ghayn

Proto-Semitic {{transliteration|sem|ġ}} (usually reconstructed as voiced velar fricative {{IPA|/ɣ/}} or voiced uvular fricative {{IPA|/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 {{transliteration|sem|ġ}}, {{Script|Sarb|𐩶}}. Biblical Hebrew, as of the 3rd century BCE, apparently still distinguished the phonemes {{transliteration|sem|ġ}} and {{transliteration|sem|ḫ}} {{IPA|/χ/}}, based on transcriptions in the Septuagint, such as that of the name "Gomorrah" as Gomorrha ({{lang|grc|Γόμορρᾰ}}) for the Hebrew ‘Ămōrā ({{lang|he|עֲמֹרָה}}). Canaanite languages, including Hebrew, later also merged {{transliteration|sem|ġ}} with ʻayin, and the merger was complete in Tiberian Hebrew.

The letter {{transliteration|ar|ALA|ghayn}} ({{lang|ar|غ}}) is preferred in the Levant (nowadays), and by Aljazeera TV channel, to represent {{IPAslink|ɡ}}, e.g., {{lang|ar|هونغ كونغ}} (Hong Kong), {{lang|ar|البرتغال}} (Portugal), {{lang|ar|أغسطس}} (August), and {{lang|ar|غاندالف}} (Gandalf). Foreign publications and TV channels in Arabic, e.g. Deutsche Welle,{{cite web| title=Leningrad لينينغراد spelled with غ rather than ج| url=https://m.dw.com/ar/%D8%AD%D9%81%D9%84-%D9%85%D9%86%D8%AD-%D8%AC%D8%A7%D8%A6%D8%B2%D8%A9-%D9%86%D9%88%D8%A8%D9%84-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B3%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%85-%D8%AF%D8%B9%D9%88%D8%A9-%D8%A5%D9%84%D9%89-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D9%82%D8%A7%D9%88%D9%85%D8%A9-%D9%81%D9%8A-%D8%A3%D9%88%D9%83%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%86%D9%8A%D8%A7/a-64054336|access-date=14 December 2022}} and Alhurra,{{cite web|url=https://www.alhurra.com/egypt/2022/12/13/%D9%85%D8%B5%D8%B1-%D9%82%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%86%D9%8A%D8%A7%D8%A8%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%A7%D9%85%D8%A9-%D8%B6%D8%AF-%D8%A8%D9%84%D9%88%D8%BA%D8%B1-%D8%B4%D9%87%D9%8A%D8%B1%D8%A9 | title= "Blogger" بلوغر is spelled with غ, not ج about an article on Egypt quoting an Egyptian official Facebook post spelling it بلوجر with ج |access-date=14 December 2022}} follow this practice. It is then often pronounced {{IPA|/ɡ/}}, not {{IPA|/ɣ/}}, though in many cases, {{lang|ar|غ}} is pronounced in loanwords as expected ({{IPAslink|ɣ}}, not {{IPAslink|ɡ}}).

Other letters can be used to transcribe {{IPAslink|ɡ}} in loanwords and names, depending on whether the local variety of Arabic in the country has the phoneme {{IPAslink|ɡ}}, and if it does, which letter represents it, and whether it is customary in the country to use that letter to transcribe {{IPAslink|ɡ}}. For instance, in Egypt, where {{lang|ar|ج}} is pronounced as {{IPAblink|ɡ}} in all situations, even in speaking Modern Standard Arabic{{Cite book |last=al Nassir |first=Abdulmunʿim Abdulamir |url=https://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/10917/1/354409.pdf |title=Sibawayh the Phonologist |publisher=University of New York |year=1985 |pages=80 |language=ar |access-date=23 April 2024}} (except in certain contexts, such as reciting the Qur'an), {{lang|ar|ج}} is used to transcribe foreign {{IPAblink|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 {{transl|ar|DIN|qāf}} ({{script/Arabic|ق}}). In Iraq, gaf ({{script/Arabic|گ}}) is more used. In Morocco, gāf ({{script/Arabic|ݣ}}) or kāf ({{script/Arabic|ك}}) is used. In Tunisia and Algeria, {{script/Arabic|ڨ}} or {{transl|ar|DIN|qāf}} {{script/Arabic|ق}} is used. In Lebanon, the letter {{script/Arabic|چ‎‎}} is often used to create the phoneme {{IPAslink|ɡ}} in foreign loanwords, such as in {{lang|ar|چوچل}} (Google) or {{lang|ar|چورچيا}} (Georgia).

When representing the sound in transliteration of Arabic into Hebrew, it is written as {{lang|he|ע׳}} or {{lang|he|ר׳‎}}. In English, the letter {{lang|ar|غ}} in Arabic names is usually transliterated as {{transliteration|ar|ALA|gh}}, {{transliteration|ar|DIN|ġ}}, or simply g: {{lang|ar|بغداد}} {{transliteration|ar|ALA|Baghdād}} 'Baghdad', {{lang|ar|قرغيزستان}} {{transliteration|ar|ALA|Qirghizstan}} 'Kyrgyzstan', {{lang|ar|سنغافورة}} {{transliteration|ar|ALA|Singhafura}} 'Singapore', or {{lang|ar|غزة}} {{transliteration|ar|ALA|Ghazzah}} 'Gaza', the latter of which does not render the sound {{IPAblink|ɣ}}~{{IPAblink|ʁ}} accurately. The closest equivalent sound to be known to most English-speakers is the Parisian French "r" {{IPAblink|ʁ}}. In the Maltese alphabet which is written in the Latin alphabet, the only Semitic language to do so in its standard form, writes the ghayn as ⟨g⟩. It is usually represented as voiced velar plosive.

Turkish ğ, which in modern speech has no sound of its own (similar to soft G in Danish and the hard and soft signs in Russian), used to be spelled as غ in the Ottoman script.Lewis, Geoffrey: Turkish Grammar: Second Edition, pp. 4–5. New York: Oxford University Press Inc, 2011. {{ISBN|978-0-19-870036-4}} Other Turkic languages also use this Latin equivalent of ghayn (ğ), such as Tatar (Cyrillic: г), which pronounces it as [ʁ]. In Arabic words and names where there is an ayin, Tatar adds the ghayn instead (عبد الله, ʻAbd Allāh, ’Abdullah; Tatar: Ğabdulla, Габдулла; Yaña imlâ: غابدوللا /ʁabdulla/).{{Cite web |title=Tatar (Standard) |url=https://eurphon.info/languages/html?lang_id=46 |website=eurphon.info}}{{Cite web |title=Quranic Names – Abdullah |url=https://quranicnames.com/abdullah/}}{{Cite web |title=Tatar Names |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221027192517/https://magarif-uku.ru/tatar-isemnere/ir-at/ |language=tt}}{{Cite web |last=Ilya |first=Yevlampiev |date=2011 |title=Title: Revised Proposal to encode Arabic characters used for Bashkir, Belarusian, Crimean Tatar, and Tatar languages |url=https://unicode.org/L2/L2011/11209-n4072-arabic.pdf}}

For the related characters, see ng (Arabic letter) and ayin.

{{charmap

|063A|name1=Arabic Letter Ghain

|FECD|name2=Arabic Letter Ghain
isolated form

|FECE|name3=Arabic Letter Ghain
final form

|FECF|name4=Arabic Letter Ghain
initial form

|FED0|name5=Arabic Letter Ghain
medial form

}}

{{charmap

|06A0|name1=Arabic Letter Ain With Three Dots Above

|075D|name2=Arabic Letter Ain With Two Dots Above

|08B3|name3=Arabic Letter Ain With Three Dots Below

}}

• Ng (Arabic letter)
• Arabic phonology
• Gaf
• Ayin
• Cyrillic Ghayn, used for several Central Asian languages

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{{Northwest Semitic abjad}}

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Category:Arabic letters

Category:Urdu letters