Yi Syllable Nrur

It writes one Liangshan Yi syllable; nrur labels its reading.

A syllable is a unit of pronunciation. This one can represent different words according to the surrounding syllables and context, so the full Yi phrase is needed to translate it. The Latin-letter form nrur records how the syllable is read; it is not an English gloss.

Older Yi writing had many local forms, with different signs and writing directions. Bimo priests (Yi religious specialists) preserved religious, magical, medical and family-history texts. A traditional account credits Aki with devising a script during the Tang dynasty (618–907); the earliest surviving inscription is on a bronze bell dated 1485. The standardized Liangshan form was devised in 1974 and officially promulgated in 1980 to improve literacy. It represents the Liangshan Yi dialect spoken by the Nuosu. As of 2025, traditional Yi signs do not appear to derive from Han characters, the writing system used for Chinese.

Why does ꎤ appear as a box?

A font without Yi coverage cannot display ꎤ.

If the active font lacks this Yi glyph, the app may show a square or replacement symbol. The text is still ꎤ; a font with standardized Yi coverage can display it.

How do I type ꎤ?

Use an input method that supports Yi syllables.

A Yi keyboard or input method with the standardized Liangshan syllabary can enter it. nrur is the Latin-letter reading label, not a universal keystroke sequence; whether those letters select the glyph depends on the input tool.