What 𑅇 means
It supplies the Pali VA sound in Chakma spelling.
In 2013, Buddhist monks preparing a printed Pali Tipiṭaka, a collection of Buddhist scriptures, added 𑅇 because the available Chakma letters did not cover that consonant. It filled a practical spelling gap.
Chakma writing has a longer record: Grierson’s 1903 chart is an early Western record of the script. References place Chakma in the Mon-Burmese branch of the Brahmic script family, a group of historically connected scripts across South and Southeast Asia.
How does VAA differ from WAA?
VAA writes Pali VA; WAA is a separate Chakma letter.
The VAA glyph is described as Chakma BAA with a horizontal line added. That is a shape comparison; BAA itself is a different letter.
Some documented Chakma forms in India and Bangladesh are rounder, and fonts vary. The 2019 spelling record lists no subjoined form (a consonant written beneath another) or conjoined form (letters joined into one unit) for VAA.
How do I type Chakma Vaa?
Use a Chakma-script keyboard layout if your device offers one.
A Chakma keyboard release dated 30 January 2024 lists layouts for desktop, Android, and iOS.
Don't confuse it with
1Questions people ask
1Why does 𑅇 show as a box on some devices?
Because that device's fonts have no glyph for it. The character is still correct and still copies correctly — the box is a missing glyph, not a broken character.
How to type 𑅇
𑅇\11147Codes and encoding1 code points
A visible symbol can contain several code points. JS .length counts UTF-16 units; UTF-8 counts bytes.