Circumflex vowels
 â Ê ê Î î Ô ô Û û
Used in French, Portuguese, Romanian, Vietnamese, Welsh, and several transliteration systems.
ACCENT MARK / CIRCUMFLEX
Letters with a circumflex accent
Copy vowels and consonants with a circumflex, including â, ê, î, ô, û, ĉ, ĝ, ĥ, ĵ, ŝ, ŵ, and ŷ.
Click a character, then paste with Ctrl+V or ⌘V.
Characters 24Groups 2Format Unicode text
QUICK REFERENCE
Find the right character
Circumflex consonants
Ĉ ĉ Ĝ ĝ Ĥ ĥ Ĵ ĵ Ŝ ŝ Ŵ ŵ Ŷ ŷ
Esperanto uses ĉ, ĝ, ĥ, ĵ, and ŝ. Welsh uses ŵ and ŷ as vowels written with a circumflex.
KEYBOARD METHODS
How to type and insert these characters
Use a layout, Character Map, or Word
A US-International keyboard uses the caret dead key followed by a supported letter. Character Map and Word Unicode conversion cover forms that do not have convenient Windows Alt codes.
Press Option + I, then the letter
On the US or ABC layout, press Option + I, release, and type the letter. The shortcut covers common vowels. Character Viewer is useful for Esperanto and Welsh forms.
Hold the base letter
Touch and hold the base letter and select its circumflex form. Add a French, Portuguese, Vietnamese, Welsh, or Esperanto keyboard when the required letter is absent.
Use Ctrl + Shift + caret or Alt+X
Press Ctrl + Shift + caret, release, and type a supported letter. The Unicode value followed by Alt+X works for every character listed.
UNICODE REFERENCE
Character codes
| Character | Name | Group | Unicode | Windows Alt | HTML named | HTML decimal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Â | Capital A with circumflex | Vowels | U+00C2 | Alt+0194 | Â | Â |
| â | Lowercase a with circumflex | Vowels | U+00E2 | Alt+0226 | â | â |
| Ê | Capital E with circumflex | Vowels | U+00CA | Alt+0202 | Ê | Ê |
| ê | Lowercase e with circumflex | Vowels | U+00EA | Alt+0234 | ê | ê |
| Î | Capital I with circumflex | Vowels | U+00CE | Alt+0206 | Î | Î |
| î | Lowercase i with circumflex | Vowels | U+00EE | Alt+0238 | î | î |
| Ô | Capital O with circumflex | Vowels | U+00D4 | Alt+0212 | Ô | Ô |
| ô | Lowercase o with circumflex | Vowels | U+00F4 | Alt+0244 | ô | ô |
| Û | Capital U with circumflex | Vowels | U+00DB | Alt+0219 | Û | Û |
| û | Lowercase u with circumflex | Vowels | U+00FB | Alt+0251 | û | û |
| Ĉ | Capital C with circumflex | Consonants | U+0108 | Not standard | Ĉ | Ĉ |
| ĉ | Lowercase c with circumflex | Consonants | U+0109 | Not standard | ĉ | ĉ |
| Ĝ | Capital G with circumflex | Consonants | U+011C | Not standard | Not listed | Ĝ |
| ĝ | Lowercase g with circumflex | Consonants | U+011D | Not standard | Not listed | ĝ |
| Ĥ | Capital H with circumflex | Consonants | U+0124 | Not standard | Not listed | Ĥ |
| ĥ | Lowercase h with circumflex | Consonants | U+0125 | Not standard | Not listed | ĥ |
| Ĵ | Capital J with circumflex | Consonants | U+0134 | Not standard | Not listed | Ĵ |
| ĵ | Lowercase j with circumflex | Consonants | U+0135 | Not standard | Not listed | ĵ |
| Ŝ | Capital S with circumflex | Consonants | U+015C | Not standard | Ŝ | Ŝ |
| ŝ | Lowercase s with circumflex | Consonants | U+015D | Not standard | ŝ | ŝ |
| Ŵ | Capital W with circumflex | Consonants | U+0174 | Not standard | Not listed | Ŵ |
| ŵ | Lowercase w with circumflex | Consonants | U+0175 | Not standard | Not listed | ŵ |
| Ŷ | Capital Y with circumflex | Consonants | U+0176 | Not standard | Not listed | Ŷ |
| ŷ | Lowercase y with circumflex | Consonants | U+0177 | Not standard | Not listed | ŷ |
For ordinary writing, copy and paste the character itself. Use an HTML entity only in HTML source. A listed Windows Alt code requires a numeric keypad and may depend on the active character set.
USAGE GUIDE
How the circumflex is used
The circumflex looks like a small pointed roof. It can signal vowel quality, length, tone, a historical spelling relationship, or a separate alphabet character, depending on the language.
French uses forms such as â, ê, î, ô, and û. Portuguese and Vietnamese assign the mark their own pronunciation and tone relationships. Welsh uses ŵ and ŷ as vowels, while Esperanto uses circumflex consonants including ĉ, ĝ, ĥ, ĵ, and ŝ.
The caret ^ is a spacing keyboard symbol. It may start a dead-key sequence, but it is not interchangeable with a completed circumflex letter or with the combining circumflex U+0302.
Circumflex â and caron ǎ are opposite shapes
The circumflex points upward like a roof: â. The caron points downward: ǎ. They are separate marks with different language uses and Unicode representations.
COMMON QUESTIONS
Questions about Circumflex accent
What does a circumflex look like?
It resembles a small upward-pointing roof above the letter, as in ô.
What is the Alt code for ô?
On Windows with a numeric keypad, hold Alt and enter 0244 for ô or 0212 for Ô.
Is a caret the same as a circumflex?
The caret is the spacing keyboard symbol ^. It can be used as a dead key, but a letter such as ê is a different finished character.
Which Esperanto letters use a circumflex?
Esperanto uses ĉ, ĝ, ĥ, ĵ, and ŝ, with uppercase Ĉ, Ĝ, Ĥ, Ĵ, and Ŝ.
How do I type ŷ in Word?
Type 0177 and press Alt+X for ŷ. Type 0176 and press Alt+X for Ŷ.
Related character pages
References: Unicode circumflex accent record, Unicode Combining Diacritical Marks, Unicode Latin Extended-A, Unicode Latin Extended Additional, Apple accent entry guidance, Microsoft character code guidance.