99. Sorang Sompeng script

 

Origin

Before the invention of the the Sorang Sompeng script, the Sora language was written with the Latin, Telugu or Oriya scripts. Speakers of Telugu and Oriya were keen to promote their scripts to the Sora people, who, instead of choosing one or the other, decided to try to come up with their own script.
Malia Gomango, an influential leader of the non-Christian Sora, inspired his son-in-law, Mangei Gomango to come up with a Sora script. Mangei Gomango, who was familiar with Oriya, Telugu and English, headed for the hills and the Sorang Sompeng alphabet came to him in a vision on 18 June 1936. He also founded a religious order dedicated to Akshara Brahma.
The alphabet is used in primary and adult education and in various publications.

Notable features

• Each consonant has an inherent vowel /a/. Other vowels are indicated by separate letters.

Used to write

Sora (Savara), a Munda language with 273,911 speakers in the Indian states of Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Assam.
Sora has also been written with Latin, Telugu and Oriya scripts.

Consonants and vowels

Numerals

Links

Information about the Sora language
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sora_language
http://www.swarthmore.edu/SocSci/langhotspots/Sora/
http://www.indianetzone.com/44/sora_language.htm
Information about the Munda languages
http://www.livingtongues.org/moremunda.html