The letter ġayn (ﻍ) is sometimes used to represent the voiced velar plosive /g/ in loan words in Arabic, such as the word for Bulgaria (بلغاريا), where in some cases in alteration with kaf ك is used as in "English". This is the mode of arabisation in dialects in which the letter gim ج is pronounced as voiced postalveolar affricate [ʤ], and in dialects where it is promounced as [ʒ], but not in those that sound it as a voiced velar plosive [ɡ] in which gim is used instead.
Ghain is written is several ways depending in its position in the word:
Ghain is believed to have come from the following hieroglyph
that depicts two twisted fibers. This coincidentally superficially resembles the IPA symbol [ɣ] upside down. [ɣ] is conventionally used for the sound of ghain.
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