What 𘱇 means
Kane’s index, published in 2009, reconstructs its sound as *ui.
This is a reconstructed sound, not a translation.
In traditional Khitan writing, signs formed word clusters in vertical, right-to-left columns. BabelStone Khitan Small Linear v.16.000 shows glyphs in a horizontal line but does not compose clusters.
Why was Khitan small script made?
To write the Khitan language.
Traditional accounts credit Yelü Diela with creating it around 925 and cite Uyghur writing as inspiration, though few visual features match. A 2026 study argues it was systematized and widely used later.
It was one of two Khitan scripts, alongside the Khitan Large Script, and remained in use under the Qara Khitai (Western Liao) and Jin dynasties. Most surviving examples are aristocrats’ grave inscriptions; others appear on monuments and objects.
Questions people ask
1Why does 𘱇 show as a box on some devices?
Because that device's fonts have no glyph for it. The character is still correct and still copies correctly — the box is a missing glyph, not a broken character.
How to type 𘱇
𘱇\18C47Codes and encoding1 code points
A visible symbol can contain several code points. JS .length counts UTF-16 units; UTF-8 counts bytes.