Multiocular O

Last updated
Cyrillic letter Multiocular O
U+A66E multiocular O (10 eyes).svg
The Cyrillic script
Slavic letters
А А́ А̀ А̂ А̄ Ӓ Б В
Г Ґ Д Ђ Ѓ Е Е́ Ѐ
Е̄ Е̂ Ё Є Є́ Ж З З́
Ѕ И І І́ Ї Ї́ И́
Ѝ И̂ Ӣ Й Ј К Л Љ
М Н Њ О О́ О̀ О̂ Ō
Ӧ П Р С С́ Т Ћ Ќ
У У́ У̀ У̂ Ӯ Ў Ӱ Ф
Х Ц Ч Џ Ш Щ Ъ
Ъ̀ Ы Ы́ Ь Ѣ Э Э́ Ю
Ю́ Ю̀ Я Я́ Я̀
Non-Slavic letters
Ӑ А̊ А̃ Ӓ̄ Ӕ Ә Ә́ Ә̃
Ӛ В̌ Ԝ Г̑ Г̇ Г̣ Г̌ Г̂
Г̆ Г̈ Ҕ Ғ Cyrillic capital letter Ghe with stroke and descender.svg Ӻ Ғ̌ Ӷ
Cyrillic capital letter Ghe with hook.svg Д́ Д̌ Д̈ Д̣ Д̆ Ӗ Е̃
Ё̄ Є̈ Җ Ӝ Ӂ Ж̣ Ҙ Ӟ
З̌ З̣ З̆ Ԑ Ԑ̈ Ӡ И̃ Ӥ
Ҋ Қ Ӄ Ҡ Ҟ Ҝ К̣ Ԛ
Л́ Ӆ Ԯ Ԓ Л̈ Ӎ
Н́ Ӊ Ң Ԩ Ӈ Ҥ О̆ О̃
Ӧ̄ Ө Ө̄ Ө́ Ө̆ Ӫ Ԥ П̈
Р̌ Ҏ С̌ Ҫ С̣ С̱ Т́ Т̈
Т̌ Т̇ Т̣ Ҭ Cyrillic capital letter Te Soft-sign.svg У̃ Ӳ У̊
Ӱ̄ Ұ Ү Ү́ Х̣ Х̱ Х̮ Х̑
Х̌ Ҳ Ӽ Ӿ Һ Ԧ Ц̌ Ц̈
Ҵ Ҷ Ҷ̣ Ӵ Ӌ Cyrillic capital letter Che with hook.svg Ҹ Ч̇
Ч̣ Ҽ Ҿ Ш̈ Ш̣ Ы̆ Ы̄
Ӹ Ҍ Ҩ Э̆ Э̄ Э̇ Ӭ
Ӭ́ Ӭ̄ Ю̆ Ю̈ Ю̈́ Ю̄ Я̆ Я̄
Я̈ Я̈́ Ӏ
Archaic or unused letters
Cyrillic capital letter script A.svg А̨ Б̀ Б̣ Б̱ В̀ Г̀ Г̧
Г̄ Г̓ Г̆ Ҕ̀ Ҕ̆ Cyrillic capital letter split by middle ring Ghe.svg Ԁ Д̓
Д̀ Д̨ Cyrillic capital letter archaic Dje.svg Ԃ Е̇ Е̨
Ж̑ Cyrillic small letter Zhe with stroke.svg Cyrillic capital letter Je with inverted belt.svg Cyrillic small letter Dje with high right breve serif.svg Џ̆
Ꚅ̆ З̀ З̑ Ԅ Ԇ Ԫ
Cyrillic capital letter Shha with Cil top.svg Cyrillic capital letter Shha with high right breve serif.svg І̂ І̣ І̨ Cyrillic capital letter byelorussian-ukrainian I with curve at bottom.svg
Ј̵ Ј̃ К̓ К̀ К̆ Ӄ̆ К̑
К̇ К̈ К̄ Ԟ К̂ Cyrillic capital letter Ka with loop.svg Cyrillic small letter ka with ascender.svg Л̀
Ԡ Ԉ Л̑ Л̇ Ԕ Cyrillic small letter El with retroflex hook.svg Cyrillic small letter Te El with retroflex hook.svg
М̀ М̃ Н̀ Н̄ Н̧ Н̃ Ԋ
Ԣ Н̡ Ѻ
Cyrillic capital letter O with notch at bottom.svg Cyrillic capital letter O with left notch.svg П̓ П̀ П́ П̧ Ҧ
П̑ Ҁ Ԛ̆ Cyrillic capital letter Shha with hook.svg Р́ Р̀ Р̃ Ԗ
С̀ С̈ Ԍ Ҫ̓ Cyrillic capital letter long Es.svg Т̓ Т̀ Ԏ
Т̑ Т̧ Ꚍ̆ Cyrillic small letter Te El.svg Cyrillic small letter voiceless L.svg Cyrillic small letter voiceless L with comma above.svg
Ѹ Cyrillic capital letter script U.svg У̇ У̨ ꙋ́ Ф̑ Ф̓
Х́ Х̀ Х̆ Х̇ Х̧ Х̓ Cyrillic capital letter bashkir Ha.svg һ̱
Ѡ Ѽ Ѿ Ц̀ Ц́ Ц̓
Cyrillic capital letter Tse with long left leg.svg Ꚏ̆ Cyrillic capital letter Cil.svg Cyrillic capital letter Cil with bar.svg Ч́ Ч̀
Ч̆ Ч̑ Ч̓ Cyrillic capital letter Char.svg Cyrillic small letter Char with high right breve serif.svg Ԭ
Ꚇ̆ Ҽ̆ Ш̀ Ш̆ Ш̑ Щ̆ Ꚗ̆
Cyrillic capital letter Che Sha.svg Ы̂ Ы̃ Ѣ́ Ѣ̈ Ѣ̆
Э̨ Э̂ Ю̂ Cyrillic capital letter iotified monograph uk.svg Cyrillic capital letter iotified monograph uk with breve.svg Я̈
Я̂ Я̨ Ԙ Ѥ Ѧ Ѫ
Ѩ Ѭ Ѯ Ѱ Ѳ Ѵ Ѷ

Multiocular O () is a rare glyph variant of the Cyrillic letter O. This glyph variant can be found in a single 15th century manuscript, in the Old Church Slavonic phrase "серафими многоꙮчитїй" (abbreviated "мн҇оꙮчитїй") (serafimi mnogoočitii, "many-eyed seraphim"). It was documented by Yefim Karsky [1] in 1928 in a copy of the Book of Psalms [2] (back of page 244) from around 1429, now found in the collection [3] of the Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius.

There's a very likely chance that Multiocular O was a result of a writer’s attempt at depicting how many eyes the seraphim they were describing had.

The character was proposed for inclusion into Unicode in 2007 [4] and incorporated as character U+A66E in Unicode version 5.1 (2008). [5] The representative glyph had seven eyes. However, in 2021, following a tweet highlighting the character, [6] it came to linguist Michael Everson's attention that the character in the 1429 manuscript was actually made up of ten eyes. After a 2022 proposal to change the character to reflect this, it was updated later that year for Unicode 15.0 to have ten eyes. [7] [8]

Cyrillic multiocular o in Psalter, 1429.jpg
The letter in the original manuscript.
Cyrillic letter multiocular O.svg
The incorrect form originally implemented into Unicode (2007–2022).

See also

Related Research Articles

R, or r, is the eighteenth letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ar, plural ars, or in Ireland or. In some varieties of African-American Vernacular English, the name of the letter is pronounced as "arruh".

V, or v, is the twenty-second letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is vee, plural vees.

The Coptic script is the script used for writing the Coptic language, the latest stage of Egyptian. The repertoire of glyphs is based on the uncial Greek alphabet, augmented by letters borrowed from the Egyptian Demotic. It was the first alphabetic script used for the Egyptian language. There are several Coptic alphabets, as the script varies greatly among the various dialects and eras of the Coptic language.

Koppa or qoppa is a letter that was used in early forms of the Greek alphabet, derived from Phoenician qoph (𐤒). It was originally used to denote the sound, but dropped out of use as an alphabetic character and replaced by Kappa (Κ). It has remained in use as a numeral symbol (90) in the system of Greek numerals, although with a modified shape. Koppa is the source of Latin Q, as well as the Cyrillic numeral sign of the same name (Koppa).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ezh</span> Letter of the Latin alphabet

Ezh, also called the "tailed z", is a letter, notable for its use in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) to represent the voiced postalveolar fricative consonant. For example, the pronunciation of "si" in vision and precision, or the ⟨s⟩ in treasure. See also the letter ⟨Ž⟩ as used in many Slavic languages, the Persian alphabet letter ⟨ژ⟩, the Cyrillic letter ⟨Ж⟩, and the Esperanto letter ⟨Ĵ⟩.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">O (Cyrillic)</span> Cyrillic letter

O is a letter of the Cyrillic script.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Currency symbol</span> Symbol used to represent a monetary currencys name

A currency symbol or currency sign is a graphic symbol used to denote a currency unit. Usually it is defined by a monetary authority, such as the national central bank for the currency concerned.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">R rotunda</span> Variant of the Latin letter R (ꝛ)

The r rotunda ⟨ ꝛ ⟩, "rounded r", is a historical calligraphic variant of the minuscule (lowercase) letter Latin r used in full script-like typefaces, especially blackletters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Uk (Cyrillic)</span> Cyrillic letter

Uk is a digraph of the early Cyrillic alphabet, although commonly considered and used as a single letter. It is an accent nasal vowel from the Slavonic language. To save space, it was often written as a vertical ligature (Ꙋ ꙋ), called "monograph Uk". In modern times, ⟨ѹ⟩ has been replaced by the simple ⟨у⟩.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kra (letter)</span> Letter used in an Inuktitut dialect

Kra is a glyph formerly used to write the Kalaallisut language of Greenland and is now only found in Nunatsiavummiutut, a distinct Inuktitut dialect. It is visually similar to a Latin small capital letter K, a Greek letter Kappa: κ, or a Cyrillic small letter Ka: к.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ou (ligature)</span>

Ou is a ligature of the Greek letters ο and υ which was frequently used in Byzantine manuscripts. This omicron-upsilon ligature is still seen today on icon artwork in Greek Orthodox churches, and sometimes in graffiti or other forms of informal or decorative writing.

Unicode has subscripted and superscripted versions of a number of characters including a full set of Arabic numerals. These characters allow any polynomial, chemical and certain other equations to be represented in plain text without using any form of markup like HTML or TeX.

L, or l, is the twelfth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is el, plural els.

Standard Sundanese script is a writing system which is used by the Sundanese people. It is built based on Old Sundanese script which was used by the ancient Sundanese from the 14th to the 18th centuries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monocular O</span> Cyrillic letter

Monocular O is one of the rare glyph variants of Cyrillic letter O. This glyph variant was used in certain manuscripts in the root word ꙩко (eye), and also in some other functions, for example, in the word- and syllable-initial position. It is used in some late birchbark letters of the 14th and 15th centuries, where it is usually differentiated from a regular о, used after consonants, also by width, being a broad On (ѻ) with a dot inside.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Binocular O</span> Cyrillic letter

Binocular O is one of the exotic glyph variants of Cyrillic letter O. This glyph variant can be found in certain manuscripts in the plural or dual forms of the root word eye, like Ꙫчи.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Double monocular O</span> Cyrillic letter

Double monocular O is one of the exotic glyph variants of the Cyrillic letter O. This glyph variant can be found in certain manuscripts in the plural or dual forms of the word eye, for example ꙭчи "[two] eyes". They were incorporated into Unicode as characters U+A66C and U+A66D in Unicode version 5.1 (2008).

Runic is a Unicode block containing runic characters. It was introduced in Unicode 3.0 (1999), with eight additional characters introduced in Unicode 7.0 (2014). The original encoding of runes in UCS was based on the recommendations of the "ISO Runes Project" submitted in 1997.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crossed O</span> Cyrillic letter

Crossed O is a letter of the Cyrillic script, similar to the Cyrillic letter O but with the addition of a cross.

References

  1. Карский, Ефим (1979). Славянская кирилловская палеография. Moscow. p. 197.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  2. "Рукопись 308. Псалтирь. напис. 1429 (?) года". folio 243v. Archived from the original on 27 September 2011. Retrieved 29 August 2011.
  3. "Славянские рукописи — Главная библиотека". Archived from the original on 27 September 2011. Retrieved 29 August 2011.
  4. Everson, Michael; Birnbaum, David; Cleminson, Ralph; et al. (2007-03-21). "Proposal to encode additional Cyrillic characters in the BMP of the UCS" (PDF). p. 4. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2016-04-10. Retrieved 2018-08-03.
  5. Compart AG (2018). "Unicode Character "ꙮ" (U+A66E)". Archived from the original on 2018-08-04. Retrieved 2018-08-03.
  6. @etiennefd on Twitter (2020-10-31). "Happy Halloween! I feel like I have to talk about something scary.[]" . Retrieved 2022-11-02.
  7. "Cyrillic Extended-B; Range: A640–A69F" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2022-02-13.
  8. Everson, Michael. "Proposal to revise the glyph of CYRILLIC LETTER MULTIOCULAR O" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-03-22. Retrieved 2022-03-22.