Ethiopic syllable Bwi

It writes “bwi”: a rounded-lip b moving into i.

This lip-rounding is called labialization: the lips are already rounded as the b begins, making a brief w-like glide into the following i.

At linguist Wolf Leslau’s request for written language material, Sahle Selassie Berhane Mariam began writing Gurage village stories in 1962; together they devised new Ethiopic spellings for sounds absent from the established inventory. A Chaha text—Chaha is a Gurage language—appeared in print in 1966.

Why is ᎅ also written 𞟳?

𞟳 is the modern Gurage spelling counterpart of ᎅ.

A 2021 Unicode proposal pairs them for the same syllable. Earlier Unicode names use “Sebatbeit,” from Sebat Bet (“Seven Houses”), a term tied to seven western districts and their language varieties; the proposal uses the broader “Gurage” label for spelling across the wider area.

How can I type ᎅ?

Use the Sebatbeit phonetic keyboard if you have it.

The GFF Sebatbeit Keyman manual, version 1.0, describes a phonetic layout: its keys follow sound values. Its Unicode input is the fallback for characters missing from the main layout; Ctrl + Alt + Y opens it.

Fonts may draw the syllable in different styles; some Ethiopic typefaces offer alternate forms to distinguish labialized syllables. A font without Ethiopic Supplement support may show an empty box instead of the character.