Vai Syllable Ci

It writes the Vai syllable ci; the word supplies the meaning. The Vai script is a syllabary: each sign writes a syllable. ꔿ belongs inside Vai words and sentences, so the surrounding text—not this sign alone—tells you what a word means.

The script's beginnings are placed around 1832 or 1833, and the earliest surviving sample is dated 1834.

Did one person invent the Vai script?

No single inventor is secure; several Vai speakers shaped the script. They created it for practical needs: exchanging messages, keeping records, trade, and teaching. A note from 1834 says young people wanted letters they could use in their own language. Later, the script carried Qur’an and New Testament translations, extending into literary and religious writing.

Momolu Duwalu Bukele is the figure most associated with its creation; some accounts connect him to a dream revelation. The Mende, Loma, and Kpelle writing systems later drew on Vai's syllabic organization. Cherokee may have helped inspire the idea of writing Vai, but it is not the visual ancestor of Vai signs.

How do I type ꔿ?

In MediaWiki's Vai layout, type c, then i. MediaWiki's Vai transliteration instructions from 2023 map c+i to ꔿ.

Without a Vai-capable font, a device may show ꔿ as a square or question mark. That placeholder means the character is missing from the font, not that the text contains another character.