Gershayim (Hebrew: גֵּרְשַׁיִם, without niqqud גרשיים), also occasionally grashayim[1] (Hebrew: גְּרָשַׁיִם), names two distinct typographical marks in the Hebrew language. The name literally means "double geresh".
Punctuation mark [edit]
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's used in the following ways:
- To indicate an 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: ח״י represents 18.[3] Single-digit numerals are indicated with a following geresh.
- 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/ "becoming 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 [edit]
Gershayim is the name of a disjunctive cantillation accent in the Tanakh - ֞. It is placed above the stressed syllable, as in וַיִּקַּ֞ח (Genesis 22:3).[1]
Computer encoding [edit]
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 [edit]
References [edit]
- ^ a b
Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar, §15f.
- ^ a b c Hebrew Punctuation guidelines, §31, Academy of the Hebrew Language
- ^ Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar, §5k ff.
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