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Gaf
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<h2 id="use-in-arabic">Use in Arabic</h2> <p>A non-standard letter to the Arabic alphabet; <i>Gāf</i> (گ) has been traditionally used in <a href="/facts/Iraq/pqYSFJw8">Iraq</a> and parts of the <a href="/facts/Levant/uuJLt3Af">Levant</a> for /<a href="/facts/Voiced_velar_plosive/f6udTvfQ">g</a>/. In <a href="/facts/Morocco/6ly8170M">Morocco</a>, a similar letter (ݣ) is used. while in other Arabic-speaking countries other letters are used, such as ڨ in <a href="/facts/Tunisia/4uC8Po6k">Tunisia</a> and <a href="/facts/Algeria/UXDF4Tj6">Algeria</a>, and any of the standard letters ج, غ, or ق in the other countries. </p> <h2 id="variant-forms">Variant forms</h2> <h3>Kaf with line</h3> <p>The most common form of <i>gāf</i> (گ) is based on <i>kāf</i> with an additional line. It is rarely used in <a href="/facts/Modern_Standard_Arabic/rXAjtFSs">Standard Arabic</a> itself but is used to represent the sound /<a href="/facts/Voiced_velar_plosive/f6udTvfQ">ɡ</a>/ when writing other languages. </p> <table><tbody><tr><th scope="row">Position in word:</th><th scope="col">Isolated</th><th scope="col">Final</th><th scope="col">Medial</th><th scope="col">Initial</th></tr><tr><th scope="row"><a href="/facts/Naskh_(script)/LVBWMqbg">Naskh</a> glyph form:(Help)</th><td>گ</td><td>ـگ</td><td>ـگـ</td><td>گـ</td></tr><tr><th scope="row"><a href="/facts/Nasta%25CA%25BFl%25C4%25ABq/d6jzdwXB">Nastaʿlīq</a> glyph form:</th><td>گ</td><td>ــــگ</td><td>ــــگــــ</td><td>گــــ</td></tr></tbody></table> <p>When representing this sound in transliteration of Persian into Hebrew, it is written as כ׳ <i>kaph</i> and a <i><a href="/facts/Geresh/Krlv1G2F">geresh</a></i>. </p><p>It is frequently used in <a href="/facts/Persian_language/jfUYbHbt">Persian</a>, <a href="/facts/Pashto_language/hc2ndCqx">Pashto</a>, <a href="/facts/Uyghur_language/RdlQY3hQ">Uyghur</a>, <a href="/facts/Urdu/oLrhuXc6">Urdu</a> and <a href="/facts/Kurdish_language/6LSckYAz">Kurdish</a>, and is one of four Perso-Arabic letters not found in Arabic. It is also commonly used in <a href="/facts/Mesopotamian_Arabic/bQUfp1ny">Mesopotamian Arabic</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:1" href="#fn:1"><sup>1</sup></a> </p> <h3>Kaf with ring</h3> <p>In <a href="/facts/Pashto_language/hc2ndCqx">Pashto</a>, this letter is used for /<a href="/facts/Voiced_velar_plosive/f6udTvfQ">ɡ</a>/. </p> <table><tbody><tr><th scope="row">Position in word:</th><th scope="col">Isolated</th><th scope="col">Final</th><th scope="col">Medial</th><th scope="col">Initial</th></tr><tr><th scope="row"><a href="/facts/Naskh_(script)/LVBWMqbg">Naskh</a> glyph form:(Help)</th><td>ګ</td><td>ـګ</td><td>ـګـ</td><td>ګـ</td></tr><tr><th scope="row"><a href="/facts/Nasta%25CA%25BFl%25C4%25ABq/d6jzdwXB">Nastaʿlīq</a> glyph form:</th><td>ګ</td><td>ــــګ</td><td>ــــګــــ</td><td>ګــــ</td></tr></tbody></table> <h3>Kaf with single dot above</h3> <p>This <i>gāf</i> (ݢ) is derived from a variant form of <i>kāf</i> (ک), with the addition of a <a href="/facts/Dot_(diacritic)/Kcms1c5B">dot</a>. It is not used in the <a href="/facts/Arabic_language/A1e66hVV">Arabic language</a> itself, but is used in the <a href="/facts/Jawi_script/DdF2xzyM">Jawi script</a> to represent /<a href="/facts/Voiced_velar_plosive/f6udTvfQ">ɡ</a>/. </p> <table><tbody><tr><th scope="row">Position in word:</th><th scope="col">Isolated</th><th scope="col">Final</th><th scope="col">Medial</th><th scope="col">Initial</th></tr><tr><th scope="row">Glyph form:(Help)</th><td>ݢ</td><td>ـݢ</td><td>ـݢـ</td><td>ݢـ</td></tr></tbody></table> <p><a href="/facts/Unicode/DDu3MfPV">Unicode</a> includes two forms on this letter: one based on the standard Arabic <i>kāf</i> (ك), and one based on the variant form (ک). The latter is the preferred form.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2"><sup>2</sup></a> </p> Character information<table><tbody><tr><th scope="row">Preview</th><th colspan="2">ڬ</th><th colspan="2">ݢ</th></tr><tr><th>Unicode name</th><td colspan="2">ARABIC LETTER KAF WITH DOT ABOVE</td><td colspan="2">ARABIC LETTER KEHEH WITH DOT ABOVE</td></tr><tr><th>Encodings</th><th>decimal</th><th>hex</th><th>dec</th><th>hex</th></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Unicode/DDu3MfPV">Unicode</a></td><td>1708</td><td>U+06AC</td><td>1890</td><td>U+0762</td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/UTF-8/xlaVHSyf">UTF-8</a></td><td>218 172</td><td>DA AC</td><td>221 162</td><td>DD A2</td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Numeric_character_reference/wCEzNIlC">Numeric character reference</a></td><td>ڬ</td><td>ڬ</td><td>ݢ</td><td>ݢ</td></tr></tbody></table> <h3>Kaf with three dots below</h3> <p>This letter (ڮ) is derived from a form of <i>kāf</i> (ك), with the addition of three <a href="/facts/Dot_(diacritic)/Kcms1c5B">dots</a> below. </p> <table><tbody><tr><th scope="row">Position in word:</th><th scope="col">Isolated</th><th scope="col">Final</th><th scope="col">Medial</th><th scope="col">Initial</th></tr><tr><th scope="row">Glyph form:(Help)</th><td>ڮ</td><td>ـڮ</td><td>ـڮـ</td><td>ڮـ</td></tr></tbody></table> <h3>Gaf with inverted stroke</h3> <p>In <a href="/facts/Chechen_language/mCR0dGnY">Chechen</a>, <a href="/facts/Kabardian_language/a1Yv2tUX">Kabardian</a>, and <a href="/facts/Adyghe_language/Eamslo4k">Adyghe</a>, the Arabic character ࢰ is used to spell /<a href="/facts/Velar_ejective_stop/lNW5fHwr">kʼ</a>/ or /<a href="/facts/Palato-alveolar_ejective_affricate/TABCQBJI">t͡ʃʼ</a>/. In Chechen, ⟨گ⟩ is alternatively used as well. </p> <table><tbody><tr><th scope="row">Position in word:</th><th scope="col">Isolated</th><th scope="col">Final</th><th scope="col">Medial</th><th scope="col">Initial</th></tr><tr><th scope="row">Glyph form:(Help)</th><td>ࢰ</td><td>ـࢰ</td><td>ـࢰـ</td><td>ࢰـ</td></tr></tbody></table> <h3>Kaf with a dot below</h3> <p>This letter (ࢴ) is derived from a form of <i>kāf</i> (ك), with the addition of three a dot below. It is not used in the Arabic language itself, but is used in the <a href="/facts/Arwi_alphabet/uSd8gM6q">Arwi alphabet</a> for the <a href="/facts/Tamil_language/7I0lHL0d">Tamil language</a> and the <a href="/facts/Pegon_script/qc4mLClp">Pegon script</a> for <a href="/facts/Languages_of_Indonesia/ovMhWzPp">Indonesian languages</a> to represent /<a href="/facts/Voiced_velar_plosive/f6udTvfQ">ɡ</a>/.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a> </p> <table><tbody><tr><th scope="row">Position in word:</th><th scope="col">Isolated</th><th scope="col">Final</th><th scope="col">Medial</th><th scope="col">Initial</th></tr><tr><th scope="row">Glyph form:(Help)</th><td>ࢴ</td><td>ـࢴ</td><td>ـࢴـ</td><td>ࢴـ</td></tr></tbody></table> <h3>Kaf with three dots</h3> <p class="note">See also: <a href="/facts/Ng_(Arabic_letter)/2tE8E6To">Ng (Arabic letter)</a></p> <p>The letter ڭ is used in <a href="/facts/Berber_languages/DnLruKYa">Berber</a> and <a href="/facts/Moroccan_Arabic/qld1RNEh">Moroccan Arabic</a> to represent /<a href="/facts/Voiced_velar_plosive/f6udTvfQ">ɡ</a>/.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a> Examples of its use include city names (e.g., <a href="/facts/Agadir/4AzrFPtM">Agadir</a>: أݣادير) and family names (e.g., <a href="/facts/Hicham_El_Guerrouj/Nu3PzN3e">El Guerrouj</a>: الݣروج). The preferred form is ڭ. </p> <table><tbody><tr><th scope="row">Position in word:</th><th scope="col">Isolated</th><th scope="col">Final</th><th scope="col">Medial</th><th scope="col">Initial</th></tr><tr><th scope="row">Glyph form:(Help)</th><td>ڭ</td><td>ـڭ</td><td>ـڭـ</td><td>ڭـ</td></tr></tbody></table><p>It was also used in <a href="/facts/Ottoman_Turkish_language/z17YMfhT">Ottoman Turkish</a> for /<a href="/facts/Voiced_velar_nasal/r6v5q92L">ŋ</a>/. Both forms are based on variant forms of <i>kāf</i> (ك/ک), with the addition of three <a href="/facts/Dot_(diacritic)/Kcms1c5B">dots</a>. The preferred form is ݣ. </p><table><tbody><tr><th scope="row">Position in word:</th><th scope="col">Isolated</th><th scope="col">Final</th><th scope="col">Medial</th><th scope="col">Initial</th></tr><tr><th scope="row">Glyph form:(Help)</th><td>ݣ</td><td>ـݣ</td><td>ـݣـ</td><td>ݣـ</td></tr></tbody></table> <h2 id="character-encoding">Character encoding</h2> Character information<table><tbody><tr><th scope="row">Preview</th><th colspan="2">ګ</th><th colspan="2">ڬ</th><th colspan="2">ڮ</th><th colspan="2">گ</th><th colspan="2">ࢰ</th></tr><tr><th>Unicode name</th><td colspan="2">ARABIC LETTER KAF WITH RING</td><td colspan="2">ARABIC LETTER KAF WITH DOT ABOVE</td><td colspan="2">ARABIC LETTER KAF WITH THREE DOTS BELOW</td><td colspan="2">ARABIC LETTER GAF</td><td colspan="2">ARABIC LETTER GAF WITH INVERTED STROKE</td></tr><tr><th>Encodings</th><th>decimal</th><th>hex</th><th>dec</th><th>hex</th><th>dec</th><th>hex</th><th>dec</th><th>hex</th><th>dec</th><th>hex</th></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Unicode/DDu3MfPV">Unicode</a></td><td>1707</td><td>U+06AB</td><td>1708</td><td>U+06AC</td><td>1710</td><td>U+06AE</td><td>1711</td><td>U+06AF</td><td>2224</td><td>U+08B0</td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/UTF-8/xlaVHSyf">UTF-8</a></td><td>218 171</td><td>DA AB</td><td>218 172</td><td>DA AC</td><td>218 174</td><td>DA AE</td><td>218 175</td><td>DA AF</td><td>224 162 176</td><td>E0 A2 B0</td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Numeric_character_reference/wCEzNIlC">Numeric character reference</a></td><td>ګ</td><td>ګ</td><td>ڬ</td><td>ڬ</td><td>ڮ</td><td>ڮ</td><td>گ</td><td>گ</td><td>ࢰ</td><td>ࢰ</td></tr></tbody></table> Character information<table><tbody><tr><th scope="row">Preview</th><th colspan="2">ݢ</th><th colspan="2">ݣ</th><th colspan="2">ڭ</th><th colspan="2">ࢴ</th></tr><tr><th>Unicode name</th><td colspan="2">ARABIC LETTER KEHEH WITHDOT ABOVE</td><td colspan="2">ARABIC LETTER KEHEH WITHTHREE DOTS ABOVE</td><td colspan="2">ARABIC LETTER NG</td><td colspan="2">ARABIC LETTER KAF WITHDOT BELOW</td></tr><tr><th>Encodings</th><th>decimal</th><th>hex</th><th>dec</th><th>hex</th><th>dec</th><th>hex</th><th>dec</th><th>hex</th></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Unicode/DDu3MfPV">Unicode</a></td><td>1890</td><td>U+0762</td><td>1891</td><td>U+0763</td><td>1709</td><td>U+06AD</td><td>2228</td><td>U+08B4</td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/UTF-8/xlaVHSyf">UTF-8</a></td><td>221 162</td><td>DD A2</td><td>221 163</td><td>DD A3</td><td>218 173</td><td>DA AD</td><td>224 162 180</td><td>E0 A2 B4</td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Numeric_character_reference/wCEzNIlC">Numeric character reference</a></td><td>ݢ</td><td>ݢ</td><td>ݣ</td><td>ݣ</td><td>ڭ</td><td>ڭ</td><td>ࢴ</td><td>ࢴ</td></tr></tbody></table> <h2 id="see-also">See also</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/%25DA%25A8/Uxdgvzfl">ڨ</a>, a letter derived from <i><a href="/facts/Q%25C4%2581f/lbcafnEU">qāf</a></i> and used for /<a href="/facts/Voiced_velar_plosive/f6udTvfQ">ɡ</a>/ in <a href="/facts/Tunisia/4uC8Po6k">Tunisia</a> and <a href="/facts/Algeria/UXDF4Tj6">Algeria</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Ng_(Arabic_letter)/2tE8E6To">Ng (Arabic letter)</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Gueh/4f1Gn2ue">Gueh</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Ayin/PH5yVCtl">Ayin</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Ghayn/D3Vl9MGT">Ghayn</a></li></ul> <h2 id="external-links">External links</h2> <ul><li><a href="http://scripts.sil.org/cms/scripts/render_download.php?site_id=nrsi&format=file&media_id=arabicletterusagenotes&filename=ArabicLetterUsageNotes.pdf">Notes on some Unicode Arabic characters: recommendations for usage</a> (<a href="/facts/PDF/C9Mn1vYL">PDF</a>)</li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>Alkalesi, Yasin M. (2001) "Modern iraqi arabic: A textbook". Georgetown University Press. ISBN 978-0878407880 <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>Jonatha Kew (2003). "Proposal to encode Jawi and Moroccan Arabic GAF characters" (PDF). <a href="https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2003/03176-gafs.pdf" target="_blank">https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2003/03176-gafs.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>Pournader, Roozbeh (June 24, 2013). "Proposal to encode three Arabic characters for Arwi" (PDF). <a href="https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2013/13130-arwi.pdf" target="_blank">https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2013/13130-arwi.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>Nasrullah, Febri Muhammad (2022-09-11). "On ARABIC LETTER KAF WITH DOT BELOW" (PDF). UTC Document Register for 2022. <a href="https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2022/22221-arabic-kaf-with-dot-below.pdf" target="_blank">https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2022/22221-arabic-kaf-with-dot-below.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:5"><p>"Learn Moroccan Arabic". Best Riad Marakkesh. 8 November 2009. واش كتهدر بالإنݣليزية <a href="واش كتهدر بالإنݣليزية" target="_blank">واش كتهدر بالإنݣليزية</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>