Vai syllable ya

ꕩ is a Vai syllable sign, not an emoji.

The syllable is romanized “ya,” roughly “yah,” starting with y as in “yes.” Vai is a syllabary: most signs represent a consonant-vowel syllable.

Developed chiefly by Mọmọlu Duwalu Bukẹlẹ to write Vai in Liberia in the early 1830s, the script's earliest surviving sample is dated 1834. Beyond correspondence and records, Vai texts include newspapers, fiction, tombstones and religious translations. In the first half of the 20th century, its syllabic design influenced writing systems for neighboring Mende, Loma and Kpelle languages; possible Cherokee influence remains debated. Vai text runs left to right without spaces, so surrounding signs show where ꕩ fits in a word.