Ethiopic Syllable Phu

It marks a p-like consonant followed by the u vowel.

Amharic-focused Latin transcriptions write the syllable p̣u or p’u: the dot or apostrophe marks a p made with a brief, tight release; u names the vowel. Alone, ጱ is only a syllable fragment, so surrounding text supplies any word meaning. Script references list it for Amharic, Tigre, and Tigrinya; the p̣u notation here describes the Amharic reading.

Writing in Ethiopia and Eritrea is first attested as pseudo-Sabaean, a consonant script modeled on South Arabian writing, in the 8th/7th centuries BCE. Geʽez, a historical language used in the region, appears in consonant-only form in the 1st–3rd centuries CE. In the 4th century CE, consonant signs were reshaped to mark vowels, turning the system into an abugida: signs combine consonants and vowel values. This made vowels visible in Geʽez court writing. Amharic adopted the script in the 13th or 14th century and became a language of elementary-school instruction in the early 20th century. The script’s documented line of descent runs through South Arabian writing; a possible Indian influence remains debated.

How do I type ጱ?

On the GFF Amharic QWERTY layout, press P, then u.

Checked on 2026-09-06, this mnemonic layout maps P followed by u to ጱ; other Ethiopic layouts may use different keys.