Language in India www.languageinindia.com ISSN 1930-2940 14:11 November 2014 Bobita Sarangthem, Ph.D., Laishram Lokendro, M.Sc., MCA and P. Madhubala, Ph.D. A Case Study on Consonant Clusters in Meiteilon and Bengali 264 ================================================================= Language in India www.languageinindia.com ISSN 1930-2940 Vol. 14:11 November 2014 ================================================================== A Case Study on Consonant Clusters in Meiteilon and Bengali Bobita Sarangthem, Ph.D. Laishram Lokendro, M.Sc., MCA & P. Madhubala, Ph.D. ============================================================== Abstract Meiteilon is a Tibeto-Burman language, and Bengali belongs to the eastern group of the Indo- Aryan branch of the Indo-European language family. One of the goals of this paper is simply to highlight the consonant clusters found in Meiteilon and Bengali. In spite of belonging to two different language families, both share much in common, not only as verb final languages but also in consonant clusters. Interestingly, Meiteilon borrowed Bengali script for writing. Thus, it is important to discuss the similarities and differences of consonant cluster between the two languages. This paper also reflects the changes undertaken in writing the consonant cluster in Meitei mayek or the indigenous script. Nowadays, Meitei mayek writing system has been introduced to the schools of Manipur. In Meitei mayek writing system the consonant graphic variant is not adopted, instead Apun khudam (Ligature) is used to show consonant cluster. Key words: Meileilon, consonant cluster, Meitei mayek, initial, medial, and borrowed. 1.0 Introduction Meiteilon is spoken in the state of Manipur and also in the adjoining northeastern states of India. The word meiteilon is the local name of Manipuri language. Bengali is the language native to the region of Bengal, which comprises present-day Bangladesh and the Indian states West Bengal, Tripura and southern Assam. It is written using the Bengali script. With about 220 million native and about 250 million total speakers, Bengali is one of the most spoken languages, ranked seventh in the world (Bengali Language in Asiatic