Modifier Letter Small Esh

It marks a secondary or fricated “sh”-like sound. “Fricated” means the air makes a hiss as it passes through a narrow opening. After a consonant, ᶴ can mark that hissy release, a “sh” coloring of the consonant, or a weak inserted “sh” sound. Transcription systems differ, so the key tells you which reading applies.

A Unicode proposal published in 2004 cites a 1994 superscript-esh example in Laver’s phonetics work. Ordinary esh ʃ appears in the 1847 Pitman–Ellis phonetic alphabet, a system for writing speech sounds; it influenced symbols later used by the IPA.

Why does ᶴ follow a consonant?

It can mark a smaller, later sound after the main consonant. In tᶴ, the raised character can show a hissy “sh”-like release after t. Some transcribers treat the pair as an affricate: a stop sound released into friction. Another transcription key may use ᶴ for a weaker transition, so the notation’s key controls the exact reading.

Is ᶴ just a smaller ʃ?

No; it is a separate phonetic character. It occupies its own position in text, and its raised shape has a phonetic role rather than serving as smaller styling for ʃ. Fonts draw it differently; a font without suitable coverage may show a box or place it at an awkward height.