Gereshdiacritic, punctuation markcantillation mark or compare with apostrophes
Geresh ( in Hebrew: or , or medieval ) is a sign in Hebrew writing. It has two meanings.
An apostrophe-like sign (also known colloquially as a chupchik) placed after a letter: as a diacritic that modifies the pronunciation of some letters (only in modern Hebrew), as a diacritic that signifies Yiddish origin of a word or suffix, (examples below) as a punctuation mark to denote initialisms or abbreviations, or to denote a single-digit Hebrew numeral A note of cantillation in the reading of the Torah and other Biblical books, taking the form of a curved diagonal stroke placed above a letter.
Diacritic
As a diacritic, the Geresh is written immediately after (left of) the letter it modifies. It indicates three sounds native to speakers of modern Hebrew that are common in loan words and slang: as in judge, as in measure and as in church. In transliteration of Arabic, it indicates Arabic phonemes which are usually allophones in modern Hebrew: is distinguished from and is distinguished from . Finally, it indicates other sounds foreign to the phonology of modern Hebrew speakers and used exclusively for the transliteration of foreign words: as in then, as in thin, ; and, in some transliteration systems, also , and . It may be compared to the usage of a following h in various Latin digraphs to form other consonant sounds not supported by the basic Latin alphabet, such as "sh", "th", etc.
Loanwords, slang, foreign names and transliterations
Loanwords, slang, foreign names, and transliteration of foreign languages Without Geresh With Geresh Symbol Name Translit. IPA Example Symbol Name Translit. IPAExamples gimel g gap gimel with a geresh j (or g) Jupiter, George zayin z zoo zayin with a geresh g, j Jacques, beige, vision tsadi ts cats tsadi with a geresh ch chip
Transcriptions of Arabic
There are six additional letters in the Arabic alphabet. They are Ṯāʾ, Ḫāʾ, Ḏāl, Ḍād, Ẓāʾ, and Ghayn. Also, some letters have different sounds in Arabic phonology and modern Hebrew phonology, such as Jīm.
Distinction when transcribing Arabic Without Geresh With Geresh Symbol Name Translit. Arabic letter IPA Example Symbol Name Arabic letter IPAExample Comments gimel g Egyptian / Yemeni Jīm (ج) good gimel with a geresh Jīm (ج) Al-Jazeera () Also used with other loan words and transliterations for /dʒ/ dalet d Dāl (د) door dalet with a geresh Ḏāl (ذ) Dhu [a]l-Hijjah () Also used for English voiced th Often a simple Dalet (ד) is written heth ẖ / h, ḥ, or h Ḥaʾ (ح) Non existent in English, pronounced like an "h" while contracting the pharynx heth with a geresh Ḫāʾ (ﺥ) Sheikh () tav t Tāʾ (ت) tail tav with a geresh ṯāʾ (ث) ʿuthman () Also used for English voiceless th samekh s Sīn (س) sun samekh with a geresh Ṣad (ص)pharyngealized [s]; approximate pronunciation by pronouncing a voiceless "s" while constricting the pharynx or the larynx May also be transcribed with the corresponding Hebrew letter צ resh r Rāʾ (ر) French r reish with a geresh Ghayn (غ) Abu Ghosh () Standard simplified: and ; however, is proscribed by the Academy of the Hebrew Language. The predominant pronunciation is uvular , therefore resh is spelled without geresh for that pronunciation. Other accentual variants include an alveolar pronunciation . ayin ’ ʿAyn (ع) ←→ , sometimes or Ranges from pharyngeal fricative to epiglottal fricative , sometimes an epiglottal stop or a pharyngealized glottal stop ; approximate pronunciation by constricting the pharynx or the larynx ayin with a geresh
Transliteration of foreign names
Distinction when transcribing foreign names Without Geresh With Geresh Symbol Name Translit. IPA Example Symbol Name Translit. IPAExample dalet d door dalet with a geresh English voiced th then tav t tail tav with a geresh English voiceless th thing vav v vote or (non-standard) vav with a geresh or double vav w William Note * Both double-vav and vav with geresh are non-standard and inconsistently used. issued by the Academy of the Hebrew Language state that both and be indistinguishably represented in Hebrew using the letter Vav. Sometimes the Vav is indeed doubled, however not to denote as opposed to but rather, when spelling without niqqud, to denote the phoneme at a non-initial and non-final position in the word, whereas a single Vav at a non-initial and non-final position in the word in spelling without niqqud denotes one of the phonemes or . To pronounce foreign words and loanwords containing the sound , Hebrew readers must therefore rely on former knowledge and context, see also pronunciation of Hebrew Vav.
Yiddish origin
Some words or suffixes of Yiddish origin or pronunciation are marked with a geresh, e.g. the diminutive suffix – , e.g. – (as in Yankale Bodo), or the words – , 'guys' (which is the Yiddish pronunciation of Hebrew 'company'), or – , 'in the end' or 'to conclude', from Hebrew , 'ending'.
Punctuation mark The geresh is used as a punctuation mark in initialisms and to denote numerals.
Indicating initialisms In initialisms, the Geresh is written after the last letter of the initialism. For example: the title (literally "lady") is abbreviated , equivalent to English "Mrs" and "Ms".
Denoting a numeral A Geresh can be appended after (left of) a single letter to indicate that the letter represents a Hebrew numeral. For example: represents 100. A multi-digit Hebrew numeral is indicated by the Gershayim .
Cantillation mark
As a note of cantillation in the reading of the Torah, the Geresh is printed above the accented letter: . The (lit. 'a Geresh made earlier'), a variant cantillation mark, is also printed above the accented letter, but slightly before (i.e. more to the right of) the position of the normal Geresh: . As a cantillation mark it is also called ().
Computer encoding
Most keyboards do not have a key for the geresh. As a result, an apostrophe ( ', Unicode U+0027) is often substituted for it.
Appearance Code points Name ׳ U+05F3 HEBREW PUNCTUATION GERESH ֜ U+059C HEBREW ACCENT GERESH ֝ U+059D HEBREW ACCENT GERESH MUQDAM
See also Gershayim Hebraization of English Hebrew alphabet Hebrew numerals
References