Magi

Alphabet of the Magi   Origin The Alphabet of the Magi was invented by Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim (also known as Paracelsus) in the 16th century. He used it to engrave the names of angels on talismans which he claimed could treat illnesses and provide protection. It was probably influenced by the various other magical…

Maharlikang

Maharlikang Tagalog These scripts are modified versions of the Baybayin alphabet designed by Frederick Victor Paredes Añana to write modern Tagalog. Maharlikang Tagalog This script is called Maharlikang, a word which comes from the Tagalog maharlika (royal, elite, noble), because of its stylized, almost Medieval appearance. The appearance of each character was inspired by the…

Maithili

Maithili (मैथिली) Maithili is a Bihari language with about 35 million speakers in the eastern Indian state of Bihar, and in the Terai region of Nepal. It is a member of the East Indic group of Indo-Aryan, has official status in India, and is used in education, government and literature. Maithili was formerly written with…

Makhuwa

Makhuwa Makhuwa is a Bantu language spoken by about 2.5 million people in Mozambique. The majority of speakers live in Nampula Province, the north of Zambézia Province or in the south of Niassa Province. It is the most important indigenous language of Mozambique and is closely related to Lomwe. The language is also known as…

Malachim

Malachim alphabet   Origin The Malachim alphabet is derived from the Hebrew and Greek alphabets. It was created by Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa during the 16th Century and is still used by Freemasons to a limited extent. This version is from Bartolozzi’s Biblioteca Magna Rabbinica, 1675. Notable features Type of writing system: alphabet Direction of writing:…

Malagasy

Malagasy (Fiteny Malagasy) Malagasy is a member of the Malayo-Polynesian branch of the Austronesian language spoken by about 17 million in Madagascar, where it is the national and official language, Comoros, Réunion and Mayotte. It is related to the Malayo-Polynesian languages of Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines, and more closely to the South-east Barito group…

Malay

Malay (Bahasa Melaysia) Malay is an Austronesian language spoken in Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Brunei and Thailand. The total number of speakers of Standard Malay is about 18 million. There are also about 170 million people who speak Indonesian, which is a form of Malay. The earliest known inscriptions in Malay were found in southern Sumatra…

Malayalam

Malayalam alphabet    Origin Malayalam first appeared in writing in the vazhappalli inscription which dates from about 830 AD. In the early thirteenth century the Malayalam script began to develop from a script known as vattezhuthu (round writing), a descendant of the Brahmi script. As a result of the difficulties of printing Malayalam, a simplified…

Mali

Mali Mali is spoken in tribal areas of Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram and Srikakulam districts of Andhra Pradesh in India. According to 2001 census the Mali population numbers just under 30,000 and is divided into seven sub-groups: Khandya Mali, Pondra Mali, Thagoor Mali, Kosalya Mali, Pannavi Mali, Sorukava Mali and Donguradiya Mali. Mali script This is a…

Malii

Malíi   The Malíi alphabet and langauge was invented by Jesus Ramos because he likes the kinds of language and alphabets that appear in alien and fantasy movies, such as Lord of the Rings. Notable Features Type of writing system: alphabet Direction of writing: left to writing in horizontal lines Malíi Malíi numerals Sample text…