Cham Letter O

It is the standalone Cham letter for the o vowel. It represents that vowel in Cham spelling. The related sign ꨯ marks o on a consonant, so the two forms serve different positions in a word.

Cham writing developed through inscriptional traditions rather than appearing as one newly invented sign. Early Champa inscriptions show links to the South Asian Brahmi and Pallava-Grantha scripts. Later Cham hands appear in palm-leaf and paper manuscripts. Inscriptions and manuscripts carried temple and royal writing, funerary notices, ritual texts, literature, administration, and historical records.

Cham has distinct Eastern and Western traditions; they are related but not interchangeable. Some Western Cham communities have also used Jawi, an Arabic-derived script for Malay. In Cambodian Islamic manuscript culture, many communities shifted toward Jawi and Malay print from the mid-19th century onward, while Imam San communities maintained akhar srak—the Cham script—as living heritage.