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]}

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.

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.

References