Vai Syllable Nggee

It writes one Vai syllable, conventionally transcribed “nggee.” In English, the start is like the ng-g in “finger,” followed by e as in “get”; the spelling is a reading aid, not an English word.

Vai writing took shape in Liberia in the early 1830s, developed mainly by Momolu Duwalu Bukele and other Vai speakers. The earliest known surviving sample is a page dated 1834, written by Fan Dawo Kelondo for missionary John Leighton Wilson; that dates the script, not the first use of ꔟ.

Vai speakers developed the script to write their language. Records include personal writing, life histories, religious texts, wall inscriptions, and government posters. As of 2026, its main uses are correspondence and record-keeping, especially among merchants and traders, alongside English and Arabic.

How do I type ꔟ?

Use a Unicode-aware Vai keyboard layout. A standard Latin keyboard has no direct key for this syllable. A dedicated layout turns key combinations into Vai characters, so the exact keystrokes depend on the layout you install.

If it appears as a blank box, empty square, or fallback mark, the font lacks Vai coverage. Switch to a font that supports Vai; the stored character is still ꔟ.

Is the Vai script related to Cherokee?

A historical influence is possible, but no direct link is established. Both scripts are syllabaries. A 2002 historical study examined whether knowledge of Cherokee writing could have reached Liberia, but did not establish that it influenced Vai.

Vai's syllabic structure later influenced Mende, Loma, and Kpelle writing systems in West Africa. That connection is at the script level: those systems have their own characters, not ꔟ.