Sunuwar letter Phar

The breath after p is the key distinction. Phonetics calls this aspiration: the lips release p and a short puff follows. 𑯙 is a consonant letter used inside Sunuwar words.

Older spelling used a two-letter sequence for aspirated consonants: a plain consonant followed by Hamso, the h letter. For p, that is Pip 𑯉 followed by Hamso 𑯋. Phar 𑯙 gives the sound a dedicated one-letter spelling; a text may follow either convention.

When was Phar added to Sunuwar writing?

Phar was added around the turn of the 21st century. Users added it and other letters so Sunuwar could represent sounds more precisely.

Karna Jentich developed the modern Sunuwar script in 1942 for the Sunuwar language, also known as Kiranti-Kõits. Community accounts describe Sunuwar inscriptions on animal skins being copied and re-engraved in the 1940s; those accounts concern the broader writing history, not Phar’s own use.

Why can Sunuwar spelling vary by region?

Regional writing traditions handle vowels differently. In 2026 descriptions of these publication traditions, Nepal’s Hamso magazine uses Sunuwar as an alphabet, while the Sikkim Herald uses an abugida, where consonants carry a default vowel unless marked. That choice changes surrounding spelling, not Phar’s sound.

Some Sunuwar letterforms resemble Latin and Limbu shapes, but resemblance does not establish descent. The specific Limbu borrowing is 𑯖 Aal, used for long a, a vowel held longer than short a; that link does not make Phar a Limbu letter.