Lowercase y reverse (ʎ) is the IPA Extensions character at Unicode U+028E (LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED Y). It looks like a rotated y — the IPA symbol for the palatal lateral approximant. You can paste ʎ in a UTF-8 file, or use a numeric character reference when encoding must be explicit.
Remember
Character ʎ
Unicode U+028E
Hex entity ʎ
Decimal ʎ
CSS escape \028E
Named entity (none)
IPA Palatal lateral approximant
All of these produce the same glyph: ʎ. Prefer typing or pasting ʎ in UTF-8 pages; use entities for CSS content, generated markup, or when encoding must be explicit.
Y Reverse using Hex Code: ʎ
Y Reverse using HTML Code: ʎ
Y Reverse using CSS Entity: ʎ
Typed / pasted: ʎ
IPA: palatal lateral approximant
How It Works
1. Hex:U+028E → ʎ in HTML. The browser turns it into ʎ.
2. Decimal: same code point as 654 → ʎ. Same result as hex.
3. CSS: use \028E in content (not an HTML entity). #point::after appends that ʎ after the paragraph text.
4. Typed ʎ: fine in UTF-8 documents. All four encoding lines show the same glyph.
Pitfalls & Tips
Common mistakes when working with the y reverse entity.
Named?
No named entity
HTML5 does not define a named entity for ʎ. Use numeric forms.
CSS vs HTML
Do not mix escapes
\028E belongs in CSS. ʎ / ʎ belong in HTML.
Look-alikes
Not accented y
ý (ý), ŷ (ŷ), and ȳ (&ymacr;) are Latin letters with diacritics. Turned y ʎ is a separate IPA character.
IPA
Consonant, not vowel letter
In IPA, ʎ marks the palatal lateral approximant — do not treat it as a decorative flipped y.
Fonts
Glyph coverage
Some fonts omit IPA Extensions. If ʎ looks like a box, switch to a font that includes it.
UTF-8
Declare charset
If you paste ʎ directly, serve the page as UTF-8 with <meta charset="UTF-8">.
Compatibility
Browser Support
Lowercase y reverse (U+028E) and its numeric entity forms (ʎ, ʎ, CSS \\028E) are supported in all mainstream browsers. Glyph availability depends on the font.
✓ Universal support
Y Reverse (ʎ)
Paste ʎ, or encode with hex, decimal, or CSS escape — same code point everywhere.
100%Browser coverage
Google ChromeSupported
Yes
Microsoft EdgeSupported
Yes
Mozilla FirefoxSupported
Yes
Apple SafariSupported
Yes
OperaSupported
Yes
Internet ExplorerAll versions
Yes
U+028E / entitiesFull support
Bottom line: Use a pasted ʎ in UTF-8 text when you can. Prefer ʎ or ʎ in HTML when encoding must be explicit, and \\028E only inside CSS content.
Remember
Key Takeaways
Unicode: turned y is U+028E (decimal 654), IPA Extensions.
HTML: use ʎ or ʎ when you need an entity.
CSS: use \028E inside content for generated text.
Watch out: not the same as plain y or accented ý / ŷ / ȳ.
One line:U+028E → paste ʎ, or encode as ʎ / ʎ / CSS \028E.
Frequently Asked Questions
Use ʎ (hex), ʎ (decimal), or the CSS escape \028E in the content property. All render ʎ. There is no named HTML entity for this character.
U+028E (LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED Y). Hex 028E, decimal 654. It belongs to the IPA Extensions block and represents the palatal lateral approximant in the International Phonetic Alphabet.
No. HTML5 does not define a named entity for this character. Use numeric references ʎ or ʎ when you need an entity form.
Use it for IPA phonetic transcription, linguistics documentation, CSS-generated content, or anywhere you must encode ʎ explicitly. Prefer typing or pasting ʎ directly when your file is UTF-8.
HTML entities (ʎ or ʎ) go in markup. The CSS escape \028E is used in stylesheets (usually in the content property of ::before/::after). Both render ʎ.
Plain y is U+0079. Y acute (ý) is ý. Y circumflex (ŷ) is ŷ. Turned y ʎ is U+028E — an IPA consonant symbol (palatal lateral approximant), not a Latin vowel letter with a diacritic.
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Did you know?
Lowercase y reverse (ʎ) is Unicode U+028E (decimal 654) in the IPA Extensions block. Official name: LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED Y. HTML5 has no named entity — use ʎ or ʎ. It is the IPA symbol for the palatal lateral approximant (as in many transcriptions of Spanish calle or Italian figlio).
