Manchu

The punctuation, digits, and other characters of this writing system that lie outside its cursive letters are treated in Non-joining characters.

Written units

ID	Variants				Ligated Variants
	isol	init	medi	fina	init	medi	fina
A						
Aa							
Ah						
Ai				
At							
B					 	 
Cc			
Ch			
Cs			
D			
Db			
Dd				
Dh			
Dt			
G					 	 
G4				
Gc					 	 
Gh					 	 
Gx					 	 
H			
Hc			
Hh					
Hx			
Hx2				
I							
Ic		
Iy				
J			
Jc			
K2					 	 
Kc					 	 
Kh					 	 
L						
M						
M3				
N				
Ni			
O							
Oh							
Pb					 	 
R			
R2				
Rr			
S				
Sp				
T		
Tb		
Th		
Tt		
U				
Ue							
Uh				
V			
W						
Y			
Zs			

Phonetic letters

Letter	FVS	Variants
		isol	init	medi	fina
1820 ᠠ a	-			 A
	1				 Aa
	2		 A A		 A
	3	 A A
185D ᡝ e	-	 A	 A Ni
	1			 A	 A
	2			 Ah	 At
	3				 Aa
	4				 Ah
1873 ᡳ i	-		 A I
	1	 I		 I I	 Iy
	2	 A I		 A I	 I
	3			 I
1823 ᠣ o	-	 A O	 A O	 O
	1				 O
	2				 U
1860 ᡠ u	-	 A Oh	 A Oh
	1			 O	 U
	2			 Oh	 Oh
	3				 O
	4				 Uh
1861 ᡡ ue	-	 A Ue	 A O I	 O I	 Ue
185F ᡟ ii	-	 → medi	 → medi	 Ai	 Ai
1807 ᠇ sbm	-	 → medi	 → medi	 A	 → medi
1828 ᠨ n	-	 → init	 N
	1			 N	 N
	2			 A	 A
1829 ᠩ ng	-	 → medi	 → medi	 A G	 A G
1874 ᡴ k	-	 → init 3
	1	 → init 1	 G	 Hx	 G4
	2	 → init 2	 Gx	 G	 Gx
	3		 H	 H	 Hx2
	4			 Gx
1864 ᡤ g	-	 → init 2			 → medi 2
	1	 → init 1	 Gh	 Gh
	2		 Hh	 Hh
1865 ᡥ h	-	 → init 2			 → medi 2
	1	 → init 1	 Gc	 Gc
	2		 Hc	 Hc
182A ᠪ b	-	 → init	 B	 B	 B
1866 ᡦ p	-	 → init	 Pb	 Pb	 → medi
1830 ᠰ s	-	 → init	 S	 S	 S
1867 ᡧ sh	-	 → init	 Sp	 Sp	 Sp
1868 ᡨ t	-	 → init 2			 Dd
	1	 → init 1	 Tb	 Db
	2		 T	 Dd
	3			 D
1869 ᡩ d	-	 → init 2			 → medi 2
	1	 → init 1	 Tt	 Dt
	2		 Th	 Dh
182F ᠯ l	-	 → init	 L	 L	 L
182E ᠮ m	-	 → init	 M	 M	 M3
1834 ᠴ ch	-	 → init	 Ch	 Ch	 → medi
1835 ᠵ j	-	 → init	 I	 J	 → medi
1836 ᠶ y	-	 → init 2			 → medi 3
	2		 Y
	3			 Y
1875 ᡵ r	-	 → init	 R	 R	 R2
1876 ᡶ f	-	 → init 2			 → medi 2
	1	 → init 1	 W	 W
	2		 V	 V
1838 ᠸ w	-	 → init	 W	 W	 → medi
183A ᠺ kh	-	 → init	 K2	 K2	 → medi
186C ᡬ gh	-	 → init	 Kh	 Kh	 → medi
186D ᡭ hh	-	 → init	 Kc	 Kc	 → medi
186E ᡮ c	-	 → init	 Cs	 Cs	 → medi
186F ᡯ z	-	 → init 2			 → medi 2
	2		 Zs	 Zs
1870 ᡰ rh	-	 → init	 Rr	 Rr	 → medi
1871 ᡱ cr	-	 → init	 Cc	 Cc	 → medi
1877 ᡷ zr	-	 → init	 Ic	 Jc	 → medi

Shaping process

Letter classes

Class	Letters
masculine vowel	a, o, ue
feminine vowel	e, u
neuter vowel	i
vowel	a, e, i, o, u, ue, ii
consonant	sbm, n, ng, k, g, h, b, p, s, sh, t, d, l, m, ch, j, y, r, f, w, kh, gh, hh, c, z, rh, cr, zr
masculine bowed written unit	K2, Kh, Kc
feminine bowed written unit	G, Gh, Gc, Gx
neuter bowed written unit	B, Pb

Mongolian-specific phase

Shaping step	Letters	Condition	Mapping type
2. Syllabic	o, u	if follows an initial consonant:	marked
	f	if precedes i or o or u or ue:	marked
	i	if follows z:	marked
	e, u	if follows t or d or k or g or h:	feminine, feminine_marked
	e, u	if follows a vowel:	feminine
	n	if precedes a vowel:	onset
		else if precedes a consonant:	devsger
	t, d	if precedes a or i or o:	masculine_onset
		else if precedes e or u or ue:	feminine
		else if precedes a consonant:	devsger
		else if a vowel precedes t:	devsger
	k, g, h	if precedes a masculine vowel:	masculine_onset
		else if precedes a feminine vowel or a neuter vowel:	feminine
		else if k follows e that follows t:	masculine_devsger
		else if k follows u that follows k or g or h:	feminine
		else if k follows e or ue:	feminine
		else k:	masculine_devsger
3. Particle	i	if follows an MVS:	particle
4. Devsger	i	if follows a vowel:	vowel_devsger
5. Post-bowed	a, o	if follows a neuter bowed written unit or a masculine bowed written unit:	post_bowed
	e, u	if follows a neuter bowed written unit or a feminine bowed written unit:	post_bowed, post_bowed_feminine

Conditional mapping

Letter	Mapping type	Variants
		isol	init	medi	fina
1820 ᠠ a	default				
	post_bowed				
185D ᡝ e	default				
	marked				
	feminine				
	feminine_marked				
	post_bowed				
	post_bowed_feminine				
1873 ᡳ i	default				
	marked				
	particle	
	vowel_devsger			
1823 ᠣ o	default				
	marked				
	post_bowed				
1860 ᡠ u	default				
	marked				
	feminine				
	feminine_marked				
	post_bowed				
	post_bowed_feminine				
1861 ᡡ ue	default				
185F ᡟ ii	default				
1807 ᠇ sbm	default				
1828 ᠨ n	default				
	onset			
	devsger			
1829 ᠩ ng	default				
1874 ᡴ k	default				
	masculine_onset			
	masculine_devsger				
	feminine				
1864 ᡤ g	default				
	masculine_onset			
	feminine			
1865 ᡥ h	default				
	masculine_onset			
	feminine			
182A ᠪ b	default				
1866 ᡦ p	default				
1830 ᠰ s	default				
1867 ᡧ sh	default				
1868 ᡨ t	default				
	devsger			
	masculine_onset			
	feminine			
1869 ᡩ d	default				
	masculine_onset			
	feminine			
182F ᠯ l	default				
182E ᠮ m	default				
1834 ᠴ ch	default				
1835 ᠵ j	default				
1836 ᠶ y	default				
1875 ᡵ r	default				
1876 ᡶ f	default				
	marked			
1838 ᠸ w	default				
183A ᠺ kh	default				
186C ᡬ gh	default				
186D ᡭ hh	default				
186E ᡮ c	default				
186F ᡯ z	default				
1870 ᡰ rh	default				
1871 ᡱ cr	default				
1877 ᡷ zr	default				

Particle mapping

When the nominal spelling of a particle in the table below occurs in text, its letters are reshaped using the particle mapping (step 3 in the shaping process above). In the written form, the written units shown in blue are those whose shape is determined by the particle condition. A particle prefixed with mvs is a standalone particle that follows a Mongolian vowel separator; the preceding MVS is then widened to set it off.

Particle	Form
mvs i	

References

• Information technology — Manchu nominal characters, presentation characters and use rules of controlling characters. China national standard, GB/T 36645—2018.

• Liang Jinbao. (2021). The Transferring rules of Manchu nominal form to variant form. Research on Mongolian Encodings, version 0.1.0 (May 1, 2020).

• Quejingzhabu. (2013). “Encoding of Manchu”, in: 确精扎布蒙古文信息处理专辑. Hohhot: Inner Mongolian Education Press, pp. 321–334.

• An Shuangcheng. (1993). 满汉大辞典. Shenyang: Liaoning Ethnic Publishing House.

• Liu Jingxian, Zhao Aping, Zhao Jinchun. (1997). 满语研究通论. Mudanjiang: Heilongjiang Chaoxian Ethnic Publishing House.

• Huang Xihui. (2012). “Research on the initial form and medial form of zi in Manchu writing system”, in: Manchu Studies, 28(2), pp. 5–10.