What ᶹ means
It marks a secondary lip gesture.
The 1999 IPA Handbook suggests it for narrowed lips without protrusion or a back-of-tongue narrowing. A 2003 Unicode proposal also lists it for labiodentalization: narrowing between the lower lip and upper teeth.
Americanist notation also uses ᶹ as a vowel sign for a fairly high, back vowel with rounded lips. The 2003 proposal cites Laver's 1994 consonant and Floyd's 1996 vowel examples while proposing one character for both.
Don't confuse it with
1Questions people ask
1Why does ᶹ show as a box on some devices?
Because that device's fonts have no glyph for it. The character is still correct and still copies correctly — the box is a missing glyph, not a broken character.
How to type ᶹ
Windows (Word)
Alt+XType 1DB9, then Alt+X to get ᶹ.
Windows
Win+Rrun charmap for the full table, or use the emoji picker's Ω symbols tab (Win + .).
macOS
Control+Command+SpaceOpen the character viewer and search “modifier letter small v with hook”.
Linux
Ctrl+Shift+UType 1db9, then Enter or Space.
HTML
ᶹCSS
\1DB9Hex input for ᶹ
As of 2026, Word for Windows: 1DB9, Alt+X; Linux GTK: Ctrl+Shift+U, 1DB9, Enter. A blank box means the font lacks it.
Codes and encoding1 code points
HTML decimal
ᶹ
HTML hex
ᶹ
CSS content
content: "\1DB9";
Each escape is closed by the next backslash; a trailing space is needed before a literal hex digit.
URL encoded
%E1%B6%B9
1
On screen
1
Code points
1
JS .length
3
UTF-8 bytes
A visible symbol can contain several code points. JS .length counts UTF-16 units; UTF-8 counts bytes.