Old Coptic Shima

ⳛ writes an Egyptian sound in the Old Coptic script.

In the Schmidt Papyrus, the letter represents a k-like stop formed with the tongue farther forward against the palate. The letter itself is a sound sign, not a word with a separate meaning.

Why was Old Coptic Shima used?

Old Coptic added signs for Egyptian sounds Greek letters could not show.

Old Coptic is a scholarly name for early ways of writing Egyptian with Greek-based letters and additional signs, many adapted from Demotic, an older Egyptian script. These texts did not share one fixed alphabet; later Coptic writing standardized a more consistent set.

The Schmidt Papyrus is a plea to Osiris, an ancient Egyptian god, and is dated to the first-to-second century A.D. Earlier Egyptians wrote appeals to the dead; around 100 AD, Old Coptic was chosen for a similar plea to a god. The papyrus preserves a woman's request for justice in a personal dispute.

How do I type ⳛ?

Use Unicode hex input or a character reference.

If your editor has hexadecimal Unicode entry, use 2CDB; the keystrokes vary by editor. In HTML use ⳛ. A JavaScript string can use \u2CDB.

A blank box means the active font lacks this character. Choose one that supports extended Coptic.