Yi Syllable Ciep

It writes one Liangshan Yi syllable.

The standard Latin spelling is ciep. Its final p marks a low-falling tone: the pitch starts low and falls further. The spelling guides the reading; it is not an English translation.

A traditional Yi account credits Aki, a culture hero, with the beginnings of Yi writing during the Tang dynasty (618–907). The earliest surviving Yi example is a bronze-bell inscription dated 1485. Older forms, known as Classical Yi, were maintained by bimo, village religious specialists, and used in ritual, medical, magical, and genealogical texts. The modern Liangshan standard grew from those regional forms to widen literacy: it was devised in 1974 and officially promulgated in 1980. It covers Liangshan speech, not every Yi variety.

How do I type ꊵ?

Use Windows Yi input, then select the matching character.

As of 2024-06-20, Windows documentation describes Yi input that accepts typed phonemes and offers character candidates. Add Yi as an input language in Windows, switch to Yi input, type ciep, and choose the matching character; a regular Latin keyboard layout leaves those letters as text.

Why does ꊵ show as a box?

A font without Yi coverage may show an empty box.

This is a text character drawn by the active font. When that font lacks Yi coverage, it may fall back to a box; choosing a font that supports Yi should reveal the glyph. Yi-capable fonts can draw the same character in different styles.