The Sunuwar alphabet (previously the Jenticha script, occasionally Kõits script) is an alphabet developed by Krishna Bahadur Jentich in 1942,[1] to write the Sunwar language, a member of the Kiranti language family spoken in Eastern Nepal, as in Sikkim. It is recognised in Sikkim and used as an official writing system.[2] The alphabet has 33 letters, 10 numerals and 1 'auspicious sign'. [1]
It is a grammatological isolate,[3] though some symbols bear recognition to the Limbu and Latin scripts.[4] The script is written left to right. The writing system currently has no official standard.
When first created, the script was a pure alphabet, and has come to include a default non written /a/, giving it a feature of an abugida.
Due to the lack of a set standard, the orthography can be vague, with digraphs still being used occasionally, and consonants still being used to denote retroflexives.[1]
Soon after the creation of the script, conferences were held in villages in Dolakha District, to promote it, and help shape its future.[5]
The laissi symbol (:) is used to extend vowel length. It is a non-original character.
The symbol pvo is used to mark the Voiceless bilabial implosive /ɓ̥/. It is referred to as an 'auspicious symbol'. In spoken Sunuwar, the consonant is often said twice, and is often found in salutations and well wishes.
Numbers
Sunuwar uses a set of ten numerals, in base 10, derived from Arabic numerals. They were also created by Jentrich.
Sunuwar
Name
ka
niashi
san
le
nga
raku
chani
sasi
yan
sum
Arabic
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
0
Devanagari
१
२
३
४
५
६
७
८
९
०
Technological support
On 3 December 2021, ISO 15924 registered the Sunuwar Alphabet under the code 'Sunu'.[6]
On Jan 26, 2022, the Unicode Consortium announced via Twitter that a decision had taken place to include all 44 of Sunuwar's characters in a future version of Unicode.[7][1]