Step 1: Determine the UTF-8 encoding bit layout
The character ⁎ has the Unicode code point U+204E. In UTF-8, it is encoded using 3 bytes because its codepoint is in the range of
0x0800to0xffff.
Therefore we know that the UTF-8 encoding will be done over 16 bits within the final 24 bits and that it will have the format:1110xxxx 10xxxxxx 10xxxxxx
Where thexare the payload bits.UTF-8 Encoding bit layout by codepoint range Codepoint Range Bytes Bit pattern Payload length U+0000 - U+007F 1 0xxxxxxx 7 bits U+0080 - U+07FF 2 110xxxxx 10xxxxxx 11 bits U+0800 - U+FFFF 3 1110xxxx 10xxxxxx 10xxxxxx 16 bits U+10000 - U+10FFFF 4 11110xxx 10xxxxxx 10xxxxxx 10xxxxxx 21 bits Step 2: Obtain the payload bits:
Convert the hexadecimal code point U+204E to binary:
00100000 01001110. Those are the payload bits.Step 3: Fill in the bits to match the bit pattern:
Obtain the final bytes by arranging the paylod bits to match the bit layout:
11100010 10000001 10001110
LOW ASTERISK·U+204E
⁎
Character Information
Code Point
U+204E
HEX
204E
Unicode Plane
Basic Multilingual Plane
Category
Other Punctuation
Character Representations
Click elements to copy| Encoding | Hex | Binary |
|---|---|---|
| UTF8 | E2 81 8E | 11100010 10000001 10001110 |
| UTF16 (big Endian) | 20 4E | 00100000 01001110 |
| UTF16 (little Endian) | 4E 20 | 01001110 00100000 |
| UTF32 (big Endian) | 00 00 20 4E | 00000000 00000000 00100000 01001110 |
| UTF32 (little Endian) | 4E 20 00 00 | 01001110 00100000 00000000 00000000 |
HTML Entity
⁎
URI Encoded
%E2%81%8E
Description
The Unicode character U+204E, known as the LOW ASTERISK, holds a unique place in typography and digital text. This character is primarily used to represent an asterisk symbol (*) that appears smaller than a standard asterisk. While its appearance might be familiar, it has specific use cases within programming, markup languages, and data formats. The LOW ASTERISK provides an alternative representation for situations where the size or style of a standard asterisk is undesirable or incompatible with surrounding text elements. In certain instances, this character can help to maintain consistency in typographic design across various platforms and devices. However, its use remains relatively niche compared to other common Unicode characters, due to its specific purpose and limited applications in daily communication. Overall, the LOW ASTERISK serves a specialized role within digital text, catering to the needs of developers, designers, and users who require a smaller or distinct asterisk symbol for their work.
How to type the ⁎ symbol on Windows
Hold Alt and type 8270 on the numpad. Or use Character Map.