Yi Syllable Nbax

It writes one syllable in the Liangshan Yi standard. This standard is also called Nuosu Yi.

Yi Pinyin spells it nbax. That spelling guides pronunciation and lookup; by itself, the glyph is a syllable, not a word-by-word translation.

Where did Yi writing come from?

Yi writing grew through regional traditions over centuries. Yi writing histories discuss bronze and stone inscriptions attributed to the Western Han period; clearer surviving Yi texts written on paper or sheepskin date to around 1500.

By the Ming period, regional Yi scripts were in formal use across eastern Yunnan and western Guizhou. “Cuan script” is a Chinese historical label for an older Yi writing tradition.

Why was the modern Liangshan Yi standard created?

It set a shared written standard for the Liangshan (Nuosu) variety of Yi. The syllabary was devised in 1974 and officially promulgated in 1980, selecting older Northern Yi forms.

It covers Liangshan Yi, not every Yi variety: readers of another variety may not read ꁾ the same way. Earlier regional writing served manuscript, ritual, and formal traditions; the modern standard also appears in official documents, newspapers, books, and literary or ritual texts.