Yi Syllable Ndex

ꅟ writes the Liangshan Yi syllable romanized as ndex. Liangshan Yi is a regional variety of Yi spoken in southwest China. In the standard Latin-letter spelling, final x marks a secondary-high tone—a pitch pattern in speech—not a consonant. The surrounding Yi word or sentence supplies its word-level meaning.

Why was ꅟ made?

It is one syllable in a standard built for Liangshan Yi literacy. The origin of traditional Yi writing is unsettled; one Yi origin tradition credits Aki. A bronze bell inscription dated 1485 is among the earliest reliably dated surviving Yi examples, though undated manuscripts may be older.

Before standardization, Yi writing varied by region. Bimo—ritual specialists in Yi communities—passed down texts used for ritual, religious, magical, medical, historical, and divinatory purposes. Many older signs represented words or ideas rather than single spoken syllables.

The Liangshan standard reshaped traditional forms into a syllabary for spoken Liangshan Yi, to support literacy and better reflect the variety's pronunciation. It was devised in 1974 and officially promulgated in 1980. Standard Yi texts include school and adult-learning books, literature, and newspapers. This standard writes Liangshan Yi, not every Yi dialect.