Combining Right Half Ring Above

It modifies the preceding letter; its reading depends on the notation.

In the Uralic Phonetic Alphabet (UPA), a specialist system for recording sounds in Uralic languages, ͗ marks a strong-onset vowel—a vowel with a firmer start. Some International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) descriptions use a half ring for greater lip rounding; the notation determines the reading.

UPA, also called Finno-Ugric Transcription, was first published by E. N. Setälä in 1901 and formalized in 1902 to record detailed linguistic information about Uralic languages. A separate Latin inscription sign called the sicilicus is sometimes compared with this shape. Its earliest alleged evidence is no earlier than the second century BCE, and identification is debated because the shape overlaps with apex-like marks; this does not show that ͗ descended from it.

Older Egyptological text used i͗ as one spelling of Egyptological yod, a transliteration sign for an Ancient Egyptian consonant. As of Unicode 12.0, a dedicated glottal i is preferred; old sequences are not automatically converted. Some Church Slavonic editorial data uses ͗ for smooth breathing, alongside Cyrillic psili for the same role.

How do I type ͗ after a letter?

Type the base letter first, then add ͗.

Combining marks attach to the preceding letter, so a͗ is stored as a followed by ͗. Use Unicode input or a phonetic keyboard. Praat, a program for phonetic analysis, also accepts direct entry and backslash trigraphs.

In older Egyptological italics, i͗ can shift or disappear when font shaping support is weak. Try a phonetic font; the display problem does not change the stored sequence.