Graphical representation of the Phags-pa Unicode block

Phags-pa is a Unicode block containing characters from the 'Phags-pa script promulgated as a national script by Kublai Khan, the founder of the Yuan dynasty. It was used primarily in writing Mongolian and Chinese, although it was intended for the use of all written languages of the Mongol Empire.

Block

Phags-pa[1][2]
Official Unicode Consortium code chart (PDF)
 0123456789ABCDEF
U+A84x
U+A85x
U+A86x
U+A87x
Notes
1.^As of Unicode version 17.0
2.^Grey areas indicate non-assigned code points

The block has six variation sequences defined for standardized variants.[3] They use U+FE00 VARIATION SELECTOR-1 (VS01):

Variation sequences for reversed shaping
U+CharacterBase code pointBase + VS01
A856Phags‑Pa Letter Small Aꡖ︀
A85CPhags‑Pa Letter Haꡜ︀
A85EPhags‑Pa Letter Iꡞ︀
A85FPhags‑Pa Letter Uꡟ︀
A860Phags‑Pa Letter Eꡠ︀
A868Phags‑Pa Subjoined Letter Yaꡨ︀

Note that four vowel letters have positional variants:

Positional forms of I, U, E, and O
U+ Character Orientation Isolate Initial Medial Final
U+A85E Phags‑Pa Letter I regular
reversed ꡞ︀ ꡞ︀ ꡞ︀ ꡞ︀
U+A85F Phags‑Pa Letter U regular
reversed ꡟ︀ ꡟ︀ ꡟ︀ ꡟ︀
U+A860 Phags‑Pa Letter E regular
reversed ꡠ︀ ꡠ︀ ꡠ︀ ꡠ︀
U+A861 Phags‑Pa Letter O regular

History

The following Unicode-related documents record the purpose and process of defining specific characters in the Phags-pa block:

References

  1. "Unicode character database". The Unicode Standard. Retrieved 2023-07-26.
  2. "Enumerated Versions of The Unicode Standard". The Unicode Standard. Retrieved 2023-07-26.
  3. "Unicode Character Database: Standardized Variation Sequences". The Unicode Consortium.