Today we are going to talk about Lepcha script, a topic that has generated interest and debate in contemporary society. Lepcha script is a topic that has been the subject of study and analysis in different fields, from psychology to politics, including popular culture and technology. This article seeks to offer a comprehensive and updated vision of Lepcha script, addressing its different facets and its impact on daily life. Along these lines we will explore the most relevant aspects of Lepcha script, examining its repercussions and possible solutions. Without a doubt, Lepcha script is a topic that does not leave anyone indifferent, and it is crucial to understand it in depth to better understand the world in which we live.
Lepcha ᰛᰩᰵ | |
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Script type | |
Time period | c. 1700–present |
Direction | Left-to-right |
Languages | Lepcha |
Related scripts | |
Parent systems | |
Child systems | Limbu |
Sister systems | Meitei, Khema, Phagspa, Marchen |
ISO 15924 | |
ISO 15924 | Lepc (335), Lepcha (Róng) |
Unicode | |
Unicode alias | Lepcha |
U+1C00–U+1C4F | |
The theorised Semitic origins of the Brahmi script are not universally agreed upon. | |
Brahmic scripts |
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The Brahmi script and its descendants |
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.
Lepcha is derived from the Tibetan script, and may have some Burmese influence. According to tradition, it was devised at the beginning of the 18th century by prince Chakdor Namgyal of the Namgyal dynasty of Sikkim, or by scholar Thikúng Men Salóng in the 17th century. Early Lepcha manuscripts were written vertically. When they were later written horizontally, the letters remained in their new orientations, rotated 90° from their Tibetan prototypes. This resulted in an unusual method of writing final consonants.
Lepcha is now written horizontally, but the changes in the direction of writing have resulted in a metamorphosis of the eight syllable-final consonants from conjuncts (ligatures) as in Tibetan to superposed diacritics.
As in most other Brahmic scripts, the short vowel /-a/ is not written; other vowels are written with diacritics before (/-i, -o/), after (/-ā, -u/), or under (/-e/) the initial consonant. The length mark, however, is written over the initial, as well as any final consonant diacritic, and fuses with /-o/ and /-u/. (When fused as /-ō/, however, it lies below any final consonant.) Initial vowels do not have separate letters, but are written with the vowel diacritics on an &-shaped zero-consonant letter.
There are postposed diacritics for medial /-y-/ and /-r-/, which may be combined (krya). For medial /-l-/, however, there are seven dedicated conjunct letters. That is, there is a special letter for /kla/ which does not resemble the letter for /ka/. (Only /gla/ is written with a straightforward diacritic.)
One of the final letters, /-ŋ/, is an exception to these patterns. First, unlike the other finals, final /-ŋ/ is written to the left of the initial consonant rather than on top, occurring even before preposed vowels. That is, /kiŋ/ is written "ngki". Second, there is no inherent vowel before /-ŋ/; even short /-a-/ must be written, with a diacritic unique to this situation. (It appears to be the diacritic for long /-ā/ rotated 180° around the consonant letter.) That is, /kaŋ/ is written "ngka", rather than "" as would be expected from the general pattern.
As an abugida, a basic letter represents both a consonant and an inherent vowel. In Lepcha, the inherent vowel is /a/.
Transcription | a | ka | kha | ga | nga | ca | cha | ja | nya | ta | tha | da | na | pa | pha | fa | ba | ma |
IPA | /a/ | /ka/ | /kʰa/ | /ga/ | /ŋa/ | /ca/ | /cʰa/ | /dʒa/ | /nja/ | /ta/ | /tʰa/ | /da/ | /na/ | /pa/ | /pʰa/ | /fa/ | /ba/ | /ma/ |
Letter | ᰣ | ᰀ | ᰂ | ᰃ | ᰅ | ᰆ | ᰇ | ᰈ | ᰉ | ᰊ | ᰋ | ᰌ | ᰍ | ᰎ | ᰐ | ᰑ | ᰓ | ᰕ |
Transcription | tsa | tsha | za | ya | ra | la | ha | va | sha | sa | wa | |||||||
IPA | /tˢa/ | /tʃa/ | /za/ | /ja/ | /ra/ | /la/ | /ha/ | /va/ | /ʃa/ | /sa/ | /ua/ | |||||||
Letter | ᰗ | ᰘ | ᰙ | ᰚ | ᰛ | ᰜ | ᰝ | ᰟ | ᰡ | ᰠ | ᰢ | |||||||
Transcription | kla | gla | pla | fla | bla | mla | hla | tta | ttha | dda | ||||||||
IPA | /kla/ | /gla/ | /pla/ | /fla/ | /bla/ | /mla/ | /hla/ | /ʈa/ | /ʈʰa/ | /ɖa/ | ||||||||
Letter | ᰁ | ᰄ | ᰏ | ᰒ | ᰔ | ᰖ | ᰞ | ᱍ | ᱎ | ᱏ |
Transcription | -y- | -r- |
Dependent mark | ᰤ | ᰥ |
Example using ᰜ(la) | ᰜᰤ(lya) | ᰜᰥ(lra) |
Transcription | -k | -m | -l | -n | -p | -r | -t | -ng |
Dependent mark | ᰭ | ᰮ | ᰯ | ᰰ | ᰱ | ᰲ | ᰳ | ᰵ |
Example using ᰜ(la) | ᰜᰭ(lak) | ᰜᰮ(lam) | ᰜᰯ(lal) | ᰜᰰ(lan) | ᰜᰱ(lap) | ᰜᰲ(lar) | ᰜᰳ(lat) | ᰜᰴ(lang) |
Transcription | â | á | i | í | o | ó | u | ú | e/ä |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
IPA | /ə/ | /a/ | /i/ | /i/ | /o/ | /ɔ/ | /ɯ/ | /u/ | /e~ɛ/ |
Dependent diacritical mark | ᰶ | ᰦ | ᰧ | ᰧ ᰶ | ᰨ | ᰩ | ᰪ | ᰫ | ᰬ |
Letter (not dependent) | ᰣᰶ | ᰣᰦ | ᰣᰧ | ᰣᰧᰶ | ᰣᰨ | ᰣᰩ | ᰣᰪ | ᰣᰫ | ᰣᰬ |
Example using ᰜ(la) | ᰜᰶ(lâ) | ᰜᰦ(lá) | ᰜᰧ(li) | ᰜᰧᰶ(lí) | ᰜᰨ(lo) | ᰜᰩ(ló) | ᰜᰪ(lu) | ᰜᰫ(lú) | ᰜᰬ(le) |
Lepcha numerals | ᱀ | ᱁ | ᱂ | ᱃ | ᱄ | ᱅ | ᱆ | ᱇ | ᱈ | ᱉ |
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Hindu-Arabic numerals | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
Lepcha script was added to the Unicode Standard in April, 2008 with the release of version 5.1.
The Unicode block for Lepcha is U+1C00–U+1C4F:
Lepcha Official Unicode Consortium code chart (PDF) | ||||||||||||||||
0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | A | B | C | D | E | F | |
U+1C0x | ᰀ | ᰁ | ᰂ | ᰃ | ᰄ | ᰅ | ᰆ | ᰇ | ᰈ | ᰉ | ᰊ | ᰋ | ᰌ | ᰍ | ᰎ | ᰏ |
U+1C1x | ᰐ | ᰑ | ᰒ | ᰓ | ᰔ | ᰕ | ᰖ | ᰗ | ᰘ | ᰙ | ᰚ | ᰛ | ᰜ | ᰝ | ᰞ | ᰟ |
U+1C2x | ᰠ | ᰡ | ᰢ | ᰣ | ᰤ | ᰥ | ᰦ | ᰧ | ᰨ | ᰩ | ᰪ | ᰫ | ᰬ | ᰭ | ᰮ | ᰯ |
U+1C3x | ᰰ | ᰱ | ᰲ | ᰳ | ᰴ | ᰵ | ᰶ | ᰷ | ᰻ | ᰼ | ᰽ | ᰾ | ᰿ | |||
U+1C4x | ᱀ | ᱁ | ᱂ | ᱃ | ᱄ | ᱅ | ᱆ | ᱇ | ᱈ | ᱉ | ᱍ | ᱎ | ᱏ | |||
Notes |