What ꊤ means
ꊤ is one sound-bearing sign in the Liangshan/Nuosu Yi writing standard.
Yi Pinyin gives the syllable the Latin-letter spelling zu; that spelling represents the syllable, not an English translation. Read it within Yi words or phrases, where the surrounding text supplies the word-level meaning.
How did Yi writing become standardized?
Traditional Yi writing varied by region before the Liangshan standard.
Older Yi manuscripts include religious, magical, medical, genealogical, historical, and astrological texts used by bimo priests, Yi ritual specialists. Among the oldest reliably dated surviving examples is an inscription on a bronze bell from 1485; many manuscripts are harder to date.
Some traditional forms could represent ideas as well as syllables. A sound-based Liangshan standard was devised in 1974 and officially promulgated in 1980 to support literacy. It standardized the Liangshan/Nuosu variety, not every regional Yi writing tradition.
How do I type ꊤ?
Use a Yi keyboard with Yi-Pinyin input.
This method enters the syllable by its Latin-letter Yi-Pinyin spelling; the available key sequence depends on whether the keyboard is on desktop or mobile.
It belongs in written Yi text, including literacy materials; it is not a casual chat reaction.
By itself, ꊤ identifies a syllable; surrounding Yi text supplies its word-level meaning.
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Who writes ꊤ
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Questions people ask
2Is ꊤ a Chinese character?
No. ꊤ is a Yi-script syllable, not a Chinese character. The modern Liangshan Yi standard also uses some Chinese punctuation marks.
Why does ꊤ show as a square?
A font without Yi support is the likely cause. As of 2026, Noto Sans Yi and Nuosu SIL are documented font options for Yi text; an installed font with Yi support can replace the fallback square.
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How to type or find ꊤ
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- ꊤ · zu · nuosu · liangshan yi · yi syllable · yi pinyin · yi keyboard · 彝文
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ꊤ\A2A4zu in Yi Pinyin, then press Space to enter ꊤ.z as the consonant, then u for the vowel-plus-tone key.Codes and encoding1 code points
A visible symbol can contain several code points. JS .length counts UTF-16 units; UTF-8 counts bytes.