Khitan Small Script Character 18C2A

The standard label names a sign, not its reading.

The Khitan small script was made to write Khitan. It groups signs for words and sounds into compact blocks, so a sign's role can depend on the surrounding text.

Yelü Diela is credited with devising the script around 925 CE. The earliest known small-script tomb inscription is from 1053. Its forms drew on Chinese characters, while its way of writing sounds drew on the Uyghur script, then used in nearby western regions. The Jurchens, founders of the Jin dynasty, later modeled their own scripts on Khitan; Jin authorities abolished Khitan writing by edict in 1191.