Cham Vowel Sign Au

Enter it after the Cham base it modifies.

In logical text order, it follows its consonant or independent-vowel base; any medial or pre-base signs in the same syllable come first. Cham-capable shaping lays out the sequence.

What does ꨱ do in a Cham syllable?

It changes the vowel carried by a Cham syllable.

Cham is an abugida: each consonant normally carries an unwritten default vowel. A dependent vowel sign changes that vowel within the syllable.

The Cham script developed in Southeast Asia from the Pallava script, an Indian writing system, around 200 CE. Recognizable inscriptions appear around the fifth century CE in Sanskrit and Cham texts. Manuscript forms from the fifteenth century onward developed a more cursive Middle Cham style; modern Cham writing developed from the nineteenth century onward. As of 2026, the Cham script is used more by Eastern Cham communities, while Western Cham communities in Cambodia often write in Arabic-based Jawi.

Why can ꨱ sound unlike “au”?

Its Unicode label is not a pronunciation rule.

An Eastern Cham orthography guide updated 27 April 2026 maps ꨱ to a long schwa: the relaxed, unstressed vowel at the start of English “about,” held longer. The Cham vowel that glides from open “a” toward “u” is written with ꨮꨭ.

That mapping is specific to Eastern Cham spelling; the Unicode label alone does not settle how a Cham syllable is read.