Modifier Letter Small Top Half O

It marks a fleeting vowel in phonetic notation. In the Uralic Phonetic Alphabet (UPA), ᴖ represents an open-mid back rounded vowel: a vowel made with rounded lips and the tongue toward the back of the mouth, with the mouth open partway. Superscript ᵔ marks an extremely short or fleeting version.

The UPA was first published in 1901 by Finnish linguist Eemil Nestor Setälä. It was designed to preserve fine sound distinctions in Uralic-language study.

The connected forms have different roles: ᴖ is the full-size base, while ᵔ is its superscript counterpart. This notation describes speech; it is not an emotional mark.

What does ᵔ mean in a kaomoji?

It can serve as a curved eye or a small facial accent. Kaomoji are text faces built from punctuation and other symbols. A 2012 study of Twitter messages described their use to show feeling in informal posts across many languages.

Public kaomoji collections include ᵔ in cute, happy, and thumbs-up faces in 2026. The surrounding marks make the expression; ᵔ is only one part.

Repeated ᵔ marks can frame a mouth symmetrically, making a face look soft or playful. A lone ᵔ may be notation, decoration, or a face fragment, so read it with the rest of the message.

Why does ᵔ look different in my font?

The font sets its height, size, and curve. Font fallback can make it sit too high or low, which stands out in symmetrical kaomoji.

If it is missing, use a font that supports phonetic extensions. The drawing changes; its phonetic relationship to ᴖ does not.