Vai syllable Dhi

It writes one syllable in the Vai syllabary.

Vai is a syllabary: most signs stand for a syllable, and some longer syllables take more than one sign. The Latin spelling “dhi” is the syllable’s romanized label, not a translation. By itself, ꔵ gives you a syllable, not enough context to identify a whole word.

Where did the Vai script come from?

Vai speakers developed it in Liberia in the 1830s.

The earliest known sample is a short manuscript from 1834, written by Fan Dawo Kelondo at John Leighton Wilson’s request. A longer early manuscript, the Book of Ndole, also called the Book of Rora, is dated to about 1845.

Momolu Duwalu Bukele is usually identified as the script’s main inventor and promoter. Vai writing served local literacy needs: correspondence and record-keeping, especially among merchants and traders, followed by education, literature, folktales, and religious texts. Some older Vai writing also used logograms—signs for complete syllables linked to meanings—while modern Vai is mainly phonetic. A Cherokee influence has been proposed, but descent from Cherokee is not established.

How can I type a Vai character?

Use a Vai Unicode keyboard or input tool.

Older 8-bit Vai fonts use a separate encoding, so their text may not exchange as Unicode. If ꔵ displays as a box, the active font may lack Vai coverage; input and display are separate problems.