Yi syllable bax

Use a Yi input method and choose bax from its suggestions. On Windows, add Yi in language settings, switch to the Yi IME and enter bax; select the matching candidate with Enter or Space. Microsoft's guide was updated 2024-06-20.

Typing bax without the Yi IME inserts Latin letters, not ꀟ. The character also needs a font with Yi glyphs; a box means the font or app cannot display it.

What does the Yi syllable bax mean?

It writes one Liangshan Yi syllable, not an English word. Standard romanization bax sounds roughly like “pa,” with an unaspirated p like the p in English “spin” and a pitch rise from mid to high. Its final x marks this secondary-high tone; it is not pronounced like English x. In a full Liangshan Yi word or sentence, surrounding syllables supply the translation.

Traditional Yi writing, historically called Cuan or Wei, used signs for ideas and varied by region. Local priests passed it down mainly in religious, magical, medical, and genealogical manuscripts. A widespread tradition credits Aki with creating it during the Tang dynasty; the oldest securely dated surviving inscription is on a bronze bell from 1485. Records from the Ming and Qing dynasties in Yunnan use the Chinese label Cuan wen for forms that may be antecedents of later Yi scripts; Cuan is a Han Chinese label, not a Yi-language name.

The standardized Liangshan script grew from traditional Yi writing and became a syllabary: each sign represents a syllable. Devised in 1974 and officially promulgated in 1980, it was intended for one Yi dialect, not every Yi variety.