What 𘬲 means
Its label identifies the sign, not its reading.
“18B32” is an inventory number. Khitan writing uses signs for whole words and signs for sounds; sound signs often group to spell a word. The number alone does not tell which role 𘬲 has.
Why was the script created?
Its traditional origin is clearer than its exact purpose.
Tradition dates it to around 925 and credits Yelü Diela, reportedly inspired by Uyghur writing, though the scripts look little alike. A 2026 study argues it was systematized later under Emperor Shengzong to help govern the multiethnic Liao empire; it dates the earliest securely dated surviving inscription to 1051. Khitans used it beside a separate Khitan Large Script; later Jurchen scripts drew on both. Most surviving texts are aristocratic epitaphs.
Part of the collection
Who writes 𘬲
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Questions people ask
1Why does 𘬲 show as a box on some devices?
It is recent: Unicode added it in version 13.0 (2020), and phones and computers whose fonts are older than that have nothing to draw it with. The character itself is still correct and copies correctly.
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How to type or find 𘬲
- Search it as
- khitan small script · khitan writing · khitan sign
- Shows up in
- Anything that takes text · its shape is whatever your font draws
𘬲\18B32Codes and encoding1 code points
A visible symbol can contain several code points. JS .length counts UTF-16 units; UTF-8 counts bytes.