Dagesh
Dagesh
ּ
ḥazaq: [ː] (gemination)
Biblical qal: [v]~[β]→[b], [ɣ]→[ɡ],
IPA [ð]→[d], [x]→[k],
[f]~[ɸ]→[p], [θ]→[t]
Israeli [v]~[β]→[b], [x]~[χ]→[k], [f]→[p]
ḥazaq: doubling of consonant
Biblical qal: none
Transliteration
(SBL transliteration system[1])
Israeli v→b, kh→k, f→p
Same appearance mappiq, shuruk
Example
דָּ גֵׁש
"Dagesh" in Hebrew. The center dot on the rightmost character is a dagesh.
Other Niqqud
Shva · Hiriq · Tzere · Segol · Patach · Kamatz · Holam · Dagesh · Mappiq · Shuruk · Kubutz · Rafe · Sin/Shin
Dot
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The dagesh ( ) ָּדגֵׁשis a diacritic used in the Hebrew alphabet. It was added to
the Hebrew orthography at the same time as the Masoretic system of niqqud (vowel points). It takes
the form of a dot placed inside a Hebrew letter and has the effect of modifying the sound in one of
two ways.
An identical mark, called mappiq, has a different phonetic function, and can be applied to different
consonants; the same mark is also employed in the vowel shuruk.
Dagesh and mappiq symbols are often omitted in writing. For instance, ּבis often written as ב. The
use or omission of such marks is usually consistent throughout any given context. The two functions
of dagesh are distinguished as either kal (light) or ḥazak (strong).
Contents
1Dagesh kal
o 1.1Pronunciation
2Dagesh hazak
3Rafe
4Unicode encodings
5See also
6Notes
7Further reading
8External links
Dagesh kal[edit]
A dagesh kal or dagesh qal (דגש קל, or דגש קשיין, also "dagesh lene", "weak/light dagesh",
opposed to "strong dot") may be placed inside the
consonants בbet, גgimel, דdalet, כkaf, פpe and תtav. They each had two sounds: the original
"hard" (plosive) sound, and a "soft" (fricative) sound. Before the Babylonian captivity, the soft sounds
did not exist in Hebrew, but were added as a result of Aramaic-influenced pronunciation of Hebrew
after this point in history. The letters take on their hard sounds when they have no vowel sound
before them, and take their soft sounds when a vowel immediately precedes them, across word
boundaries in Biblical Hebrew, but not in Modern Hebrew. When vowel diacritics are used, the hard
sounds are indicated by a central dot called dagesh, while the soft sounds lack a dagesh. In Modern
Hebrew, however, the dagesh only changes the pronunciation of בbet, כkaf, and פpe (traditional
Ashkenazic pronunciation also varies the pronunciation of תtav, and some traditional Middle
Eastern pronunciations carry alternate forms for דdalet).
With dagesh Without dagesh
Symbo Nam Transliteratio IP Exampl Symbo Nam Transliteratio IP Exampl
l e n A e l e n A e
ּב bet b /b/ bun
ב vet v /v/ van
[2]
ּכ kaph k /k/
kangaro כ khap
kh/ch/ḵ /χ/ loch
ּך ך
o h
[3]
ּפ pe p /p/ pass
פ phe f/ph /f/ find
ּף ף
* Only in Ashkenazi pronunciation Tav without a dagesh is pronounced [s], while in another traditions it is
assumed to have been pronounced [θ] at the time niqqud was introduced. In Modern Hebrew, it is always
pronounced [t].
** The letters gimmel ( )גand dalet ( )דmay also contain a dagesh kal. This indicates an allophonic variation of
the phonemes /ɡ/ and /d/, a variation which no longer exists in modern Hebrew pronunciation. The variations are
believed to have been: [=ּגɡ], [=גɣ], [=דd], [=דð]. The Hebrew spoken by the Jews of Yemen (Yemenite Hebrew)
still preserves unique phonemes for these letters with and without a dagesh.[4]
*** The letter hey ( )הwhen word final is usually silent in order to indicate the presence of a word-
final vowel. But when it receives a dagesh kal, the hey is pronounced instead of being silent.
This is the rule in historic pronunciation, but in Modern Hebrew, this rule is generally ignored.
However, when a non-silent word-final hey ( )ּהoccurs, it can take a furtive patach.
Pronunciation[edit]
In Israel's general population, the pronunciation of some of the above letters has become
identical to the pronunciation of others:
Letter pronounced like Letter
ב (without dagesh) like ו
vet vav
כ (without dagesh) like ח
khaf chet
ּת (with dagesh) like ט
tav tet
ּכ (with dagesh) like ק
kaf qof
Dagesh hazak[edit]
Dagesh ḥazak or dagesh ḥazaq (דגש חזק, "strong dot", i.e. "gemination dagesh", or דגש
כפלן, also "dagesh forte") may be placed in almost any letter, this indicated
a gemination (doubling) of that consonant in the pronunciation of pre-modern Hebrew. This
gemination is not adhered to in modern Hebrew and is only used in careful pronunciation,
such as reading of scriptures in a synagogue service, recitations of biblical or traditional
texts or on ceremonious occasions, and then only by very precise readers.
The following letters, the gutturals, almost never have a
dagesh: aleph א, he ה, chet ח, ayin ע, resh ר. (A few instances of resh with dagesh
are masoretically recorded in the Hebrew Bible, as well as a few cases of aleph with a
dagesh, such as in Leviticus 23:17.)
The presence of a dagesh ḥazak or consonant-doubling in a word may be entirely
morphological, or, as is often the case, is a lengthening to compensate for a deleted
consonant. A dagesh ḥazak may be placed in letters for one of the following reasons:
The letter follows the definite article, the word "the". For
example, מיִם ָּ ׁש
ָּ shamayim "heaven(s)" in Gen 1:8 is שמַ יִם ָּ ַ הHashshamayim "the
heaven(s)" in Gen 1:1. This is because the definite article was originally a stand-alone
particle הַ לhal, but at some early stage in ancient Hebrew it contracted into a prefix ַַה
'ha-', and the loss of the ' לl' was compensated for by doubling the following letter. In this
situation where the following letter is a guttural, the vowel in 'ha-' becomes long to
compensate for the inability to double the next letter - otherwise, this vowel is almost
always short. This also happens in words taking the prefix ַַ' לla-', since it is a prefix
created by the contraction of ַ' לle-' + ַַ' הha-'. Occasionally, the letter following a He which
is used to indicate a question may also receive a dagesh, e.g. Num 13:20 שמֵ נָּה ְּׁ ַה
ִהואHashshemena hi? - "whether it is fat".
The letter follows the prefix ַ' מmi-' where this prefix is an abbreviation for the word min,
meaning "from". For example, the phrase "from your hand", if spelled as two words,
would be ִמן י ֶָּדָךmin yadekha. In Gen. 4:11, however, it occurs as one
word: ִמי ֶָּדָךmiyyadekha. This prefix mostly replaces the usage of the particle מןmin in
modern Hebrew.
The letter follows the prefix ַ' שshe-' in modern Hebrew, which is a prefixed contraction of
the relative pronoun אֲ שרasher, where the first letter is dropped and the last letter
disappears and doubles the next letter. This prefix is rare in Biblical texts, but mostly
replaces the use of אֲ שרasher in Modern Hebrew.
It marks the doubling of a letter that is caused by a weak letter losing its vowel. In these
situations, the weak letter disappears, and the following letter is doubled to compensate
for it. For example, compare Ex. 6:7 לָּ ַק ְּׁח ִּתיlakachti with Num 23:28, where the first
letter of the root לhas been elided: וַיִ ַקחvayyikkach. Lamed only behaves as a weak
letter in this particular root word, but never anywhere else.
If the letter follows a vav consecutive imperfect (sometimes referred to
as vav conversive, or vav ha'hipuch), which, in Biblical Hebrew, switches a verb
between perfect and imperfect. For example, compare Judges 7:4 יֵלֵ ְךyelekh "let him
go" with Deu. 31:1 ַויֵלֶ ךvayyelekh "he went". A possible reason for this doubling is that
the ' ַַוva-' prefix could be the remains of an auxiliary verb הָ ַוַַיhawaya (the ancient form of
the verb הָ יָהhayah, "to be") being contracted into a prefix, losing the initial 'ha', and the
final 'ya' syllable disappearing and doubling the next letter.
In some of the binyan verbal stems, where the Piel, Pual and Hitpa'el stems themselves
cause doubling in the second root letter of a verb. For example:
o Ex. 15:9 אֲ חַ לֵ קachallek "I shall divide", Piel Stem, first person future tense
o in the phrase הָ לֵּ לּוַיַּהhallelu yah "praise the LORD", where hallelu is in Piel Stem,
masculine plural Imperative form
o Gen. 47:31 תחַ זֵ ק
ְּׁ ִ וַיvayyitchazzek, "he strengthened himself", Hitpael stem
