Khitan Small Script Character 18C6B

It has a proposed sound value, not a confirmed word translation.

Kane’s 2009 list reconstructs its Khitan sound as uŋ. Khitan script groups sound signs into word blocks, while some signs represent whole words; this glyph alone cannot identify its role.

When was Khitan small script used?

Creation is traditionally dated about 925; practical use may have come later.

Traditional accounts credit Yelü Diela and cite the Uyghur script as inspiration; Khitan had a separate Large Script. A 2026 study notes that Korean Goryeo officials could not read a letter in 1011; it identifies a 1051 tomb inscription as the earliest securely dated example, suggesting practical use came later. The small script served in the Liao, Qara Khitai (Western Liao), and Jin dynasties. Most surviving texts are tomb or monument inscriptions. Modern scholarly copies mark word blocks with spaces; original inscriptions leave narrow gaps.