Mem
Mem | |
---|---|
Phoenician | mem |
Hebrew | מ,ם |
Aramaic | mem |
Syriac | ܡܡ |
Arabic | م,م |
Phonemic representation | m |
Position in alphabet | 13 |
Numerical value | 40 |
Alphabetic derivatives of the Phoenician | |
Greek | Μ |
Latin | M |
Cyrillic | М |
Mem (also spelled Meem or Mim) is the thirteenth letter of many Semitic abjads, including Phoenician, Aramaic, Hebrew מ and Arabic mīm م. Its value is [m].
The Phoenician letter gave rise to the Greek Mu (Μ), Etruscan 𐌌, Latin M, and Cyrillic М.
Origins
|
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6b/Phoenician_mem.png/15px-Phoenician_mem.png)
Hebrew Mem
Orthographic variants | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Various Print Fonts | Cursive Hebrew |
Rashi Script | ||
Serif | Sans-serif | Monospaced | ||
מ | מ | מ | ![]() |
![]() |
Hebrew spelling: מֵם
Hebrew pronunciation
Mem represents [m].
Variations on written form/pronunciation
Orthographic variants | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Various Print Fonts | Cursive Hebrew |
Rashi Script | ||
Serif | Sans-serif | Monospaced | ||
ם | ם | ם | ![]() |
![]() |
In Hebrew, Mem, like Kaph, Nun, Pe, and Tzadi, has a final form, used at the end of words. Its shape changes from מ to ם. The pronunciation is not changed.
Significance
In gematria, Mem represents the number 40 in both the Standard and Mispar Gadol Methods of Gematria; However, (mem sofit) final mem's value is 40 in the Standard Method and 600 in the Mispar Gadol method. The Standard Method adds the values of Tav and Resh (400+200) to denote the value of mem sofit.
In the Sefer Yetzirah, the letter Mem is King over Water, Formed Earth in the Universe, Cold in the Year, and the Belly in the Soul.
As an abbreviation, it stands for metre. In the Israeli army it can also stand for mefaked, commander. In Hebrew religious texts, it can stand for the name of God Makom, the Place.
Mem and Tarot
Mem is associated with The Hanged Man (Atu XII), the element of water and the path between Geburah and Hod on the Tree of Life.
Arabic mīm
The letter is named mīm, and is written in several ways depending on its position in the word:
Position in word | Isolated | Final | Medial | Initial |
---|---|---|---|---|
Glyph form: (Help) |
م | ـم | ـمـ | مـ |
Some examples on its uses in Modern Standard Arabic:
Mīm is used in the creation of ism words (i.e. nouns and adjectives; they are treated fundamentally the same in Arabic grammar). Specifically, mīm is used in the creation of the masdar (verbal noun) of Stem III verbs (the masdar of verbs on the pattern fā`ala is mufā`ala), of subject and object nouns for verbs of Stems II-X (using the example of Stem II, subject nouns — called fā`il words because of their form in Stem I — are mufa``il, and object nouns — called maf`ūl also because of their Stem I form — take the form mufa``al). Place-nouns are also created with mīm; the pattern maf`al is used to create maktab "office" from the triliteral k-t-b (to write) and maṣna` "factory" from ṣ-n-` (to make).
Character encodings
Preview | מ | ם | م | ܡ | ࠌ | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Unicode name | HEBREW LETTER MEM | HEBREW LETTER FINAL MEM | ARABIC LETTER MEEM | SYRIAC LETTER MIM | SAMARITAN LETTER MIM | |||||
Encodings | decimal | hex | dec | hex | dec | hex | dec | hex | dec | hex |
Unicode | 1502 | U+05DE | 1501 | U+05DD | 1605 | U+0645 | 1825 | U+0721 | 2060 | U+080C |
UTF-8 | 215 158 | D7 9E | 215 157 | D7 9D | 217 133 | D9 85 | 220 161 | DC A1 | 224 160 140 | E0 A0 8C |
Numeric character reference | מ |
מ |
ם |
ם |
م |
م |
ܡ |
ܡ |
ࠌ |
ࠌ |
Preview | 𐎎 | 𐡌 | 𐤌 | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Unicode name | UGARITIC LETTER MEM | IMPERIAL ARAMAIC LETTER MEM | PHOENICIAN LETTER MEM | |||
Encodings | decimal | hex | dec | hex | dec | hex |
Unicode | 66446 | U+1038E | 67660 | U+1084C | 67852 | U+1090C |
UTF-8 | 240 144 142 142 | F0 90 8E 8E | 240 144 161 140 | F0 90 A1 8C | 240 144 164 140 | F0 90 A4 8C |
UTF-16 | 55296 57230 | D800 DF8E | 55298 56396 | D802 DC4C | 55298 56588 | D802 DD0C |
Numeric character reference | 𐎎 |
𐎎 |
𐡌 |
𐡌 |
𐤌 |
𐤌 |