Special characters and symbols, transcription and glossing conventions

Abstract

Shaowu does not have its own writing system, although some words are cognate of or identifiable with those in standard written Chinese. Since there are Shaowuspecific words of which the etyma are unknown or unattested in the extant literature, where there is uncertainty as to what the word may be, we follow the convention established in Sinitic linguistic circles by placing an empty circle 〇 to represent the corresponding syllable in the lexical item. At the lower right side of the circle, we insert the standard Chinese character (in subscript) that matches the meaning of the unidentified Shaowu word or syllable, but which is not the etymon of that word or syllable. For instance, the etyma of the Shaowu first, second and third personal pronouns are to this day a mystery. Notwithstanding several plausible theories that have been put forward, we represent them by empty circles: