Yi syllable fup

It represents the Nuosu syllable written fup in Yi Pinyin.

Say it roughly like “foo” in “food,” with a low-falling tone. The final p in Yi Pinyin marks the tone; it is not a final consonant. A lone syllable sign does not translate a full word, so the surrounding Yi text supplies its meaning.

The same spelling, fup, is the input string for a Nuosu Yi keyboard. Older Yi writing traditions had regional forms and could use signs to stand for words or ideas; the modern Liangshan standard writes spoken syllables.

How do I type ꃛ?

Use a Nuosu Yi input method to enter it.

Depending on the layout, press Space to accept the highlighted candidate or choose the matching syllable from a list.

How did the standard Yi script develop?

It grew out of older regional Yi writing.

A Guizhou bronze bell bears a Yi inscription dated 1485, an early surviving dated example. That date anchors the history of Yi writing; it does not date ꃛ itself.

Before standardization, bimo—Yi ritual specialists—passed down local scripts in texts about religious and magical practices, medicine, and family histories. Regional signs, readings, writing directions, and conventions varied. The standardized Liangshan script was devised in 1974 and formally promulgated in 1980 to expand literacy, schooling, publishing, and everyday writing. It drew on older Northern Yi and Liangshan forms; Yi traditions in Yunnan, Guizhou, and Guangxi use different inventories. The Liangshan standard is not derived from Han characters, the characters used to write Chinese.