Open O

Ɔ
Ɔ
Ɔ ɔ
Usage
Writing system	Latin script
Type	Alphabetic and Logographic
Language of origin	Dagbani language, Ewe language, Latin language, Lingala language, Yucatec Maya language
Sound values	[ ɔ ] [ tsʼ ];
In Unicode	U+0186, U+0254
History
Development	C c Ɔ ɔ;
Transliterations	Ꙡ
Other
Writing direction	Left-to-Right
	This article contains phonetic transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA).For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.For the distinction between [ ], / / and ⟨ ⟩, see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters.

Last updated January 13, 2026

Open o or turned c (majuscule: Ɔ, minuscule: ɔ) is a letter of the extended Latin alphabet. In the International Phonetic Alphabet, it represents the open-mid back rounded vowel. It is used in the orthographies of many African languages using the African reference alphabet.

Unicode

Character information
Preview	Ɔ		ɔ
Unicode name	LATIN CAPITAL LETTER OPEN O		LATIN SMALL LETTER OPEN O
Encodings	decimal	hex	dec	hex
Unicode	390	U+0186	596	U+0254
UTF-8	198 134	C6 86	201 148	C9 94
Numeric character reference	Ɔ	Ɔ	ɔ	ɔ

On the macOS US Extended keyboard, ɔ and Ɔ can be typed with ⌥ Option+: followed by c or C.^{[ citation needed ]}

Related characters

Descendants and related characters in the Latin alphabet

Ɔ with diacritics: ɔ́ ɔ̀ ɔ̃ ᶗ ^[2]
Uralic Phonetic Alphabet-specific symbols related to Ɔ:^[3]
- U+1D10ᴐLATIN LETTER SMALL CAPITAL OPEN O
- U+1D12ᴒLATIN SMALL LETTER SIDEWAYS OPEN O
- U+1D53ᵓMODIFIER LETTER SMALL OPEN O

Similar looking letters

Open o looks like a reversed letter 'C'. Claudius introduced a Ɔ (the antisigma ) with the intention of replacing bs and ps.

The Scandinavian explanatory symbol (forklaringstegnet) can be typeset using the open o followed by a colon, thus: ɔ:. It is used to mean "namely", "id est", "scilicet" or similar.^[4]

This letter is often used to refer to the Copyleft official sign, which looks like an open o with a circle around it.

References

↑ Mathews, Peter. "Who's who in the Classic Maya world: Orthography used in the Who's Who". Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies, Inc. Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Retrieved June 19, 2024.
↑ Constable, Peter (2004-04-19). "L2/04-132 Proposal to add additional phonetic characters to the UCS" (PDF).
↑ Everson, Michael; et al. (2002-03-20). "L2/02-141: Uralic Phonetic Alphabet characters for the UCS" (PDF).
↑ "Forklaringstegnet: en savnet del av det typografiske repertoar?". Typografi i Norge (in Norwegian). 2006-08-02 [last updated 2010-09-29]. Archived from the original on 2020-11-05.

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[1] Mathews, Peter. "Who's who in the Classic Maya world: Orthography used in the Who's Who". Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies, Inc. Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Retrieved June 19, 2024.

[2] Constable, Peter (2004-04-19). "L2/04-132 Proposal to add additional phonetic characters to the UCS" (PDF).

[3] Everson, Michael; et al. (2002-03-20). "L2/02-141: Uralic Phonetic Alphabet characters for the UCS" (PDF).

[4] "Forklaringstegnet: en savnet del av det typografiske repertoar?". Typografi i Norge (in Norwegian). 2006-08-02 [last updated 2010-09-29]. Archived from the original on 2020-11-05.

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