Length marks in phonetic and vowel notation

Uses and scope

Macron and breve are also used in vowel notation, but their meaning depends on the writing system. A Pinyin macron marks tone rather than vowel length, and Romanian ă is an alphabet letter rather than an instruction to shorten any a. Read the convention before interpreting the mark. [8], [4], [48], [49], [31]

Similar shapes, different characters

U+02D0 is named MODIFIER LETTER TRIANGULAR COLON. ASCII colon is punctuation and is not canonically equivalent. The half-length sign is also distinct from a middle dot. The table compares the signs and encoded composites without claiming that one length rule applies to every language shown. [1], [2], [8], [4], [48], [49], [31]

Typing and text forms

Copying is exact; preview circles are excluded. Compare normalization forms.

Word for Windows

Select a hex code, then Alt+X; repeat for each scalar.

Mac and mobile

Hold a letter for supported variants; use Character Viewer on Mac or a language keyboard on mobile.

HTML

Use UTF-8 text or the numeric references in Details, in order.

Full typing instructions ·HTML, CSS and JavaScript entry ·Verified Alt codes.

Sources and method

Usage statements link to the authority that supports their scope. Character names, categories, combining classes and normalization results come from the pinned Unicode data. A canonical decomposition does not establish language membership or spelling frequency.

Source access date: 2026-09-14.

• [4] Unicode combining mark names and annotations. Names, cross references and narrowly attributed usage annotations. Historical annotations are not automatically current recommendations.
• [8] International Phonetic Association chart. Current phonetic transcription symbols; these are transcription conventions, not letters in every language.
• [48] Chinese Ministry of Education: GB/T 16159, 2012. Hanyu Pinyin orthography, vowel tone marks and neutral tone; this is romanization, not added marks on Han characters.
• [49] Henan Normal University: reproduced Pinyin spelling standard. Readable university reproduction of GB/T 16159-2012; section on tone placement and unmarked neutral tone. Used alongside the official Ministry PDF.
• [31] Romanian Academy: DOOM 3 graphic signs. Romanian alphabet, case pairs, breve, circumflex and comma-below letters.
• [1] Unicode Character Database 17.0.0.
• [2] Unicode normalization, UAX #15.
• [10] Microsoft: Unicode character entry in Word.
• [11] Apple: enter characters with accent marks.
• [12] Google: use Gboard.
• [13] Unicode: fonts and keyboards FAQ.
• [14] HTML numeric character references.

Read the editorial method and inspect the underlying datasets.