Yi
Sample Characters
First 48 characters from Yi Syllables (U+A000–U+A48C)
About Yi
The Yi script is used to write the Nuosu (Northern Yi) language, spoken by approximately 2 million people of the Yi ethnic group in Sichuan Province, China. The script officially adopted by the Chinese government in 1974 is a syllabary standardized from a much larger traditional set of over 8,000 characters.
The modern Yi syllabary has 1,164 characters (819 base syllables plus tone markers) and is written left-to-right. Traditional Yi scripts varied across regions and were historically used by Yi bimo (shaman-priests) for religious texts. The standardized script is used in Yi-medium education and official materials in Sichuan.
Data sourced from the ISO 15924 registry, Unicode CLDR, and the Unicode Character Database.
Languages Using Yi 1
Frequently Asked Questions
What type of writing system is Yi?
What direction does Yi read?
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Compare Yi With Another Script
Direction, characters, languages — side by side.
Key Facts
- ISO Code
- Yiii
- ISO Number
- 460
- Script Type
- Syllabary
- Direction
- Left-to-right
- Status
- Living
- Region
- East Asian
- Characters
- 1,220
- Introduced
- 2004 CE
- Languages
- 1
Unicode Ranges
-
Yi SyllablesU+A000–U+A48C
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Yi RadicalsU+A490–U+A4C6