Khitan Small Script Character 18C48

It is a Khitan sign; its Unicode label is not a translation.

As of 2026, the script is partly deciphered: word signs stand alone; sound signs join in clusters of two to eight, so one glyph may not spell a word.

Traditional accounts credit Yelü Diela with devising it around 925 to write Khitan, reportedly inspired by Uyghur writing despite little resemblance. Khitan Large Script was a parallel system with similar functions. Inscriptions on epitaphs, monuments, mirrors, and tallies show continued use under Liao, Western Liao, and Jin rule. Historical texts ran in vertical columns, read right to left; digital text can appear horizontally.