U+128B "ኋ" Ethiopic Syllable Xwaa Unicode Character

Unicode Version 17.0

U+128B "ኋ" Ethiopic Syllable Xwaa is a symbol from the Geʽez script used for writing the Ethiopian and Eritrean language families, such as Amharic, Tigrinya, and Geʽez itself. It represents the syllable "xwaa," where the consonant "x" (a voiceless velar fricative, similar to the "ch" in the Scottish word "loch") is combined with the vowel sound "waa." This character is part of a larger set of Ethiopic syllables that are derived from the base consonant letter "ኀ" (which historically represented the sound "ḫ") and modified with a specific diacritic to indicate the "waa" vowel form. In modern usage, "ኋ" can be found in religious texts, educational materials, and digital communications within Ethiopian and Eritrean communities, preserving the linguistic heritage of the Horn of Africa region.

General Properties

Code Point U+128B
Version Added 3.0
Name Ethiopic Syllable Xwaa
Block Ethiopic
General Category Other Letter
Canonical Combining Class Not Reordered
Bidirectional Class Left To Right

Encodings

HTML Decimal Encoding ኋ
HTML Hex Encoding ኋ
UTF-8 Encoding 0xE1 0x8A 0x8B
UTF-16 Encoding 0x128B
UTF-32 Encoding 0x0000128B
C/C++/Java Escape \u128b

Unicode Properties

NFC Quick Check Yes
NFD Quick Check Yes
NFKC Quick Check Yes
NFKD Quick Check Yes
Numeric Type None
Numeric Value NaN
Line Break Alphabetic
Script Ethiopic
Script Extensions Ethiopic
Indic Syllabic Category Other
ID Start Yes
XID Start Yes
ID Continue Yes
XID Continue Yes
Alphabetic Yes
Vertical Orientation Rotated
Grapheme Base Yes
Grapheme Cluster Break Other
Word Break Alphabetic letter
Sentence Break OLetter