Gha

Gha

Ƣ ƣ

ğ, ꝙ

Usage

Writing system Latin script

Type Alphabetic

Language of origin Azerbaijani language

Phonetic usage [ɣ]
[ʁ]

Unicode codepoint U+01A2, U+01A3

Alphabetical position 8 (after G)

History

Development

- - - Ϙ ϙ
      - 𐌒
        Q
        
        Ƣ ƣ

Time period ~1900 to 1983

Descendants • (None)

Sisters Q
Φ φ
Փ փ
Ֆ ֆ

Transliteration equivalents ğ, q, g, gh, Ғ

Variations ğ, ꝙ

Other

Writing direction Left-to-Right

This article contains phonetic transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. For the distinction between [ ], / / and ⟨ ⟩, see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters.

The letter Ƣ (minuscule: ƣ) has been used in the Latin orthographies of various, mostly Turkic languages, such as Azeri or the Jaꞑalif orthography for Tatar.^[1] It is also included in pinyin alphabets for Kazakh and Uyghur; and in the 1928 Soviet Kurdish Latin alphabet.^[2] It usually represents a voiced velar fricative [ɣ] but is sometimes used for a voiced uvular fricative [ʁ]. All orthographies that used the letter have been phased out and so it is not well-supported in fonts. It can still be seen in pre-1983 books published in the People’s Republic of China.^{[citation needed]}

Letters Ƣ and ƣ of Sütterlin script

Historically, it is derived from a handwritten form of the small Latin letter q around 1900. The majuscule is then based on the minuscule. Its use for [ɣ] stems from the linguistic tradition of representing such sounds (and similar ones) by q in Turkic languages and in transcriptions of Arabic or Persian (compare kaf and qaf).^[3]

In alphabetical order, it comes between G and H.

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Transcription

Modern replacements

Abaza: ГЪ, гъ
Abkhaz: Ҕ, ҕ
Avar: ГЪ, гъ
Azerbaijani: Ğ, ğ
Bashkir: Ғ, ғ
Crimean Tatar: Ğ, ğ (Latin), ГЪ, гъ (Cyrillic)
Dargin (literary): ГЪ, гъ
Kabardian: ГЪ, гъ (Cyrillic), Ğ, ğ (Latin),
Karachay-Balkar: ГЪ, гъ
Karaim: ГЪ, гъ (Cyrillic), G, g (Latin)
Karakalpak: Ǵ, ǵ (Latin), Ғ, ғ (Cyrillic)
Kazakh: Ğ, ğ (Latin), Ғ, ғ (Cyrillic), ع‬ (Arabic)
Khakas: Ғ, ғ
Kumyk: ГЪ, гъ
Kurdish: غ (Arabic), x/ẍ (Latin)
Kyrgyz: Г, г (Cyrillic), ع‬ (Arabic)
Lak: ГЪ, гъ
Laz: ღ (Georgian), Ğ, ğ (Latin)
Lezgi: ГЪ, гъ
Nogai: Г, г
Yakut: Ҕ, ҕ
Tajik: Ғ, ғ
Talysh: Ğ, ğ (Latin), غ (Persian), Ғ, ғ (Cyrillic)
Tat: Ğ, ğ (Latin), ГЪ, гъ (Cyrillic)
Tatar: Г, г (Cyrillic), Ğ, ğ (Latin)
Tsakhur: ГЪ, гъ (Cyrillic), Ğ, ğ (Latin)
Turkmen: G, g
Tuvan: Г, г
Udin: Ğ, ğ (Latin), ГЪ, гъ (Cyrillic)
Urum: Ґ, ґ; Ғ, ғ
Uyghur: غ (Arabic), Ғ, ғ (Cyrillic), Gh, gh (Latin)
Uzbek: Gʻ, gʻ (Latin), Ғ, ғ (Cyrillic)

Unicode

In Unicode, the majuscule Ƣ is encoded in the Latin Extended-B block at U+01A2 and the minuscule ƣ is encoded at U+01A3.^[4] The assigned names, "LATIN CAPITAL LETTER OI" and "LATIN SMALL LETTER OI" respectively, are acknowledged by the Unicode Consortium to be mistakes, as gha is unrelated to the letters O and I.^[5] The Unicode Consortium therefore has provided the character name aliases "LATIN CAPITAL LETTER GHA" and "LATIN SMALL LETTER GHA".^[4]

In popular culture

Thomas Pynchon's novel Gravity's Rainbow features an episode purporting to be the story of a Soviet officer, Tchitcherine, dispatched to Kirghizstan to serve on a committee tasked with devising an alphabet for the Kirghiz language. Tchitcherine's particular contribution is the invention of the letter Ƣ, which is thus perhaps the only obsolete letter of a Central Asian language that may be familiar to the non-specialist, English-reading public through a widely circulated novel.