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Vowels placed around a consonant to show tone.
Also known as: Miao script
Sometimes confused with: Fraser Miao alphabet
The script devised in the early twentieth century for Miao languages of south-west China.
Writes Miao languages with a consonant character and a vowel whose position carries the tone.
Contexts: Language and transcription, History
Uses the vowel's placement rather than a diacritic to carry tone, so tone occupies a spatial dimension instead of a mark — a fourth distinct solution to writing tone after the Thai marks, the Vietnamese diacritics and the Tai Viet consonant series.
Contexts: Language and transcription, History
Large letter-like consonant figures with a smaller vowel letter set beside them, the vowel sitting above, beside or beneath the consonant to indicate the tone.