Tangut character 17080

The reading is reconstructed; the English gloss stays untranslated as of 2026.

The Tangut character is reconstructed as *ko¹ (plain-text form: ko1); the leading asterisk marks a scholarly reconstruction. Unicode forms “Ideograph-17080” from the code-point number, so that label is an inventory address, not a translation.

Tangut was the language and script of Western Xia, a medieval kingdom. In 1036, ruler Li Yuanhao ordered the script created for state-building and a Buddhist canon. It also carried translated Chinese works, Confucian teaching, military writing, and literature. Two 12th-century Tangut reference books, Wénhǎi and Tóngyīn, mention this character. A manuscript from the ruins at Khara-Khoto probably dates to the 12th or early 13th century. After Western Xia fell, Tangut writing continued through the Yuan and Ming periods before falling out of use.

Why does Tangut look Chinese?

Tangut follows Chinese visual conventions but is a separate script.

Its square, component-based forms reflect visual and compositional habits of Chinese writing, but the script wrote Tangut rather than Chinese. The script was not derived from Chinese characters, and resemblance alone does not make 𗂀 interchangeable with one.

Tangut shares a historical setting with neighboring Khitan states, which also had their own writing traditions. This connects state-writing traditions; it does not show that 𗂀 descends from a particular Khitan sign.

How do I type 𗂀?

Use a Tangut input method and a font that supports the script.

A browser-based Tangut IME can take a search code, show Tangut candidates, and let you confirm a choice with a key or click.

Different Tangut fonts can draw different outlines without changing the encoded character. If a Tangut glyph is blank, the font may lack support; the character itself has not changed.