Editing Meitei language (section)

{{Short description|Tibeto-Burman language of India}}
{{Redirect|Manipuri language|the Meitei-Bengali [[creole language]]|Bishnupriya Manipuri}}
{{About|the [[Languages with official status in India|sole official language]] of [[Manipur]]|other speech forms|languages of Manipur}}
{{Hatnote|Unless otherwise specified, Meitei in this article is written in [[Meitei Mayek]].}}
{{pp|small=yes}}
{{Use Indian English|date=November 2023}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2023}}
{{Infobox language
| name = Meitei
| nativename = <!--In Meitei script--> {{Script|Mtei|ꯃꯩꯇꯩꯂꯣꯟ}} • <!--In Eastern Nagari script--> মৈতৈলোন • <!--Romanization--> {{transliteration|la|ISO|Meiteilon}}
| altname = Manipuri
| pronunciation    = 
| image = Meitei language written in Meitei script.svg
| imagescale  =
| imagecaption = ''Meitei Lon'' written in Meitei script
| states = Manipur, Assam and Tripura
| region = Northeast India and Neighbouring areas of Bangladesh and Myanmar
| ethnicity = [[Meitei people]]
| familycolor = Sino-Tibetan
| fam1 = [[Sino-Tibetan languages|Sino-Tibetan]]
| fam2 = [[Tibeto-Burman languages|Tibeto-Burman]]
| fam3 = [[Central Tibeto-Burman languages|Central Tibeto-Burman]]
| speakers_label = Total speakers
| speakers = [[first language|L1]] & [[second language|L2]] combined: 3 million<ref name="Chelliah">{{Cite web |last1=Chelliah |first1=Shobhana Lakshmi |author-link=Shobhana Chelliah |last2=Ray |first2=Sohini |author-link2=Sohini Ray |date=23 June 2000 |others=[[University of North Texas]] (UNT) |title=Discovering Tibeto-Burman Linguistic History Through Pre 20th Century Meithei Manuscripts |url=https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1631609/ |access-date=18 November 2023 |website=[[UNT Digital Library]] |publisher=[[University of North Texas Libraries]] |language=English}}</ref><br />[[first language|L1]] only: {{sigfig|1.775000|2}} million
| date = 2003–2011
| ref = e25
| ancestor = [[Proto-Sino-Tibetan]]
| ancestor2 = [[Proto-Tibeto-Burman]]
| script = 
*[[Meetei Mayek]]
*[[Naoriya Phulo script|Naoriya Phulo]]
*[[Bengali-Assamese script]]
*[[Latin alphabet]] (unofficial)
| nation = *[[Official languages of India|India]] (scheduled official)
**[[Manipur]] (main official)
**[[Assam]] (additional official)
| minority = {{Bulleted list|[[Tripura|Tripura, India]]|[[Languages of Bangladesh|Bangladesh]]|[[Languages of Myanmar|Myanmar]]}}
| agency = [[Directorate of Language Planning and Implementation]], [[Manipur]]
| development_body = 
* [[Ministry of Culture (India)]]
* [[Sahitya Akademi]]
* [[Central Institute of Indian Languages]]
* [[Directorate of Language Planning and Implementation]]
* [[Manipuri Sahitya Parishad]] 
| iso2 = mni
| lc1 = mni
| ld1 = Manipuri
| lc2 = omp
| ld2 = Old Manipuri
| glotto = mani1292
| glottoname = Manipuri
| glotto2 = meit1246
| glottoname2 = Meitei (standard dialect)
| glotto3 = loii1241
| glottoname3 = Loi ([[Chakpa language|Chakpa dialect]])
| glotto4 = pang1284
| glottoname4 = Pangal (Muslim dialect)
| notice           = IPA
| notice2          = 
| dialects = 
*[[Chakpa language|Chakpa/Loi]] 
*Meitei Pangal<ref name="ethnologue_mni">{{Cite web |title=Meitei {{!}} Ethnologue |url=https://www.ethnologue.com/language/mni/ |access-date=3 May 2023 |website=[[Ethnologue]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190724203234/https://www.ethnologue.com/language/mni/ |archive-date=24 July 2019 |language=en}}</ref>
*[[Meitei language in Bangladesh|Bangladeshi]]
| speakers2 =
| map = File:Meitei language distribution.png
| mapcaption = 
{{legend|#014167|Regions where Meitei is official and educational language}}
{{legend|#076BA2|Regions where Meitei is recognised and educational language but not official}}
{{legend|#419ED5|Regions where Meitei is not recognised and not official but educational}}
{{legend|#79A9E3|Regions where Meitei is recognised but not official and educational}}
{{legend|#A6BBD5|Regions with significant Meitei speaking minorities}}
}}
{{Contains special characters|Meitei}}

'''Meitei''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|m|eɪ|t|eɪ}};<ref>{{Cite OED|Meithei|access-date=14 October 2022}}</ref> {{Meitei|ꯃꯩꯇꯩꯂꯣꯟ|ba=মৈতৈলোন্|label=no|xlit=yes|p=no}} {{IPA| mni|mejtejlon|pron}}) also known as '''Manipuri''' {{Meitei|ꯃꯅꯤꯄꯨꯔꯤ|ba=মণিপুরী|label=no}} {{IPA|mni|mənipuɾi|pron}}), 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 [[scheduled languages of India|constitutionally scheduled official languages of the Indian Republic]].<ref name="Britannica_Meitei_language" /> Meitei is the most widely-spoken [[Tibeto-Burman languages|Tibeto-Burman language]] of India and the third most widely spoken language of northeast India after [[Assamese language|Assamese]] and [[Bengali language|Bengali]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Language – India, States and Union Territories |url=http://censusindia.gov.in/2011Census/C-16_25062018_NEW.pdf |work=Census of India 2011 |publisher=Office of the Registrar General |pages=13–14 |access-date=30 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181114073412/http://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011Census/C-16_25062018_NEW.pdf |archive-date=14 November 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref>
There are {{sigfig|1.761079|3}}&nbsp;million [[States of India by Meitei speakers|Meitei native speakers in India according to the 2011 census]], {{sigfig|1.522132|3}}&nbsp;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|Assam]] ({{sigfig|168133|3}}), [[#Tripura|Tripura]] ({{sigfig|23779|2}}), [[#Nagaland|Nagaland]] ({{sigfig|9511|2}}), and elsewhere in the country ({{sigfig|37524|3}}). The language is also spoken by smaller groups in neighbouring [[#Myanmar|Myanmar]]<ref>{{Cite web|title=Manipuris in Mandalay see ray of hope in Modi|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/guwahati/Manipuris-in-Mandalay-see-ray-of-hope-in-Modi/articleshow/48059811.cms|last1=Sunil|first1=Oinam|date=14 July 2015|website=The Times of India|language=en}}</ref> and [[Meitei language in Bangladesh|Bangladesh]].<ref name=e25/>

Meitei and [[Gujarati language|Gujarati]] jointly hold the third place among the fastest growing [[languages of India]], following [[Hindi]] and [[Kashmiri language|Kashmiri]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=R |first=Aishwaryaa |date=6 June 2019 |title=What census data reveals about use of Indian languages |url=https://www.deccanherald.com/india/what-census-data-reveals-about-use-of-indian-languages-738340.html |work=[[Deccan Herald]] |access-date=16 November 2023}}</ref>

Meitei is not [[Language endangerment|endangered]]: its status has been assessed as safe by ''[[Ethnologue]]'' (where it is assigned to [[EGIDS]] level 2 "provincial language").<ref name=e25/> However, it is considered [[vulnerable language|vulnerable]] by UNESCO.<ref>{{cite book |editor-last1=Moseley |editor-first1=C. |title=Atlas of the world's languages in danger (3rd ed) |date=2010 |publisher=UNESCO Publishing |location=Paris| url = https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000187026| pages = 44{{ndash}}45 and elsewhere}}</ref>

The Manipuri language is associated with the [[Ningthouja dynasty]] ([[Mangang]]s), the [[Khuman kingdom|Khuman dynasty]], the [[Ancient Moirang|Moirang]]s, the [[Angom]]s, the [[Luwang]]s, the [[Salai Leishangthem|Chengleis]] ([[Sarang-Leishangthem]]s), and the  [[Khaba-Nganba]]s. 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 was predominant,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Singh |first=Dr Th Suresh |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kbu_AwAAQBAJ&dq=luwang+khuman+angom+language&pg=PA23 |title=The Endless Kabaw Valley: British Created Visious [sic] Cycle of Manipur, Burma and India |date=2014-06-02 |publisher=Quills Ink Publishing |isbn=978-93-84318-00-0 |pages=23 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Sanajaoba |first=Naorem |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-CzSQKVmveUC&dq=luwang+khuman+angom+language&pg=PA10 |title=Manipur, Past and Present: The Heritage and Ordeals of a Civilization |date=1988 |publisher=Mittal Publications |isbn=978-81-7099-853-2 |pages=10 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Miri |first=Mrinal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qfSz3UOAxM4C&dq=luwang+khuman+angom+language&pg=PA77 |title=Linguistic Situation in North-East India |date=2003 |publisher=Concept Publishing Company |isbn=978-81-8069-026-6 |pages=77 |language=en}}</ref> and received heavy influences from the speech forms of the other groups.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Singh |first=Chungkham Yashwanta |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pCtkAAAAMAAJ |title=Manipuri Grammar |date=2000 |publisher=Rajesh Publications |isbn=978-81-85891-33-0 |pages=2, 202 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Ayyappappanikkar |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KYLpvaKJIMEC&dq=luwang+khuman+angom+language&pg=PA333 |title=Medieval Indian Literature: Surveys and selections |date=1997 |publisher=Sahitya Akademi |isbn=978-81-260-0365-5 |pages=333 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Aspects of Manipuri language and its literary traditions By Ahanthem Homen |url=https://e-pao.net/epPageExtractor.asp?src=education.Aspects_of_Manipuri_language_and_its_literary_traditions_By_Ahanthem_Homen.html.. |access-date=2024-05-22 |website=e-pao.net}}</ref>

Meitei is one of the advanced literary languages recognised by [[Sahitya Akademi]], India's National Academy of Letters.