‘‘

Master’s Thesis
Project
Subhajit Chandra
Mentor

2110121024
Topic
The main purpose of this particular project is to
address the unavailability of fonts in Meitei Mayek to
use for digital purposes.

The objective of the project is to design a Meeitai

typeface for digital displays and a font as a part of
deliverables of the project.
Why ?
About
One of the official languages in north-east India

About 1.6 million speakers.

A member of the Tibeto-Burman branch of the Sino-Tibetan

language family

Also spoken in Bangladesh and Myanmar.

Also known as Meithei or Meiteilon.

Developed around 11th century and used until the 18th century.

Origins are uncertain as many historical documents were

destroyed at the beginning of the 18th century during the
reign of King Pamheiba.

Interestingly, letters are named after parts of human body.

Ancient Manipuri Script
Meithei Mayek
• Meithei is a Tibeto-Burman
language and has tones
typical of many languages
in that family, was used
from 11th to 18th century.

• One notable difference with Indic scripts but similarity with Tibetan :
• -Vowels representation at the beginning of words.
• -In Indic scripts, there is a different letter for each word-initial vowel.
• -In Meithei, there is a single letter to denote word-initial vowel, and diacritical
marks are added to it to change it into another vowel.
Consonants

Vowels
History
Puya of Meitei
(ancient book of Knowledge)

Introduction of Bengali Script

(Shantidas Gosai, a Hindu missionary, spread
Vaishnavism in the region in 1709. King Pamheiba,
who converted, decreed that Meitei Mayek should be
replaced by the Bengali script.)

Mixing of Bengali letterforms

Laining Lambi manuscript written on the agarbak, 18th

century
Meetei Mayek to Bengali
Script
Attempts to revive the script (1930 –
1980)

Apporval of 27 letterforms in
1980
(In 1980, the governmnet of Manipur
approved Meetei Mayek with the 27
letterforms and its supplements.)

Inclusion of Meetei Mayek in

2005-06
(After almost 25 years since approval
of the script, the government of
Manipur included Meetei Mayek as a
part of academic curriculum.)
Characters
Eeyek Eepee
(original letterforms)
Lom Eeyek
(letters were
added later)

Lonsum Eeyek
(semi consonant
or half sound)
Cheising Eeyek
(Numerical)
Meetei Mayek Tamnaba Mapee Lairik
Derivation of Meetei Mayek numerals from
the embryonic development of a human foetus.

Cheitap Eeyek
(Vowel Signs)
Nomenclature
Graphic
samples
Manual graphic sample chosen to move further in
digitalization and iteration accordingly.
Iterations
Iteration I
Grammar
Creation..
 Mid Ones
Thin Ones (75 pt) Wide Ones
(70 pt) (80 pt)

****Commonality yet, to be defined!

Character Sorting according to
visual elements.

sorting
Character
sorting by
participants
Participants sortings
 Bearing box grid
200 pt
Extra space to
retain non-
crowding
pattern
650 pt 1000 pt

200 pt
Finishing
Terminals
30 degree
150 pt
60 degree
Iteration II
Groups
Screen testing
Design Characteristics
Iteration III (Covering all Eeyeks)
Final
Deliverables
sizes
Mock UPS
Timeline

January February March April April

-Research - Existing Card - Iteration - Final
typeface compilation
-Ideation
explorations
Sorting - -Testing in
-Digitalization context
- Further -
digitalizatio categorization
n

…
To be continued…sapnoan mein
How ?
Design of a Modern Typeface in Meetei Mayek Script for Manipur,
India
- Nanki Nath & Honlung Ragui

Recognition of handwritten Meitie Mayek script based on texture

feature.
- Sanasan Ininganbi & Prakash Choudhary

Manipuri transliteration from Bengali script to Meitei Mayek :

A rule based approach
- Kishorjit Nongmeikapam, Ningobam Herojit Sing, Sonia Thoudam &
Sivaji Bandyopadhyay
Effect of Shifting orthographic practices of Manipuri Script on
millennials.
- Dr. Shubha H S & Beda Vikash

Increasing the effectiveness of handwritten Manipuri Meitei

Mayek character recognition using multiple HOG feature
descriptors.
- Kishorjit Nongmeikapam, Wahengbam Kanan Kumar, Oinam Nickson
Meetei & Themrichon Tuithung

Manipuri transliteration from Bengali script to Meitei Mayek :

A rule based approach
- Kishorjit Nongmeikapam, Ningobam Herojit Sing, Sonia Thoudam &
Sivaji Bandyopadhyay

The Printed Bengali Character and its Evolution

- Fiona G. E. Ross
A method to capture categorization strategies in order to
understand user perception.
- A case study in user categorization strategies for typefaces.

Non-Latin Scripts – From metal to digital type

- Essays by Fiona Ross and Graham Shaw

Typography of Devanagari – Volume two

- Bapurao S. Naik

Reading Letters Designing For legibility

- Sofie Beier
 Designing a digital typeface in MEEITEI MAYEK

ABS T RACT
The Meeitei Mayek is indigenous script used to write Manipuri language. They had adopted Bengali
script to write Manipuri language, however, the original Meeitei script has recently been adopted in
the state. In 2005, an effort was made to replace the Bengali script with Meeitei Mayak in all forms
of communication. Additionally, an effort was made to design the script in context of taste, culture
and linguistic advancements linked to the state of Manipur. Therefore, there is a growing demand
for digital fonts in Meeitei script as part of digital communication.
The main purpose of this particular project is to address the unavailability of fonts in Meeitei script
to use for digital purposes. The objective of the project is to design a Meeitai typeface for digital
displays and a font as a part of deliverables of the project.