I know some folks who want to rehabilitate the swastika. That’s what they say and I love them, so I believe it.

Frankly, I think their goal is more futile than attempting to stop the evolution of language or the melting of polar ice. But I’m supportive; I try to help.

Recently it occurred to me that our alphabet needs at least one new character. We lack a symbol for the sound that writers have spelled “tsk” and “tut.”

It’s an unaspirated “t.” I never realized till this morning that the consonant “t” is aspirated, but I don’t think it can be pronounced without exhaling. If I try to sound “t” on the inhale, I make the cluck/tchuk I’m trying to describe.

It’s the sound we make when we express sympathy. It’s what we often say to horses and other domesticated animals. It’s what we pronounce when we push our tongue against the roof of our mouth and then with suction remove it.

It does NOT sound like tsk or tut.

But it’s a kind of “t.” Maybe it should be represented with crossed lines. We already have “t” and “x;” how about if we give this character some feet at the ends of its limbs?

Voila! A swastika (the only word I’ve found so far that Google won’t guess at; if you start to type it Google will wait for you to finish before it will offer up links).

Now we just have to agree on which way it will face.