# Macron letters to copy and paste

Copy vowels and consonants with a macron, including ā, ē, ī, ō, ū, ȳ, and ḡ. Learn when the horizontal line marks length or belongs to a transcription system.

## Characters available in this tool

- Ā: Capital A with macron (U+0100)
- ā: Lowercase a with macron (U+0101)
- Ē: Capital E with macron (U+0112)
- ē: Lowercase e with macron (U+0113)
- Ī: Capital I with macron (U+012A)
- ī: Lowercase i with macron (U+012B)
- Ō: Capital O with macron (U+014C)
- ō: Lowercase o with macron (U+014D)
- Ū: Capital U with macron (U+016A)
- ū: Lowercase u with macron (U+016B)
- Ȳ: Capital Y with macron (U+0232)
- ȳ: Lowercase y with macron (U+0233)
- Ḡ: Capital G with macron (U+1E20)
- ḡ: Lowercase g with macron (U+1E21)

## Find the right character

### Macron vowels

Ā ā Ē ē Ī ī Ō ō Ū ū Ȳ ȳ

A macron often marks a long vowel in orthographies, dictionaries, and romanization.

### Macron consonant

Ḡ ḡ

G with macron is used in particular transliteration systems.

## How to type and insert these characters

### Copy a precomposed macron letter

Select the exact letter above for ordinary text. Precomposed characters are convenient for search, forms, and character limits.

### Use an extended input source

ABC Extended and language-specific layouts provide dead-key access to macron vowels. Keyboard Viewer shows the active sequence.

### Use Unicode and Alt+X

In Word, enter the hexadecimal code and press Alt+X. For example, 0101 becomes ā and 016B becomes ū.

### Hold the vowel or add a language

Long-press menus may include macron vowels. Add a language keyboard such as Māori when the needed form is missing.

## Character codes

| Character | Name | Group | Unicode | Windows Alt | HTML named | HTML decimal |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Ā | Capital A with macron | Macron letters | `U+0100` | Not standard | `Ā` | `Ā` |
| ā | Lowercase a with macron | Macron letters | `U+0101` | Not standard | `ā` | `ā` |
| Ē | Capital E with macron | Macron letters | `U+0112` | Not standard | `Ē` | `Ē` |
| ē | Lowercase e with macron | Macron letters | `U+0113` | Not standard | `ē` | `ē` |
| Ī | Capital I with macron | Macron letters | `U+012A` | Not standard | `Ī` | `Ī` |
| ī | Lowercase i with macron | Macron letters | `U+012B` | Not standard | `ī` | `ī` |
| Ō | Capital O with macron | Macron letters | `U+014C` | Not standard | `Ō` | `Ō` |
| ō | Lowercase o with macron | Macron letters | `U+014D` | Not standard | `ō` | `ō` |
| Ū | Capital U with macron | Macron letters | `U+016A` | Not standard | `Ū` | `Ū` |
| ū | Lowercase u with macron | Macron letters | `U+016B` | Not standard | `ū` | `ū` |
| Ȳ | Capital Y with macron | Macron letters | `U+0232` | Not standard | Not listed | `Ȳ` |
| ȳ | Lowercase y with macron | Macron letters | `U+0233` | Not standard | Not listed | `ȳ` |
| Ḡ | Capital G with macron | Macron letters | `U+1E20` | Not standard | Not listed | `Ḡ` |
| ḡ | Lowercase g with macron | Macron letters | `U+1E21` | Not standard | Not listed | `ḡ` |

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.

## What does a macron mean?

A macron is a straight horizontal mark above a letter. It commonly indicates vowel length, but its exact function depends on the language or transcription system.

Māori commonly uses macron vowels to mark vowel length. Latin-learning materials, dictionaries, and several romanization systems also use the mark. Removing it can erase a spelling or pronunciation distinction.

A macron letter can be encoded as one precomposed character or as a base letter followed by a combining macron. These sequences can look identical but contain different code points.

**A macron is not a line below or circumflex**

The macron is a horizontal line above the letter. A line-below character places the line underneath, and a circumflex uses a pointed roof shape.

## Questions about Macron letters

### What is the line over a vowel called?

A straight horizontal line above a letter is called a macron.

### How do I type ā in Word?

Type 0101 and press Alt+X for ā. Type 0100 and press Alt+X for Ā.

### Does a macron always mean a long vowel?

No. Vowel length is common, but the function depends on the language, dictionary, or transcription system.

### Should I omit a Māori macron?

Preserve the macron in Māori spelling whenever the destination supports it.

## Related character pages

- [All accent marks](https://umlautletters.com/accent-marks/)
- [A with accent](https://umlautletters.com/a-with-accent/)
- [E with accent](https://umlautletters.com/e-with-accent/)
- [I with accent](https://umlautletters.com/i-with-accent/)
- [O with accent](https://umlautletters.com/o-with-accent/)
- [U with accent](https://umlautletters.com/u-with-accent/)
- [Browse by languageSee language character sets →](https://umlautletters.com/languages/)
- [All accented letters](https://umlautletters.com/accented-letters/)

References: [Unicode Latin Extended-A](https://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U0100.pdf), [Unicode Latin Extended Additional](https://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U1E00.pdf), [Apple accent entry guidance](https://support.apple.com/en-us/guide/mac-help/mh27474/mac), [Microsoft Word character codes](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/word/insert-ascii-or-unicode-character-codes-in-word).

[View this page on Umlaut Letters](https://umlautletters.com/macron-letters/)

Publisher: Sören Schmidt