Ahom Letter Ddha

It marks a retroflex, aspirated consonant in Pali set in Ahom. “Retroflex” means the tongue tip curls slightly back; “aspirated” means a puff of breath follows the consonant. Scholarly Latin-letter transliteration writes the sound ḍh. The regular Ahom letter dha, 𑜔, is dental, made at the teeth; this letter is its retroflex counterpart.

In 2020, an encoding proposal documented four added retroflex stop letters, made by adding a dot to their dental counterparts, for a Tai Ahom edition of the Pali Tipiṭaka, a collection of Buddhist scriptures. The proposal's purpose was to preserve Pali sound distinctions in that text.

The broader Ahom script has a much older history. Its earliest surviving examples include an inscription on the Sadiya Snake Pillar and coins from the sixteenth century. Ahom is part of the Lik Tai script family; researchers connect that family's development with influences from Old Mon or Old Burmese. As Assamese replaced Ahom in public life, the script's role narrowed from court and manuscript work to ritual preservation and revival teaching.

Why did someone send me this character?

A standalone 𑝄 is most likely a letter sample. In a message about Pali, Ahom writing, or type design, it identifies this specialist letter. Its surrounding text or image tells you what the sender is showing.

An Ahom orthography guide dated 26 April 2026 lists it for one Pali-related publication. A Pali typesetter needs the sound distinction; an Ahom reader may instead see an unusual addition to the script.