Yi Syllable Vu

It is a Nuosu syllable with several possible word readings.

Nuosu, one of the Yi languages, uses ꃶ for gut or intestines, the verb “go mad,” dry material or dried grain stalks, and a word used after animal names to group them (a classifier).

A 2023 ethnography describes vu ꃶ as a Nuosu term for mental illness and connects an older sense, “trembling” or “dancing,” with movements in shamanic training.

Someone sent me ꃶ—what does it mean?

Ask for the surrounding Nuosu word or sentence.

On its own, ꃶ does not identify which word was intended. Neighboring Nuosu words resolve the reading; do not default to “go mad,” which can turn an ambiguous message into a harsh or mental-health remark.

Who invented Yi writing?

Unicode 17.0 leaves the script’s origin unsettled, though a widespread tradition credits Aki with devising it during the Tang dynasty. The earliest surviving dated Yi-script example listed in Unicode is a bronze-bell inscription from 1485.

Local Yi writing differed by region before standardization. Village priests called bimo passed down local forms in religious, divination, medical, and family-history texts.

The Liangshan standard grew from one traditional local form. It was devised in 1974 and officially promulgated in 1980 for Nuosu; it represents one Yi variety, not every Yi variety.