U+0866 "ࡦ" Syriac Letter Malayalam Bha Unicode Character
Unicode Version 17.0
U+0866 "ࡦ" Syriac Letter Malayalam Bha is an unusual and specific glyph, distinct from typical Syriac script usage, as it represents a historical adaptation of the Syriac alphabet to write a sound from the Malayalam language of South India. This character is part of the Syriac Supplement block, which contains letters used for transliterating or writing foreign loanwords and phonemes, particularly in the context of the Syro-Malabar Christian tradition. The letter itself corresponds to the voiced bilabial aspirate sound /bʰ/ found in Malayalam and other Indic languages, and its design is based on the Syriac letter Beth with a specialized diacritic or modification to indicate the aspirated pronunciation. It serves as a linguistic bridge between the Semitic Syriac script and the Dravidian phonetic system, highlighting the historical interaction between Syriac-speaking Christian communities in Kerala and the local language.
General Properties
Encodings
| HTML Decimal Encoding |
ࡦ |
| HTML Hex Encoding |
ࡦ |
| UTF-8 Encoding |
0xE0 0xA1 0xA6 |
| UTF-16 Encoding |
0x0866 |
| UTF-32 Encoding |
0x00000866 |
| C/C++/Java Escape |
\u0866 |
Unicode Properties