Lisu Bosa

Writing Systems Technology

Lisu Bosa is a multi-weight, multi-style family of fonts for the Lisu script of Southeast Asia

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The Lisu script (also known as Old Lisu or Fraser) was created in 1915 by Burmese preacher Sara Ba Thaw and modified in the 1930s by British missionary James Fraser.

Lisu woman

Literacy

Among people throughout Southeast Asia who speak Lisu as their primary language, there is a high literacy rate. The Old Lisu (or Fraser) script was recognized as the official script for writing the Lisu language by the Chinese government in 1992. Read more about the project.

Italic weights

Range of weights

The fonts include eight weights, ranging from Extra Light to Black. There is also a newly designed italic style with the same number of weights.

4 Lisu letters

Not just turned Latin

The Lisu script was originally inspired by Latin capitals, but has developed into an independent script. Many letters are used in unexpected ways. For example, the letter V represents [h], while H represents [x]. The letter A does represent [a], but ꓯ represents [ɛ].

Common questions

Why do I sometimes get a fake Bold?

If you choose a weight other than Regular (such as ExtraLight), and then use application controls to turn on Bold, some applications will make a "fake" Bold rather than use one of the real ones in the font (SemiBold, Bold, ExtraBold, Black). For more details see the FAQ page.

I can't find the "Lisu Bosa Lolo" family in this package. Where can I find it?

The "Lisu Bosa Lolo" family is distributed in a separate package - see the Download page. Most users do not need this extra font family as the weights are identical to the Light and SemiBold weights of the main font family. The "Lolo" family is only for use in older apps that only support weights named Regular and Bold.

See full FAQ list

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