Adlam Small Letter I

It is Adlam’s lowercase vowel letter i. Adlam is an alphabet for Fula, also called Fulani, Pular, Pulaar, or Fulfulde. Its five basic vowel letters include 𞤭. “i” names the spelling role; the spoken vowel can vary by dialect and context. Inside a word it contributes a sound, while alone it is simply a letter.

Adlam was developed in Guinea by brothers Ibrahima and Abdoulaye Barry to give Fula a writing system suited to its sounds. Fula also has Latin and Arabic-based writing traditions, but Arabic adaptations did not consistently represent every Fula sound. Accounts place the first working alphabet around 1989; a Microsoft retrospective dates the brothers’ concentrated work to 1990.

Early Adlam joined letters; later forms separated them for readability. Classes, handwritten health books, and a newspaper helped spread it. It continues alongside Latin and Arabic-based spellings.

How do I type 𞤭?

Choose an Adlam keyboard or Unicode input. A Latin i key produces a different character. Enter U+1E92D with a Unicode input tool, or select an Adlam layout.

Why does 𞤭 change shape in different fonts?

The stored letter stays the same; fonts draw its form. Adlam letters can join neighboring letters or appear apart. Letterform guidance was revised in 2019 and 2025, so fonts based on earlier forms may draw it differently.

Adlam runs right to left. In mixed text, Latin stays left to right; if the line’s direction is set incorrectly, a valid sequence can appear out of order.