Latin Small Letter Turned H with Fishhook and Tail

Latin Small Letter Turned H with Fishhook and Tail at U+02AF is a phonetic letter for a specialized speech sound, not an ordinary alphabetic character in a modern writing system. It sits in the IPA Extensions block, whose characters support detailed phonetic transcription and related linguistic notation. Its principal use is in the International Phonetic Alphabet tradition for transcribing a labialized voiced palatal approximant, a sound related to a y-like glide pronounced with lip rounding. In narrow transcription, linguists may use ʯ when documenting languages whose sound system contrasts this rounded palatal glide from a plain palatal approximant or from other rounded approximants. You are most likely to encounter it in phonetics papers, language grammars, fieldwork notes, pronunciation dictionaries, and databases that preserve IPA symbols precisely. Because the sound it denotes is uncommon and often transcribed with other IPA combinations in practical materials, the character is rare outside specialist linguistic text.