Yi syllable qo

It is one Nuosu syllable whose word meaning depends on context.

In standard Liangshan romanization (Latin-letter spelling of Yi), qo is the unmarked mid-level tone, a fairly even pitch. Final t, x, and p indicate other tone categories. These spellings distinguish Yi syllables; they are not English translations. The character's exact sense depends on the Yi word it forms part of.

Why is this form regional?

It belongs to the Liangshan standard, one of several Yi writing traditions.

Some inscriptions are claimed to be much older. Unicode identifies an inscription on a bronze bell dated 1485 as the earliest surviving example of Yi writing; paper and sheepskin Yi books date to around 1500.

Before standardization, Yi writing had several local forms. Village priests used them for religious, magical, medical, and genealogical texts. The Liangshan standard was devised in 1974 and officially promulgated in 1980 to improve literacy. It draws on older Yi ideographs—written signs for words or syllables—that appear not to derive from Han Chinese characters. The standard follows Han-style writing direction and punctuation and is intended for the Liangshan dialect, not every Yi community.