Gershayim

Mark used in Hebrew
Gershayim
punctuation mark ״ פַּרְדֵּ״ס
cantillation mark ֞ וּרְד֞וּ
compare with quotation marks
"פַּרְדֵּ״ס", "וּרְד֞וּ"
Hebrew punctuation
Hebrew-specific marks orthographically similar marks
maqaf ־ - hyphen
geresh ֜ ֝ ׳ ' apostrophe
gershayim ֞ ״ " quotation mark
meteg ֽ   , comma
inverted nun ׆ [ bracket
cantillation
cantillation
Sof passuk ׃   paseq ׀
etnakhta/atnakh ֑   segol ֒
shalshelet ֓   zaqef qaton ֔
zaqef gadol ֕   tifcha/tarkha ֖
rivia/ravia’ ֗   zarqa ֘
pashta ֙   yetiv ֚
tevir ֛   geresh/gerish ֜
geresh muqdam [de] ֝   gershayim/shenei gerishin ֞
karnei pharah ֟   telisha gedola/talsha ֠
pazer (gadol) ֡   atnah hafukh [de] ֢
munakh/shofar holekh ֣   mahapakh/shofar mehupakh ֤
merkha/ma’arikh ֥   merkha kefula/terei ta’amei ֦
darga ֧   qadma ֨
telisha qetana/tarsa ֩   yerah ben yomo ֪
ole ֫   illuy ֬
dehi [de] ֭   zinor ֮

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Gershayim (Hebrew: גֵּרְשַׁיִם‎, without niqqud גרשיים‎), also occasionally grashayim[1] (גְּרָשַׁיִם‎), can refer to either of two distinct typographical marks in the Hebrew language. The name literally means "double geresh".

Punctuation mark

Gershayim most commonly refers to the punctuation mark ⟨״⟩. It is always written before the last letter of the non-inflected form of a word or numeral. It is used in the following ways:

  • To indicate a Hebrew acronym.[2] For example: דּוּ״חַ‎ (singular), דּוּ״חוֹת‎ (plural), "report" represents דין וחשבון‎; and מ״כ‎ (masculine), מַ״כִּית‎ (feminine), "squad commander" represents מפקד כיתה‎.
  • To indicate a multi-digit Hebrew numeral. For example: י״ח‎ represents 18.[3]
  • To indicate the names of Hebrew letters, differentiating them from any homographs.[2] Compare הוּא שִׂרְטֵט עַיִן‎ "he sketched an eye" with הוּא שִׂרְטֵט עַיִ״ן‎ "he sketched an ayin".
  • To indicate Hebrew word roots.[2] For example: the root of תַּשְׁבֵּצִים/taʃbeˈtsim/ "crossword puzzles" is שב״צ‎ (š—b—ṣ); the root of לְהַטּוֹת/lehaˈtot/ "to tilt, to conjugate" is נט״ה‎ (n—ṭ—h); and the root of הִסְתַּנְכְּרְנוּת/histankreˈnut/ "being synchronized" is סנכר״נ‎ (s–n–k–r–n).
  • In older texts, to indicate the transliteration of a foreign word. This use corresponds to English's use of italics. For example, in printed works of Rashi, the town of Rashi's birth, Troyes, is spelled טרוי״ש‎.

Cantillation mark

Gershayim is a disjunctive cantillation accent in the Tanakh (Jewish bible) - ◌֞. It is placed above the stressed syllable, as in וַיִּקַּ֞ח (Genesis 22:3).[1]

Computer encoding

Most keyboards do not have a key for the gershayim. As a result, a quotation mark is often substituted for it.

Appearance Code Points Name
״ U+05F4 Hebrew Punctuation Gershayim
֞ U+059E Hebrew Accent Gershayim

See also

  • iconWriting portal
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Look up ״ in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

References

  1. ^ a b  Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar, §15f.
  2. ^ a b c Hebrew punctuation guidelines, § 31, Academy of the Hebrew Language Archived October 15, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^  Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar, §5k ff.
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