Yi syllable fi

It represents the Liangshan Yi syllable written “fi.”

The “fi syllable” is spelled with Latin letters in the standard Liangshan romanization. That spelling labels a spoken Yi syllable; it is not an English word or a complete translation. In a word or sentence, neighboring Yi syllables supply the meaning.

How did Yi writing develop?

Yi writing grew through regional traditions, then a Liangshan standard.

Older Yi writing is sometimes linked to earlier inscriptions, but surviving evidence includes a bronze bell dated 1485 and paper or sheepskin texts from around 1500. The forms and uses varied across local traditions.

Older books served bimo, ritual specialists who copied and recited texts about religion, healing, divination, family lineages, and history. Knowledge passed through families and teacher-student lines.

The Liangshan standard was devised in 1974 and officially promulgated in 1980 to widen literacy. It supported official documents, newspapers, literature, and traditional works. The standardized syllabary grew from older Yi signs, but Yi writing has no single unified form: local traditions differ in their signs, shapes, and writing direction.

Why is ꃏ a box, and how do I type it?

A Yi-capable font displays it; a Yi input method enters it.

When a font lacks Yi coverage, a device may show a missing-glyph box or a fallback design. That changes the display, not the character.

A phonetic Yi input method offers Yi characters as candidates after you enter a syllable spelling. Microsoft describes this Windows workflow as of 2024-06-20; the exact keystrokes depend on the input method.