| Limbu ᤕᤰᤌᤢᤱ ᤐᤠᤴ | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Script type | |
Time period | c. 1740–present |
| Direction | left-to-right  |
| Region | Nepal and Northeastern India |
| Languages | Limbu |
| Related scripts | |
Parent systems | |
| ISO 15924 | |
| ISO 15924 | Limb(336),Limbu |
| Unicode | |
Unicode alias | Limbu |
| U+1900–U+194F | |
[a] The Semitic origin of the Brahmic scripts is not universally agreed upon. | |
| Brahmic scripts |
|---|
| The Brahmic script and its descendants |
The Limbu script (also Sirijanga script) [1] is used to write the Limbu language. It is a Brahmic type abugida. [2]
According to traditional histories, the Limbu script was first invented in the late 9th century by Limbu King Sirijunga Hang and then fell out of use, only to be reintroduced in the 18th century by Limbu scholar Te-ongsi Sirijunga Xin Thebe as during that time the teaching of the Limbu script was outlawed in Limbuwan and Sikkim.
The Limbu language is one of the few Sino-Tibetan languages of the Central Himalayas to possess their own scripts. (Sprigg 1959: 590), (Sprigg 1959: 591-592 & MS: 1-4) tells us that the Limbu or Sirijunga script was devised during the period of Buddhist expansion in Sikkim in the early 18th century when Limbuwan still constituted part of Sikkimese territory. The Limbu script was probably composed at roughly the same time as the Lepcha script which was created by the third King of Sikkim, Chakdor Namgyal (ca. 1700–1717). The Limbu script is ascribed to the Limbu hero, Te-ongsi Sirijunga Xin Thebe.
As an abugida, a basic letter represents both a consonant and an inherent, or default, vowel. In Limbu, the inherent vowel is /ɔ/.
| Letter | ᤁ | ᤂ | ᤃ | ᤄ | ᤅ |
| Transcription | ko | kho | go | gho | ngo |
| IPA | /kɔ/ | /kʰɔ/ | /ɡɔ/ | /ɡʱɔ/ | /ŋɔ/ |
| Letter | ᤆ | ᤇ | ᤈ | ᤉ | ᤊ |
| Transcription | co | cho | jo | jho | nyo |
| IPA | /t͡ɕɔ/ | /t͡ɕʰɔ/ | /d͡ʑɔ/ | /d͡ʑʱɔ/ | /ɲɔ/ |
| Letter | ᤋ | ᤌ | ᤍ | ᤎ | ᤏ |
| Transcription | to | tho | do | dho | no |
| IPA | /tɔ/ | /tʰɔ/ | /dɔ/ | /dʱɔ/ | /nɔ/ |
| Letter | ᤐ | ᤑ | ᤒ | ᤓ | ᤔ |
| Transcription | po | pho | bo | bho | mo |
| IPA | /pɔ/ | /pʰɔ/ | /bɔ/ | /bʱɔ/ | /mɔ/ |
| Letter | ᤕ | ᤖ | ᤗ | ᤘ | |
| Transcription | yo | ro | lo | wo | |
| IPA | /jɔ/ | /rɔ/ | /lɔ/ | /wɔ/ | |
| Letter | ᤙ | ᤚ | ᤛ | ᤜ | |
| Transcription | sho | sso | so | ho | |
| IPA | /ʃɔ/ | /ʂɔ/ | /sɔ/ | /ɦɔ/ |
Note: The letters ᤊ, and ᤚ are obsolete.
To change the inherent vowel, a diacritic is added:
| Transcription | -a | -i | -u | -ee | -ai | -oo | -au | -e | -o |
| IPA | /a/ | /i/ | /u/ | /e/ | /ai/ | /o/ | /au/ | /ɛ/ | /ɔ/ |
| Diacritic | ᤠ | ᤡ | ᤢ | ᤣ | ᤤ | ᤥ | ᤦ | ᤧ | ᤨ |
| Example usingᤁ | ᤁᤠ /ka/ | ᤁᤡ /ki/ | ᤁᤢ /ku/ | ᤁᤣ /ke/ | ᤁᤤ /kai/ | ᤁᤥ /ko/ | ᤁᤦ /kau/ | ᤁᤧ /kɛ/ | ᤁᤨ /kɔ/ |
ᤁᤨ /kɔ/ represents the same syllable as ᤁ /kɔ/. Some writers avoid this diacritic above this text… ᤨ, considering it redundant.
Syllable-initial vowels use the vowel-carrierᤀ with the appropriate dependent vowel sign. Used by itself, ᤀ represents syllable-initial /ɔ/.
Initial consonant clusters are written with small marks following the main consonant:
| Transcription | -y- | -r- | -w- |
| IPA | /j/ | /r/ | /w/ |
| Diacritic | ᤩ | ᤪ | ᤫ |
| Example usingᤁ | ᤁᤩ /kjɔ/ | ᤁᤪ /krɔ/ | ᤁᤫ /kwɔ/ |
Final consonants after short vowels are written with another set of marks, except for some final consonants occurring only in loanwords. They follow the marks for consonant clusters, if any.
| Transcription | -k | -ng | -t | -n | -p | -m | -r | -l |
| IPA | /k/ | /ŋ/ | /t/ | /n/ | /p/ | /m/ | /r/ | /l/ |
| Diacritic | ᤰ | ᤱ | ᤳ | ᤴ | ᤵ | ᤶ | ᤷ | ᤸ |
| Example usingᤁ | ᤁᤰ /kɔk/ | ᤁᤱ /kɔŋ/ | ᤁᤳ /kɔt/ | ᤁᤴ /kɔn/ | ᤁᤵ /kɔp/ | ᤁᤶ /kɔm/ | ᤁᤷ /kɔr/ | ᤁᤸ /kɔl/ |
Long vowels without a following final consonant are written with a diacritic called kemphreng (᤺). For example, ᤁ᤺ /kɔː/.
There are two methods for writing long vowels with syllable-final consonants:
The first method is widely used in Sikkim; the second method is advocated by certain writers in Nepal. [2]
Glottalization is marked by a sign called mukphreng (᤹). For example, ᤁ᤹ /kɔʔ/.
ᤛᤧᤘᤠᤖᤥ᥄ ᤀᤠᤍᤠᤱᤒᤠ ᤜᤠᤍᤠᤱᤔᤠᤛᤣ ᤗᤠᤶᤎᤡᤱᤃᤥ ᤗᤠᤶᤎᤰ ᤕᤠᤰᤌᤢᤱᤐᤠᤴ ᤖᤧ ᤘᤡᤁᤡᤐᤡᤍᤡᤕᤠ ᤀᤥ ॥ ᤛᤧᤘᤠᤖᤥ᥄ ᤀᤠᤍᤠᤏᤠᤒᤠ ᤀᤠᤍᤠᤏᤠᤔ ᤀᤠᤛᤧ ᤗᤠᤶᤎ ᤀᤡᤏᤠᤃ ᤗᤠᤶᤎᤠᤁᤠ ᤕᤠᤰᤌᤢᤱ ᤐᤠᤏᤠ ᤖᤧ ᤘᤡᤁᤡᤐᤧᤍᤤ ᤀ। ᤗᤡᤶᤒᤢ ᤓᤠᤙᤠᤁᤥ ᤘᤡᤁᤡᤐᤡ᤺ᤍᤡᤕᤠᤔᤠ ᤛᤫᤠᤃᤋ ᤇ। ᤗᤡᤶᤒᤢ ᤓᤠᤛᤠᤁᤨ ᤘᤡᤁᤡᤐᤡᤍᤡᤕᤠ ᤀᤜᤡᤗᤧ ᤀᤡᤴᤁᤢᤒᤧᤛᤠᤏᤠ (ᤐᤠᤖᤣᤰᤙᤠᤏ ᤘᤡᤁᤡ) ᤀᤷᤌᤠᤳ ᤁᤨᤁᤨᤔᤠ ᤇᤠ। ᤕᤛᤗᤠᤀᤡ᤺ ᤀᤃᤠᤍᤡ ᤒᤎᤠᤀᤢᤏᤠᤁᤠ ᤗᤠᤃᤡ ᤁᤠᤶᤋᤡᤔᤠ ᥈ ᤛᤠᤕᤠ ᤗᤧᤰ ᤗᤡᤶᤒᤢ ᤓᤠᤙᤠᤔᤠ ᤜᤢᤏᤠ ᤈᤠᤖᤥᤖᤣ ᤇᤠ। ᤋᤩᤛᤁᤠᤖᤏ ᤗᤡᤶᤒᤢ ᤓᤠᤙᤠᤔᤠ ᤗᤧᤂᤠᤜᤠᤖᤢ ᤗᤧᤰᤏᤠ ᤛᤢᤖᤢᤃᤠᤷᤏᤠ ᤛᤠᤒᤤ ᤗᤡᤶᤒᤢᤓᤠᤙᤡ ᤔᤡᤳᤖᤜᤠᤖᤢᤔᤠ ᤜᤠᤷᤍᤡᤰ ᤀᤠᤏᤢᤖᤨᤎ ᤇᤠ।
Three additional letters were used in early versions of the modern script: [2]
Two ligatures were used for Nepali consonant conjuncts: [3]
Nineteenth-century texts used a small anusvara (ᤲ) to mark nasalization. This was used interchangeably with ᤱ /ŋ/.
The sign ᥀ was used for the exclamatory particle ᤗᤥ (/lo/). [2]
The main punctuation mark used in Limbu is the Devanagari double danda (॥). [2] It has its own exclamation mark (᥄) and question mark (᥅).
Limbu has its own set of digits:
| 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ᥆ | ᥇ | ᥈ | ᥉ | ᥊ | ᥋ | ᥌ | ᥍ | ᥎ | ᥏ |
Limbu script was added to the Unicode Standard in April, 2003 with the release of version 4.0.
The Unicode block for Limbu is U+1900–U+194F:
| Limbu [1] [2] Official Unicode Consortium code chart (PDF) | ||||||||||||||||
| 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | A | B | C | D | E | F | |
| U+190x | ᤀ | ᤁ | ᤂ | ᤃ | ᤄ | ᤅ | ᤆ | ᤇ | ᤈ | ᤉ | ᤊ | ᤋ | ᤌ | ᤍ | ᤎ | ᤏ |
| U+191x | ᤐ | ᤑ | ᤒ | ᤓ | ᤔ | ᤕ | ᤖ | ᤗ | ᤘ | ᤙ | ᤚ | ᤛ | ᤜ | ᤝ | ᤞ | |
| U+192x | ᤠ | ᤡ | ᤢ | ᤣ | ᤤ | ᤥ | ᤦ | ᤧ | ᤨ | ᤩ | ᤪ | ᤫ | ||||
| U+193x | ᤰ | ᤱ | ᤲ | ᤳ | ᤴ | ᤵ | ᤶ | ᤷ | ᤸ | ᤹ | ᤺ | ᤻ | ||||
| U+194x | ᥀ | ᥄ | ᥅ | ᥆ | ᥇ | ᥈ | ᥉ | ᥊ | ᥋ | ᥌ | ᥍ | ᥎ | ᥏ | |||
| Notes | ||||||||||||||||
An abugida, sometimes known as alphasyllabary, neosyllabary or pseudo-alphabet, is a segmental writing system in which consonant–vowel sequences are written as units; each unit is based on a consonant letter, and vowel notation is secondary, like a diacritical mark. This contrasts with a full alphabet, in which vowels have status equal to consonants, and with an abjad, in which vowel marking is absent, partial, or optional – in less formal contexts, all three types of script may be termed "alphabets". The terms also contrast them with a syllabary, in which a single symbol denotes the combination of one consonant and one vowel.
The Soyombo script is an abugida developed by the monk and scholar Zanabazar in 1686 to write Mongolian. It can also be used to write Tibetan and Sanskrit.
Surat Buhid is an abugida used to write the Buhid language. As a Brahmic script indigenous to the Philippines, it closely related to Baybayin and Hanunó'o. It is still used today by the Mangyans, found mainly on island of Mindoro, to write their language, Buhid, together with the Filipino latin script.
Tagbanwa is one of the scripts indigenous to the Philippines, used by the Tagbanwa and the Palawan people as their ethnic writing system.
The Cham script is a Brahmic abugida used to write Cham, an Austronesian language spoken by some 245,000 Chams in Vietnam and Cambodia. It is written horizontally left to right, just like other Brahmic abugidas.
Limbu is a Sino-Tibetan language spoken by the Limbu people of Nepal and Northeastern India as well as expatriate communities in Bhutan. The Limbu refer to themselves as Yakthung and their language as Yakthungpan. Yakthungpan has four main dialects: Phedape, Chhathare, Tambarkhole and Panthare dialects.
Warang Citi is a writing system invented by Lako Bodra for the Ho language spoken in East India. It is used in primary and adult education and in various publications.
The Lepcha script, or Róng script, is an abugida used by the Lepcha people to write the Lepcha language. Unusually for an abugida, syllable-final consonants are written as diacritics.
Ga is the third consonant of Indic abugidas. In modern Indic scripts, ga is derived from the early "Ashoka" Brahmi letter , which is probably derived from the Aramaic letter after having gone through the Gupta letter .
Ja is the eighth consonant of Indic abugidas. In modern Indic scripts, ja is derived from the early "Ashoka" Brahmi letter after having gone through the Gupta letter .
A is a vowel of Indic abugidas. In modern Indic scripts, A is derived from the early "Ashoka" Brahmi letter after having gone through the Gupta letter . Bare consonants without a modifying vowel sign have the "A" vowel inherently, and thus there is no modifier sign for "A" in Indic scripts.
I is a vowel of Indic abugidas. In modern Indic scripts, I is derived from the early "Ashoka" Brahmi letter after having gone through the Gupta letter . As an Indic vowel, "I" comes in two normally distinct forms: 1) as an independent letter, and 2) as a vowel sign for modifying a base consonant. Bare consonants without a modifying vowel sign have the inherent "A" vowel.
Ī is a vowel of Indic abugidas. In modern Indic scripts, Ii is derived from the early "Ashoka" Brahmi letter . As an Indic vowel, Ī comes in two normally distinct forms: 1) as an independent letter, and 2) as a vowel sign for modifying a base consonant. Bare consonants without a modifying vowel sign have the inherent "A" vowel.
U is a vowel of Indic abugidas. In modern Indic scripts, U is derived from the early "Ashoka" Brahmi letter after having gone through the Gupta letter . As an Indic vowel, U comes in two normally distinct forms: 1) as an independent letter, and 2) as a vowel sign for modifying a base consonant. Bare consonants without a modifying vowel sign have the inherent "A" vowel.
Ū is a vowel of Indic abugidas. In modern Indic scripts, Ū is derived from the early "Ashoka" Brahmi letter . As an Indic vowel, Ū comes in two normally distinct forms: 1) as an independent letter, and 2) as a vowel sign for modifying a base consonant. Bare consonants without a modifying vowel sign have the inherent "A" vowel.
Ḷ or Vocalic L is a vowel symbol of Indic abugidas. In modern Indic scripts, Ḷ is derived from the Brahmi letter . As an Indic vowel, Ḷ comes in two normally distinct forms: 1) as an independent letter, and 2) as a sign for modifying a base consonant. Bare consonants without a modifying vowel sign have the inherent "A" vowel.
E is a vowel of Indic abugidas. In modern Indic scripts, E is derived from the early "Ashoka" Brahmi letter after having gone through the Gupta letter . As an Indic vowel, E comes in two normally distinct forms: 1) as an independent letter, and 2) as a vowel sign for modifying a base consonant. Bare consonants without a modifying vowel sign have the inherent "A" vowel.
Ai is a vowel of Indic abugidas. In modern Indic scripts, Ai is derived from the early "Ashoka" Brahmi letter . As an Indic vowel, Ai comes in two normally distinct forms: 1) as an independent letter, and 2) as a vowel sign for modifying a base consonant. Bare consonants without a modifying vowel sign have the inherent "A" vowel.
O is a vowel of Indic abugidas. In modern Indic scripts, O is derived from the early "Ashoka" Brahmi letter after having gone through the Gupta letter . As an Indic vowel, O comes in two normally distinct forms: 1) as an independent letter, and 2) as a vowel sign for modifying a base consonant. Bare consonants without a modifying vowel sign have the inherent "A" vowel.
The Tai Viet script is a Brahmic script used by the Tai Dam people and various other Thai people in Vietnam and Thailand.
