Tangut Component-024

It is a structural part used to describe and index Tangut characters. The number identifies its place in Unicode's component list, not a spoken syllable. Tangut dictionaries can group characters by these parts, and scholars use them to analyze how written characters are built.

In 1036, Tangut script was developed for official correspondence in the Western Xia (Xixia) state. In 1038, a committee was formed to translate Buddhist sutras into Tangut. Its construction borrowed methods familiar from Chinese characters but was not derived from Chinese. Tangut writing marked its own identity; the neighboring Khitan people had developed scripts of their own. A surviving manuscript from the 12th or early 13th century shows the script in use. A Tangut reference work called Homonyms, a book for studying Tangut writing, sorts signs by component position and shows this component in standard and cursive (flowing handwritten) forms.