Nuosu Yi syllable Hle

A Nuosu Yi word-list entry glosses Hle as “delay.”

A 2022 Nuosu Yi syllabary and word list records the syllable with the glosses “postpone,” “put off,” “delay,” and “defer.” This is a word-level use; ꆩ is a syllable sign, not a universal stand-alone reaction.

The early history of Yi writing has competing accounts. An overview reports claims of Yi inscriptions on a Western Han bronze object (206 BC–AD 9) and a Shu Han stone inscription (AD 223–237); Unicode’s account identifies a surviving bronze bell from 1485 as the earliest example. Traditional Yi writing, historically also called Cuan or Wei, developed in local forms. Specialists who led village ceremonies used it for religious, magical, medical, and family-history texts. A Latin-based literacy scheme was introduced in 1956. The standardized Liangshan form, derived from older Yi forms, was devised in 1974 and promulgated in 1980 to regularize writing for that dialect. It is one regional tradition, not every Yi script or dialect.

How do I type ꆩ?

On Windows, the Yi input method can offer ꆩ as a candidate. An input method is keyboard software that turns typed sounds into character choices. Microsoft’s guide, updated 2024-06-20, describes adding Yi input, entering the syllable’s sounds, and selecting the right candidate. Typing hle alone is not guaranteed to produce ꆩ.

Why is ꆩ a box?

Your font may lack the Yi glyph. The text still contains ꆩ; the active typeface simply cannot draw it. Unicode’s account says Yi characters do not join or reshape with their neighbors.

SIL’s Nuosu SIL release from 2022 includes the standardized Yi syllable set and can serve as a font fallback.