Batak U

ᯥ is the Batak letter for a standalone u vowel. Shared across Batak languages, it cannot identify the language.

Text symbol

What ᯥ means

It represents the standalone vowel u.

Standalone u can also be written with a sign on ᯀ (ᯁ in Simalungun). After consonants, ᯮ marks u in Mandailing, Pakpak, Simalungun and Toba; Karo uses ᯬ. Fonts may join these signs to their base.

Sitopayan’s stone inscriptions, dated to the 13th century, are early evidence for Batak writing; they do not date ᯥ itself. Datu (ritual specialists) used folded-bark pustaha books for healing and divination. Batak belongs to the Brahmic family of Indian-origin scripts; its route to Sumatra is debated, with proposed links to Pallava (southern India), Kawi (Java), or a local script influenced by Pallava. By 2026, Batak writing was taught in schools for cultural reasons and appeared on public signs.

Part of the collection

ᯂ

Batak Toba Alphabet & Script

Who writes ᯥ

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Questions people ask

Why does ᯥ show as a box on some devices?

Not every system ships a font for the Batak 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.