Maltese (Malti) Maltese is a Central Semitic language spoken by about 350,000 people on the Mediterranean islands of Malta and Gozo. The Maltese language developed from the Siculo-Arabic or Sicilian Arabic, a form of Arabic that developed in Sicily and Malta between the 9th and 14th centuries. Siculo-Arabic was extinct in Sicily by about 1300,…
Mam (Qyol Mam) Mam is a Mayan language spoken by about half a million people in Guatemala, mainly in the departments of Quetzaltenango, Huehuetenango and San Marcos, and in the Mexican state of Chiapas. There are three main varieties of Mam: Northern Mam, which is spoken in Huehuetenango; Southern Mam, which is spoken in Quetzaltenango,…
Manchu alphabet Origin The Manchu alphabet was commissioned in 1599 by the Manchu leader Nurhaci (1559-1626), the founder of the Manchu state. The letters are based on the Classical Mongolian alphabet while the phonetics are based on Jurchen, an earlier Manchu script. The alphabet was modified slightly in 1632. In 1644 the Manchus conquered China…
Mandaic alphabet The Mandaic alphabet appears to be based on the Aramaic alphabet and first appeared sometime during the 2nd century AD. The Mandaic name for the alphabet is Abagada or Abaga, after the first few letters. The Mandaeans believe that all the letters of their alphabet have magical properties, and impart mysteries (raze). Notable…
Mandrakard alphabet This conscript was created in August 2005 by Arno Luyendijk when working at his customer service job in a moment of rash inspiration and worked out at home in one evening. Arno is art historian by education and a great lover of medieval manuscripts and fantasy novels and films, and is also a…
Manichaean The Manichaean script evolved from Syriac Estrangelo with influences from the Sogdian script. It is believed by some to have been devised in the 3rd century AD by Mani, the founder of the Manichaean religion, and was used until the 10th century. During the 19th century German expeditions discovered a number of Manichaean manuscripts…
Manipuri alphabet Origin The origins of the Manipuri alphabet, or Meetei Mayek as it is know in Manipuri, are shrouded in mystery as many historical documents were destroyed at the beginning of the 18th century during the reign of King Pamheiba. Some believe the alphabet has been used for almost 4,000 years, while others think…
Mansi (Маньси/Man’si) Mansi is a member of the Og-Ugric branch of the Finno-Ugric language family and is spoken in Russia in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug, along the Ob River and its tributaries, and in parts of Sverdlovsk Oblast. There are about 3,184 speakers. There are four main mutually unintelligible ‘dialects’: East, South, West and North…
Manx (Gaelg/Gailck) Manx is a Celtic language spoken on the Isle of Man (Ellan Vannin). It is closely related to the Irish of Ulster and Scottish Gaelic of Galloway and was brought to the Isle of Man by settlers from those areas during the 5th century AD. Manx began to emerge as a distinct language…
Māori (Te Reo Māori) Māori is an Austronesian language spoken in New Zealand, or Aotearoa (‘The Land of the Long White Cloud’), and the Cook Islands by about 136,000 people. It was brought to New Zealand by Polynesian people, probably from Taihiti or thereabouts in about 800 AD, or possibly earlier. Māori is most closely…
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