Ethiopic Syllable Ni

It is the Ethiopic syllable ni, usually part of a word. In the fidel's n-series, one consonant pairs with different vowels: ነ is ne, ኑ is nu, and ኒ is ni. The character normally contributes a syllable to a word; it is not a word or idea by itself.

The earliest known writing in Ethiopia and Eritrea includes pseudo-Sabaean inscriptions—texts in a South Arabian-style consonant script—from the 8th/7th centuries BC. A clearly defined Ethiopic script appears in inscriptions from the 2nd/3rd centuries CE. By the 4th century, vowel marks had turned the consonant script into an abugida, where a consonant form changes to show its vowel. Ethiopic writing developed from a South Arabian abjad, a script that writes mainly consonants. Scholars disagree about whether the vowel marks reflect influence from the ancient South Asian Brahmi or Kharosthi scripts, or arose independently.

The script first served Ge'ez, which remains a liturgical language. Adaptations of it also write Amharic, Tigre, and Oromo, among other languages. Amharic adaptations added extra syllable signs for palatal consonants—sounds made with the tongue raised toward the roof of the mouth—in the 14th and 15th centuries.

How do you type ኒ?

Use an Ethiopic-aware input method; there is no universal physical key. Some keyboards accept sound sequences; others accept a consonant-series and vowel position, then turn those inputs into one Ethiopic syllable. In phonetic Amharic input, choose the n-series i form; physical keys depend on the layout.

Fonts may draw the same syllable with alternate outlines or language-specific Ethiopic shapes. A changed drawing alone does not mean the stored character changed.