Gha
Letter in mostly Turkic-Latin script
title: "Gha" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["latin-script-letters"] description: "Letter in mostly Turkic-Latin script" topic_path: "general/latin-script-letters" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gha" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Letter in mostly Turkic-Latin script ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox grapheme"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Gha |
| letter | Ƣ ƣ |
| variations | ğ, ꝙ |
| image | File:Latin letter Ƣƣ.svg |
| imageclass | skin-invert-image |
| imagesize | 200px |
| script | Latin script |
| type | Alphabet |
| typedesc | ic |
| language | Azerbaijani language |
| phonemes | [] |
| [] | |
| unicode | U+01A2, U+01A3 |
| alphanumber | 18 (after Q) |
| fam1 | O34 |
| fam2 | [[File:Proto-semiticQ-01.svg |
| fam3 | [[File:Protoquf.svg |
| fam4 | [[File:Phoenician_qoph.svg |
| fam5 | Ϙ ϙ |
| fam6 | 𐌒 |
| fam7 | Q |
| usageperiod | ~1900 to 1983 |
| sisters | Q |
| Φ φ | |
| Փ փ | |
| Ֆ ֆ | |
| equivalents | ğ, q, g, gh, Ғ |
| direction | Left-to-Right |
| :: |
| name = Gha | letter = Ƣ ƣ | variations = ğ, ꝙ | image = File:Latin letter Ƣƣ.svg | imageclass = skin-invert-image | imagesize = 200px | imagealt = | script = Latin script | type = Alphabet | typedesc = ic | language = Azerbaijani language | phonemes = [] [] | unicode = U+01A2, U+01A3 | alphanumber = 18 (after Q) | number = | fam1 = O34 | fam2 = [[File:Proto-semiticQ-01.svg|class=skin-invert-image|20px|Proto-Sinaitic Qup]] | fam3 = [[File:Protoquf.svg|class=skin-invert-image|20px]] | fam4 = [[File:Phoenician_qoph.svg|class=skin-invert-image|20px|Phoenician Qoph]] | fam5 = Ϙ ϙ | fam6 = 𐌒 | fam7 = Q | usageperiod = ~1900 to 1983 | sisters = Q Φ φ Փ փ Ֆ ֆ | equivalents = ğ, q, g, gh, Ғ | associates = | direction = Left-to-Right
The letter Ƣ (minuscule: ƣ) was used in the Latin orthographies of various, mostly Turkic languages, such as Azeri or the Jaꞑalif orthography for Tatar. It was also included in the pinyin-based alphabets for Kazakh and Uyghur and in the 1928 Soviet Kurdish Latin alphabet. It usually represents a voiced velar fricative but is sometimes used for a voiced uvular fricative . All orthographies that used the letter were phased out, and it is not supported in all Latin fonts. It can still be seen in pre-1983 books published in the People’s Republic of China. ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f6/Sütterlin-Q.png" caption="Letters Q and q 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 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).
In alphabetical order, it comes between G and H.
Modern replacements
- 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
- 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. The assigned names, "" and "" respectively, are acknowledged by the Unicode Consortium to be mistakes, as gha is unrelated to the letters O and I. The Unicode Consortium therefore has provided the character name aliases "" and "".
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 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
References
- "Some examples of LATIN LETTER OI (gha) (U+01A2, U+01A3) in Tatar and Uighur printing, with remarks on the recommended glyphs".
- (1928). "Культура и письменность Востока".
- "Unicode mailing list".
- "Unicode chart".
- "Unicode Technical Note #27: Known Anomalies in Unicode Character Names".
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