Modifier letter left half ring

The modifier letter left half ring ⟨ʿ⟩ is a character found in Unicode in the Spacing Modifier Letters range (although it is not a modifier, but a standalone grapheme).

[1] It is used in romanization to transliterate the Semitic abjad letter ayin after it was used by The Encyclopedia of Islam (later the International Journal of Middle East Studies),[2] representing the sound ⟨ʕ⟩ (a voiced pharyngeal fricative, as in Arabic ع ʿayn).

In informal contexts, the backtick ⟨`⟩ or the apostrophe ⟨'⟩ is commonly used as a substitute; but this can lead to confusion with the modifier letter right half ring.

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