Khitan Small Script Character 18BC8

Use a code-point escape or an HTML numeric reference.

In HTML, write 𘯈. In a JavaScript string, use \u{18BC8}; the short \uXXXX form holds only four hexadecimal digits, so it cannot spell this five-digit value.

What does 𘯈 mean?

Its Unicode name identifies the character, not its reading.

It is one of two distinct scripts used to write Khitan; the other is Khitan Large Script. Scholar Yelü Diela created this script around 925 to write Khitan. It remained in use under the Liao, Western Liao and Jin dynasties; much surviving text is carved into the tombs of rulers and nobles.

Chinese character structure shaped the script. Its creation is said to have been inspired by Uyghur writing, although the two scripts have few visual similarities. Jurchen scripts also borrowed and adapted Khitan models.

Why are Khitan signs grouped into blocks?

Sound signs combine into clusters that represent words.

Some Khitan Small Script characters stand for whole words (logograms); others stand for sounds (phonograms). The sound signs usually combine in clusters of two to eight characters to represent a word. Within a cluster, signs are read left to right, then top to bottom.

Traditional Khitan writing ran in vertical columns from right to left. Modern scholarly displays also arrange clusters horizontally or show single glyphs in a line; these layouts need different font support. A glyph shown alone can therefore look unlike a composed word block.