Che, Če, Cheem, or Čeem (چ) is a letter of the Persian alphabet, used to represent [t͡ʃ]. The letter derives from Jīm (ج) by the addition of two dots. It is found with this value in other Arabic-derived scripts.^[1]

It is used in Persian, Urdu, Pashto, Balochi, Kurdish, Uyghur, Kashmiri, Azerbaijani, Ottoman Turkish, Malay (Jawi), Javanese (Pegon), and other Indo-Iranian languages. It is also one of the five letters the Persian alphabet added to the Arabic script, which are Že (ژ), Pe (پ), and Gaf (گ), in addition the obsolete Ve (ڤ). Its numerical value is 3000 (see Abjad numerals).^[2]

The letter Che (چ) can be used to transcribe [t͡ʃ] in Gulf Arabic and Iraqi Arabic dialects, where they have that sound natively as in "چلب" /tʃalb/ (dog) instead of "كلب" /kalb/. Since the sound is not part of Modern Standard Arabic (MSA)'s phonology; In most of the rest of Arabic-speaking geographic regions, the combination of Tāʾ-Šīn (تش‎) is more likely used to transliterate the /t͡ʃ/ sound which is often realized as two consonants ([t]+[ʃ]) as in "تشاد" /tʃaːd/ (Chad) and "التشيك" /at.tʃiːk/ (Czech Republic).^[3] In Moroccan Arabic, the sound /t͡ʃ/ from Spanish is transliterated with the letter ڜ‎.^[4]

In Egypt, this letter represents [ʒ], which can be a reduction of /d͡ʒ/, It is called "Gīm with three dots" (جيم بتلات نقط, Gīm be talat noʾaṭ) there. The /ʒ/ pronunciation is also proposed for South Arabian minority languages, like Mehri and Soqotri.

In Israel, where official announcements are often trilingual or triscripted, this letter represents [ɡ] on roadsigns when transcribing Hebrew place names. It has also been used as /g/ in Lebanon for transliteration such as "چامبيا" (The Gambia) and "چوچل" (Google).^[5]

This article contains Persian text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols.

• Gaf (گ)
• Pe (پ)
• Ve (ڤ)
• Že (ژ)
• Č
• Che (Cyrillic)