Buginese letter ha

It writes a Lontara syllable beginning with ha. The letter has an inherent /a/ vowel, so on its own it reads ha; a vowel sign after it changes the syllable. In a word, read it with the surrounding letters and marks.

Lontara is attested as early as the 14th century. It served practical writing, including genealogies, court chronicles, diaries, laws, treaties, and maps. One account places the addition of ha around 1605, during Islam's spread in Gowa, to make Arabic terms easier to write.

Buginese belongs to the Brahmic script family and may be related to Javanese; Unicode also notes an affinity with Tagalog. Makasar is a related Sulawesi script. A 2025 report describes Lontara continuing in teaching, public markers, and cultural revival after Latin became dominant.

How do I type ᨖ without a box?

Use a Unicode input method and a font with Buginese coverage. If the character appears as a blank or replacement box, the font cannot draw it; the text character has not changed. Different fonts can give it different outlines.

Traditional Lontara does not consistently mark consonants at the ends of syllables. Documented modifier practices also cover some vowel-less, pre-nasalized, or doubled consonants. Follow the established spelling for the word rather than adding a mark by guesswork.