Cham Letter Ba

It marks the voiced b at an Eastern Cham syllable’s start. By itself, it is not a word. The consonant normally carries an inherent vowel, roughly “a”; a dependent vowel sign changes that vowel, and a final consonant uses a separate letter.

The earliest known Cham-language inscription, at Đông Yên Châu, is estimated to the middle of the 4th century. Early inscriptions record royal victories and temple donations; that estimate anchors the surviving record, not ꨝ’s individual first appearance.

Cham writing grew from Pallava letter forms, a South Asian tradition descended from Brahmi, through contact with Indian religion and grammatical learning. From the 11th century, as Sanskrit inscriptions became rarer, written Cham grew more codified. From the 15th century, Middle Cham manuscripts used a more cursive form than stone inscriptions. In Cambodia, Cham-script Islamic manuscripts increasingly gave way to Jawi, an Arabic-based script, from the mid-19th century. Eastern Cham script was revalued as a visible identity marker in the 1970s. Western Cham is related, but has a different repertoire.

How can I type ꨝ?

Use an Akhar Thrah input method and enter marks in order. In a full syllable, enter the base letter, any medial mark that modifies the onset, vowel signs, a lengthener, and the final consonant. Some vowel signs appear to the left of ꨝ after rendering even though they are entered after it.

The iCham guide describes its Rumix input method: Latin keystrokes convert to Akhar Thrah, and a space or punctuation commits the text. If ꨝ appears as a square, your font lacks Cham coverage; use a font that supports Cham.