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 /:/ (or /ː/ when using the IPA symbol instead of the generic colon punctuation) is used to extend vowel length. It is a non-original character. A colon may also be used as punctuation; if it occurs after a word ending with a vowel letter it will typically be preceded by a space in order to remove ambiguity.[6]
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.
