U+18B8 "ᢸ" Canadian Syllabics Kay Unicode Character

Unicode Version 17.0

U+18B8 "ᢸ" Canadian Syllabics Kay is a glyph used within the Canadian Aboriginal Syllabics script to represent the sound "kay," particularly in languages like Inuktitut, Cree, and Ojibwe, where it denotes a syllable beginning with a "k" sound followed by a long "a" or "ay" vowel. Its design, featuring a distinctive geometric shape with two short vertical strokes or "teeth" on the left side intersecting a radiating baseline, reflects the consistent visual patterns of the syllabary system created by missionary James Evans in the 19th century. As part of the UNESCO World Heritage listed script, this character plays a vital role in preserving and digitally representing Indigenous languages across Canada, supporting contemporary writing, education, and cultural heritage documentation.

General Properties

Code Point U+18B8
Version Added 5.2
Name Canadian Syllabics Kay
Block Unified Canadian Aboriginal Syllabics Extended
General Category Other Letter
Canonical Combining Class Not Reordered
Bidirectional Class Left To Right

Encodings

HTML Decimal Encoding ᢸ
HTML Hex Encoding ᢸ
UTF-8 Encoding 0xE1 0xA2 0xB8
UTF-16 Encoding 0x18B8
UTF-32 Encoding 0x000018B8
C/C++/Java Escape \u18b8

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 Canadian Aboriginal
Script Extensions Canadian Aboriginal
Indic Syllabic Category Other
ID Start Yes
XID Start Yes
ID Continue Yes
XID Continue Yes
Alphabetic Yes
Vertical Orientation Upright
Grapheme Base Yes
Grapheme Cluster Break Other
Word Break Alphabetic letter
Sentence Break OLetter