Gaf

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Gaf
← Že Gaf
Persian	گ‎
Phonemic representation	ɡ
Position in alphabet	32
Numerical value	5000
Alphabetic derivatives of the Phoenician

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Gaf (Persian: گاف; gāf), is the name of different Perso-Arabic letters, all representing /ɡ/. They are all derived from the letter kāf, with additional diacritics, such as dots and lines. It is also one of the four letters the Persian alphabet added from the twenty-eight inherited from the Arabic alphabet (the others being pe, che, and že). In name and shape, it is a variant of kaf. Its numerical value is 5000 (see Abjad numerals). There are four forms, each used in different alphabets:

گ‎ in the Persian alphabet, Tausug written in Arabic Script
ݢ‎ in the Jawi script
ࢴ/ڮ‎ in the Pegon script
ګ‎ in Pashto
ڭـ/‎ڭ‎‎‎‎ in Moroccan Arabic

Use in Arabic

gāf (گ‎) or kāf (ك‎) has been traditionally used in the Levant and Iraq for /g/. In Iraq, gāf (گ‎) is more used. Ġayn (غ‎) is preferred in the Levant (nowadays) and by Al Jazeera TV channel to represent /ɡ/, e.g., هونغ كونغ (Hong Kong), البرتغال (Portugal), أغسطس (August), and غاندالف (Gandalf). Foreign publications and TV channels in Arabic, e.g. Deutsche Welle^[1] and Alhurra,^[2] follow this practice.

In Morocco, gāf (ڭ‎) or kāf (ك‎) is used. In Tunisia and Algeria, ڨ‎ or qāf ق‎ is used. The standard practice in Egypt (for Literary and Egyptian Arabic),^[3] as in coastal Yemen and southwestern and eastern Oman, is the use of (ج‎) for /g/.

Variant forms

Kaf with line

The most common form of gāf (گ‎) is based on kāf with an additional line. It is rarely used in Standard Arabic itself but is used to represent the sound /ɡ/ when writing other languages.

Position in word:	Isolated	Final	Medial	Initial
Naskh glyph form: (Help)	گ‎	ـگ‎	ـگـ‎	گـ‎
Nastaʿlīq glyph form:	گ	ــــگ	ــــگــــ	گــــ

When representing this sound in transliteration of Persian into Hebrew, it is written as כ׳ kaph and a geresh.

It is frequently used in Persian, Pashto, Uyghur, Urdu and Kurdish, and is one of four Perso-Arabic letters not found in Arabic. It is also commonly used in Mesopotamian Arabic.^[4]

Kaf with ring

In Pashto, this letter is used for /ɡ/.

Position in word:	Isolated	Final	Medial	Initial
Naskh glyph form: (Help)	ګ‎	ـګ‎	ـګـ‎	ګـ‎
Nastaʿlīq glyph form:	ګ	ــــګ	ــــګــــ	ګــــ

Kaf with single dot above

This gāf (ݢ‎) is derived from a variant form of kāf (ک‎), with the addition of a dot. It is not used in the Arabic language itself, but is used in the Jawi script to represent /ɡ/.

Position in word	Isolated	Final	Medial	Initial
Glyph form: (Help)	ݢ‎	ـݢ‎	ـݢـ‎	ݢـ‎

Unicode includes two forms on this letter: one based on the standard Arabic kāf (ك‎), and one based on the variant form (ک‎). The latter is the preferred form.^[5]

Character information
Preview	ڬ		ݢ
Unicode name	ARABIC LETTER KAF WITH DOT ABOVE		ARABIC LETTER KEHEH WITH DOT ABOVE
Encodings	decimal	hex	dec	hex
Unicode	1708	U+06AC	1890	U+0762
UTF-8	218 172	DA AC	221 162	DD A2
Numeric character reference	ڬ	ڬ	ݢ	ݢ

Kaf with three dots below

This letter (ڮ‎) is derived from a form of kāf (ك‎), with the addition of three dots below.

Position in word	Isolated	Final	Medial	Initial
Glyph form: (Help)	ڮ‎	ـڮ‎	ـڮـ‎	ڮـ‎

Gaf with inverted stroke

In Chechen, Kabardian, and Adyghe, the Arabic character ࢰ‎ is used to spell /kʼ/ or /t͡ʃʼ/. In Chechen, ⟨گ‎⟩ is alternatively used as well.

Position in word	Isolated	Final	Medial	Initial
Glyph form: (Help)	ࢰ‎	ـࢰ‎	ـࢰـ‎	ࢰـ‎

Kaf with a dot below

This letter (ࢴ‎) is derived from a form of kāf (ك‎), with the addition of three a dot below. It is not used in the Arabic language itself, but is used in the Arwi alphabet for the Tamil language and the Pegon script for Indonesian languages to represent /ɡ/.^[6]^[7]

Position in word	Isolated	Final	Medial	Initial
Glyph form: (Help)	ࢴ‎	ـࢴ‎	ـࢴـ‎	ࢴـ‎

Kaf with three dots

The Arabic signage for the Argana cafe in Marrakesh's Jemaa el-Fnaa features a prominent gaf with three dots.

A page from a 12th century Persian manuscript of "Kitab al-Abniya 'an Haqa'iq al-Adwiya" by Abu Mansur Muwaffaq with letter gāf written as (ڭـ).

The letter ڭ‎ is used in Berber and Moroccan Arabic to represent /ɡ/.^[8] Examples of its use include city names (e.g., Agadir: أݣادير‎) and family names (e.g., El Guerrouj: الݣروج‎). The preferred form is ڭ‎.

Position in word	Isolated	Final	Medial	Initial
Glyph form: (Help)	ڭ‎	ـڭ‎	ـڭـ‎	ڭـ‎

It was also used in Ottoman Turkish for /ŋ/. Both forms are based on variant forms of kāf (ك‎/ک‎), with the addition of three dots. The preferred form is ݣ‎. It was also used in Persian instead of گ‎.

Position in word	Isolated	Final	Medial	Initial
Glyph form: (Help)	ݣ‎	ـݣ‎	ـݣـ‎	ݣـ‎

Character encoding

Character information
Preview	ګ		ڬ		ڮ		گ		ࢰ
Unicode name	ARABIC LETTER KAF WITH RING		ARABIC LETTER KAF WITH DOT ABOVE		ARABIC LETTER KAF WITH THREE DOTS BELOW		ARABIC LETTER GAF		ARABIC LETTER GAF WITH INVERTED STROKE
Encodings	decimal	hex	dec	hex	dec	hex	dec	hex	dec	hex
Unicode	1707	U+06AB	1708	U+06AC	1710	U+06AE	1711	U+06AF	2224	U+08B0
UTF-8	218 171	DA AB	218 172	DA AC	218 174	DA AE	218 175	DA AF	224 162 176	E0 A2 B0
Numeric character reference	ګ	ګ	ڬ	ڬ	ڮ	ڮ	گ	گ	ࢰ	ࢰ

Character information
Preview	ݢ		ݣ		ڭ		ࢴ
Unicode name	ARABIC LETTER KEHEH WITH DOT ABOVE		ARABIC LETTER KEHEH WITH THREE DOTS ABOVE		ARABIC LETTER NG		ARABIC LETTER KAF WITH DOT BELOW
Encodings	decimal	hex	dec	hex	dec	hex	dec	hex
Unicode	1890	U+0762	1891	U+0763	1709	U+06AD	2228	U+08B4
UTF-8	221 162	DD A2	221 163	DD A3	218 173	DA AD	224 162 180	E0 A2 B4
Numeric character reference	ݢ	ݢ	ݣ	ݣ	ڭ	ڭ	ࢴ	ࢴ

References

^ "Leningrad لينينغراد spelled with غ rather than ج". Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 14 December 2022.
^ ""Blogger" بلوغر is spelled with غ, not ج about an article on Egypt quoting an Egyptian official Facebook post spelling it بلوجر with ج". Retrieved 14 December 2022.
^ al Nassir, Abdulmunʿim Abdulamir (1985). Sibawayh the Phonologist (PDF) (in Arabic). University of New York. p. 80. Retrieved 23 April 2024.
^ Alkalesi, Yasin M. (2001) "Modern iraqi arabic: A textbook". Georgetown University Press. ISBN 978-0878407880
^ Jonatha Kew (2003). "Proposal to encode Jawi and Moroccan Arabic GAF characters" (PDF).
^ Pournader, Roozbeh (June 24, 2013). "Proposal to encode three Arabic characters for Arwi" (PDF).
^ Nasrullah, Febri Muhammad (2022-09-11). "On ARABIC LETTER KAF WITH DOT BELOW" (PDF). UTC Document Register for 2022.
^ "Learn Moroccan Arabic". Best Riad Marakkesh. 8 November 2009. واش كتهدر بالإنݣليزية

External links

Notes on some Unicode Arabic characters: recommendations for usage (PDF)

[1] "Leningrad لينينغراد spelled with غ rather than ج". Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 14 December 2022.

[2] ""Blogger" بلوغر is spelled with غ, not ج about an article on Egypt quoting an Egyptian official Facebook post spelling it بلوجر with ج". Retrieved 14 December 2022.

[3] Nassir, Abdulmunʿim Abdulamir (1985). Sibawayh the Phonologist (PDF) (in Arabic). University of New York. p. 80. Retrieved 23 April 2024.

[4] Alkalesi, Yasin M. (2001) "Modern iraqi arabic: A textbook". Georgetown University Press. ISBN 978-0878407880

[5] Jonatha Kew (2003). "Proposal to encode Jawi and Moroccan Arabic GAF characters" (PDF).

[6] Pournader, Roozbeh (June 24, 2013). "Proposal to encode three Arabic characters for Arwi" (PDF).

[7] Nasrullah, Febri Muhammad (2022-09-11). "On ARABIC LETTER KAF WITH DOT BELOW" (PDF). UTC Document Register for 2022.

[8] "Learn Moroccan Arabic". Best Riad Marakkesh. 8 November 2009. واش كتهدر بالإنݣليزية

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