Vai syllable Dhu

It writes one Vai syllable, not a whole word.

The Unicode label spells it “dhu.” A Vai-to-Latin transliteration table writes ꖦ as “du”; for English readers, “doo” is a rough sound guide. The surrounding Vai word supplies its meaning.

Vai is written from left to right. It is a syllabary: each basic sign represents a spoken syllable, and a long syllable can take two characters.

Why was the Vai script developed?

It gave Vai speakers a way to write their language.

Vai writing served messages, records, learning, and trade in Liberia and Sierra Leone. Early Vai texts also used logograms—signs that stood for words or meanings—alongside syllabic writing; the later standard centers on syllables.

The script took shape through Mọmọlu Duwalu Bukẹlẹ and other Vai contributors in the early 1830s. A missionary report in 1836 called the characters recently invented; later proposed earlier dates are disputed. Scholars have proposed links to the Latin and Arabic scripts, and possibly the Cherokee syllabary. These are debated script-level theories, not evidence that ꖦ itself was borrowed from another character.