Dž
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dž (titlecase form; all-capitals form DŽ, lowercase dž) is the seventh letter of the Croatian and Bosnian alphabets, and the Latin forms of Serbian and Macedonian, after D and before Đ. It is pronounced [d͡ʒ]. Dž is a digraph that corresponds to the letter Dzhe (Џ/џ) of the Cyrillic alphabet used for writing the Serbian and Macedonian Languages.
Note that when the letter is the initial of a capitalized word (like Džungla or Džemper, or personal names like Dženana or Džamonja), the ž is not uppercase. Only when the whole word is written in uppercase, Ž is capitalized. When the text is written vertically rather than horizontally (on signs, for instance), dž is written horizontally as a single letter; in particular, dž occupies a single square in crossword puzzles. Also, in cases where words are written with a space between each letter, dž is written together without a space between d and ž. These characteristics are also shared by Lj and Nj. Similarly, when a name beginning with Dž is reduced to initial, the entire letter is initial, not just D. For example, Dženan Ljubović becomes Dž. Lj. and not D. L.
The Dž ligature is found in Unicode at code points 0x01C4 (uppercase, DŽ), 0x01C5 (titlecase, Dž), and 0x01C6 (lowercase, dž). The ligatures are very rarely used in digital media, which tends to favor the corresponding two-character combinations. Croatian computer keyboards and typewriters don't include a single key for the letter.
