Zanabazar Square Letter A

Alone, 𑨀 writes the vowel a; a sign can change it.

Zanabazar Square is an abugida, a script in which consonants carry a built-in vowel. 𑨀 is its single vowel letter. A dependent vowel sign—a mark attached to a base—lets it stand for another vowel. In some syllable patterns, its vowel is not pronounced.

Why was the script made?

It was made for Buddhist writing in Mongolian, Sanskrit, and Tibetan. Zanabazar, a Mongolian Buddhist leader, developed the script in the late seventeenth century; the exact year is uncertain. It combines Tibetan writing conventions with the broader Brahmi-based abugida model. Also called the Mongolian Horizontal Square Script, it reads from left to right, usually on a horizontal line, though some examples are vertical.

Phags-pa was an earlier square script used in Mongolia; Zanabazar Square is a separate writing system. Zanabazar also developed Soyombo in 1686, and Zanabazar Square likely came first. The script was rediscovered in 1801. Its surviving examples appear in scholarship, manuscripts, calligraphy, and Buddhist decoration. A 2025 study presents seven manuscript and blockprint examples and discusses horizontal and vertical layouts.