Gimel | |
---|---|
Phoenician | 𐤂 |
Hebrew | ג |
Aramaic | 𐡂 |
Syriac | ܓ |
Arabic | ج |
Phonemic representation | d͡ʒ, ʒ, ɡ, ɟ, ɣ |
Position in alphabet | 3 |
Numerical value | 3 |
Alphabetic derivatives of the Phoenician | |
Greek | Γ |
Latin | C, G, Ȝ |
Cyrillic | Г, Ґ, Ғ |
Gimel is the third (in alphabetical order; fifth in spelling order) letter of the Semitic abjads, including Arabic ǧīm ج, Aramaic gāmal 𐡂, Hebrew gīmel ג, Phoenician gīml 𐤂, and Syriac gāmal ܓ. Its sound value in the original Phoenician and in all derived alphabets, except Arabic, is a voiced velar plosive [ɡ]. In Modern Standard Arabic, it represents either a /d͡ʒ/ or /ʒ/ for most Arabic speakers except in Northern Egypt, the southern parts of Yemen and some parts of Oman where it is pronounced as the voiced velar plosive [ɡ] (see below).
In its Proto-Canaanite form, the letter may have been named after a weapon that was either a staff sling or a throwing stick (spear thrower), ultimately deriving from a Proto-Sinaitic glyph based on the hieroglyph below:
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The Phoenician letter gave rise to the Greek gamma (Γ), the Latin C, G, Ɣ and Ȝ, and the Cyrillic Г, Ґ, and Ғ.