Avestan letter ce

It has the “ch” sound in “church.”

In Latin transliteration, Avestan c or č records this consonant. On its own, 𐬗 is a character sample, not a complete Avestan message.

Why was the Avestan script created?

It was designed to record ritual recitations precisely.

The Avesta, Zoroastrian sacred texts, had been transmitted orally. Around the fifth century CE, scholars devised the Avestan script to write down its distinct sounds. The oldest surviving manuscript dates to 1288; later copies are associated with Iran and western India.

The shape of ce was adapted from a sign in the Pahlavi Psalter, a book of psalms in Middle Persian. That sign was linked to sounds transliterated c, j, z, or ž; removing its flourish produced the Avestan form. The script was later also used for Pazand, a Middle Persian use of Avestan writing.

Why does 𐬗 display incorrectly?

Font coverage and text direction can change the display.

Avestan is written from right to left, and its letters usually stand separately. The Unicode shaping specification allows Avestan š followed by ce to form a manuscript-style šc ligature. A font without Avestan letters, a renderer that mishandles right-to-left text, or missing shaping support can show a box, reverse the order, or leave the letters unjoined.