HTML Entity for Lowercase I Breve (ĭ)

Beginner
⏱️ 5 min read
📚 Updated: Jun 2026
🎯 1 Code Example
Unicode U+012D
HTML Entity for Lowercase I Breve tutorial illustration

What You'll Learn

How to display the lowercase i with breve (ĭ) in HTML using named entity, hexadecimal, decimal, and CSS escape methods. This character is U+012D in the Latin Extended-A block and is commonly used in phonetic transcription and linguistic notation, where the breve often indicates a short vowel or other language-specific distinctions.

Render it with &ibreve;, ĭ, ĭ, or CSS escape \012D. The named entity &ibreve; is often the most readable option in HTML source.

⚡ Quick Reference — Lowercase I Breve Entity

Unicode U+012D

Latin Extended-A

Hex Code ĭ

Hexadecimal reference

HTML Code ĭ

Decimal reference

Named Entity &ibreve;

Most readable option

Reference Table
Name           Value
────────────   ──────────
Unicode        U+012D
Hex code       ĭ
HTML code      ĭ
Named entity   &ibreve;
CSS code       \012D
Meaning        Latin small letter i with breve
Related        U+012C = &Ibreve; (uppercase)
Block          Latin Extended-A (U+0100–U+017F)
1

Complete HTML Example

A simple example showing the lowercase i breve (ĭ) using hexadecimal code, decimal HTML code, the named entity, and a CSS content escape:

html
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
 <style>
  #point:after{
   content: "\012D";
  }
 </style>
</head>
<body>
<p>Symbol (hex): &#x12D;</p>
<p>Symbol (decimal): &#301;</p>
<p>Symbol (named): &ibreve;</p>
<p id="point">Symbol (CSS): </p>
</body>
</html>
Try It Yourself

🌐 Browser Support

The lowercase i breve (ĭ) and the named entity &ibreve; are supported in modern browsers:

Chrome1+
Firefox1+
Safari1+
Edge12+
Opera4+
Android4.4+
iOS Safari1+

👀 Live Preview

See the lowercase i breve (ĭ) in linguistic and content contexts:

Large glyphĭ
PhoneticShort vowel: ĭ marks a breve (˘) over i
LinguisticUsed in phonetic transcription and academic linguistics
Named entity&ibreve; renders as ĭ
Numeric refs&#x12D; &#301; &ibreve; \012D

🧠 How It Works

1

Hexadecimal Code

&#x12D; uses the Unicode hexadecimal value 12D to display the character. The x prefix indicates hexadecimal format.

HTML markup
2

Decimal HTML Code

&#301; uses the decimal Unicode value 301 to display the same character. A common method for Latin Extended-A characters.

HTML markup
3

Named Entity

&ibreve; is the standard named entity for ĭ—readable in source HTML and part of the HTML5 entity set.

HTML markup
4

CSS Entity

\012D is used in CSS stylesheets, particularly in the content property of pseudo-elements like ::before and ::after.

CSS stylesheet
=

Same visual result

All four methods produce the glyph: ĭ. Unicode U+012D sits in Latin Extended-A. Uppercase equivalent: U+012C (&Ibreve;). It canonically decomposes to i (U+0069) + combining breve (U+0306). Do not confuse with plain i, acute &iacute; (í), or dotless ı.

✅

Use Cases

The lowercase i breve (ĭ) is commonly used in:

🔤 Phonetic transcription

Notation where the breve indicates a short vowel or a specific pronunciation of i.

📝 Linguistics & academia

Language examples, transliteration systems, and linguistic papers using breve-marked vowels.

📚 Dictionaries & lexicons

Pronunciation guides or annotated forms that distinguish short i from other i variants.

📄 Education

Content that teaches diacritics, vowel length, or phonetic spelling.

🌐 Transliteration

Romanization conventions that use the breve for short-vowel distinctions.

♿ Accessibility

Correct encoding ensures assistive technologies interpret diacritics accurately.

🎨 Typography

Demonstrating Latin Extended-A characters and diacritic rendering in fonts.

💡 Best Practices

Do

  • Use &ibreve; in HTML when possible for readability
  • Serve pages as UTF-8; you can also type ĭ directly in UTF-8 source
  • Use fonts that support Latin Extended-A and diacritic marks
  • Pick one entity style (hex, decimal, or named) per project
  • Distinguish ĭ (breve) from í (acute), plain i (U+0069), and dotless ı

Don’t

  • Substitute plain i when ĭ is required for correct notation
  • Confuse breve ĭ with acute í or caron ǐ
  • Put CSS escape \012D in HTML text nodes
  • Assume all fonts render Latin Extended-A glyphs identically
  • Omit UTF-8 encoding on pages with extended Latin characters

Key Takeaways

1

Four references render ĭ; named entity is most readable

&#x12D; &#301; &ibreve;
2

For CSS stylesheets, use the escape in the content property

\012D
3

Unicode U+012D — LATIN SMALL LETTER I WITH BREVE

4

Used in phonetic transcription, linguistics, and specialized typography

5

Previous: Lowercase I Acute (í)   Next: Lowercase I Caron

❓ Frequently Asked Questions

Use &ibreve; (named), &#x12D; (hex), &#301; (decimal), or \012D in CSS content. The named entity &ibreve; is the most readable for HTML content.
U+012D (LATIN SMALL LETTER I WITH BREVE). Latin Extended-A block. Hex 12D, decimal 301. The breve indicates a short vowel in phonetic and linguistic contexts.
When you need the breve diacritic on i for correct spelling in a specific orthography, or in phonetic transcriptions and linguistic notation where the breve indicates a short vowel or another marked pronunciation.
ĭ (U+012D) is a precomposed character. It canonically decomposes to i (U+0069) followed by the combining breve (U+0306). Both forms are equivalent in Unicode, but the precomposed form is often simpler to use in HTML.
The shape and placement of the breve can vary by font design. Use a font that supports Latin Extended-A well, and test across browsers and devices when typography is important.

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About the author

Mari Selvan M P
Mari Selvan M P 🔗

Developer, cloud engineer, and technical writer

  • Experience 12 years building web and cloud systems
  • Focus Full Stack Development, AWS, and Developer Education

I write practical tutorials so students and working developers can learn by doing—from databases and APIs to deployment on AWS.

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