What ꖳ means
It marks the Vai syllable “yu,” roughly like English “you.”
In Vai script, it contributes one syllable to a word; the surrounding signs complete the word. Long vowels, diphthongs (two vowel sounds together) and syllables ending in a nasal sound may use multiple signs. If ꖳ shows as an empty box, the active font lacks this glyph; the character itself is unchanged.
Why was the Vai script created?
To give Vai speakers a script for writing Vai.
The Vai script took shape in Liberia around 1833 through work by several Vai speakers; tradition gives Mɔmɔlu Duwalu Bukɛlɛ particular prominence. The earliest known surviving sample is dated 1834. The script supported correspondence, trade records, schooling, literature and religious writing.
Manuscripts from 1834 to 2005 show the written forms changing; some older signs disappeared. The Vai script’s syllabic design stimulated the Mende, Loma and Kpelle scripts. A proposed Cherokee influence remains debated.
Part of the collection
Who writes ꖳ
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Questions people ask
1Why does ꖳ show as a box on some devices?
Because that device's fonts have no glyph for it. The character is still correct and still copies correctly — the box is a missing glyph, not a broken character.
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How to type or find ꖳ
- Search it as
- Vai script · Vai keyboard · Unicode hex input
- Shows up in
- Anything that takes text · its shape is whatever your font draws
ꖳ\A5B3Codes and encoding1 code points
A visible symbol can contain several code points. JS .length counts UTF-16 units; UTF-8 counts bytes.