Tangut character for holding

In Tangut, 𗏰 means “to hold” or “to embrace.”

𗏰 is attested as a Tangut verb in a narrative where a woman holds one child and lifts another. It is a word in a historical language, not a picture whose meaning can be guessed from its shape.

The Tangut script was created under the first Western Xia emperor around 1036 to support the state, provide a native-language Buddhist canon (a collection of Buddhist scriptures), and mark a political identity distinct from Song China. Its forms were visually influenced by Chinese writing, but Tangut is a separate script, not Han writing. Tangut continued in texts after Western Xia fell and became obsolete by the end of the Ming dynasty. A surviving manuscript fragment probably dates to the 12th or early 13th century. Scholars rediscovered Tangut in the late 19th century, and decipherment advanced in the early 20th century.

What if someone sends 𗏰?

In a Tangut sentence, read it as “hold” or “embrace.”

If someone sends 𗏰 alone, a Tangut reader or student can take it as a verb. Without shared Tangut knowledge, a recipient may not recognize it as a word; a short gloss makes the message clear.

Placement changes the verb’s reading: 𗈪 before 𗏰 marks completed holding with upward movement, while 𗞞 before it presents the holding as continuing.