Yi syllable xo

It writes the Liangshan Yi syllable romanized as “xo.”

Here, “xo” is the standard Liangshan romanization, not an English translation; the word containing ꑩ supplies its meaning.

That spelling leaves the midlevel tone unmarked. A final t marks high-level tone, x secondary-high tone, and p low-falling tone; these endings change the tone, not the syllable’s role in a word.

How did the Yi script develop?

It belongs to a Liangshan standard built from older local traditions.

Traditional Yi writing had many regional forms. Village priests passed down religious, magical, medical, and genealogical texts. Local glyph shapes and writing directions varied: some Liangshan traditions ran right to left, while forms used in Guizhou and Yunnan could run vertically.

One widely repeated tradition credits Aki with devising the script during the Tang dynasty (618–907). The earliest surviving dated inscription is on a bronze bell from 1485, so the script’s earlier history remains uncertain.

Traditional Yi signs appear not to derive from Chinese Han characters and are distinct from neighboring Tibetan, Burmese, and Tai alphabets. A standardized Liangshan form was devised in 1974 and officially promulgated in 1980; it represents that dialect, not every Yi variety.