{{Short description|Letter in mostly Turkic-Latin script}} {{Other uses|GHA (disambiguation)}} {{Infobox grapheme | 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 = [{{IPA link|ɣ}}]<br>[{{IPA link|ʁ}}] | unicode = U+01A2, U+01A3 | alphanumber = 18 (after Q) | number = | fam1 = <hiero>O34</hiero> | fam2 = class=skin-invert-image|20px|Proto-Sinaitic Qup | fam3 = class=skin-invert-image|20px | fam4 = class=skin-invert-image|20px|Phoenician Qoph | fam5 = Ϙ ϙ | fam6 = 𐌒 | fam7 = Q | usageperiod = ~1900 to 1983 | sisters = Q<br>Φ φ<br>Փ փ<br> 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.evertype.com/standards/iso10646/pdf/gha.pdf|title=Some examples of LATIN LETTER OI (gha) (U+01A2, U+01A3) in Tatar and Uighur printing, with remarks on the recommended glyphs}}</ref> It was also included in the pinyin-based alphabets for Kazakh and Uyghur and in the 1928 Soviet Kurdish Latin alphabet.<ref>{{cite book|language=ru|title=Культура и письменность Востока|trans-title=Eastern Culture and Literature|year=1928|volume=2}}</ref> It usually represents a voiced velar fricative {{IPAblink|ɣ}} but is sometimes used for a voiced uvular fricative {{IPAblink|ʁ}}. 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.{{citation needed|date=October 2021}} [[File:Sütterlin-Q.png|class=skin-invert-image|thumb|upright=0.68|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 {{IPAblink|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).<ref name="Unicode-list">{{cite web|url=http://unicode.org/mail-arch/unicode-ml/y2008-m09/0068.html|title=Unicode mailing list}}</ref>
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{{popdf}} (Arabic) * Khakas: Ғ, ғ * Kumyk: ГЪ, гъ * Kurdish: غ (Arabic), x/ẍ (Latin) * Kyrgyz: Г, г (Cyrillic), ع{{popdf}} (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== {{more|Unicode#Alias}} 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.<ref name="chart0180">{{cite web|url=https://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U0180.pdf|title=Unicode chart}}</ref> The assigned names, "{{sc2|LATIN CAPITAL LETTER OI}}" and "{{sc2|LATIN SMALL LETTER OI}}" respectively, are acknowledged by the Unicode Consortium to be mistakes, as gha is unrelated to the letters O and I.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://unicode.org/notes/tn27/|title=Unicode Technical Note #27: Known Anomalies in Unicode Character Names}}</ref> The Unicode Consortium therefore has provided the character name aliases "{{sc2|LATIN CAPITAL LETTER GHA}}" and "{{sc2|LATIN SMALL LETTER GHA}}".<ref name="chart0180" />
== 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 == {{reflist}}
{{Latin script|Q|}}
Gha