Gaf

For other uses, see GAF.

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. In name and shape, it is a variant of kaf. It is also one of the five letters the Persian alphabet added to the Arabic alphabet (the others being ژ, پ, and چ in addition to the obsolete ڤ). 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

Gāf
گ
Usage
Writing system	Arabic script
Type	Abjad
Language of origin	Persian language
Sound values	g
Alphabetical position	26
History
Development	𐤊‎ 𐡊 𐢎‎, 𐢏‎ ك, كـ گ
Other
Writing direction	Right-to-left
This article contains phonetic transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. For the distinction between [ ], / / and ⟨ ⟩, see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters.

One form of gaf

Use in Arabic

A non-standard letter to the Arabic alphabet; Gāf (گ) has been traditionally used in Iraq and parts of the Levant for /g/. In Morocco, a similar letter (ݣ‎) is used. while in other Arabic-speaking countries other letters are used, such as ڨ‎ in Tunisia and Algeria, and any of the standard letters ج‎, غ‎, or ق‎ in the other countries.

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.^[1]

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.^[2]

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/.^[3][4]

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

Kaf with three dots

See also: Ng (Arabic letter)

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/.^[5] 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.

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

See also

• ڨ‎, a letter derived from qāf and used for /ɡ/ in Tunisia and Algeria
• Ng (Arabic letter)
• Gueh
• Ayin
• Ghayn