Ghani (letter)

Ghani, or Ghan (Asomtavruli: Ⴖ, Nuskhuri: ⴖ, Mkhedruli: ღ, Mtavruli: Ღ; Georgian: ღანი, ღან) is the 26th letter of the three Georgian scripts.^[1]

Writing systemGeorgian script

TypeAlphabetic

Language of originGeorgian language

Sound values[ɣ], [ʁ]

Quick facts Usage, Writing system ...

Ghani
Ⴖ ⴖ ღ ღ
Usage
Writing system	Georgian script
Type	Alphabetic
Language of origin	Georgian language
Sound values	[ɣ], [ʁ]
In Unicode	U+10B6, U+2D16, U+10E6, U+1CA6
Alphabetical position	26
History
Time period	c. 430 to present
Transliterations	Gh, Ḡ, Ǧ, Ġ, Ɣ
Other
Associated numbers	700
Writing direction	Left-to-right
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.

Close

This article contains Georgian text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Georgian letters.

In the system of Georgian numerals, it has a value of 700.^[2] In the Georgian language, Ghani’s phonemic realisation can be classified as a voiced velar fricative /ɣ/,^[3] although it is argued that it can also be a voiced uvular fricative /ʁ/, depending on the context it appears in. It is typically romanized with the digraph Gh or with the letters Ḡ, Ǧ, Ġ, and Ɣ.^[4]

The mkhedruli form has become popular as an emoticon in the Western world due to its resemblance to a heart symbol and as part of a "love" emoticon, is often rendered as: ღ <3, and sometimes ღ(✿◠ᴗ◠)ღ