Yi Syllable Kat

It represents the Nuosu syllable romanized kat.

Nuosu is a Yi language variety. The syllable sounds approximately like ka with a high, level tone; in kat, final t marks tone rather than a final consonant. ꇿ gives one syllable, not a word translation, so read it with the surrounding Yi text.

The history of Yi writing is regional: traditions used different glyphs, sounds, and writing directions. The earliest surviving dated example is an inscription on a bronze bell from 1485; paper and sheepskin Yi texts date to around 1500. The Liangshan standard was devised from a regional traditional repertoire in 1974 and promulgated in 1980.

What was Yi writing used for?

Yi writing served ritual specialists and later wider literacy.

Bimo—Yi ritual specialists—used traditional Yi writing for religious, magical, medical, and genealogical texts. The Liangshan standard was designed to expand literacy and appeared in literacy, rural-practical, and adult-arithmetic textbooks. It represents the Nuosu variety, not every Yi speech variety.