Yi Syllable Buox

It is one syllable in Liangshan Yi (Nuosu) writing.

buox is its standard Liangshan romanization; the final x marks the secondary high tone, a pitch pattern. The syllable contributes to a word, so the surrounding syllables and sentence provide its meaning.

The modern Yi system is a syllabary: each sign represents a spoken syllable. It grew from older Yi writing with regional variants; the standardized set represents Liangshan Nuosu, not every Yi language variety.

How did the Liangshan Yi script develop?

The standardized syllabary grew from older, varied Yi writing.

Traditional Yi writing was used by bimo—Yi ritual specialists—for ceremonies, genealogies, medicine, divination, history, and literature that was also recited. Manuscripts passed from teacher to student, and local forms differed. Traditional Yi signs took shape in a Chinese-influenced setting but are not considered direct descendants of Han characters.

One tradition credits a figure called Aki with devising Yi script during the Tang dynasty (618–907); other accounts do not settle who created or standardized it. Some scholars count inscriptions on pottery, stone, and bronze as early Yi writing; paper texts survive from at least the late Ming. The Unicode account identifies a bronze bell inscription dated 1485 as the earliest surviving example. Liangshan romanization was introduced in 1956; its standardized traditional script was devised in 1974 and officially promulgated in 1980.

How do I type ꀢ?

Use Yi phonetic input and select the matching candidate.

On Windows, the Yi input method takes typed phonemes and offers character candidates. Enter the phonemes for buox, then select this syllable; its final x is part of the romanization. Microsoft’s Windows Yi IME guide, updated 2024-06-20, describes this workflow.