Yezidi Letter Chim

It marks the “ch” sound in English “church.”

In the Yezidi alphabet, Chim is used in words written with the Yezidi script, including Kurmanji (Northern Kurdish). A Unicode proposal’s comparison table maps it to [tʃ] and Latin Ç; it distinguishes Chhim [tʃ’], pronounced with a brief catch in the throat, from Cim [dʒ], like the first sound in “jam.”

What is the history of Yezidi Letter Chim?

Its handwritten record is old; the script’s origin remains disputed.

The oldest surviving handwritten texts associated with the script may date to the 12th or 13th centuries, but scholars place the script’s creation either in the 13th or 14th centuries or in the 17th or 18th centuries. These are competing estimates, not settled dates.

Two religious manuscripts were Maṣḥaf Raš (“Black Book”) and Ktébī Jalwe (“Book of Revelation”). Anastase Marie published them in 1911; older Arabic copies had been reported. A 2019 Unicode proposal says Yezidi clergy recognized the script but did not treat these texts as a source of faith, since they were considered distorted. In 2013, the Spiritual Council of Yezidis in Georgia revived and modernized it for prayers, sacred books, letterhead, and heraldry. Its earlier order followed the Arabic-based alphabet used for Persian; Kurmanji also appears in Latin, Cyrillic, and Arabic scripts. The character’s 2020 encoding marks digital standardization, not the script’s origin.

Why is Yezidi Letter Chim a box?

A box usually means the font cannot draw this Yezidi letter.

As of 2026, Noto Serif Yezidi documentation lists support for Yezidi characters. If another app shows a box, select a font with Yezidi coverage; that is a display problem, not a different letter.