Yi syllable bur

In Nuosu, ꀱ (bur) means “return” or “go back.”

It is a verb. In standard Liangshan romanization, bur marks the mid tone; the final x in burx marks a different tone. That letter is a tone marker, not an English ending.

When do the earliest Yi writings appear?

The earliest cited inscription is a bronze-bell text from 1485.

The earliest Yi inscription usually cited is on a bronze bell dated 1485. Paper and sheepskin Yi texts survive from around 1500; proposed older ancestors remain debated.

Traditional Yi writing was maintained by bimo, Yi ritual specialists, for religious, magical, medical, and genealogical texts. Regional traditions differed in their signs, writing direction, and readability.

Is ꀱ part of every Yi script?

No. ꀱ belongs to the Liangshan standard, not every Yi tradition.

Traditional Yi writing is also known by the historical names Cuan and Wei. Some older signs resemble Chinese characters, but resemblance alone does not establish descent from Han Chinese writing. The modern Liangshan standard was devised in 1974 and officially promulgated in 1980 to support literacy in the Liangshan dialect. It represents syllables with standardized signs; ꀱ is one of them.