Yi syllable ox

It writes one Liangshan Yi syllable, romanized ox. The Latin spelling shows pronunciation; it is not an English word for an animal. Its final x marks the secondary-high tone, a pitch pattern in Yi.

One syllable is not necessarily a whole translated word. The surrounding syllables and the Liangshan variety provide the word’s meaning.

The standardized writing came later

Yi writing has a long history. Securely dated surviving inscriptions include examples from the 15th century, among them a bronze bell inscription dated 1485. Earlier stone, bronze, pottery, and bone inscriptions have also been reported, but their links to later Yi traditions are uncertain.

Traditional Yi scripts had local repertoires. Village ritual specialists transmitted texts on religion, ritual practice, medicine, and family histories. The standardized writing for the Liangshan variety was devised in 1974 and officially promulgated in 1980 to support literacy. It connects to older Yi forms, but represents one variety rather than all Yi speech communities. Some older Yi signs imitate Chinese characters in shape without deriving from them. The standardized form also appears in education, reference books, newspapers, novels, public signs, and subtitles.

How do I type ꀐ?

Enter the Latin spelling ox in a Yi input method, then choose ꀐ from its candidates. The input method maps the syllable’s sounds and tone to Yi character options; the letters are an input route, not another form of the glyph.

This is text drawn by a font, so different Yi typefaces can give its strokes different shapes.