Limbu script

Limbu
ᤕᤠᤰᤌᤢᤱ ᤐᤠᤴ
Limbu; ᤕᤠᤰᤌᤢᤱ ᤐᤠᤴ
	Limbu Alphabet Chart
Script type	Abugida
Period	c. 1740–present
Direction	Left-to-right
Region	Nepal and Northeastern India
Languages	Limbu
Related scripts
Parent systems	Proto-Sinaitic alphabet Phoenician alphabet Aramaic alphabet Brāhmī Gupta Tibetan Lepcha Limbu; ; ; ; ; ; ;
ISO 15924
ISO 15924	Limb (336), Limbu
Unicode
Unicode alias	Limbu
Unicode range	U+1900–U+194F
	This article contains phonetic transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. For the distinction between [ ], / / and ⟨ ⟩, see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters.

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The Limbu script (also Sirijanga script)^[1] is used to write the Limbu language. It is a Brahmic type abugida.^[2]

History

The Limbu script was invented in the 18th century by Limbu monk and scholar Te-ongsi Sirijunga Xin Thebe, in order to give the Limbu a distinct medium to commit their oral tradition to writing. He claimed that the script was used in late first millennium and that he had only rediscovered it, but no text from before the 18th century has been discovered. It was likely invented as an act of defiance.^[3]

Accounts with Sirijunga

The Limbu language is one of the few Sino-Tibetan languages of the Central Himalayas to possess their own scripts.^[4]^[5] 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.

Structure

The Limbu script is an abugida, which means that a basic letter represents both a consonant and an inherent, or default, vowel. In Limbu, the inherent vowel is /ɔ/, as in Bengali–Assamese and Odia scripts. To start a syllable with a vowel, the appropriate vowel diacritic is added to the vowel-carrier ᤀ. A vowel-carrier with no diacritic represents the sound /ɔ/.

Consonants
ᤁ ko IPA: /kɔ/	ᤂ kho IPA: /kʰɔ/	ᤃ go IPA: /ɡɔ/	ᤄ gho IPA: /ɡʱɔ/	ᤅ ngo IPA: /ŋɔ/	ᤆ co IPA: /t͡ɕɔ/	ᤇ cho IPA: /t͡ɕʰɔ/	ᤈ jo IPA: /d͡ʑɔ/	ᤉ jho IPA: /d͡ʑʱɔ/ ^{[note 1]}	ᤊ nyo IPA: /ɲɔ/ ^{[note 1]}
ᤋ to IPA: /tɔ/	ᤌ tho IPA: /tʰɔ/	ᤍ do IPA: /dɔ/	ᤎ dho IPA: /dʱɔ/	ᤏ no IPA: /nɔ/	ᤐ po IPA: /pɔ/	ᤑ pho IPA: /pʰɔ/	ᤒ bo IPA: /bɔ/	ᤓ bho IPA: /bʱɔ/	ᤔ mo IPA: /mɔ/
ᤕ yo IPA: /jɔ/	ᤖ ro IPA: /rɔ/	ᤗ lo IPA: /lɔ/	ᤘ wo IPA: /wɔ/	ᤙ sho IPA: /ʃɔ/	ᤚ sso IPA: /ʂɔ/	ᤛ so IPA: /sɔ/ ^{[note 1]}	ᤜ ho IPA: /ɦɔ/

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[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[note 1]