Linear B syllable ni

Read 𐀛 as ni in words; accounts may use it for figs.

Within a spelled word, 𐀛 contributes the open syllable ni; it does not translate on its own. In 𐀀𐀖𐀛𐀰, it supplies ni in a-mi-ni-so, conventionally read as the place-name Amnisos. In an Aegean commodity record, the same sign can work as a logogram—a mark for the whole commodity—meaning figs. The surrounding record decides which reading applies.

Where did 𐀛 come from?

Its recognizable form belongs to a chain of Aegean scripts.

The Linear B sign is connected to Linear A AB 30 and to a matching Cretan Hieroglyphic sign catalogued as CH 024/*155. The earliest Cretan writing evidence comes from seals dated around the end of the third or beginning of the second millennium BCE. Scholars debate whether those seals use Cretan Hieroglyphic, Linear A, or an earlier script, so they do not establish this sign’s first appearance.

Linear B adapted much of its syllabary from Linear A to write Mycenaean Greek, an early form of Greek. Palace scribes used it for bookkeeping: surviving tablets, labels, and clay nodules record goods, inventories, and transactions. That record-keeping explains why one sign could spell a syllable in a word or label figs in an account.

How do I type 𐀛?

Use a dedicated Linear B keyboard.

Select the ni entry. Some web keyboards, as of 2026, also accept Bennett-number input: enter 30 followed by Space, or type *30.