Yi Syllable Chox

It represents the Liangshan Yi syllable labeled chox. “Chox” is a sound spelling in Latin letters; its final x marks tone. The syllable gets its word-level meaning from the surrounding Yi text.

The earliest securely dated Yi writing commonly cited is a bell inscription from the 15th century. Older pottery, stone, and bronze examples are also reported, though their dates are uncertain. In traditional manuscript practice, bimo—Yi ritual specialists—transmitted locally varied writing through apprenticeships. Their manuscripts include ritual, genealogical, historical, medical, and astrological texts.

The Liangshan standard grew from regional Yi writing traditions. It was devised in 1974 and officially promulgated in 1980 for literacy in the Liangshan (Nuosu) variety, not every Yi variety.

How do I type ꍪ?

Use a Yi phonetic input method, then select ꍪ from its candidates. An input method editor (IME) turns typed phonemes into Yi characters and offers choices. Microsoft's Windows instructions, updated in 2024, say to add Yi, enter the phonemes, then accept the matching character with Enter or Space.

Do not build it from the related “cho” syllable plus a separate accent: x-tone Yi syllables are encoded as complete characters, not a base syllable plus a combining mark. As of September 2026, SIL offered a phonetic Nuosu keyboard for Keyman, another option for repeated Yi entry.