Yi Syllable Biex

ꀛ represents one Yi syllable. The label biex is a Liangshan romanization, a way to write Yi syllables with Latin letters; its final x marks secondary-high tone, a pitch pattern in speech.

That label identifies a syllable, not a translation. The word it spells depends on the surrounding Yi text and variety, so ꀛ alone does not tell you the intended word.

How did Liangshan Yi writing develop?

It grew through regional traditions before a modern standard. Classical Yi writing took several regional forms; no single inventor accounts for them.

Some inscriptions on stone, bronze, pottery and bone have been proposed as Yi writing as early as the Western Han period, but their identification is disputed. Yi texts on paper are attested around 1500. Yi ritual specialists called bimo used traditional writing for religious, magical, medical and genealogical texts. The modern Liangshan standard selected traditional characters for one dialect; it was devised in 1974 and promulgated in 1980, while other Yi communities retained or developed distinct standards.