Hiragana Yori Ligature

Expand ゟ to より; it is not a separate word. The surrounding sentence decides which grammatical job より is doing.

A Japanese text dated 1694 writes ゟ where a normalized transcription gives より. A city document from 1818 also records the ligature on its cover.

ゟ is a vertical ligature: よ sits above り, compressing the two kana into one character. It belongs to the kana-ligature tradition called 合略仮名, which also includes ヿ, the katakana ligature for the Japanese word こと. Digital text can place ゟ in a horizontal line without changing its reading.

What does ゟ mean when someone sends it?

Read it as より; the sentence decides which sense fits.

After a place or time, より can mean “from” or “starting at”; before a comparison, it means “than” or “compared with.” In Older Japanese, it also marked a route or means. In modern Japanese conversation, the comparison use is common, while “from” sounds formal or written.

Should I use ゟ in new Japanese text?

Usually, write より in new Japanese text. Keep ゟ for transcribing a historical source, recreating an old-fashioned style, or preserving its original lettering.

The school-writing rules of 1900 left ゟ out of the classroom kana list. A reader familiar only with the standard classroom set may not recognize it at first; readers of old documents may know it.