Khitan Small Script Character 18B26

Its reading is disputed; the glyph alone does not settle it.

One Khitan repertoire labels 𘬦 “FIVE”; another gives “tau” as a reconstructed reading. These are competing scholarly identifications, not proof that the isolated sign always means five.

A phonogram is a sign for a sound. Khitan phonograms can join into clusters that spell a word, so this character may supply only part of a larger unit.

Where was 𘬦 used before computers?

It belongs to a writing system for the Khitan language.

The traditional account dates Khitan Small Script to around 925 and credits its creation to Yelü Diela, with Uyghur writing as an inspiration. The surviving dated inscriptions listed in one chronology begin in 1053, so the script predates its earliest dated examples.

Khitan writing appears on tomb inscriptions and monuments praising achievements, and in diplomatic letters, flags, tallies, examinations, poems, and translations. It continued into the Jin period; an imperial order abolished Khitan script in 1191. Later Jurchen scripts drew on Khitan scripts, linking writing traditions rather than establishing this character’s reading.

Why can 𘬦 look different in a font?

Khitan writing has more than one layout.

Khitan Small Script is arranged in vertical columns read from right to left, with phonetic signs grouped into clusters. A simple linear font may show individual signs horizontally; a Khitan-capable font and layout engine can compose clusters vertically and rotate signs as needed. The layout changes how text appears, not which character it is.