Modifier Letter Capital M

It marks a very short sound in phonetic notation. In UPA, superscript letters can mark a brief neutral vowel, called a schwa, or a short transition between sounds. The surrounding notation shows what ᴹ contributes in a particular transcription.

UPA notation predates Unicode encoding: a 2002 proposal cites examples from Szilasi and Setälä in 1901 and describes the tradition across Finland, Hungary, Estonia, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Russia, North America, and Japan. As of 2026, those examples establish the wider notation tradition, not the first appearance of this exact character.

Does ᴹ have a chat meaning?

Not a definite one by itself. In phonetic writing, ᴹ belongs to a notation system; alone in a message, it does not tell you what the sender intends. Ask which notation or source the sender is referring to.

How do I type ᴹ?

Use the dedicated character in phonetic text. Insert ᴹ with a character map or Unicode input method in an editor that supports it; formatting ordinary M as superscript changes only how it looks.

Compatibility normalization can convert ᴹ to ordinary M, so use the dedicated character when the written distinction matters. Fonts may draw its height or weight differently, and a font without the glyph may show a box or fallback character.