Yi Syllable Bot

On the SIL Yi keyboard, type bot and press Space.

Yiyu Pinyin is the Latin-letter spelling system used for Nuosu input. In bot, final t marks tone; it is not a final consonant.

What does ꀥ mean in Nuosu?

In standardized Nuosu, ꀥ represents a syllable glossed “to run.”

As a standalone form, it can function as a verb; inside a longer word, it contributes one syllable and the full word determines the translation.

Nuosu is the Liangshan Yi variety for which this script was standardized. Other Yi languages and local writing traditions can use different signs and sound values.

How did the modern Yi syllabary develop?

It was standardized from signs selected from older local Yi writing.

Traditional Yi writing was not one uniform script: local communities used different signs and layouts. Village priests called bimo handed down texts used for religious, magical, medical, and genealogical purposes.

The oldest securely dated surviving Yi inscription is on a bronze bell from 1485. A Latin-letter scheme for Liangshan literacy appeared in 1956; the standardized syllabary was devised in 1974 and officially promulgated in 1980.