Gha
| Gha | |
|---|---|
| Ƣ ƣ | |
| ğ | |
 | |
| Usage | |
| Writing system | Latin script |
| Type | Alphabetic |
| Language of origin | Azerbaijani language |
| Sound values | [ɣ] [ʁ] |
| In Unicode | U+01A2, U+01A3 |
| Alphabetical position | 18 (after Q) |
| History | |
| Development | |
| Time period | ~1900 to 1983 |
| Sisters | Q Φ φ Փ փ Ֆ ֆ |
| Transliterations | ğ, q, g, gh, Ғ |
| Variations | ğ |
| Other | |
| Writing direction | Left-to-Right |
The letter Ƣ (minuscule: ƣ), called gha, was used in the Latin orthographies of various, mostly Turkic languages, as part of the early Soviet Jaꞑalif orthographies.[1] It was also later included in the Chinese pinyin-based alphabets for Kazakh and Uyghur until 1983. 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.
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).[2]
Modern replacements
[edit]| Language | Letter |
|---|---|
| Abaza | ГЪ, гъ |
| Abkhaz | Ҕ, ҕ/Ӷ, ӷ |
| Avar | ГЪ, гъ |
| Azerbaijani | Ğ, ğ |
| Bashkir | Ғ, ғ |
| Crimean Tatar | Ğ, ğ (Latin), ГЪ, гъ (Cyrillic) |
| Dargin (literary) | ГЪ, гъ |
| Dungan | Р, р |
| 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[3] | 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 |
| 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) |
| Yakut | Ҕ, ҕ |
Unicode
[edit]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
[edit]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 Kyrgyz 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
[edit]- ↑ "Some examples of LATIN LETTER OI (gha) (U+01A2, U+01A3) in Tatar and Uighur printing, with remarks on the recommended glyphs" (PDF).
- ↑ "Unicode mailing list".
- ↑ Культура и письменность Востока [Eastern Culture and Literature] (in Russian). Vol. 2. 1928.
- 1 2 "Unicode chart" (PDF).
- ↑ "Unicode Technical Note #27: Known Anomalies in Unicode Character Names".