Ethiopic syllable ssi

It writes the syllable labeled “ssi” inside a Bench word.

Bench is a language written with Ethiopic syllabic characters. “Ssi” is the Latin-letter label for this syllable; the surrounding Bench word supplies its meaning.

The script's history predates this particular sign. A historical synthesis places evidence of an early stage called Proto-Ge’ez around the fourth or fifth century BCE and the script's shift to an abugida (a writing system where each sign combines a consonant and a vowel) around 350 CE. Standardization work for additional Ethiopic writing continued in the early 2000s; these dates do not establish when ⶢ itself first appeared.

How can I type ⶢ?

Use an Ethiopic layout that includes the extended S-series.

The SIL Ethiopic keyboard lists ⶢ in its S-series. Ethiopic layouts can be language-specific, so an installed layout may omit this Bench letter. If your system offers Unicode hexadecimal entry, enter 2DA2.

Why does ⶢ look different across fonts?

The font controls its outline and whether it appears at all.

Fonts draw Ethiopic characters in different styles, and a font without Ethiopic Extended coverage may show a box instead. The display changes; the character does not.

ⶠ, ⶡ, ⶣ, ⶤ, ⶥ and ⶦ are the other vowel forms in the extended Bench “ss” series. Each is a different syllable, not another display of ⶢ.