Meitei language

Meitei also known as Manipuri (ꯃꯅꯤꯄꯨꯔꯤ, <a href="/facts/Eastern_Nagari_script/usSaWBlk">Eastern Nagari script</a>: মণিপুরী) pronounced [mənipuɾi]), is a <a href="/facts/Tibeto-Burman_language/H7kY9J5E">Tibeto-Burman language</a> of <a href="/facts/Northeast_India/JtFJkH2A">northeast India</a>. It is the official language and the <a href="/facts/Lingua_franca/dlGrD7ra">lingua franca</a> of <a href="/facts/Manipur/afIbV0R2">Manipur</a> and an additional official language in four districts of <a href="/facts/Assam/64Hs7TwB">Assam</a>. It is one of the <a href="/facts/Scheduled_languages_of_India/lu7FmR72">constitutionally scheduled official languages of the Indian Republic</a>. Meitei is the most widely-spoken <a href="/facts/Tibeto-Burman_languages/H7kY9J5E">Tibeto-Burman language</a> of India and the third most widely spoken language of northeast India after <a href="/facts/Assamese_language/rS7BqK0P">Assamese</a> and <a href="/facts/Bengali_language/twpKobqA">Bengali</a>.
There are 1.76 million <a href="/facts/States_of_India_by_Meitei_speakers/vW6MXp2v">Meitei native speakers in India according to the 2011 census</a>, 1.52 million of whom are found in the state of <a href="/facts/Manipur/afIbV0R2">Manipur</a>, 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 <a href="/facts/Meitei_language_in_Bangladesh/8kPjpmgd">Bangladesh</a>.
Meitei and <a href="/facts/Gujarati_language/kGKRRbwe">Gujarati</a> jointly hold the third place among the fastest growing <a href="/facts/Languages_of_India/6XDhJrTq">languages of India</a>, following <a href="/facts/Hindi/n1QIEeCC">Hindi</a> and <a href="/facts/Kashmiri_language/b35X0L3H">Kashmiri</a>.
Meitei is not <a href="/facts/Language_endangerment/qcw97ryL">endangered</a>: its status has been assessed as safe by <a href="/facts/Ethnologue/0AanCzKS">Ethnologue</a> (where it is assigned to <a href="/facts/EGIDS/bM543pVL">EGIDS</a> level 2 "provincial language"). However, it is considered <a href="/facts/Vulnerable_language/qcw97ryL">vulnerable</a> by UNESCO.
The Manipuri language is associated with the <a href="/facts/Ningthouja_dynasty/Ea6CusRs">Ningthouja dynasty</a> (<a href="/facts/Mangang/Y82cmjIm">Mangangs</a>), the <a href="/facts/Khuman_kingdom/737cHdnv">Khuman dynasty</a>, the <a href="/facts/Ancient_Moirang/8wlKmXAg">Moirangs</a>, the <a href="/facts/Angom/CpC0rD8V">Angoms</a>, the <a href="/facts/Luwang/gFSyJl67">Luwangs</a>, the <a href="/facts/Salai_Leishangthem/BrkGF6bA">Chengleis</a> (<a href="/facts/Sarang-Leishangthem/BrkGF6bA">Sarang-Leishangthems</a>), and the <a href="/facts/Khaba-Nganba/yDbIUdI9">Khaba-Nganbas</a>. Each had their respective distinct dialects and were politically independent from one another. Later, all of them fell under the dominion of the <a href="/facts/Ningthouja_dynasty/Ea6CusRs">Ningthouja dynasty</a>, changing their status of being independent "ethnicities" into those of "clans" of the collective <a href="/facts/Meitei_community/X4S2436a">Meitei community</a>. The Ningthouja dialect was predominant, and received heavy influences from the speech forms of the other groups.
Meitei is one of the advanced literary languages recognised by <a href="/facts/Sahitya_Akademi/J35paT9B">Sahitya Akademi</a>, India's National Academy of Letters.

Meitei language open-in-new

Meitei language