Modi Letter Au

It marks the independent vowel written as au in scholarly transliteration.

Here, au describes a vowel that glides from an open “a” toward “u” in one syllable; its exact reading depends on the language and period. An independent vowel is written on its own, without attaching a vowel sign to a consonant. Modi Lipi means the Modi script.

Modi grew from the Nagari family. One account places its use for Marathi in the fifteenth century; Unicode describes the script emerging in the sixteenth century and its earliest surviving document in the early seventeenth century. Tradition credits Hemadri Pandit or Balaji Avaji, but neither attribution settles the script’s beginnings. Flowing forms reduced pen lifts for fast writing of letters, orders, and revenue records. Modi served administration; Balbodh, a Devanagari form, served Marathi literary and religious writing.

Why did Modi writing give way to print?

Print shifted toward Balbodh.

During the nineteenth century, print favored Balbodh because it represented more Marathi sounds. Unicode says Modi was formally discontinued in the 1950s. As of 2026, revival work centers on reading archives, research, and heritage teaching.

How do I enter 𑘍 as one character?

Use the one-character form 𑘍.

Unicode lists 𑘍 as the single-character form for au; it marks 𑘁𑘺—Modi letter aa followed by the vowel sign ai—as a sequence not to use for this vowel. The two-character sequence is not interchangeable with the independent letter.

Fonts shape some Modi combinations contextually, and historical handwriting styles vary. A missing or unsuitable font can show a blank box or a different-looking glyph; the display changes, not the character’s identity.