Not to sound too factious but the decision to redesign the string API was a big reason why Python 3 has been a little on the slow cooked side. In for a penny and all that.<p>If I recall correctly the modifier on it&#x27;s own isn&#x27;t correct. There is a base that should go before it to produce a valid character. I don&#x27;t recall the base unfortunately and I don&#x27;t have the spec to hand.