Combining Cyrillic Letter Ie

It is a raised Cyrillic letter used in Church Slavonic abbreviations.

Church Slavonic is a language used in Slavic Christian worship and texts. In its titlo abbreviation tradition, a small letter could sit above the writing line to represent text left out of a shortened word. That tradition grew from medieval handwriting and the Greek abbreviation bar; the surrounding Cyrillic tradition appears in 10th-century Old Church Slavonic manuscripts. ⷷ is the raised Ie form.

Why was it written above a word?

The raised letter showed that a shortened word left something out.

The practice developed in medieval manuscripts, especially for recurring or sacred words, and continued in Church Slavonic printing. A titlo is an abbreviation mark associated with this tradition; ⷷ is a raised letter, not the titlo stroke itself. In Old Church Slavonic texts, raised letters and other abbreviation marks could be used more interchangeably. In modern Church Slavonic, raised abbreviation letters have a more explicit spelling role. The related raised De letter ⷣ appears with Ie in manuscript abbreviation examples.

How do I type ⷷ?

Put it after the character it should attach to.

ⷷ is a combining mark: in the text sequence, the base character comes first and the mark follows it. A font with Church Slavonic combining-letter support places it over the base; without that support, it may shift or collide with another mark.