Hachukma is a contemporary writing system I created for the Kokborok language. It is designed to work seamlessly on the physical keyboards you use every day—whether you're writing a document, sending an email, or just typing notes. Developed throughout 2025–2026, Hachukma uses the Private Use Area (PUA) of Unicode, so each character has a unique digital identity and can be displayed on any modern device.
A Writing System That Fits Your Keyboard — Hachukma follows the layout of a standard physical computer keyboard. You don't need a special keyboard or a completely new typing layout. The symbols you already know — like ; ' [ ] , . / \ = - ( ) < > | ` " { } ! @ # $ % ^ & * _ + — stay in their usual places. This means you can type in Kokborok without relearning where the keys are.
Built for Practical, Everyday Use — Hachukma is built for practical, everyday use. The script is designed to work on your computer right now, and the keyboard layout is straightforward. The tone system and digraph handling are designed to be efficient. It's a script made for the Kokborok language, ready to be used today and in the future.
Hachukma is designed not only for literature and everyday writing, but also for the future of computing and programming in its own script. It preserves familiar punctuation keys (, . / ; [ ] { }) in their standard positions, making it practical for coding while supporting efficient digital typing.
Tone Mark & Punctuation: The tone mark in Hachukma is a phonetic marker, not a punctuation mark. It does not replace or take up the slots of future Kokborok punctuation marks. The tone mark is placed on the p key (via double‑tap), leaving all punctuation keys (;, ', ,, ., /, etc.) completely free for their standard uses and for any future Kokborok punctuation that the community decides to adopt.
Why the Tone Mark is on the p Key (Double‑Tap) — In Kokborok, the tone mark is important for pronunciation and meaning. In Hachukma, you add it by double‑tapping the p key. Why p? Because it keeps all the other keys free for their normal jobs, like punctuation and symbols. This "multi‑tap" approach is fast and intuitive.
Software Experiment — A Note‑Pad for Hachukma
A small note‑pad style software is available at hachukmascript.online/public/hachukma-IME-software. This is not a full IME. It's an early experiment that shows how Hachukma characters can be typed using the multi‑tap system and tone marking.
What about the future? Once official Unicode codepoints are assigned to Hachukma, building a full system‑wide IME (Input Method Editor) will be straightforward. Such an IME would handle the multi‑tap system entirely in software — no special hardware needed. You'd be able to type in Hachukma on any standard keyboard, in any application.
And hardware keyboards? In the future, physical keyboards with Hachukma layouts could be manufactured. These keyboards would work without any external software — the multi‑tap logic and character mapping would be built directly into the keyboard's firmware. Just plug it in and start typing.
Important: The full IME and hardware keyboards have not been built yet. I'm talking about future possibilities. The current note‑pad experiment is a step toward understanding how these systems might work and gathering feedback.
Practice Mode – Learn the Key Mapping
To help you learn which physical keys produce which Hachukma characters, the system includes a practice‑mode error detector.
If you type the two separate letters that form a digraph – for example, n then g for ng –
both characters will immediately turn red, get a strike‑through, and blink continuously.
At the same time, the correct label (e.g., x on the ng key) will blink inside the key box to show you the right key to press – with no background change, just the letter itself pulsing.
All further keyboard input is blocked until you press Backspace to delete the erroneous pair.
The correct way: Use the dedicated keys on the keyboard labelled: th, kh, ng, ph, ch. These insert the digraph instantly with no error.
The Latin transliteration below each Hachukma character shows the roman equivalent directly beneath it, so you can clearly see the result of your typing. This immediate visual feedback (red strike + blink + block + pulsing shortcut letter) is designed to reinforce the correct key mapping in your muscle memory.
Smart Typing with Predictions — To make typing faster, Hachukma includes a prediction engine. As you start typing a word, a list of possible words appears above the text area. For example, typing a will show predictions like ama and awang. You can select a prediction by clicking it or using the arrow keys and Enter. I'll be adding more words to the vocabulary in future updates.
The Building Blocks of Hachukma — The script is built on the sounds of Kokborok. It includes six vowels: a, e, i, o, u, and the mid-central vowel ə. It also features 20 consonants that cover the full range of Kokborok sounds. Each character is designed to be visually distinct and easy to learn. Below you can see the complete set, along with their Latin equivalents and IPA pronunciations.
This is a project for the community, by the community. I invite you to explore, use, and share your feedback. Together, we can ensure that the Kokborok language continues to flourish in the digital world.