U+168E "ᚎ" Ogham Letter Straif Unicode Character

U+168E "ᚎ" Ogham Letter Straif is a letter from the Ogham alphabet, an early medieval script used primarily to write the Primitive Irish language on stone monuments. This character represents the phonetic value typically associated with a "Z" sound or a voiceless "S" in scholarly reconstructions, and its name "Straif" is thought to derive from a word meaning "sulfur" or "blackthorn." In the Ogham tradition, each letter is also linked to a tree or plant symbolism, with Straif often connected to the blackthorn, a thorny shrub associated with protection and warding off evil. Despite its ancient origins, the character is preserved in modern digital standards, allowing for its use in historical texts, linguistics, and cultural heritage projects today.