16th edition

US$ 100.00

Ethnologue > Web version > Country index > Asia > India > Meitei

Meitei

A language of India

ISO 639-3: mni

Population	1,370,000 in India (2000). Population total all countries: 1,391,000.
Region	Manipur; Assam, Cachar, Karimganji; Nagaland; Tripura, West and North Tripura districts; Uttar Pradesh; West Bengal. Also in Bangladesh, Myanmar.
Alternate names	Kathe, Kathi, Manipuri, Meiteilon, Meiteiron, Meithe, Meithei, Menipuri, Mitei, Mithe, Ponna
Dialects	Meitei, Loi (Chakpa), Pangal (Panal, Panan, Manipuri Muslim). Intelligibility of Meitei in Bangladesh is difficult. Those in Bangladesh may understand India Meitei better than vice versa possibly due to more language change in Bangladesh over the years. India Meitei is more standard. Intelligibility between dialects in Bangladesh definitely sufficient to understand complex and abstract discourse. Lexical similarity: 80%–86% between dialects in Bangladesh, 65%–70% between Bangladesh and India varieties.
Classification	Sino-Tibetan, Tibeto-Burman, Meitei
Language use	Official language. Trade language. Also use Hindi.
Language development	Literacy rate in L1: 73%. Literacy rate in L2: 69% for Manipur. Poetry. Radio programs. Videos. Dictionary. Grammar. Bible: 1984.
Writing system	Bengali script. Meetei Mayek script.
Comments	Mainly rural. 7 clans (Ningthonia, Luwang, Angom, Moirang, Khabanaganba, Chonglei). SOV; postpositions; articles before noun heads; CV, CVC, CVV, VC, VCV; nontonal. Agriculturalists: rice, vegetables; fishermen 60%; government workers 20%; technicians 10% businessmen 10%; weavers; wood craftsmen. Hindu, traditional religion (Sana Mahi), Muslim, Christian.

Also spoken in:

Bangladesh

Language name	Meitei
Population	15,000 in Bangladesh (2003). 2% monolingual.
Region	Sylhet District, Moulvi Bazar District (Kamalganj Subdistrict) and Sylhet City.
Language map	Bangladesh
Alternate names	Kathe, Kathi, Manipuri, Meetei, Meiteiron, Meithe, Meithei, Mitei, Mithe, Ponna
Dialects	Hindu Meitei, Pangan (Pangal).
Language use	Vigorous. Home, village. All ages. Positive attitude. Also use Bengali [ben] but older, uneducated less fluently. Some also use Sylheti [syl].
Language development	Literacy rate in L1: Low. Literacy rate in L2: 70% in Bengali. Those literate in Bengali are able to read Meitei but have little practice doing so.
Comments	Preferred name is Meitei Manipuri. Outsiders don’t distinguish between Meitei and Bishnupriya, calling both of them Manipuri. Meitei is a well-developed language with much literature but little is available in Bangladesh. Peasants. Hindu, Muslim, traditional religion.

Myanmar

Language name	Meitei
Population	6,000 in Myanmar (1931).
Alternate names	Kathe, Kathi, Manipuri, Meiteiron, Meithe, Meithei, Menipuri, Mitei, Mithe, Ponna
Comments	Hindu, traditional religion, Muslim, Christian.

Entries from the SIL Bibliography about this language:

Academic Publications

BETHOLIA, Chandam, author. 2009. "Entries and exits: An analysis of greetings and leave taking in Meitei speech community."  

KIM, Amy; KIM, Seung, authors. 2008. "Meitei (Manipuri) speakers in Bangladesh: a sociolinguistic survey."