Yi syllable Nyuox

Enter nyuox in a Yi-capable input method. Yi Pinyin is the spelling system used to teach, index, and type Nuosu syllables. Its final x marks the secondary-high tone, a pitch category that distinguishes syllables; it is part of the spelling, not a second syllable.

Mandarin Pinyin, also called Hanyu Pinyin, is a different system and does not by itself offer Nuosu syllables. If ꑒ appears as a box, the input may have worked but the active font lacks Yi coverage.

What does ꑒ mean?

It represents a Nuosu syllable written nyuox. Nuosu, also called Liangshan Yi, is one of the Yi languages. A syllable can be part of a word, so the surrounding Nuosu text supplies the meaning.

Yi writing has regional histories rather than one securely dated beginning. Among the earliest surviving dated examples is a bronze bell inscription from 1485, written in both Yi and Chinese. Bimo, Yi ritual specialists, preserved older forms in religious and magical texts, healing records, genealogies, and epics.

Why are old and new Yi scripts different?

The Liangshan standard regularized one regional tradition for wider use. It was devised in 1974 and officially promulgated in 1980 for Liangshan Yi, also called Nuosu. It supported Yi-language textbooks, newspapers, publishing, and public signs, but it did not create Yi writing or standardize every Yi language.

The name “Cuan script” is used for possible precursors to later Yi writing traditions; it does not identify a proven ancestor of this exact character. Scholars debate Chinese influence on Yi character shapes. The Unicode description says Yi ideographs are not directly derived from Han characters.