What ꇃ means
It represents a syllable, not a whole word.
In Yi Pinyin, the standard roman-letter notation for Yi syllables, ꇃ is written luot; the final t marks a high, level tone—a pitch held high. By itself, it contributes one syllable rather than a complete English translation. Read it with the surrounding Yi syllables.
How did Yi script develop?
It grew from regional Yi writing traditions.
The earliest securely dated surviving examples date to the 15th century, including the Chenghua Bell Inscriptions. The deeper origin and the age of many undated manuscripts remain debated.
In the older tradition, bi-mox—Yi ritual specialists—used writing chiefly to preserve religious knowledge, alongside medical, historical, and astrological texts.
In 1974, a scheme selected forms from regional Yi traditions for the Liangshan dialect; it was officially promulgated in 1980. This standard is a syllabary, a system in which each character represents a syllable, and it is used in schoolbooks, newspapers, literature, public signs, and subtitles. It is distinct from Han Chinese and neighboring Tibetan, Burmese, and Tai writing traditions, and it does not cover every Yi dialect.
Neutral in Yi writing; its ordinary role is a syllable within a word.
Don't assign it a standalone English meaning without reading the surrounding Yi syllables.
Part of the collection
Who writes ꇃ
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Don't confuse it with
1
Combination ideas
2Questions people ask
2Why does ꇃ appear as a box?
Your font lacks this Yi glyph. Use one with Yi coverage, such as Nuosu SIL or Noto Sans Yi.
Is ꇃ a Chinese character?
No. It belongs to the Yi script; this standardized form represents Liangshan Yi, not Han Chinese writing. The standard does not cover every Yi dialect.
More like this
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How to type or find ꇃ
- Also called
- luot
- Search it as
- ꇃ · luot character · Yi syllable · Yi script · Yi Pinyin · Yi keyboard · Yi font · Nuosu writing
- Shows up in
- Anything that takes text · its shape is whatever your font draws
ꇃ\A1C3luot in a Yi input method, then choose ꇃ from the candidates; some layouts use Space to convert.Codes and encoding1 code points
A visible symbol can contain several code points. JS .length counts UTF-16 units; UTF-8 counts bytes.