Tangut character 𗺯

Its reading is reconstructed; no one-word English gloss is established as of 2026. Tangut references identify 𗺯 as L2517 and write its reconstructed reading as *ɣu², also rendered ghu². In this notation, ɣ marks a voiced sound made at the back of the mouth, and superscript ² marks a reconstructed tone category.

Unicode's generated name identifies the encoded character, not the historical Tangut word.

What did Tangut writing do?

It served Western Xia's government, literature, and Buddhist life. Established under the first Western Xia emperor around 1036, the script wrote Tangut, the language of a kingdom in what is now northwestern China. It appears in government and private documents, Buddhist books and sutras (Buddhist scriptures), inscriptions, and manuscripts.

Use continued after Western Xia ended; the last known example is dated 1502. Historically, Tangut was written vertically, with columns running right to left. As of 2026, scholarly editions commonly set it horizontally from left to right, and readers encounter it chiefly in historical texts, research, and font work.

Is 𗺯 Chinese writing?

No; 𗺯 belongs to Tangut, a separate writing system. Tangut writing was modeled on Chinese writing, but it was designed to write the Tangut language. A structural analysis records 𗺯 as a left-right construction: 𘤃 on the left and 𘥽 on the right. Those entries identify written components; they do not provide a Chinese reading or an English translation.