Vithkuqi small letter BBE

It is the lowercase BBE letter in Vithkuqi.

Vithkuqi is a historical alphabet used to write Albanian. Its two B letters are separate: a 19th-century spelling of mbë uses BBE, while another spelling uses BE. The Unicode proposal transcribes these examples as mƀë and mbë; here ƀ is a Latin transcription mark for BBE, not the Vithkuqi glyph.

Unicode places Vithkuqi's emergence between 1824 and 1845. Naum P. Veqilharxhi's spelling book appeared in 1844, and an expanded edition followed in 1845. The alphabet is named for Vithkuq, the town where Veqilharxhi created it.

Why did Veqilharxhi create Vithkuqi?

To give Albanian a script outside established writing traditions.

Veqilharxhi developed it as an alternative to Latin, Greek, and Arabic script traditions, aiming for a system acceptable across Muslim, Orthodox, and Catholic Albanian communities. His spelling book was a primer intended to spread the alphabet from Korçë toward Berat.

Elbasan and Todhri are two other historical alphabets used for Albanian. They are separate scripts, not alternate forms of 𐖘.

How is Vithkuqi used today?

It appears in a modern revival of Albanian script and type design.

A type-design revival was profiled in 2018. As of 2026, Unicode describes ongoing artistic and cultural interest, including tattoos. A lone 𐖘 has no surrounding words to show why it was sent; identify it as a Vithkuqi reference when the context is unclear.