Khitan Small Script Character 18BF9

Its label identifies a code point, not a translation.

Khitan writing mixes word signs with signs for sounds, grouped into words. The source text shows which role this sign plays.

Why was Khitan Small Script developed?

It gave Khitan another way to write its language.

Traditional accounts credit Khitan prince Yelü Diela with creating it around 925, inspired by Old Uyghur writing. Alongside the Khitan Large Script, its sound signs fit Khitan word endings; it appeared on epitaphs and in records and poetry. A 2026 reassessment argues systematization may have come later; an epitaph is securely dated to 1051. In the Jin era, the Jurchen—founders of that dynasty—adapted Khitan writing for their own scripts.