Modifier Letter Small Heng With Hook

It marks a brief ɧ-like quality attached to another sound.

IPA, the International Phonetic Alphabet, is a system for writing speech sounds. Use 𐞗 when a ɧ-like quality is secondary to another sound, brief, or part of its release rather than a full consonant. The base ɧ, called hooktop heng, is associated especially with the Swedish sound spelled sj; its pronunciation varies by region, so ɧ does not specify one fixed articulation.

A Unicode proposal published in 2020 cites a 2014 Swedish-phonology example of this exact superscript. It presents 𐞗 as an extension of ɧ, not an independent alphabetic letter. The broader heng family also has distinct histories in Dania, a phonetic alphabet for Danish, and in early Mayan transcription.

How is 𐞗 different from ɧ?

𐞗 marks a modifier; ɧ writes the consonant itself.

The raised position signals that the ɧ-like material is secondary to a base sound. The sequence f𐞗 marks a fricated release: a sound ending with audible friction. By contrast, ɧᶠ writes a full ɧ with f-like fricative coloring. In extended IPA, extra notation for describing speech, surrounding symbols can narrow the reading.

Why does 𐞗 turn into ɧ?

NFKC normalization changes it to the full letter ɧ.

Unicode NFKC compatibility normalization maps 𐞗 to ɧ. It preserves the base letter but loses the superscript distinction; this is text normalization, not a pronunciation change. Preserve the original character in phonetic data when the modifier’s placement carries meaning.