Ethiopic Syllable Pha

ጰ is a syllable sign in Ethiopic writing, not a complete word by itself. It marks a p sound made with a sharp release from the throat; ፐ marks plain p.

Text symbol

What ጰ means

It writes the first-vowel form of an ejective p. That consonant is made with a throat closure and a crisp release; scholars transliterate the syllable pʼä.

The Ethiopic script descends from South Arabian consonant writing, attested in the region in the eighth and seventh centuries BCE. By the fourth century CE it was an abugida, joining each consonant to a vowel. Strong Greek influence from 300 BCE to 600 CE may have prompted ፐ and ጰ, later used in Greek-origin words.

One Unicode character stands for the syllable; fonts can draw it in different shapes.

Part of the collection

ሀ

Amharic Alphabet & Letters

Who writes ጰ

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Don't confuse it with

ፐ

Ethiopic Syllable Pa

For ጰ vs ፐ, ፐ marks plain p; ጰ marks a p released with a sharp throat closure.

Alphabet

Amharic alphabet38 letters

ሀለሐመሠረሰሸቀቈበቨተቸኀኈነኘአከኰኸወዐዘዠየደጀገጐጠጨጰጸፀፈፐ

Questions people ask

Why does ጰ show as a box on some devices?

Because that device's fonts have no glyph for it. The character is still correct and still copies correctly — the box is a missing glyph, not a broken character.