Batak Vowel Sign U

Enter the consonant first, then ᯮ in text order.

A Batak keyboard that supports the script can apply its shaping rules. A documented QWERTY transliterator maps lowercase Latin u to this dependent sign; for full words, select the relevant language layout because spelling differs among Batak communities.

What does Batak vowel sign U do?

ᯮ adds the vowel sound “u” to its base consonant.

This dependent sign forms a syllable with a consonant and cannot stand on its own. A Batak vowel without a consonant base uses an independent form. Mandailing, Pakpak, Simalungun, and Toba use ᯮ for U; Karo and Simalungun-sa use different U signs.

Why does Batak vowel sign U appear to move?

Font shaping can change where the sign appears on screen.

ᯮ can join its consonant. In a closed syllable (one ending in a consonant), text stores the consonant, U sign, final consonant, and vowel-killer (a mark that suppresses the consonant’s inherent vowel) in sound order. A font may display ᯮ beside the final consonant; the text order and reading stay the same.

Batak writing descends from the Brahmi tradition of ancient India. Among its early surviving evidence are the Sitopayan stone inscriptions, which mix Batak forms with post-Pallava writing resembling Old Javanese. They are broadly dated to the 11th–14th centuries; one proposal dates the second inscription to the 13th century. Kawi, an older Southeast Asian script, was a common ancestor of several scripts in the wider region.