Yi syllable Xiex

It represents the Liangshan Yi syllable romanized as xiex. Here, romanization means a Latin-letter spelling; final x records a pitch pattern called the secondary-high tone. This name identifies a syllable’s sound, not its meaning in English.

The Liangshan Yi romanization system was introduced in 1956. The final x is a tone marker, so read ꑢ inside its Yi word and sentence to translate it; the syllable alone does not provide a word gloss.

How did Liangshan Yi writing develop?

It belongs to one modern standard within much older Yi writing traditions. Traditional Yi writing, historically called Cuan or Wei, was ideographic: its signs represented words or ideas rather than spelling syllables by sound. Local traditions differed; village ritual specialists called bimo passed manuscripts down, including religious, magical, medical, and genealogical texts.

A widespread tradition credits someone named Aki with devising the traditional script during the Tang dynasty (618–907). Its earliest surviving example is a bronze-bell inscription dated 1485. The standardized Liangshan syllabary was devised in 1974 and officially promulgated in 1980 to improve literacy; it writes the Nuosu variety, not every Yi variety.

How do I type ꑢ?

Use a Yi input method, enter xiex, then choose ꑢ.

On Windows, add the Yi input method, type xiex, then select the matching candidate with Enter or Space. Microsoft documents this flow in Windows instructions dated 2024-06-20.