Geresh#Punctuation mark

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: {{IPA|[dʒ]}} as in judge, {{IPA|[ʒ]}} as in measure and {{IPA|[tʃ]}} as in church. In transliteration of Arabic, it indicates Arabic phonemes which are usually allophones in modern Hebrew: {{IPA|[ɣ]}} is distinguished from {{IPA|[r]}} and {{IPA|[ħ]}} is distinguished from {{IPA|[χ]}}. Finally, it indicates other sounds foreign to the phonology of modern Hebrew speakers and used exclusively for the transliteration of foreign words: {{IPA|[ð]}} as in then, {{IPA|[θ]}} as in thin, {{IPA|[sˤ]}}; and, in some transliteration systems, also {{IPA|[tˤ]}}, {{IPA|[dˤ]}} and {{IPA|[ðˤ]}}. 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.

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.

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• May also be transcribed with the corresponding Hebrew letter צ

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| align="center" dir="rtl"|{{anchor|ר}}{{Script/Hebrew|size=200%|ר}}

| resh

| r

| Rāʾ (ر)

| {{IPAblink|r}}

| french r

|rowspan=2 align="center" dir="rtl"|{{Script/Hebrew|size=200%|ר׳}}

|rowspan=2| reish with a geresh

|rowspan=3| Ghayn (غ)

|rowspan=3| {{IPAblink|ɣ}}

|rowspan=3| Abu Ghosh ({{lang|ar|rtl=yes|أَبُو غوش}})

|rowspan=3| Standard simplified: {{Script/Hebrew|ר׳}} and {{Script/Hebrew|ע׳}}; however, {{Script/Hebrew|ר׳}} is proscribed by the Academy of the Hebrew Language. {{Smaller|Another precise proscribed transcription is {{Script/Hebrew|גֿ}}; in some cases of established usage, a {{Script/Hebrew|ג}} with no diacritics is used.}}

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|colspan=6| The predominant pronunciation is uvular {{IPA|[ʁ, ʀ]}}, therefore resh is spelled without geresh for that pronunciation. Other accentual variants include an alveolar pronunciation {{IPA|[ɾ, r]}}.

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| align="center" dir="rtl"|{{anchor|ע}}{{Script/Hebrew|size=200%|ע}}

| ayin

| ’

| ʿAyn (ع)

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| align="center" dir="rtl"|{{Script/Hebrew|size=200%|ע׳}}

| ayin with a geresh

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| vav with a geresh
or double vav

| w

| {{IPAblink|w}}

| William

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;Note

:* {{note|w_sounding_vav}} Both double-vav and vav with geresh are non-standard and inconsistently used.{{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080228042853/http://hebrew-academy.huji.ac.il/PDF/taatiq2007.pdf |title=Transliteration Rules |date=2008-02-28 }} issued by the Academy of the Hebrew Language state that both {{IPAblink|v}} and {{IPAblink|w}} be indistinguishably represented in Hebrew using the letter Vav. Sometimes the Vav is indeed doubled, however not to denote {{IPA|[w]}} as opposed to {{IPA|[v]}} but rather, when spelling without niqqud, to denote the phoneme {{IPAslink|v}} 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 {{IPAslink|u}} or {{IPAslink|o}}. To pronounce foreign words and loanwords containing the sound {{IPA|[w]}}, Hebrew readers must therefore rely on former knowledge and context, see also pronunciation of Hebrew Vav.

Some words or suffixes of Yiddish origin or pronunciation are marked with a geresh, e.g. the diminutive suffix {{lang|he|rtl=yes|לֶ׳ה}} – {{lang|yi-Latn|-le}}, e.g. {{lang|he|rtl=yes|יענקל׳ה}} – {{lang|he-Latn|Yankale}} (as in Yankale Bodo), or the words {{lang|he|rtl=yes|חבר׳ה}} – {{IPA|[ˈχevre]}}, 'guys' (which is the Yiddish pronunciation of Hebrew {{lang|he|rtl=yes|חברה}} {{IPA|[χevˈra]}} 'company'), or {{lang|he|rtl=yes|תכל׳ס}} – {{IPA|[ˈtaχles]}}, 'bottom-line'.

The geresh is used as a punctuation mark in initialisms and to denote numerals.

In initialisms, the Geresh is written after the last letter of the initialism. For example: the title {{lang|he|rtl=yes|גְּבֶרֶת}} (literally "lady") is abbreviated {{lang|he|rtl=yes|גב׳}}, equivalent to English "Mrs" and "Ms".{{cite web |website=Academy of the Hebrew Language |url=http://hebrew-academy.huji.ac.il/decision5.html |script-title=he:הפיסוק - מבחר כללים |trans-title=The punctuation - a selection of rules |access-date=2007-10-28 |language=he |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071015065211/http://hebrew-academy.huji.ac.il/decision5.html |archive-date=2007-10-15 |url-status=dead}}

A Geresh can be appended after (left of) a single letter to indicate that the letter represents a Hebrew numeral. For example: {{lang|he|rtl=yes|ק׳}} represents 100. A multi-digit Hebrew numeral is indicated by the Gershayim {{angle bracket|״}}.

{{main|Geresh (trope)}}

As a note of cantillation in the reading of the Torah, the Geresh is printed above the accented letter: {{Script/Hebrew|size=180%|style=line-height: 120%;|ב֜}}. The {{lang|he-Latn|Geresh Muqdam}} (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: {{Script/Hebrew|size=180%|style=line-height: 120%;|ב֝}}. As a cantillation mark it is also called {{lang|he-Latn|Ṭères}} ({{lang|he|rtl=yes|טֶרֶס}})‎.

Most keyboards do not have a key for the geresh. As a result, an apostrophe ( ', Unicode U+0027) is often substituted for it.

• Gershayim
• Hebraization of English
• Hebrew alphabet
• Hebrew numerals

{{Reflist}}

{{Hebrew language}}

Category:Hebrew diacritics

Category:Punctuation