Yi syllable Nax

It writes one Nuosu syllable. Nuosu is a Yi language; “nax” is its Latin-letter spelling. Its final x marks tone, not a separate consonant; the word’s meaning comes from its sentence.

Yi tradition credits Aki with devising the script in the Tang period; the earliest surviving dated example is a 1485 bronze-bell inscription. Local priestly forms recorded religious, magical, medical, and genealogical texts. Devised in 1974 and promulgated in 1980, the Liangshan standard adapted older Yi forms rather than Chinese characters. Writing expanded from guarded local manuscripts to schoolbooks, newspapers, and signs.