Yi syllable Hxip

ꉉ is hxip; one Nuosu example means “say.” Surrounding words settle its meaning. In the Latin spelling hxip, final p marks a low, falling tone; it is not a separate p sound.

Yi script history includes local, priest-transmitted writing used for ritual, medicine, history and astrology; some old signs carried meanings directly. The earliest secure surviving evidence of Yi writing dates to the 15th century; older inscriptions are debated. Devised in 1974 and promulgated in 1980 for literacy and publishing, the Liangshan standard selected traditional signs for a sound-based system: each represents a spoken syllable, and it does not represent every Yi dialect.