Yi Syllable Ggut

ꈪ writes the Yi syllable “ggut.”

Nuosu is the name for the Liangshan variety of Yi. In the standard Liangshan spelling written with Latin letters, final t marks a high, level tone. “Ggut” identifies the syllable’s reading; it is not its English definition. A Yi word or sentence supplies the context for its meaning.

Where did Yi writing come from?

The standardized syllabary grew from older Yi writing traditions. One origin tradition credits Aki with devising the older Yi signs during the Tang dynasty (618–907). The earliest surviving inscription is on a bronze bell dated 1485; paper and sheepskin manuscripts appear from around 1500. Many surviving texts have no exact date.

For centuries, village bimo priests—local ritual specialists—used regional forms for religious, magical, medical, and family-history texts, passing manuscripts from teacher to student. The signs, shapes, and writing directions varied; these traditions served local communities rather than everyday communication between villages.

A Latin-letter scheme for Liangshan Yi appeared in 1956. A standardized version of traditional writing for Liangshan Yi was devised in 1974 and officially promulgated in 1980 to improve literacy and readability. It represents Liangshan Yi, not every Yi variety. Older Yi writing—also called Cuan or Wei—imitated Chinese Han characters in appearance but appears not to descend directly from them. The standardized syllabary grew from those Yi signs and later served official documents, newspapers, literature, and ritual texts.

How do I type ꈪ?

Enter it as a Yi syllable with a Yi input method. Desktop and mobile keystrokes differ, and the device needs a font that supports Yi Syllables to display it.