Manichaean Letter Daleth

It is Daleth, a letter used inside Manichaean words.

Its reading depends on the language and the word around it. The Manichaean script runs right to left and was used for several Iranian languages—Middle Persian, Parthian, Sogdian, Early New Persian, and Bactrian—as well as Old Uyghur.

Some of the earliest surviving evidence is in Syriac-Manichaean vellum fragments—texts written on animal skin—from Middle Egypt, dating to around the 4th century CE. The script’s exact origin is unsettled: scholars connect it with Palmyrene Aramaic and Syriac Estrangela, historical Aramaic-script traditions, and it may predate Mani.

Manichaeans, followers of Mani, adapted the alphabet to write religious teaching and carry it across languages. Its spelling was more readable and closer to pronunciation than Book Pahlavi, another writing system for Middle Persian. In Tang-period China, one text presented Mani as an avatar—a divine manifestation—of Laozi, a revered Chinese teacher, showing how the religion was framed for a new audience.

How do I type 𐫅?

Use a Unicode-aware input method.

Enter U+10AC5 through an input method that accepts Unicode code points. A font without Manichaean coverage may show a box even when the text is present; changing fonts affects display, not the inserted character.

Manichaean is written right to left, and its letters join. Daleth also has a standardized alternate isolated form, so a capable text shaper may draw a different outline when the letter stands alone.