What 𘀮 means
Its dictionary gloss is “to shrink.”
The English translation names the Tangut verb for becoming smaller; 𘀮 is not a picture of something shrinking.
Inside a Tangut sentence, surrounding words supply its grammar. Sent alone to someone who does not read Tangut, it will not reliably communicate a request to reduce something.
How did Tangut writing begin?
The Western Xia state officially created Tangut writing in 1036.
Tangut was the language of Western Xia. Its script served government and schools and was used for translations of Chinese classics and Buddhist scriptures, including texts printed from carved blocks.
Western Xia fell in 1227, but Tangut writing continued in Buddhist settings. The latest known examples are dhāraṇī pillars—stone monuments inscribed with Buddhist ritual formulas—erected in 1502.
Why does 𘀮 show as a box?
Your font may not support Tangut.
Noto Serif Tangut, Tangut Yinchuan, and BabelStone Tangut Wenhai are examples of Tangut-capable fonts; another font may draw the same character differently. Without coverage, an app may show a box or nothing.
An ideographic description sequence (IDS), a notation for character structure, describes three parts from left to right: 𘤕, 𘣃, and 𘠢. Those parts show how 𘀮 is arranged, not three separate translations.
Historical and scholarly; in casual conversation, it reads as an unfamiliar text character.
Do not send it alone as an instruction to shrink something.
Part of collections
Who writes 𘀮
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What it means when someone sends it to you
3 readingsUse the dictionary gloss “to shrink”; surrounding words determine its grammar.
Related characters
3
Questions people ask
1Why does 𘀮 show as a box on some devices?
Not every system ships a font for the Tangut block. Where none is installed, the character shows as an empty box; adding a font such as Noto fixes it. The character itself is still correct and copies correctly.
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How to type or find 𘀮
- Search it as
- Tangut character for shrink · Xixia script · Tangut shrink · shrink character
- Shows up in
- Anything that takes text · its shape is whatever your font draws
𘀮\1802ECodes and encoding1 code points
A visible symbol can contain several code points. JS .length counts UTF-16 units; UTF-8 counts bytes.