U+0994 "ঔ" Bengali Letter Au Unicode Character

U+0994 "ঔ" Bengali Letter Au is the final independent vowel of the Bengali script, representing the diphthong sound /ou/ in the Bengali, Assamese, and related languages. It is derived from the Brahmic script family and corresponds to a distinct glyph that appears above the consonant it modifies when used as a diacritic, known as the "ou-kar" or "ou-kar". This character is distinct from the vowel sign form, which is encoded separately as U+09CC (ৌ) and is used in combination with base consonants to represent the same vowel sound in a conjunct form. The letter "ঔ" is less common in modern Bengali than other vowels, but it remains essential for the accurate spelling of certain inherited Sanskrit loanwords, such as the word "ঔষধ" (oushudh) meaning medicine.