What ꕥ means
ꕥ is one Vai syllable, labeled “zha.” Vai uses a syllabary: each sign represents a spoken syllable. The surrounding text completes the word or sentence.
How did the Vai script develop?
It was created to write Vai. The script emerged in Liberia in the early 1830s, chiefly associated with Mọmọlu Duwalu Bukẹlẹ. Its earliest known sample is a one-page manuscript from 1834; the Book of Ndole dates to ca. 1845.
Forms changed as the script was taught. In 1962, standardization settled a common set.
Cherokee influence on Vai remains debated. Both scripts use signs for syllables, but this similarity alone does not establish that one descended from the other.
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Who writes ꕥ
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Questions people ask
1Why does ꕥ 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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Collections with ꕥ
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How to type or find ꕥ
- Search it as
- zha · Vai zha · Vai syllable · Vai script · Vai keyboard · Vai transliteration · Vai font
- Shows up in
- Anything that takes text · its shape is whatever your font draws
ꕥ\A565zha in the Vai transliteration tool; its guide, last edited in 2023, maps that input to ꕥ. A square or question mark means the font lacks Vai coverage.Codes and encoding1 code points
A visible symbol can contain several code points. JS .length counts UTF-16 units; UTF-8 counts bytes.