Khitan Small Script character 18BE8

It marks a recipient, destination, or place. In Khitan, 𘯨 is one of several forms scholars reconstruct for a grammatical ending called the dative-locative, with senses near “to,” “at,” or “for.” It does not have a settled standalone translation.

One reconstruction table gives úd, while another gives dú. These are competing scholarly spellings for a proposed reading, not a pronunciation known with confidence.

Khitan Small Script drew on Chinese character forms, which helps explain its square appearance. It writes the Khitan language with its own word signs and sound signs; visual resemblance does not give 𘯨 a Chinese reading.

How did Khitan writing change over time?

It began as writing for Khitan court and public life. Accounts place its creation around 925. The small script followed the Khitan Large Script; its design drew on Uyghur writing, while its character forms drew on Chinese models.

The surviving dated inscriptions reach back to 983 and continue through Liao and Jin rule. The Khitan scripts appeared alongside Chinese in epitaphs, monuments, diplomatic writing, tallies, examinations, poems, and translations. An imperial order abolished them in 1191.

As of 2026, scholars have deciphered only part of the script, so 𘯨’s grammatical role is reconstructed from repeated forms and context. Khitan writing also influenced the later Jurchen large and small scripts; this is a historical connection between writing systems, not an equivalent meaning for this character.

Why does 𘯨 sometimes display incorrectly?

A missing-glyph box usually means the font lacks this character. 𘯨 is text, and its visible design depends on the font. A Khitan-capable font can draw it; an unsupported font may show a box.

Khitan text can be arranged vertically or horizontally as clusters, or horizontally character by character. Cluster-capable fonts arrange several characters into word blocks, while a linear font leaves them separate. The spacing reflects layout, not a different reading of 𘯨.