Ghayn

Last updated
Ghayn
Arabic
غ
Phonemic representation ɣ,ʁ
Position in alphabet28
Numerical value1000
Alphabetic derivatives of the Phoenician
Ghayn
غ
Usage
Writing system Arabic script
Type Abjad
Language of origin Arabic language
Sound values ɣ , ʁ
Alphabetical position19
Numerical value: 1000
History
Development
Ghayn
Other
Associated numbers1000
Writing directionRight-to-left
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 Arabic letter غ (Arabic : غَيْنْ, ghayn or ġayn) is the nineteenth letter of the Arabic alphabet, one of the six letters not in the twenty-two akin to the Phoenician alphabet (the others being thāʼ , khāʼ , dhāl , ḍād , ẓāʼ ). It represents the sound /ɣ/ or /ʁ/. In name and shape, it is a variant of ʻayn (ع). Its numerical value is 1000 (see Abjad numerals). In the Persian language, it represents [ ɣ ]~[ ɢ ] and is the twenty-second letter in the new Persian alphabet.

Contents

Ghayn is written in several ways depending on its position in the word:

Position in wordIsolatedFinalMedialInitial
Glyph form:
(Help)
غـغـغـغـ

History

Proto-Semitic ġ (usually reconstructed as voiced velar fricative /ɣ/ or voiced uvular fricative /ʁ/) merged with ʻayn in most Semitic languages except for Arabic, Ugaritic, and older varieties of the Canaanite languages. The South Arabian alphabet retained a symbol for ġ, 𐩶. Biblical Hebrew, as of the 3rd century BCE, apparently still distinguished the phonemes ġ and /χ/, based on transcriptions in the Septuagint, such as that of the name "Gomorrah" as Gomorras (Γομορραν) for the Hebrew ‘Ămōrā (עֲמֹרָה). Canaanite languages, including Hebrew, later also merged ġ with ʻayin, and the merger was complete in Tiberian Hebrew.

Proto-Semitic Akkadian Arabic Canaanite Hebrew Aramaic South Arabian Geʻez
ġ-غgh Phoenician ayin.svg ġ, ʻעʻעʻ Himjar ghajn.PNG ġʻ

Usage

The letter ghayn (غ) is preferred in the Levant (nowadays), and by Aljazeera TV channel, to represent /ɡ/, e.g., هونغ كونغ (Hong Kong), البرتغال (Portugal), and غاندالف (Gandalf). Foreign publications and TV channels in Arabic, e.g. Deutsche Welle, [1] and Alhurra, [2] follow this practice. It is then often pronounced /ɡ/, not /ɣ/, though in many cases, غ is pronounced in loanwords as expected (/ɣ/, not /ɡ/).

Other letters can be used to transcribe /ɡ/ in loanwords and names, depending on whether the local variety of Arabic in the country has the phoneme /ɡ/, and if it does, which letter represents it, and whether it is customary in the country to use that letter to transcribe /ɡ/. For instance, in Egypt, where ج is pronounced as [ ɡ ] in all situations, even in speaking Modern Standard Arabic [3] (except in certain contexts, such as reciting the Qur'an), ج is used to transcribe foreign [ ɡ ] in all contexts. The same applies to coastal Yemen, as well as southwestern and eastern Oman. In Algerian Arabic, Hejazi Arabic and Najdi Arabic it is qāf (ق). In Iraq, gaf (گ) is more used. In Morocco, gāf (ݣ) or kāf (ك) is used. In Tunisia and Algeria, ڨ or qāfق is used.

When representing the sound in transliteration of Arabic into Hebrew, it is written as ע׳. In English, the letter غ in Arabic names is usually transliterated as gh, ġ, or simply g: بغدادBaghdād 'Baghdad', قرغيزستانQirghizstan 'Kyrgyzstan', or غزةGhazzah 'Gaza', the latter of which does not render the sound [ ɣ ]~[ ʁ ] accurately. The closest equivalent sound to be known to most English-speakers is the Parisian French "r" [ ʁ ].

For the related characters, see ng (Arabic letter)

Character encodings

Character information
Previewغ
Unicode nameARABIC LETTER GHAINARABIC LETTER GHAIN
ISOLATED FORM
ARABIC LETTER GHAIN
FINAL FORM
ARABIC LETTER GHAIN
INITIAL FORM
ARABIC LETTER GHAIN
MEDIAL FORM
Encodingsdecimalhexdechexdechexdechexdechex
Unicode 1594U+063A65229U+FECD65230U+FECE65231U+FECF65232U+FED0
UTF-8 216 186D8 BA239 187 141EF BB 8D239 187 142EF BB 8E239 187 143EF BB 8F239 187 144EF BB 90
Numeric character reference غغﻍﻍﻎﻎﻏﻏﻐﻐ
Character information
Previewڠݝ
Unicode nameARABIC LETTER AIN WITH THREE DOTS ABOVEARABIC LETTER AIN WITH TWO DOTS ABOVEARABIC LETTER AIN WITH THREE DOTS BELOW
Encodingsdecimalhexdechexdechex
Unicode 1696U+06A01885U+075D2227U+08B3
UTF-8 218 160DA A0221 157DD 9D224 162 179E0 A2 B3
Numeric character reference ڠڠݝݝࢳࢳ

See also

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References

  1. "Leningrad لينينغراد spelled with غ rather than ج" . Retrieved 14 December 2022.
  2. ""Blogger" بلوغر is spelled with غ, not ج about an article on Egypt quoting an Egyptian official Facebook post spelling it بلوجر with ج" . Retrieved 14 December 2022.
  3. al Nassir, Abdulmunʿim Abdulamir (1985). Sibawayh the Phonologist (PDF) (in Arabic). University of New York. p. 80. Retrieved 23 April 2024.