What 𘜖 means
This Tangut word is glossed as “number” or “numeral.”
Li Fanwen’s Tangut dictionary gives “number” as the gloss for entry 0497. Unicode’s generated name identifies the code point; it does not translate the old word.
The Tangut script was created in 1036 under Western Xia ruler Li Yuanhao to support the state, with Buddhist translation as a major goal. The earliest transmitted Tangut document is an official record dated 1072. Manuscripts, printed books, and inscriptions continued through the later Yuan and early Ming. Tangut writing was influenced in form and structure by Chinese writing, while its creators also followed the example of neighboring Khitan writing; it remained a distinct script.
Was 𘜖 used as a digit?
No; it names “number,” not one fixed quantity.
Tangut had separate signs for amounts such as one, two, and three, used in dates, manuscripts, printed books, and stone inscriptions. Other number sets served ritual language or ranked sons by birth order. So 𘜖 names the general idea of number; it does not stand in for 1 or 2.
Historical and scholarly; in modern text, it signals deliberate reference to Tangut writing.
Part of collections
Who writes 𘜖
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Questions people ask
1Why does 𘜖 show as a box?
Font support. A font without Tangut coverage can make an app show a box or replacement mark; the text still contains the same character.
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How to type or find 𘜖
- Search it as
- Tangut number · Tangut numeral · Tangut digit · Xixia · Tangut script
- Shows up in
- Anything that takes text · its shape is whatever your font draws
𘜖\1871618716 as the hexadecimal code point in an editor with Unicode hex input; the shortcut depends on the app.Codes and encoding1 code points
A visible symbol can contain several code points. JS .length counts UTF-16 units; UTF-8 counts bytes.