Yi Syllable Sha

It writes the syllable romanized as “sha” in standardized Liangshan Yi. This is the writing system for Nuosu, a Yi language; “sha” is a syllable label, not an English word. In text, ꎭ joins other syllable signs to write Yi words.

Traditional Yi writing was not one uniform everyday system across communities. Until modern times, bimo—Yi ritual specialists—used local forms for religious, magical, medical and family-genealogy texts.

How does Yi writing relate to Chinese characters?

Modern Yi is a distinct script with historical visual influence from Chinese writing. Older Yi ideographs imitated Chinese character forms, but ꎭ itself is a sign in the Yi syllabary.

A Nuosu origin story links the script’s beginnings to Aki, a legendary figure. The earliest surviving Yi inscription is on a bronze bell dated 1485. The standardized Liangshan form was devised in 1974 and officially promulgated in 1980; it represents one Yi variety, not a universal spelling system.