Final form
{{Short description|Character used to represent a letter at the end of a word}}
{{for|approaches that focus on the final form of the biblical text|Canonical criticism}}{{For other uses|Final Form (disambiguation)}}{{More citations needed|date=June 2023}}
In certain languages, the final form or terminal form is a special character used to represent a letter only when it occurs at the end of a word.
Some languages that use final form characters are: Arabic, Hebrew, Manchu and one letter in Greek ({{lang|el|ς}}).{{cite web |last1=Sarkis |first1=Kristyan |title=Arabic Calligraphy and Type Design |url=https://www.typotheque.com/articles/arabic-calligraphy-and-type-design |publisher=Typotheque |access-date=7 June 2023}}{{cite web|last1=Leonidas|first1=Gerry|title=A primer on Greek type design|url=http://leonidas.org/text-archive/|publisher=Gerry Leonidas/University of Reading|access-date=14 May 2017|archive-date=4 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170104212416/http://leonidas.org/text-archive/|url-status=dead}}
The lowercase Latin letter "s" had separate medial (ſ) and final (s) in the orthographies of many European languages from the medieval period to the early 19th century; it survived in the German Fraktur script until the 1940s.
Hebrew
In the Hebrew alphabet the final form is called sofit ({{langx|he|סופית}}, meaning "final" or "ending").
| class="wikitable"
|+ Hebrew letters that have a final form | ||
| Letter name | Non-final | Final (sofit) |
|---|---|---|
| Mem | {{Script/Hebrew|מ}} | {{Script/Hebrew|ם}} |
| Nun | {{Script/Hebrew|נ}} | {{Script/Hebrew|ן}} |
| Tsadi | {{Script/Hebrew|צ}} | {{Script/Hebrew|ץ}} |
| Pe | {{Script/Hebrew|פ}} | {{Script/Hebrew|ף}} |
| Kaf | {{Script/Hebrew|כ}} | {{Script/Hebrew|ך}} |
This set of letters is known acronymically as {{Script/Hebrew|אותיות מנצפ"ך}} ({{Script/Hebrew|מ, נ, צ, פ, ך}} letters).
The now final forms {{Script/Hebrew|ן ץ ף ך}} predate their non-final counterparts; They were the default forms used in any position within a word. Their descender eventually bent forwards when preceding another letter to facilitate writing.{{citation needed|date=December 2023}} A final form of these letters is also called pshuta ({{Script/Hebrew|פשוטה}}, meaning extended or plain).
The letter Mem also had a descender {{Script/Hebrew|𐡌}}, however, its current final form {{Script/Hebrew|ם}} was a variant of {{Script/Hebrew|מ}} used interchangeably in all positions. The standardization is mentioned in the Babylonian Talmud (Megillah 2b-3a and Shabbas 104a). One instance of a medial {{Script/Hebrew|ם}} is preserved in Isaiah 9:6 of the Hebrew Bible, while Nehemiah 2:13 and arguably{{Clarify|date=December 2023}} Genesis 49:19–20 have a final {{Script/Hebrew|מ}}.
Modern Hebrew uses the forms {{Script/Hebrew|פ כ}} finally, when transcribing a plosive pronunciation, for example {{Script/Hebrew|מיקרוסקופ}} (microscope), {{Script/Hebrew|מובארכ}} (Mubarak, {{lang|ar|مبارك}}), while their final forms {{Script/Hebrew|ף ך}}, are transcribing a fricative pronunciation, for example {{Script/Hebrew|כך}} (Kach), {{Script/Hebrew|שף}} (Chef).
References
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