Ɓ (minuscule: ɓ), called "B-hook" or "B with a hook", is a letter of the Latin alphabet and the International African Alphabet. Its lower-case form, ɓ, represents a voiced bilabial implosive in the International Phonetic Alphabet. It is used to spell that sound in various languages, notably Fula, Hausa and Giziga[disambiguation needed]. It was also formerly used in or at least proposed for Xhosa and Zulu.
In Unicode, the upper case Ɓ is in the Latin Extended B range (U+0181), and the lower case ɓ is in the IPA range (U+0253). In Shona the upper case form is a just a larger form of the lower case letter.
Alternative or obsolete capital form
The Practical Orthography for African Languages (1930 ed.) used a different capital form, similar to the Cyrillic letter be (Б).[1] A New Testament in the Loma language of Liberia, which was typeset in 1971, used this capital form.[2]
See also
Similar letters
Alphabets with this letter
- Africa Alphabet
- African reference alphabet
- Pan-Nigerian alphabet
- Alphabets for the following specific languages:
- Fula (see also Fula orthographies)
- Hausa
- Giziga
Notes
- ^ Practical Orthography of African Languages, Revised Edition, London: Oxford University Press, 1930
- ^ Message posted to the "Qalam" list, Sept. 15, 2007
References
- Pullum, Geoffrey K.; Ladusaw, William A. (1996). Phonetic Symbol Guide. University of Chicago Press. p. 23.
- "Latin Extended B: Range 0180-024F" (Unicode code chart)
- "IPA Extensions: Range 0250-02AF" (Unicode code chart)