What 𖣑 means
It represents a Bamum syllable; Wup names its reading.
King Ibrahim Njoya and palace scribes developed Bamum writing in western Cameroon between 1896-1910. Early forms included pictorial signs linked to objects and actions as memory aids; repeated revisions moved the system toward syllabic writing. Surviving Phase C material is dated 1906-1908 and includes correspondence and an agricultural calendar.
Why did Bamum writing change?
Njoya's revisions made the system more practical for writing speech.
The script grew through work by Njoya and palace scribes rather than arriving as one finished alphabet. It was used for administrative records, history, education, correspondence, and books. Phase C belongs to that series of revisions; later development led to the A-ka-u-ku syllabary used by modern Bamum.
Why does 𖣑 show as a square?
The font or app may not support this historic glyph.
For transcribing Phase C or studying Bamum script history, use a font with Bamum Supplement coverage. The historical phases are not interchangeable with the modern A-ka-u-ku writing.
As of 2026, Windows lists Segoe UI Historic for historic Bamum, and Noto Sans Bamum covers both modern and historic ranges.
Archival and specialist: this character points to a historical phase of Bamum writing, not ordinary modern Bamum text.
A square is a display failure, not a different reading of the Bamum sign.
Drift: As of 2026, Bamum revival and teaching efforts continue, while Phase C remains historical material used mainly in archival and specialist work.
Part of collections
Who writes 𖣑
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Questions people ask
1Why does 𖣑 show as a box on some devices?
Not every system ships a font for the Bamum Supplement block. Where none is installed, the character shows as an empty box; adding a font such as Noto fixes it. The character itself is still correct and copies correctly.
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How to type or find 𖣑
- Also called
- Wup
- Search it as
- Bamum Wup · Bamum Phase C · Bamum syllable · Bamum script · Bamum alphabet · Bamum letter · Bamum font
- Shows up in
- Anything that takes text · its shape is whatever your font draws
𖣑\168D1Codes and encoding1 code points
A visible symbol can contain several code points. JS .length counts UTF-16 units; UTF-8 counts bytes.