Siddham Letter Ii

𑖃 writes Sanskrit’s long “ee” vowel independently. In scholarly Sanskrit transliteration, ī marks the long i sound. Use this letter when that vowel begins a syllable or stands alone; after a consonant, dependent sign 𑖱 marks long ī on that consonant.

Siddham grew from Gupta-era writing in the Brahmi family. The Siddhamatrika/Kutila stage appears in North Indian inscriptions from the sixth to about the tenth century. Siddham is closely related to Sharada, while later northern script developments include Nagari and related forms.

Does 𑖃 mean anything when someone sends it alone?

A lone send gives little clue to the sender’s tone. In a chart, it identifies the long vowel; in a mantra, seed syllable, inscription, or Buddhist calligraphy, it is one sound unit read with its neighbors.

Siddham was used to write Sanskrit in Buddhist manuscripts and inscriptions. A museum record dates palm-leaf Sanskrit sutras to the 7th–8th century. In China, Siddham also became a broad Buddhist label for imported Indian letters; in Japan, it is associated with Shingon and Tendai study and ritual. A Shingon calligraphy work is dated 1767–71. Korean sources record Siddham in mantra study, including a surviving collection dated 1569.

Why does Siddham letter ii look different?

A different outline can be a variant or a font issue. Unicode also encodes 𑗚 as a two-circle alternate form of this long-ī letter. A blank or box means the font lacks Siddham support.

In bonji-input, ASCII ii produces 𑖃 while i produces short-i 𑖂. As of 2026, its README recommends Noto Sans Siddham if the characters fail to render.