Tai Le script
abugida for the Tai Nüa language
The Tai Le script (ᥖᥭᥰ ᥘᥫᥴ, [tai˦.lə˧˥]), or Dehong Dai script, is a Brahmic script used to write the Tai Nüa language spoken by the Tai Nua people of south-central Yunnan, China. (The language is also known as Nɯa, Dehong Dai and Chinese Shan.) It is written in horizontal lines from left to right, with spaces only between clauses and sentences.
The Tai Le script is approximately 700–800 years old and has used several different orthographic conventions.
Traditional script
The traditional Tai Le script is a Brahmic script that is found in the Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture of Yunnan, China.
The script is known by a variety of names. It is known as Lik Tho Ngok (Tai Nüa: lik4 tho2 ŋɔk4, "bean sprout script") by the Tai Nua, the Old Tay or Old Dai script, Lik Tay La/Na (Tai Nüa: lik6 Tay2 lä1/nä1, "Northern Tay script") and Lik To Yao (Tai Nüa: lik6 to4 yaaw2, "long script").
History
The Lik Tho Ngok script used by the Tai Nuea people is one of a number of "Lik Tai" scripts or "Lik" scripts used by various Tai peoples in northeastern India, northern Myanmar, southwestern Yunnan, and northwestern Laos. Evidence suggests that the Lik scripts have a common origin from an Old Burmese prototype before the fifteenth century, most probably in the polity of Mong Mao. The Lik Tai script featured on a 1407 Ming dynasty scroll exhibits many features of the Burmese script, including fourteen of the nineteen consonants, three medial diacritics and the high tone marker. According to the scholar Daniels, this shows that the Tai borrowed from the Burmese script to create their own script; the Lik Tai script was derived from the Burmese script, as it could only have been created by someone proficient in Burmese.
“Tai Le script” enters the record as abugida for the Tai Nüa language. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what script, abugida and language can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Tai Le script” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, script, abugida and language provides the most credible route into that argument.
Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 17, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2566326. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1407.
A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Tai Le script”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Tai Le script primary sources, Tai Le script archive and script research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Tai Le script”?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Tai Le script” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.