Lepcha
Lepcha (also known as Rong or Rong-Ring) is a Unicode block containing characters for writing the Lepcha language of Sikkim and West Bengal, India.
The specific feature of this alphabet is that it's an abugida (consonant alphabet, where the vowels depend a lot on the consonants). However, it's a bit unusual for abugidas that the syllabic endings of the words in Lepcha are written with the Diacritical marks.
The Lepcha script comes from the Tibetan script, possibly with some influence from the Burmese script. The tradition suggests that the script was devised at the beginning of the 18th century by prince Chakdor Namgyal of the Namgyal dynasty of Sikkim, or by scholar Thikúng Men Salóng in the 17th century. The early Lecha manuscripts were written vertically, apparently, under Chinese influence. However, later they switched to horizontal writing, but the letters kept their orientation, rotated 90 degrees from their Tibetan prototypes. This was reflected in the unusual way of writing final consonants. As for the rotation, it must have happened in the XVIII century.
The Lepcha script used to be in action long before now, and a lot of books were published in this writing. At the end of XIX and the beginning of XX centuries it was really blooming, but for a short period of time. It is believed that nowadays it's no longer in use.
Properties
| Range | 1C00–1C4F |
| Characters | 80 |
Consonants
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ᰀ1C00Lepcha Letter Ka
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ᰁ1C01Lepcha Letter Kla
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ᰂ1C02Lepcha Letter Kha
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ᰃ1C03Lepcha Letter Ga
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ᰄ1C04Lepcha Letter Gla
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ᰅ1C05Lepcha Letter Nga
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ᰆ1C06Lepcha Letter Ca
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ᰇ1C07Lepcha Letter Cha
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ᰈ1C08Lepcha Letter Ja
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ᰉ1C09Lepcha Letter Nya
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ᰊ1C0ALepcha Letter Ta
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ᰋ1C0BLepcha Letter Tha
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ᰌ1C0CLepcha Letter Da
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ᰍ1C0DLepcha Letter Na
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ᰎ1C0ELepcha Letter Pa
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ᰏ1C0FLepcha Letter Pla
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ᰐ1C10Lepcha Letter Pha
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ᰑ1C11Lepcha Letter Fa
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ᰒ1C12Lepcha Letter Fla
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ᰓ1C13Lepcha Letter Ba
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ᰔ1C14Lepcha Letter Bla
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ᰕ1C15Lepcha Letter Ma
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ᰖ1C16Lepcha Letter Mla
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ᰗ1C17Lepcha Letter Tsa
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ᰘ1C18Lepcha Letter Tsha
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ᰙ1C19Lepcha Letter Dza
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ᰚ1C1ALepcha Letter Ya
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ᰛ1C1BLepcha Letter Ra
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ᰜ1C1CLepcha Letter La
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ᰝ1C1DLepcha Letter Ha
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ᰞ1C1ELepcha Letter Hla
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ᰟ1C1FLepcha Letter Va
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ᰠ1C20Lepcha Letter Sa
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ᰡ1C21Lepcha Letter Sha
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ᰢ1C22Lepcha Letter Wa
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ᰣ1C23Lepcha Letter A
Subjoined consonants
Dependent vowels
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ᰦ1C26Lepcha Vowel Sign Aa
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ᰧ1C27Lepcha Vowel Sign I
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ᰨ1C28Lepcha Vowel Sign O
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ᰩ1C29Lepcha Vowel Sign Oo
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ᰪ1C2ALepcha Vowel Sign U
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ᰫ1C2BLepcha Vowel Sign Uu
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ᰬ1C2CLepcha Vowel Sign E
Consonant signs
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ᰭ1C2DLepcha Consonant Sign K
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ᰮ1C2ELepcha Consonant Sign M
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ᰯ1C2FLepcha Consonant Sign L
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ᰰ1C30Lepcha Consonant Sign N
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ᰱ1C31Lepcha Consonant Sign P
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ᰲ1C32Lepcha Consonant Sign R
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ᰳ1C33Lepcha Consonant Sign T
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ᰴ1C34Lepcha Consonant Sign Nyin-Do
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ᰵ1C35Lepcha Consonant Sign Kang
Various signs
Punctuation
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᰻1C3BLepcha Punctuation Ta-Rol
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᰼1C3CLepcha Punctuation Nyet Thyoom Ta-Rol
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᰽1C3DLepcha Punctuation Cer-Wa
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᰾1C3ELepcha Punctuation Tshook Cer-Wa
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᰿1C3FLepcha Punctuation Tshook
Digits
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᱀1C40Lepcha Digit Zero
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᱁1C41Lepcha Digit One
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᱂1C42Lepcha Digit Two
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᱃1C43Lepcha Digit Three
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᱄1C44Lepcha Digit Four
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᱅1C45Lepcha Digit Five
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᱆1C46Lepcha Digit Six
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᱇1C47Lepcha Digit Seven
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᱈1C48Lepcha Digit Eight
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᱉1C49Lepcha Digit Nine