Geresh

For the Torah cantillation mark of the same name, see Geresh (trope).

Not to be confused with Gares.

Geresh
diacritic, punctuation mark	׳	Template:Hebrew
cantillation mark	֜ or ֝	Template:Hebrew
compare with apostrophes
Template:Hebrew

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 ֓‎   Zakef katan ֔‎ Zakef gadol ֕‎   Tifcha/tarkha ֖‎ Rivia ֗‎   Zarka ֘‎ Pashta ֙‎   Yetiv ֚‎ Tevir ֛‎   Geresh ֜‎ Geresh muqdam ֝‎   Gershayim ֞‎ Karne parah ֟‎   Telisha gedola/talsha ֠‎ Pazer ֡‎   Atnah hafukh ֢‎ Munakh/shofar holekh ֣‎   Mahpach ֤‎ Merkha/ma’arikh ֥‎   Mercha kefula ֦‎ Darga ֧‎   Qadma ֨‎ Telisha qetana/tarsa ֩‎   Yerah ben yomo ֪‎ Ole ֫‎   Illuy ֬‎ Dehi ֭‎   Tsinnorit ֮‎

Geresh (׳ in Template:Lang-he-n‎ or Template:Hebrew‎ [ˈɡeʁeʃ], or medieval [ˈɡeːɾeːʃ]) is a sign in Hebrew writing. It has two meanings.

1. An apostrophe-like sign (also known colloquially as a chupchik) placed after a letter:
   • as a diacritic that modifies the pronunciation of some letters (in modern Hebrew),
   • as a diacritic that signifies Yiddish origin of a word or suffix, (examples below)
   • as a punctuation mark to denote initialisms or abbreviations,
   • or to denote a single-digit Hebrew numeral
2. A note of cantillation in the reading of the Torah and other Biblical books, taking the form of a curved diagonal stroke placed above a letter.

Diacritic

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

Loanwords, slang, foreign names and transliterations

Loanwords, slang, foreign names, and transliteration of foreign languages
Without Geresh					With Geresh
Symbol	Name	Translit.	IPA	Example	Symbol	Name	Translit.	IPA	Examples
Template:Hebrew	gimel	g	[ɡ]	gap	Template:Hebrew	gimel with a geresh	j (or g)	[dʒ]	Jupiter, George
Template:Hebrew	zayin	z	[z]	zoo	Template:Hebrew	zayin with a geresh	g, j	[ʒ]	Jacques, beige, vision
Template:Hebrew	tsadi	ts	[ts]	tsunami, cats	Template:Hebrew	tsadi with a geresh	ch	[tʃ]	chip

Transcriptions of Arabic

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.

Distinction when transcribing Arabic
Without Geresh						With Geresh
Symbol	Name	Translit.	Arabic letter	IPA	Example	Symbol	Name	Arabic letter	IPA	Example	Comments
Template:Hebrew	gimel	g	Egyptian / Yemeni Jīm (ج)	[ɡ]	good	Template:Hebrew	gimel with a geresh	Jīm (ج)	[dʒ]	Al-Jazeera (الجزيرة)	Also used with other loan words and transliterations for /dʒ/
Template:Hebrew	dalet	d	Dāl (د)	[d]	door	Template:Hebrew	dalet with a geresh	Ḏāl (ذ)	[ð]	Dhu [a]l-Hijjah (ذو الحجة)	Also used for English voiced th Often a simple Dalet (ד) is written
Template:Hebrew	heth	ẖ / h, ḥ, or h	Ḥaʾ (ح)	[ħ]	Non existent in English, pronounced like an "h" while contracting the pharynx	Template:Hebrew	heth with a geresh	Ḫāʾ (ﺥ)	[χ]	Sheikh (شيخ)
Template:Hebrew	tav	t	Tāʾ (ت)	[t]	tail	Template:Hebrew	tav with a geresh	ṯāʾ (ث)	[θ]	ʿuthman (عثمان)	Also used for English voiceless th
Template:Hebrew	samekh	s	Sīn (س)	[s]	sun	Template:Hebrew	samekh with a geresh	Ṣad (ص)	[sˤ] pharyngealized [s]; approximate pronunciation by pronouncing a voiceless "s" while constricting the pharynx or the larynx		May also be transcribed with the corresponding Hebrew letter צ
Template:Hebrew	resh	r	Rāʾ (ر)	[r]		Template:Hebrew	reish with a geresh	Ghayn (غ)	[ɣ]	Abu Ghosh (أَبُو غوش)	Standard simplified: Template:Hebrew and Template:Hebrew however Template:Hebrew is prescribed by the Academy of the Hebrew Language. Another precise prescribed transcription is Template:Hebrew; in some cases of established usage a Template:Hebrew with no diacritics is used.
The predominant pronunciation is uvular [ʁ, ʀ], therefore resh is spelled without geresh for that pronunciation. Other accentual variants include an alveolar pronunciation [ɾ, r].
Template:Hebrew	ayin	’	ʿAyn (ع)	[ʕ] ←→ [ʢ], sometimes [ʡ] or [ʔˤ] Ranges from pharyngeal fricative [ʕ] to epiglottal fricative [ʢ], sometimes an epiglottal stop [ʡ] or a pharyngealized glottal stop [ʔˤ]; approximate pronunciation by constricting the pharynx or the larynx		Template:Hebrew	ayin with a geresh

Transliteration of foreign names

Distinction when transcribing foreign names
Without Geresh					With Geresh
Symbol	Name	Translit.	IPA	Example	Symbol	Name	Translit.	IPA	Example
Template:Hebrew	dalet	d	[d]	door	Template:Hebrew	dalet with a geresh	English voiced th	[ð]	then
Template:Hebrew	tav	t	[t]	tail	Template:Hebrew	tav with a geresh	English voiceless th	[θ]	thing
Template:Hebrew	vav	v	[v]	vote	Template:Hebrew or Template:Hebrew (non-standard[*])	vav with a geresh or double vav	w	[w]	William

Note

* ^ Both double-vav and vav with geresh are non-standard and so inconsistently used.

Yiddish origin

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

Punctuation mark

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

Indicating initialisms

In initialisms, the Geresh is written after the last letter of the initialism. For example: the title גְּבֶרֶת (literally "lady") is abbreviated גב׳, equivalent to English "Mrs" and "Ms".

Denoting a numeral

A Geresh can be appended after (left of) a single letter to indicate that the letter represents a Hebrew numeral. For example: ק׳‎ represents 100. A multi-digit Hebrew numeral is indicated by the Gershayim ⟨״⟩.

Cantillation mark

Main article: Geresh (trope)

As a note of cantillation in the reading of the Torah, the Geresh is printed above the accented letter: ב֜. The 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: ב֝. As a cantillation mark it is also called Ṭères (טֶרֶס)‎.

Computer encoding

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

Appearance	Code Points	Name
׳	U+05F3	HEBREW PUNCTUATION GERESH
֜	U+059C	HEBREW ACCENT GERESH
֝	U+059D	HEBREW ACCENT GERESH MUQDAM

See also

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