Yi Radical Za

It is an index mark for Yi syllables, not a standalone word.

꒲ marks a stroke shared by a group of standardized Liangshan Yi syllable characters—each written character represents a syllable. In a radical-and-stroke dictionary index, it helps you locate them; it does not add a fixed meaning. The label “za” is the Latin-letter name of the closest-shaped Yi syllable, not a translation of the radical.

Why is ꒲ a Yi radical?

It groups shared strokes for dictionary lookup.

Yi writing developed through regional traditions rather than as a one-time invention. Stone and bronze objects from the Western Han period (206 BC–AD 9) are among the earliest evidence for it; the earliest paper texts date to around 1500. Bimo, Yi ritual specialists, copied local forms in religious, magical, and medical texts.

Traditional Guizhou, Liangshan, and Sani systems used different radical sets and local glyph variants. The standardized Liangshan branch was devised in 1974 and officially promulgated in 1980. Its encoded radicals were modeled on the radicals used in Han Chinese dictionaries to index Yi syllables; they are not descended from Han characters.

How do I type ꒲?

Use a Yi keyboard with a radicals input route.

As of 2026, the SIL Yi keyboard offers one: on desktop, type the radical’s Yi Pinyin name plus b, then Space. For this radical, enter zab + Space. On mobile, long-press #.?, open the radicals layer, and choose ꒲. These are keyboard-layout instructions, not a pronunciation.