair with Lady Pidonnu. When the king discovers the truth, he his true son Khongjomba crowned as the sovereign of Moirang, discarding his adopted heir. During
2160-977: Was predominant, and received heavy influences from the speech forms of the other groups. Meitei is one of the advanced literary languages recognised by Sahitya Akademi , India's National Academy of Letters. Meitei belongs to the Tibeto-Burman branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages. 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. Current academic consensus agrees with James Matisoff in placing Manipuri in its own subdivision of
2208-408: Was started in 1885 at Imphal, and in 1891 Manipur lost its independence to the British. British domination facilitated the introduction of new systems in the civil, political and educational spheres, which hastened the process of modernization in Manipur, exposed as it was to new ideas and influences. The Chada Laihui ( Meitei : ꯆꯥꯗꯥ ꯂꯥꯢꯍꯨꯢ ) is a historical document ( puya ), about the genealogy of
2256-459: Was the court language of the historic Manipur Kingdom , and before it merged into the Indian Republic. 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. A language movement , spearheaded by organisations including
2304-532: Was used in religious and coronation ceremonies of Kangleipak . It may have existed before the Common Era . 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. Poireiton Khunthok ( Meitei : ꯄꯣꯢꯔꯩꯇꯣꯟ ꯈꯨꯟꯊꯣꯛ , transl: The Immigration of Poireiton)
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