Yi syllable ket

ꈊ is one written Yi syllable, a sound unit used to build words. ket is its Latin transcription, not a translation; its meaning depends on the Yi word in which it appears.

Yi writing developed across regional traditions rather than appearing in one standardized form. Surviving evidence includes 15th-century bell inscriptions and paper texts from around 1500.

Bimo priests—religious specialists—transmitted Yi texts on paper and other materials, including scripture, legends, history, medicine, astrology, and genealogy. Cuan script is a documented name for an apparent regional predecessor of later Yi writing. The standardized Liangshan form was devised in 1974 and officially promulgated in 1980 to support literacy; it serves the Liangshan dialect, not every Yi variety.

How do I type ꈊ?

On Windows, enter ket with the Yi IME and choose ꈊ. The Windows Yi IME flow documented as of 2024-06-20 converts phonetic input into candidate Yi characters; select ꈊ, then confirm with Enter or Space.

Why does ꈊ look like a box?

A box means the font cannot draw the Yi character. The selected font or its fallback needs Yi coverage; changing the input method will not fix a missing glyph.

Older Yi traditions included regional graph forms and writing directions. Standardized Liangshan Yi follows page conventions also used in Chinese writing, but a graph from another regional tradition is not a substitute for this syllable.