Editing Gimel (section)

== Arabic ǧīm ==
{{Infobox grapheme
| name = Ǧīm جيم
| letter = {{lang|ar|ج}}
| variations = 
| image = 
| imagesize = 200
| imagealt = 
| script = [[Arabic script]]
| type = [[Abjad]]
| typedesc = 
| language = [[Arabic language]]
| phonemes = {{IPAslink|d͡ʒ}}, {{IPAslink|ʒ}}, {{IPAslink|g}}, {{IPAslink|ɟ}}, {{IPAslink|j}}
| unicode = 
| alphanumber = 5
| number = 
| equivalents = ǧ, j
| associates = 
| direction = Right-to-left
| fam1 = [[wikt:𓌙|𓌙]]|
| fam2 = [[𐤂]]
| fam3 = 𐡂
| fam4 = 𐢄
| fam5 = [[ح]]
}}

The Arabic letter {{lang|ar|ج}} is named {{lang|ar|جيم}} ''{{Transliteration|ar|DIN|ǧīm}}'' / ''{{Transliteration|ar|DIN|jīm}}''
{{IPA|ar|d͡ʒiːm, ʒiːm, ɡiːm, ɟiːm|}}. It has four forms, and is written in several ways depending on its position in the word:
{{Arabic alphabet shapes|ج}}
The similarity to ''{{Transliteration|ar|ALA|ḥāʼ}}'' <big>{{lang|ar|[[Heth#Arabic ḥāʾ|ح]]}}</big>&nbsp; is likely a function of the original Syriac forms converging to a single symbol, requiring that one of them be distinguished as a dot; a similar process occurred to [[Zayin (letter)|{{Transliteration|ar|ALA|zāy}}]] and [[Resh (letter)|{{Transliteration|ar|ALA|rāʾ}}]].

===Pronunciation===
In all [[varieties of Arabic]], cognate words will have consistent differences in pronunciation of the letter. The standard pronunciation taught outside the Arabic speaking world is an affricate {{IPAblink|d͡ʒ}}, which was the agreed-upon pronunciation by the end of the nineteenth century to recite the [[Qur'an]]. It is pronounced as a fricative {{IPAblink|ʒ}} in most of [[Northern Africa]] and the [[Levant]], and {{IPAblink|ɡ}} is the [[prestige (sociolinguistics)|prestigious]] and most common pronunciation in [[Egypt]], which is also found in Southern [[Arabian Peninsula]]. Differences in pronunciation occur because readers of Modern Standard Arabic pronounce words following their native dialects.

Egyptians always use the letter to represent {{IPAblink|ɡ}} as well as in names and loanwords,<ref>{{Cite book |last=al Nassir |first=Abdulmunʿim Abdulamir |url=https://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/10917/1/354409.pdf |title=Sibawayh the Phonologist |publisher=University of New York |year=1985 |pages=80 |language=ar |access-date=23 April 2024 |archive-date=23 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240423104616/https://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/10917/1/354409.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>  such as {{lang|ar|جولف}} "golf". However, <big>{{lang|ar|ج}}</big> may be used in Egypt to transcribe {{IPA|/}}{{IPA link|ʒ}}~{{IPA link|d͡ʒ}}{{IPA|/}} (normally pronounced {{IPAblink|ʒ}}) or if there is a need to distinguish them completely, then <big>{{lang|ar|[[چ]]}}</big> is used to represent {{IPAslink|ʒ}}, which is also a proposal for [[Mehri language#Writing system|Mehri]] and [[Soqotri language#Writing system|Soqotri]] languages.

;The literary standard pronunciations:
*{{IPAblink|d͡ʒ}}: In most of the [[Peninsular Arabic|Arabian Peninsula]], parts of [[Algerian Arabic|Algeria]] ([[Algiers]] dialect), [[Iraqi Arabic|Iraq]], parts of [[Egypt]], parts of the [[Levantine Arabic|Levant]]. This is also the commonly taught pronunciation outside the Arabic speaking countries when Literary Arabic is taught as a foreign language. It is the agreed-upon pronunciation to recite the [[Qur'an]] and it also corresponds to {{lang|mt|[[ġ]]}} {{IPAslink|d͡ʒ}} in [[Maltese language|Maltese]] (a [[Semitic languages|Semitic]] language derived from [[Siculo-Arabic|Sicilian Arabic]]) as in ''ġar'' ''(neighbor)'' and Arabic {{lang|ar|جار}} ''(neighbor)'' both pronounced {{IPA|ar|d͡ʒaːr|}}.
*{{IPAblink|ʒ}}: In the [[Levantine Arabic|Levant]] (especially in the urban centers), [[Al Muthanna Governorate|Southern Iraqi Arabic]], most of the [[Maghreb]], and parts of Algeria ([[Oran]] dialect),<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Mezzoudj |first1=Fréha |last2=Loukam |first2=Mourad |last3=Belkredim |first3=Fatma |title=Arabic Algerian Oranee Dialectal Language Modelling Oriented Topic |url=https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/download/article-file/964255 |journal=International Journal of Informatics and Applied Mathematics |access-date=2024-04-21 |archive-date=2024-04-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240421131108/https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/download/article-file/964255 |url-status=live }}</ref> and by some speakers in western Saudi Arabia (Hejaz).
*{{IPAblink|g}}: In Egypt, coastal [[Yemeni Arabic|Yemen]] ([[Tihamiyya Arabic|West]] and [[Ta'izzi-Adeni Arabic|South]]), southwestern and eastern [[Oman]].
*{{IPAblink|ɟ}}: In [[Sudanese Arabic|Sudan]], parts of [[Saudi Arabia]], and hinterland [[Yemeni Arabic|Yemen]].

;Non-literary pronunciation
*{{IPAblink|j}}: In eastern Arabian Peninsula in the most colloquial speech, though sometimes {{IPAblink|d͡ʒ}} or {{IPAblink|ʒ}} in Literary Arabic loan words.
*{{IPAblink|j}}: In eastern Arabian Peninsula and Iraq but only colloquial speech, for example [[Kuwaiti Arabic|Kuwaiti]] Arabic {{lang|ar|وايد}} {{IPAblink|waːjɪd}} “a lot” vs. [[Najdi Arabic|Najdi]] Arabic {{lang|ar|واجد}} {{IPAblink|waːd͡ʒɪd}}.
*{{IPAblink|ɟʝ}}: attested among some bedouin dialects in Saudi Arabia.<ref>{{cite book| last=Il-Hazmy| first=Alayan| year=1975| title=A critical and comparative study of the spoken dialect of the Harb tribe in Saudi Arabia| url=https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/43362.pdf| page=234| access-date=2024-04-21| archive-date=2024-03-18| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240318053906/https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/43362.pdf| url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Historical pronunciation ===
While in most Semitic languages, e.g. [[Aramaic language|Aramaic]], [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]], [[Geʽez|Ge'ez]], [[Old South Arabian]] the equivalent letter represents a {{IPAblink|ɡ}}, Arabic is considered unique among them where the ''Jīm'' {{angbr|{{lang|ar|[[ج]]}}}} was [[Palatalization (sound change)|palatalized]] to an affricate {{IPAblink|d͡ʒ}} or a fricative {{IPAblink|ʒ}} in most dialects from classical times. While there is variation in Modern Arabic varieties, most of them reflect this palatalized pronunciation except in coastal [[Yemeni Arabic|Yemeni]] and [[Omani Arabic|Omani]] dialects as well as in Egypt, where it is pronounced {{IPAblink|g}}.

It is not well known when palatalization occurred or the probability of it being connected to the pronunciation of ''Qāf'' {{angbr|{{lang|ar|[[ق]]}}}} as a {{IPAblink|ɡ}}, but in most of the [[Arabian Peninsula|Arabian peninsula]] (Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, UAE and parts of Yemen and Oman), the {{angbr|{{lang|ar|[[ج]]}}}} represents a {{IPAblink|d͡ʒ}} and {{angbr|{{lang|ar|[[ق]]}}}} represents a {{IPAblink|ɡ}}, except in coastal [[Yemeni Arabic|Yemen]] and southern [[Omani Arabic|Oman]] where {{angbr|{{lang|ar|[[ج]]}}}} represents a {{IPAblink|ɡ}} and {{angbr|{{lang|ar|[[ق]]}}}} represents a {{IPAblink|q}}, which shows a strong correlation between the palatalization of {{angbr|{{lang|ar|[[ج]]}}}} to {{IPAblink|d͡ʒ}} and the pronunciation of the {{angbr|{{lang|ar|[[ق]]}}}} as a {{IPAblink|ɡ}} as shown in the table below:
{{Gim and qaf pronunciation}}

=== Pronunciation across other languages ===
{| class="wikitable"
|+Pronunciation of {{angbr|{{lang|ar|[[ج]]}}}} in other languages
!Language
!Alphabet name
!Pronunciation ([[International Phonetic Alphabet|IPA]])
|-
![[South Azerbaijani|Azeri]]
![[Azerbaijani alphabet#Azerbaijani Arabic alphabet|Arabic script]]
| rowspan="17" style="text-align:center" |{{IPAslink|d͡ʒ}}
|-
! colspan="2" |[[Balochi Standard Alphabet|Balochi]]
|-
! colspan="2" |[[Brahui language#Perso-Arabic script|Brahui]]
|-
! colspan="2" |[[Hindko#Alphabet|Hindko]]
|-
![[Javanese language|Javanese]]
![[Pegon script|Pegon]]
|-
! colspan="2" |[[Kashmiri language#Writing system|Kashmiri]]
|-
![[Sorani|Kurdish]]
![[Sorani alphabet|Sorani]]
|-
![[Malay language|Malay]]
![[Jawi script|Jawi]]
|-
! colspan="2" |[[Pashto alphabet|Pashto]]
|-
! colspan="2" |[[Persian alphabet|Persian]]
|-
![[Punjabi language|Punjabi]]
![[Shahmukhi]]
|-
! colspan="2" |[[Saraiki alphabet|Saraiki]]
|-
![[Sindhi language|Sindhi]]
![[Sindhi language#Perso-Arabic script|Arabic script]]
|-
![[Swahili language|Swahili]]
![[Swahili Ajami|Ajami]]
|-
! colspan="2" |[[Urdu Alphabet|Urdu]]
|-
! colspan="2" |[[Uyghur alphabets|Uyghur]]
|-
![[Uzbek language|Uzbek]]
![[Uzbek alphabet#Arabic script|Arabic script]]
|-
![[Hausa language|Hausa]]
![[Hausa Ajami|Ajami]]
| rowspan="2" style="text-align:center" | {{IPAslink|d͡ʒ}} or {{IPAslink|ʒ}}
|-
![[Kazakh language|Kazakh]]
![[Kazakh alphabets#Arabic script|Tote Jazu]]
|}
Note: In Kazakh {{angbr|{{lang|ar|[[ج]]}}}} is pronounced {{IPAslink|d͡ʒ}} in some dialects, such as in the south and east.<ref>Jankowski, H., Tazhibaeva, S., Özçelik, Ö., Abish, A., Aqtay, G., & Smagulova, J. (2023). "Kazakh". In L. Johanson (ed.), ''Encyclopedia of Turkic Languages and Linguistics Online''. Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/2667-3029_ETLO_COM_032116.</ref> Hausa {{angbr|{{lang|ar|[[ج]]}}}} is pronounced {{IPAslink|d͡ʒ}}, in the Hausa of Niger, {{IPAslink|d͡ʒ}} is usually pronounced {{IPAblink|ʒ}}.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Daniels |first=Peter |title=Phonologies of Asia and Africa - Hausa Phonology |last2=Kaye |first2=Alan |last3=Newman |first3=Paul |date=1996}}</ref>

===Variant===
{{Main|Che (Persian letter)}}
A variant letter named ''[[Che (Persian letter)|che]]'' is used in Persian, with three dots below instead having just one dot below. However, it is not included on one of the 28 letters on the Arabic alphabet. It is thus written as:
{{Arabic alphabet shapes|چ}}