Modifier Letter Small Tesh Digraph

It marks how completely the affricate is produced.

A superscript tesh is a raised phonetic mark. An affricate is one sound made by a stop followed directly by friction. In IPA, [t͡ʃ] is the voiceless sound that starts with a t-like closure and releases into “sh”; raised tesh signals a weak or incomplete realization.

Use 𐞮 only when that distinction matters in a narrow transcription; its height is part of the notation, not visual styling.

Why does 𐞮 resemble an older tesh ligature?

It descends from a full-size sign for the same affricate.

The International Phonetic Association first published its phonetic alphabet in Aug–Sept 1888. Early tesh (ʧ) combined t and esh—the letter ʃ for “sh”—as one sign for this affricate.

The IPA retired full-size ʧ at the 1989 Kiel convention, favoring tie-bar forms t͡ʃ and t͜ʃ. The raised character 𐞮 retains a modifier form for narrow transcription, including speech-pathology examples.

How does 𐞮 change a transcription?

It marks the sound it modifies at that point.

An IPA example contrasts “kitchen” and “chair”: raised tesh marks a weak first affricate, while baseline ʧ marks the full second sound.