Yi syllable Guox

It writes one Nuosu syllable; the word depends on context.

The Liangshan romanization spells this syllable guox: its final x marks the secondary-high tone, one of the syllable’s pitch patterns. Nuosu syllables can represent different words, so ꇧ alone has no dependable one-word English translation.

How did Yi writing develop?

Yi writing has older local traditions and a later Liangshan standard.

Older regional Yi writing included signs that could stand for whole words or ideas, not only syllables. These traditional signs are not derived from Han characters, the character-based script used for Chinese. Later Yi writing adopted organizing components modeled on Han radicals (recurring character parts) and a left-to-right layout.

Nuosu bimo—local religious specialists—read traditional manuscripts used for ritual, magical, medical and family-history work. A Yi inscription on a bronze bell from 1485 is the earliest reliably dated surviving example. The standardized Liangshan Nuosu form was devised in 1974 and officially promulgated in 1980; its syllabic signs served literacy and practical texts, including teaching books, arithmetic, farming and rural vocabulary.

Is ꇧ an emoji?

No; it is a Yi text character, not an emoji.

Your device draws it from a font. If the font lacks Yi coverage, ꇧ may appear as a box or stay blank.