Tangut Character 𗒮

A Tangut dictionary glosses it as “transliteration.”

Li Fanwen’s Tangut–Chinese dictionary records *kha'₃ as a reconstructed reading and 譯音 as the Chinese gloss. 譯音 describes rendering a word’s sound in another writing system.

Why does 𗒮 show as a box?

A box usually means no active font can display Tangut.

Text rendering depends on font coverage. Without a Tangut-capable font, an app may substitute an empty box or missing-glyph marker. Noto Serif Tangut or another font with Tangut coverage can display it.

Why was Tangut writing created?

The Western Xia court commissioned it for state and religious life.

Ordered in 1036, Tangut writing served Western Xia’s state and religious life. A major project was a Tangut Buddhist canon; Tangut books also carried Buddhist works translated from Chinese and Tibetan. The script marked a distinct Tangut identity alongside Song China.

Tangut writing drew on the shapes and construction principles of Chinese writing without simply deriving from it; neighboring Khitan states had built scripts before Western Xia. British Library fragment Or.12380/3909 is a damaged Buddhist manuscript sheet collected at Khara-Khoto during 1913–1916. It places the Tibetan letter ཁ beside 𗒮 as a pronunciation gloss. The fragment documents the character’s use, not its first appearance.