Unicode subscripts and superscripts

Unicode has special characters that can appear below or above normal text, called subscripts and superscripts. This includes a full set of Arabic numerals that can be written in these styles. These characters are very useful because they let us show polynomials, chemical formulas, and other equations in plain text without needing special coding like HTML or TeX.

The World Wide Web Consortium and the Unicode Consortium have advice about when to use these special characters versus other methods. In math contexts using MathML, it's best to use style markup for superscripts and subscripts. But for showing meaning differences in text, like in phonetic or phonemic transcription, using these special subscript and superscript characters can make things easier to understand.

Uses

Unicode added special superscript and subscript characters to help write chemical and algebraic formulas without extra formatting. For example, H₂O uses a subscript 2.

Many fonts do not follow Unicode’s rules. They design these characters for math, making them work better with fractions like ³/₄. Regular markup does not create correct fractions. These superscript letters can also show ordinal indicators.

Unicode planned for fractions to use a different symbol: the fraction slash. When used with normal digits, it tells the system to create a fraction like ¾. Support for this was weak at first, but now many fonts, browsers, and programs work as Unicode intended. This browser and your default font show the sequence as 3⁄4. (See Slash (punctuation)#Fractions for rendering in various other fonts.)

Superscripts and subscripts block

Main article: Superscripts and Subscripts (Unicode block)

Some special characters, like the numbers 1, 2, and 3, look higher or lower than normal text. These are called superscripts and subscripts. They were part of an older system called ISO-8859-1 and were kept in Unicode. Other superscript and subscript characters, along with some basic math symbols, are in a special group of characters from U+2070 to U+209F. The table below shows these characters. Each one is shown with a normal "x" to help see how high or low it sits.

Some spots in this group of characters are not yet used and could be added to later. As of November 2024, three new subscript letters (w, y, and z) were added to this group.

Other superscript and subscript characters

Unicode has special characters that can appear above or below other characters. These are useful for writing formulas or special sounds.

Unicode has many superscript characters (characters that appear above the normal line of text) in different blocks:

• The Latin-1 Supplement block has two special ordinal indicators: ª and º.
• The Latin Extended-C block has one superscript: ⱽ.
• The Latin Extended-D block has seven superscripts: ꝰ ꟲ ꟳ ꟴ ꟱ ꟸ ꟹ.
• The Latin Extended-E block has five superscripts: ꭜ ꭝ ꭞ ꭟ ꭩ.
• The Latin Extended-F block has superscript letters used for phonetic transcription.
• The Spacing Modifier Letters block has superscripted letters and symbols.
• The Phonetic Extensions block has many superscripted letters and symbols for secondary articulation.
• The Phonetic Extensions Supplement block has even more superscripted letters and symbols.
• The Cyrillic Extended-B block has two Cyrillic superscripts: ꚜ ꚝ.
• The Cyrillic Extended-D block has many Cyrillic superscripts.
• The Georgian block has one superscripted letter: ჼ.
• The Kanbun block has superscripted characters used in Japanese texts.
• The Tifinagh block has one superscript letter: ⵯ.
• The Unified Canadian Aboriginal Syllabics and its Extended blocks have special letters.

Unicode also has combining superscript characters, which are special marks placed above other letters. These include:

• Medieval superscript letter diacritics in the Combining Diacritical Marks block.
• Three combining insular letters in the Combining Diacritical Marks Extended block.
• Additional medieval superscript letter diacritics in the Combining Diacritical Marks Supplement block.
• Medieval superscript letter diacritics in the Cyrillic Extended-A and -B blocks.
• One additional combining character in the Cyrillic Extended-D block.

Unicode also includes subscript characters (characters that appear below the normal line of text):

• The Latin Extended-C block has one subscript: ⱼ.
• The Phonetic Extensions block has several subscripted letters and symbols.
• The Cyrillic Extended-D block has many Cyrillic subscripts.

Unicode also has combining subscript characters:

• A combining subscript in the Combining Diacritical Marks Supplement block.
• Two combining letters in the Combining Diacritical Marks Extended block for Scots language transcriptions.

Latin, Greek, Cyrillic, and IPA tables

The Unicode standard has special smaller letters that can appear above or below normal text. These are useful for writing chemical formulas, math, and phonetic symbols. Because these characters come from different parts of Unicode, they might look different depending on the font used.

Some new superscript and subscript letters will be added in version 18 of the Unicode Standard. These include superscript versions of the letters A, D, E, P, ƀ, and subscript versions of w, y, and z.

^§ Some Cyrillic letters might appear differently in certain fonts.

Some superscript letters in Unicode were originally designed as small capital letters. For example, superscript versions of Ä, Ö, and Ü are created by adding a special mark to the basic letter.

Except for the subscript iota, which is used in Greek text, most of these modifier letters are meant for writing phonetic symbols in texts that use the Latin alphabet. Some of these letters look very similar to normal Latin letters and might not be useful for writing in Latin-based languages.

Superscript versions of the Greek letters psi and omega are planned for version 18 of the Unicode Standard.

Cyrillic modifier characters are intended for use in Cyrillic text.

Superscript and subscript versions of certain Cyrillic letters like ё, ї, й, and ў are created using special marks above or below the basic letters. Many of these Cyrillic characters were added to the Cyrillic Extended-D block, which became available in the Gentium and Andika fonts in February 2023.

See also Unicode Small caps, Fullwidths, and Mathematical alphanumerics.

Superscript IPA

The Latin Extended-F block was created for additional phonetic symbols that appear above normal text. These symbols are supported by the free Gentium and Andika fonts. More superscript characters for historical and special phonetic uses are planned for version 18 of the Unicode Standard in 2026.

Consonant letters

Unicode includes special symbols for phonetic consonant letters that appear above normal text. The entire Latin Extended-F block is used for these superscript IPA symbols. Some symbols represent sounds with extra features and are shown in parentheses below the main letter. Asterisks mark symbols that will be added in Unicode version 18 in September 2026.

Special symbols can show sounds made with a strong release, like popping sounds. These can be written together with the main consonant letter.

Trying to write certain marks above already superscript letters does not work well in simple text.

Some older phonetic symbols that are no longer commonly used are still supported. New symbols for special phonetic uses are also planned for Unicode version 18.

Vowel letters

Unicode includes special symbols for phonetic vowel letters that appear above normal text, including some used in English dictionaries and by certain phoneticians. Some older alternative vowel symbols are also supported. Asterisks mark symbols that will be added in Unicode version 18 in September 2026.

Certain vowel symbols that show a rhotic (r-like) quality are not directly supported. Instead, a special mark can be added to normal vowels to show this quality.

Some older vowel symbols that are no longer used are supported, but others are not.

Some special phonetic symbols for certain language studies are also planned for Unicode version 18.

Length marks

Symbols to show the length of sounds are supported:

These can be used to add length to other superscript symbols.

Wildcards

Many superscript symbols for special uses are supported. These include symbols for sounds made before a consonant, sounds made with a stop, sounds made with friction, and more. Some basic Latin superscript symbols for tones and weak sounds are also supported.

Combining marks and subscripts

In addition to superscripts, a few phonetic letters beyond the basic Latin alphabet have special forms that combine with other letters or appear below them.

Composite characters

Unicode has special characters that look like superscripts and subscripts with other symbols. These help text look better.

The Latin-1 Supplement block has fractions like ½, ¼, and ¾. It also has the copyright © and registered trademark signs ®, which look like superscripts in some fonts. The General Punctuation block has the permille sign ‰ and the per-ten-thousand sign ‱, while Basic Latin has the percent sign %.

The Number Forms block has fractions like ⅐, ⅑, and ⅒. The Letterlike Symbols block has symbols made from subscript and superscript characters like ℀ and ℅. The Enclosed Alphanumeric Supplement block has three superscript abbreviations: 🅪, 🅫, and 🅬, used for trademarks in different languages. The Miscellaneous Technical block has a subscript 10 (⏨) for scientific notation. The Unified Canadian Aboriginal Syllabics and its Extended blocks have letters with superscripted letters to show special sounds.