Thou (Meitei letter)

Thou
Usage
Writing systemMeitei (Meetei Mayek)
TypeAbugida
In UnicodeU+ABCA

Thou (Meitei: ꯊ) is the eleventh letter of the Meitei script (Meetei Mayek). It primarily represents the aspirated voiceless alveolar plosive consonant ([tʰ]).[1] In accordance with the unique naming system of the Meitei alphabet, the letter is named after and visually represents the breast, chest, or ribs of the human body.[2][3]

Origin and etymology

Ancient Meitei character "THOU" (ꯊ) represents as well as means "chest".

The name Thou translates alternatively to "breast", "chest", or "ribs" depending on the specific historical manuscript or interpretation within the Meitei language (Manipuri). Within the script's core 18 original letters (Eyek Ipee), the characters follow a top-down structural logic based on the human anatomy, following Ngou (uvula/larynx/pharynx) as the sequence transitions from the throat down into the upper torso.[4][5][6][7]

According to traditional Meitei philosophy and ancient manuscripts known as Puyas, the graphic shape of the letter mimics the physical contours of the chest cavity or the cage structure of human ribs. During the late 20th-century script revival movement, this character was officially standardized by the Government of Manipur to its current digital shape.[8][9][10][11]

Meitei mythology and cosmogony

In Meitei cosmological lore, the alphabet ꯊ (Thou) is connected to the preservation of internal life forces. It is associated with Sakonsen (Thursday), the fifth day of the week, which emphasizes the Creator keeping the human body under loving care. Alongside the characters ꯉ and ꯋ, ꯊ represents the vital organs of the chest, serving as a symbolic pillar for the internal thoracic cavity where the Creator is traditionally believed to reside.[4][5][6][7]

Linguistic and phonetic usage

Sound value

In modern Meitei, Thou primarily represents the aspirated voiceless alveolar plosive consonant ([tʰ]). When spoken natively with its inherent vowel sound, it is pronounced as /tʰa/.[12][13]

Positional variations

  • Syllable-initial: When appearing at the beginning of a syllable, it retains its standard sound of [tʰ].[14][12][13]
  • Syllable-final (Lonsum): The letter Thou does not have a dedicated final consonant form (Lonsum) in the original script block, as traditional Meitei syllables do not naturally terminate in an aspirated alveolar plosive sound.[14][12][13]

Tonal interaction

As Meitei is a tonal language, the pitch of the syllable containing Thou is altered depending on the attached vowel diacritics (Cheitap) or the accompanying tone markers to signify distinct meanings.[12][13]

Vowel diacritic combinations

Like other abugida scripts, the consonant Thou has an inherent vowel sound of /ə/. To represent alternate or modified vowel sounds, explicit vowel diacritics (known as Cheitap Mayek) are attached to the base letter.[1][2][12][13]

The table below demonstrates how Thou combines with the standard Meitei vowel markers, detailing their respective graphic positioning, Unicode rendering, and phonetic output:

Diacritic NameUnicode[15][16]Graphic PositionSyllable CharacterTransliterationPronunciation (IPA)
(None)—Inherent Vowelꯊtha / thə[tʰə]
AatapU+ABE5Post-posed (Right)ꯊꯥthā / thaa[tʰaː]
InapU+ABE4Post-posed (Right)ꯊꯤthi[tʰi]
UnapU+ABE8Sub-posed (Bottom)ꯊꯨthu[tʰu]
YetnapU+ABE6Post-posed (Right)ꯊꯦthe[tʰe]
OtnapU+ABE3Post-posed / Right-wrappingꯊꯣtho[tʰo]
CheinapU+ABE9Post-posed (Right)ꯊꯩthei / thai[tʰɐj]
SounapU+ABE7Post-posed (Right)ꯊꯧthou / thau[tʰɐw]
NungU+ABEAPost-posed (Right)ꯊꯪthang[tʰaŋ]

Computer encoding

Thou was added to the Unicode Standard in October 2009 with the release of version 5.2. It is located inside the "Meetei Mayek" block.[17]

CharacterUnicode Code Point[15][16]NameCharacter Reference
ꯊU+ABCAMEETEI MAYEK LETTER THOUꯊ

Derived Lom Eeyek character: Dhou

The letter Thou serves as the direct ancestral base for the extended character Dhou (Meitei: ꯙ). Classified as a Lom Eeyek (derived or evolved letter), it was standardized into the modern 27-letter system to accommodate voiced-aspirated consonants introduced via historical linguistic evolution and phonetic changes.[12][13][1][2]

Within the traditional Meitei grammatical system, the naming convention features a distinct rhyming relationship where the sound profile of the original core letter directly mirrors and shifts into its corresponding Lom Eeyek counterpart (e.g., Thou phonetically rhymes and evolves into Dhou).[12][13][1][2]

Grapheme profile

Dhou
Usage
Writing systemMeitei (Meetei Mayek)
TypeAbugida (Lom Eeyek)
In UnicodeU+ABD9

Phonetic and graphic evolution

  • Phonetic Shift: While the original letter Thou represents the aspirated voiceless alveolar plosive, its derived Lom Eeyek Dhou expands the phonetic reach of the native script by representing the voiced aspirated dental/alveolar plosive consonant ([d̪ʱ]).[12][13][1][2]
  • Graphic Relationship: Unlike the original core letters (Eyek Ipee), Lom Eeyek characters do not independently map to parts of the human anatomy. Instead, their visual glyphs are stylized variations or direct evolutionary designs branching from the physical geometry of their parent characters.[12][13][1][2]
  • Syntactic Restrictions: Unlike the core character, Dhou does not possess a corresponding shortened Lonsum form for syllable-final configurations. It functions strictly in syllable-initial or medial environments where it can bind with standard vowel diacritics (Cheitap).[12][13][1][2]

Vowel diacritic combinations

The table below demonstrates how the Lom Eeyek consonant Dhou combines with the standard Meitei vowel markers (Cheitap Mayek):

Diacritic NameUnicode[15][16]Graphic PositionSyllable CharacterTransliterationPronunciation (IPA)
(None)—Inherent Vowelꯙdha / dhə[d̪ʱə]
AatapU+ABE5Post-posed (Right)ꯙꯥdhā / dhaa[d̪ʱaː]
InapU+ABE4Post-posed (Right)ꯙꯤdhi[d̪ʱi]
UnapU+ABE8Sub-posed (Bottom)ꯙꯨdhu[d̪ʱu]
YetnapU+ABE6Post-posed (Right)ꯙꯦdhe[d̪ʱe]
OtnapU+ABE3Post-posed / Right-wrappingꯙꯣdho[d̪ʱo]
CheinapU+ABE9Post-posed (Right)ꯙꯩdhei / dhai[d̪ʱɐj]
SounapU+ABE7Post-posed (Right)ꯙꯧdhou / dhau[d̪ʱɐw]
NungU+ABEAPost-posed (Right)ꯙꯪdhang[d̪ʱaŋ]

Technical specifications

CharacterUnicode Code Point[15][16]Official Unicode NameCharacter Reference
ꯙU+ABD9MEETEI MAYEK LETTER DHOUꯙ

Equivalent letters

In comparative typography, the phonetic properties of Thou align with corresponding characters in other major ancestral and regional writing systems. The table below places the base character alongside its historical Lom Eeyek counterpart Dhou (representing the extended voiced-aspirated phonetic offshoot), arranged in strict alphabetical order by script family:

Script Family Base Letter Profile (Thou) Lom Eeyek Profile (Derived / Extended: Dhou)
Equivalent GlyphTransliterationEquivalent GlyphTransliteration
Aramaic𐡕Tha𐡃Dha
Bengali-AssameseথThaধDha
Ashokan Brahmi𑀣Tha𑀥Dha
BurmeseထThaဓDha
DevanagariथThaधDha
GujaratiಥThaધDha
Gupta Brahmi𑀣
(Brahmi glyph)		Tha𑀥
(Brahmi glyph)		Dha
GurmukhiਥThaਧDha
KannadaಥThaಧDha
MalayalamഥThaധDha
OdiaଥThaଧDha
Perso-Arabic (Urdu)تھThaدھDha
Phoenician𐤕Tha𐤃Dha
TamilதThaதDha
TeluguಥThaಧDha
ThaiถThaธDha
TibetanཐThaདྷDha

See also

References

Wiktionary logo
Look up ꯊ or ꯙ in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
Wikimedia Commons logo
Wikimedia Commons has media related to ꯊ.
  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Teaching Meitei Mayek: A New Approach" (PDF). Language in India.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Noren, akoijambam (1993). Supchanlaba Meetei Lonmit Amasung Lonchat Pathap.
  3. ↑ Kangjiya, Ng (1978). Kanglei Eyekki Waree.
  4. 1 2 Thokchao Pangkanpa, Thokchom (1958). Wakoklon Thilel Sallai Amailon Pukok (in Manipuri). Manipur University Library. India: Digital Library of India; Internet Archive.
  5. 1 2 "Discovery of Kangleipak 11". e-pao.net.
  6. 1 2 "Discovery of Kangleipak 12". e-pao.net.
  7. 1 2 "Meetei Mayek 18 Subagee Kanglon Amasung Wangulon". Internet Archive; Digital Library of India (in Manipuri).
  8. ↑ Arambarn Parratt, Saroj Nalini, ed. (2009), "Meetei Mayek or Meetei script chart", The Court Chronicle of the Kings of Manipur, Foundation Books, pp. 145–148, ISBN 978-81-7596-638-3, retrieved 2026-07-15
  9. ↑ "Transliteration from Hindi Script to Meetei Mayek : ( A Rule Based Approach )". www.semanticscholar.org. Retrieved 2026-07-15.
  10. ↑ "Meitei Mayek Alphabets". ResearchGate. Retrieved 2026-07-15.
  11. ↑ "Meetei Mayek: The Script". tabish.freeshell.org. Retrieved 2026-07-15.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Ray, Sohini (2009). "Writing the Body: Cosmology, Orthography, and Fragments of Modernity in Northeastern India". Anthropological Quarterly. 82 (1): 129–154. ISSN 0003-5491.
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Sarangthem, Bobita; Lokendro, Laishram (2022-01-01). "Script and sound system of Meiteilon". Journal of Language and Culture.
  14. 1 2 "Meitei Mayek Transliteration: A Comprehensive Guide". okram.co.in. Retrieved 2026-07-15.
  15. 1 2 3 4 "Meetei Mayek | Official Unicode Consortium code chart" (PDF). Unicode.
  16. 1 2 3 4 "Meetei Mayek | Charts | Name list". unicode.org. Retrieved 2026-07-15.
  17. ↑ "Meitei Mayek Unicode 2009". e-pao.net. Retrieved 2026-07-15.
This page is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.