Khitan Small Script Character-18C3E

Read it as a historical sign whose language depends on its inscription. Unicode 18.0 marks it as used in Jurchen Small Script and possibly in Khitan Small Script. The number in its algorithmic name points to the Khitan block, not to a dictionary meaning. The current entry supplies no word or pronunciation for the isolated sign; a longer inscription is needed before assigning one.

Why is the Khitan label linked to Jurchen?

The scripts share a way of grouping signs into words. Khitan Small Script was made to write the Khitan language, alongside a separate Khitan Large Script. Unicode’s historical account gives a traditional creation date of about 925 and credits Yelü Diela. It says the script was inspired by Uyghur writing, another script, though few forms look alike. A 2026 reassessment argues that it may have been systematized later: the earliest securely dated surviving Khitan Small Script inscription is a 1051 epitaph. Neither date establishes when this particular glyph first appeared.

Khitan Small Script survives chiefly in royal and aristocratic epitaphs, along with monuments and a few objects. The Khitan people used it under the Liao, Qara Khitai (Western Liao), and Jin dynasties. Its forms drew partly on the shapes and components of Chinese characters, and later Jurchen writing systems adapted Khitan models.

The Jurchen Small Script record is much thinner: Unicode 18.0 notes three attestations of a six-character inscription arranged in two clusters. In Khitan Small Script, sound signs often combine into a cluster to spell a word; the Jurchen examples use a similar layout. Unicode uses 𘰾 for the Jurchen form while keeping it in the Khitan block, so the surrounding inscription matters more than the block name.

Why does 𘰾 look different in older charts?

Unicode 18.0 changed the reference glyph. The current chart shows the Jurchen form’s angled legs. An older Unicode chart may show the previous reference shape; both drawings identify the same encoded character.