Garay small letter ja

It represents a voiced stop made at the hard palate.

The letter is named ja. Close the airflow with the middle of your tongue against the hard part of the roof of your mouth, keep your voice on, then release; linguists write the sound [ɟ].

In 𐵵𐵩, the following Garay e vowel sign marks a prenasalized consonant: its sound starts through the nose and ends in the ja stop, written [ɲɟ].

Why was Garay created?

Assane Faye created Garay as a practical alphabet for Wolof.

Faye published it in January 1961, after designing it under Arabic and Latin influence. It aimed to be easier to learn, especially for people familiar with Arabic writing, and to fit African sounds without forcing Latin or Arabic spellings to stretch. Garay is its own alphabet. Its initial vowel carrier has a role like Arabic alif, the letter that can carry an initial vowel. Wolof is also written in Latin script and in Wolofal, an Ajami tradition that uses Arabic-derived letters for African languages.

Faye used Garay in textbooks, folktales, maps, and a Wolof Quran edition with Wolof lines between the Arabic text. A 2019 account describes writers using it for notes, lists, and longer texts. As of 27 April 2026, use includes small literacy circles, women’s groups, and adult literacy work for Mandinka as well as Wolof. For some heritage audiences, choosing Garay signals indigenous Wolof identity.

Why does Garay text look wrong?

Garay runs right to left, but its letters do not join.

In a mixed line, Latin letters and numbers keep left-to-right order; bidirectional text rules can place the runs unexpectedly if the surrounding paragraph starts left to right. When Garay leads, set the paragraph’s base direction to right to left.

As of 27 April 2026, the reference Garay orthography page still described its font as an early prototype that could misplace combining marks. A blank box or misplaced mark can point to font support, not a different letter.