Kayah Li

A script devised in a single year.

Also known as: Kayah script, Karenni script

CulturalHistorical & archaeologicalKeyboard & punctuationStandard profile

Meanings

The script created in the 1960s for the Kayah languages of Myanmar and Thailand.

Historically documentedVerified fact
Writes the Kayah languages of eastern Myanmar and northern Thailand.
Contexts: Language and transcription, History
Historically documentedVerified fact
Writes tone as a following character rather than as a mark, so tone occupies a position in the line instead of a space above it — a fifth distinct solution among the tone systems this sprint has recorded.
Contexts: Language and transcription, History

Visual description

Angular letters written left to right with vowels as full letters and tone marked by separate characters following the syllable.

Symmetry: none
Orientation: upright

Confidence

IdentityModerate confidence: Moderate confidence because the identity is documented in encyclopedic references, but only a single source has been found so far.
Historical originLow confidence: Low confidence because the historical origin is documented in encyclopedic references, but only a single source has been found so far, but the regional or cultural match to this specific claim is not precise.
Current useModerate confidence: Moderate confidence because the current use is documented in encyclopedic references, but only a single source has been found so far.
Visual matchModerate confidence: Moderate confidence because the visual match is documented in encyclopedic references, but only a single source has been found so far.

Sources

The world's writing systems and their notation
Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press and comparable scholarly editions · retrieved 2026-08-27
Scholarly treatment of scripts not covered by a regional source already registered. Cited for the identity, structure and documented use of a script or a mark. Undeciphered and partly deciphered scripts are recorded as such, and a reading that is contested is stated as contested rather than adopted.

Last reviewed 2026-08-27

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Meanings

The script created in the 1960s for the Kayah languages of Myanmar and Thailand.

Historically documentedVerified fact

Writes the Kayah languages of eastern Myanmar and northern Thailand.

Contexts: Language and transcription, History

Historically documentedVerified fact

Writes tone as a following character rather than as a mark, so tone occupies a position in the line instead of a space above it — a fifth distinct solution among the tone systems this sprint has recorded.

Contexts: Language and transcription, History

Confidence

IdentityModerate confidence: Moderate confidence because the identity is documented in encyclopedic references, but only a single source has been found so far.
Historical originLow confidence: Low confidence because the historical origin is documented in encyclopedic references, but only a single source has been found so far, but the regional or cultural match to this specific claim is not precise.
Current useModerate confidence: Moderate confidence because the current use is documented in encyclopedic references, but only a single source has been found so far.
Visual matchModerate confidence: Moderate confidence because the visual match is documented in encyclopedic references, but only a single source has been found so far.

Sources

The world's writing systems and their notation
Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press and comparable scholarly editions · retrieved 2026-08-27
Scholarly treatment of scripts not covered by a regional source already registered. Cited for the identity, structure and documented use of a script or a mark. Undeciphered and partly deciphered scripts are recorded as such, and a reading that is contested is stated as contested rather than adopted.

Last reviewed 2026-08-27