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51-532: According to many scholars including Thomas Callan Hodson of the Cambridge University , the Meitei language term "Nongmaiching" ( Meitei : ꯅꯣꯡꯃꯥꯏꯆꯤꯡ ) is derived from the terms, "nong" ( Meitei : ꯅꯣꯡ ), "mai" ( Meitei : ꯃꯥꯏ ) and "ching" ( Meitei : ꯆꯤꯡ ). Nong means sun or rain , mai means face or "in front of", and ching means hill or mountain . So, "Nongmaiching" means "the hill that fronts

102-732: 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

153-457: 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

204-464: A hierarchy of racially defined cultures, a view characteristic of scientific racism . Hodson believed that the earliest occupants of India were probably of the " Negrito race", followed by the "proto- Australoids ". Later, an early stock probably of the Mediterranean race , came to India and mingled with the proto-Australoids. He believed that these people spoke an agglutinative language from which

255-508: 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

306-613: 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

357-412: 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

408-508: 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

459-565: Is deeply associated with the Sanamahi Kiyong shrine. The university aims to teach the future generations of people about the ancient Meitei culture of the Sanamahi religion . It will offer its students various subjects about indigenous art forms, dance forms, music, Thang-Ta and Sagol Kangjei ( Meitei for ' polo ') etc. Around ₹ 23,70,000 (equivalent to ₹ 6.0 million or US$ 71,000 in 2023) has been spent as of 2009 on

510-546: 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

561-784: 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

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612-550: Is the place where the Lai Haraoba was celebrated by the divine beings, after which it was imitated by the humans. "Kanglei Haraoba" ( Meitei : ꯀꯪꯂꯩ ꯍꯔꯥꯎꯕ ), one of the major types of the Lai Haraoba ceremonial ritualistic festival, is associated with the Nongmaiching. As a part of the Lai Haraoba , the Kangleithokpa ritual was performed at the Nongmaiching. It represents the marriage of God Khoriphaba . The Nongmaiching

663-461: Is the place where the final prayers for the worship ceremony associated with the three ancient Meitei deities , namely Pakhangba , Nongshaba and Yumjao Lairembi , are done. The Loiyumba Shinyen Constitution mentions that the "Salam" family of Meitei ethnicity used to idolise the Langmai Ching (Nongmaiching mountain) and to act the role of God Nongpok Ningthou . The same text mentions that

714-653: 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

765-503: 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

816-600: The Indian Civil Service in 1893 and left for India the following year. He was deputed to Assam and started service in the Khasi and Jaintia Hills . On one of his first assignments, he served as the personal assistant to Henry Cotton , then the Chief Commissioner of Assam. In Analysis of the 1931 Census of India (Government of India Press, 1937) Hodson analysed the physical types in India, in great detail, adopting

867-736: The Indus valley civilization . All these immigrants were of the dolichocephalic type, but the Indus valley people had a mixed brachycephalic element coming from the Anatolian plateau , in the form of the Armenoid branch of the Alpine race . These people probably spoke the Dravidian languages . Later, a brachycephalic race speaking perhaps an Indo-European language of the " Pisacha or Dardic family", migrated to India from

918-526: 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

969-578: 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

1020-723: 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

1071-599: The University of Cambridge , where he was a Fellow of St Catharine's College , notable for his writings on Indian anthropology and for coining the term sociolinguistics . Thomas was born to Arthur Hudson and Mary Catherine Hudson nee Callan in December 1871. He was the eldest of six children. Thomas went to school at Christ's Hospital. He joined the Queen's College, Oxford in 1890 on an Eglesfield scholarship. He qualified for

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1122-652: The "Guide to the gods" by Marjorie Leach, the term "Nongmaiching" is defined as "A hill god of the Meitheis , Manipur, Assam, India. (Hodson, 1908: 111)" . The Nongmaiching lies to the eastern side of Imphal city. It separates Thoubal River valley from that of the Iril River and the Imphal River . The Nongmaiching is close to the Nongpok Sanjenbam, Imphal East . In the history of Ancient Kangleipak (early Manipur ),

1173-562: The "Nongmaithem" clan of Meitei ethnicity used to glorify the Langmai Ching (Nongmaiching). The "Nongmaiching Chingkoipa" (also called, "Nongmaijing Chinggoiba" ) is an ancient Meitei language text which is an account on the Nongmaiching mountain. It describes the sprawling branches of the mountain extending from the North to the South of the Imphal Valley . The opening lines of the text describes

1224-429: 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

1275-559: The Iranian plateau and the Pamirs. During about 1500 B.C., the Indo-Aryans migrated into Northern India. Meitei 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 ) ),

1326-549: 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

1377-467: The Nongmaiching is deeply associated with God Lainingthou Sanamahi and God Pakhangba . According to one legend, King Kangba kept an idol of God Sanamahi at a cave in the Nongmaiching. The Nongmaiching is historically, mythologically and religiously associated with God Langmai Ningthou and Goddess Panthoibi . This is mentioned in the Panthoibi Khongul, an ancient Meitei text. The Nongmaiching

1428-599: The Nongmaiching to a king as follows: “O King, the mountain situated in the east and beyond the river is the abode of Kainou Chingsomba , lord of the Langmais. They attain majestic heights, are washed by seven streams, project into nine ranges and abound with deep gorges and sun-drenched ridges... They catch first the sight of every onlooker and stand steadfast unshaken by great earthquakes as if held by strong iron pegs and with their peaks kissed by white flakes of cloud. Their slopes are smoothly carpeted green with pennyworts under

1479-487: The Santhei village of Andro, Imphal East , is at the foothills of the Nongmaiching. It is best known for its scenic natural beauty and serving as a picnic area. The Nongmaiching is the natural habitat for various plant species, including Cymbopogon flexuosus and Goniothalamus sesquipedalis . Thomas Callan Hodson Thomas Callan Hodson (1871–1953) was the first William Wyse Professor of Social Anthropology at

1530-498: 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

1581-474: The construction of the University and around ₹ 25 lakh (equivalent to ₹ 63 lakh or US$ 75,000 in 2023), including construction materials, were donated by volunteers. It is estimated that the total cost of the construction of the University will be around ₹ 7 crore (equivalent to ₹ 18 crore or US$ 2.1 million in 2023). During World War II , when there was an active combat between

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1632-545: The day. This was a typology constructed from the so-called " cephalic index " (the ratio of the maximum width of the head to its maximum length) and to classify human populations according to this purported scientific measure . Invented by the anatomist Anders Retzius (1796–1860), the cephalic index classification was disputed by Franz Boas 's anthropological works, and Boas's criticisms are widely accepted today. Hodson also typically associates racial categories with supposed stages of economic and linguistic development, implying

1683-629: 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

1734-689: 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

1785-518: 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

1836-407: 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

1887-517: 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

1938-412: The models dominant in his day. This analysis was independent of the castes , and Brahmins and Dalits were classified in the same "racial groups". For example, Telugu Brahmins and Chamars were classified as "Racial Element A". In total, he distinguished seven "racial elements", from A to G. Hodson used the classical " brachycephalic " and " dolichocephalic " terminology in force in racial discourses of

1989-469: The present Austroasiatic languages are derived. They had a rudimentary knowledge of agriculture, building stone monuments, and primitive navigation. This migration was followed by an immigration of more civilised Mediterraneans from the Persian Gulf (ultimately from eastern Europe). These people had the knowledge of the metals, but not of iron . They were followed by later waves of immigrants who developed

2040-472: The rain or sun". According to Tarak Chandra Das of the Calcutta University , the term "Nongmaiching" is translated as "the hill which rises to the east of Imphal and which is the scene of a rain-compelling ceremony." The terms "Nongmaiching" and "Nongmaijing" are interchangeably used. The term "Nongmaijing" may also mean Sunday in Meitei language (officially called Manipuri ). According to

2091-458: 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

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2142-587: 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

2193-624: The shadow of tall and robust plants of cane and they are also dotted with dense growth of tall reeds. And the gorges reverberate against the strong current of wind. Of these mountain ranges the bard would like to sing.” Following these lines, the author describes on many cliffs , slopes and nearby areas of the Nongmaiching mountain. In accordance to the ancient Meitei language text named "Panthoibi Naheirol" ( Meitei : ꯄꯥꯟꯊꯣꯏꯕꯤ ꯅꯥꯍꯩꯔꯣꯜ , romanized:  pānthoibī nāheirōl ), Panthoibi pretended to be unwell in front of her mother, just to make her mother call physician Nongpok Ningthou for

2244-452: 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 ,

2295-570: The three out of the seven clans of Meitei ethnicity , namely the Mangang , the Luwang and the Angom are historically associated with the Nongmaiching. Meitei King Konthouba defeated many tribal chiefs and controlled their villages of Shelloi (Selloi) and Longmai (Langmai), near the present day Nongmaiching. The Nongmaiching is a holy pilgrimage site for the Meitei people . In Meitei religion ( Sanamahism ),

2346-522: The treatment of her illness. While telling her mother about Nongpok Ningthou, princess Panthoibi mentioned the Nongmaiching (aka Langmai Ching) as follows: “As I told you there is one who is reigning supreme in the Langmai Hills on whose slope the sun shines first.” The University of Sanamahi Culture (Sanamahi Culture University) is a university under construction in the Nongmaiching Hills. It

2397-512: The troops of the United Kingdom and Japan in Manipur and other Northeast Indian states, the Nongmaiching serves as the most strategically important point in Imphal Valley . The Nongmaiching is one of the important hills and mountains in Manipur that have the strong potential for ecotourism development. There is a reserved forest in the Nongmaiching. The Santhei Natural Park located in

2448-420: 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

2499-953: 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

2550-459: 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

2601-523: 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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