What ᝍ means
It is the Buhid syllable ra.
Buhid consonant letters carry an inherent a, so bare ᝍ spells ra. Add the i vowel sign above or the u sign below to make ri or ru. Buhid spelling leaves syllable-final consonants unwritten, so ᝍ does not stand for a bare final r.
On its own, ᝍ is a syllable fragment, not a complete Buhid word or sentence. Use the surrounding text to tell which word is intended.
How do I type ᝍ in Buhid?
Use a Unicode-aware Buhid keyboard.
Enter the base letter on a Buhid layout. For ri or ru, enter the i or u vowel sign as well.
When a vowel sign follows a consonant, Buhid often forms a ligature: the font may join the two characters into one outline. The spelling still uses the base letter and its mark.
Where does Buhid writing come from?
Buhid belongs to a wider family of Philippine scripts.
Buhid is related to Tagalog/Baybayin, Hanunóo, and Tagbanwa, although Buhid, Hanunóo, and Tagbanwa may not descend directly from Tagalog. Kawi, a Brahmi-derived script used in island Southeast Asia between the 8th and 16th centuries, is part of the deeper history; a route through western Java between the 10th and 14th centuries is possible but uncertain.
Later Mangyan orthography distinguishes ra, ri, and ru; older practice could use la, li, and lu for those syllables, though the extent is unclear. Buhid writing on bamboo appears in urukay poetry and songs. A 1994 monograph describes urukay as rhythmic recitation for teaching and entertainment. A 2022 National Museum report describes Buhid writing as continuing; a 2019 revival-school account describes teaching it to younger generations.
In running text, ᝍ reads as part of a Buhid word; on its own, it needs context.
ᝍ is not a bare final r: its default spelling is the syllable ra.
Part of the collection
Who writes ᝍ
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Don't confuse it with
1Questions people ask
1Why does ᝍ change shape beside a vowel mark?
The font may be joining the sequence. Buhid often forms ligatures when a vowel sign follows a consonant, so the pair can appear as one outline.
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How to type or find ᝍ
- Search it as
- buhid ra · ra · buhid letter r · buhid syllable ra · buhid script · buid ra · mangyan ra · surat mangyan
- Shows up in
- Anything that takes text · its shape is whatever your font draws
ᝍ\174DCodes and encoding1 code points
A visible symbol can contain several code points. JS .length counts UTF-16 units; UTF-8 counts bytes.