Ethiopic Syllable Ssu

ⶡ is a syllable sign used to write Bench.

Bench is written with an extended Ethiopic script. ⶡ belongs to a series of signs for the same consonant; the other signs represent its other syllables. In a word, ⶡ supplies one part of the spelling.

Why was ⶡ made?

It adds a syllable type that the basic Ethiopic set lacked. Bench needed extra signs for retroflex consonants—sounds made with the tongue tip curled back. The added signs are sound-related to basic Ethiopic letters, but have distinct shapes.

The Bench extensions were proposed in 1981, appeared in publishing by 1998, and were used in Bench school systems in 1994.

Unicode’s character list grouped ⶡ under “Syllables for Bench” in 2026. A 2018 correction to Unicode’s list says U+2DA0–U+2DBF had previously been placed under “Syllables for Sebatbeit” by mistake. A 2025 repertoire listing still marks ⶡ for limited or declining Sebatbeit use. These are different cataloging and usage notes for the same character.

How to type ⶡ?

Use a Bench-capable Ethiopic keyboard layout.

Keyman’s GFF Me'en layout has a Bench table that maps ⶡ to the phonetic input xxu. That mapping is specific to this layout; select an Ethiopic font in that setup.

Font coverage varies too: in 2026, some fonts omit Ethiopic Extended, while Abyssinica SIL covers the Ethiopic ranges listed for it. If ⶡ appears as a box or fallback glyph, use a font with this range.