U+128D "ኍ" Ethiopic Syllable Xwe Unicode Character

Unicode Version 17.0

U+128D "ኍ" Ethiopic Syllable Xwe is a glyph in the Ethiopic script used to write the Geʽez language, as well as modern languages like Amharic and Tigrinya, representing the syllable pronounced "xwe" or "khwe." It is part of a systematic syllabary where each character denotes a consonant-vowel combination, and this particular form is created by modifying the base consonant letter for the sound "x" (ኀ) with a vowel diacritic that indicates the "we" vowel. In Geʽez, this syllable historically corresponds to the labiovelarized sound, often used in words derived from ancient liturgical or classical texts, though it is less common in everyday speech. The character is encoded in the Unicode Standard under the Ethiopic block, with its name, Ethiopic Syllable Xwe, reflecting its phonetic value and role in the writing system's function of preserving the linguistic heritage of the Horn of Africa.

General Properties

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

Encodings

HTML Decimal Encoding ኍ
HTML Hex Encoding ኍ
UTF-8 Encoding 0xE1 0x8A 0x8D
UTF-16 Encoding 0x128D
UTF-32 Encoding 0x0000128D
C/C++/Java Escape \u128d

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