Global InformationGimel information
← Bet Gimel Dalet → | |
|---|---|
| Phoenician |  |
| Hebrew | ג |
| Aramaic |  |
| 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 |
Gimel is the third letter of the Semitic abjads, including Phoenician gīml 𐤂, Hebrew gīmel ג, Aramaic gāmal 𐡂, Syriac gāmal ܓ, and Arabic ǧīm ج (in alphabetical order; fifth in spelling order). 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.