Hebrew punctuation

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 ׀ etnachta ֑   segol ֒ shalshelet ֓   zaqef qatan ֔ zaqef gadol ֕   tifcha ֖ revia ֗   zarqa ֘ pashta ֙   yetiv ֚ tevir ֛   geresh ֜ geresh muqdam ֝   gershayim ֞ qarney para ֟   telisha gedola ֠ pazer ֡   atnah hafukh ֢ munach ֣   mahapakh ֤ merkha ֥   merkha kefula ֦ darga ֧   qadma ֨ telisha qetana ֩   yerah ben yomo ֪ ole ֫   iluy ֬ dehi ֭   zinor ֮

Hebrew punctuation is similar to that of English and other Western languages, Modern Hebrew having imported additional punctuation marks from these languages in order to avoid the ambiguities sometimes occasioned by the relative paucity of such symbols in Biblical Hebrew.

Punctuation

Quotation marks

Example
Standard	Alternate
”ישראל“	„ישראל“

With most printed Hebrew texts from the early 1970s and before, opening quotation marks are low (as in German), and closing ones are high, often going above the letters themselves (as opposed to the gershayim, which is level with the top of letters). An example of this system is „ישראל“.

However, this distinction in Hebrew between opening and closing quotation marks has completely disappeared, and today, quotations are punctuated as they are in English (ex. "ישראל"), with both quotation marks high. This is due to the advent of the Hebrew keyboard layout, which lacks the opening quotation mark ⟨„⟩, as well as to the lack in Hebrew of "smart quotes" as found in Microsoft Word for many other languages.

In addition, the quotation mark is often used for the similar looking but different gershayim mark ⟨״⟩, as that too is absent from the Hebrew keyboard.

Standard	Alternative	Names
‏ ”…“ ‏	‏ „…“ ‏	merkhaʾot — מֵרְכָאוֹת (plural of merkha — מֵרְכָא); a similar punctuation mark unique to Hebrew is called gershayim — גרשיים

Period, question mark, exclamation mark, comma

Periods (full stops), question marks, exclamation marks, and commas are used as in English.

A Hebrew period in a traditional serif face usually looks like a tiny tilted square (a diamond; ). This is also true for the dot part of the question mark, and exclamation mark.

In Arabic, which is also written from right to left, the question mark ⟨؟⟩ is mirrored right-to-left from the English question mark. (Some browsers may display the character in the previous sentence as a forward question mark due to font or text directionality issues.) Hebrew is also written right-to-left, but uses a question mark that appears on the page in the same orientation as the English ⟨?⟩.^[1]

Colon and sof pasuq

Stemming from Biblical Hebrew, a sof pasuq ⟨׃⟩ is the equivalent of a period, and is used in some writings such as prayer books. Since a sof pasuq is absent from the Hebrew keyboard layout, and looks very similar to the colon ⟨:⟩, a colon is often substituted for it.

Glyph	Unicode	Name
׃	U+05C3	HEBREW PUNCTUATION SOF PASUQ
:	U+003A	COLON

Vertical bar and paseq

Also coming from Biblical Hebrew, a paseq ⟨׀⟩ is used as a word separator. Also not on a standard Hebrew keyboard, a vertical bar ⟨|⟩ is often used instead. The vertical bar, a standard key on any keyboard, is used in English for such applications as mathematics and computing.

Glyph	Unicode	Name
׀	U+05C0	HEBREW PUNCTUATION PASEQ
|	U+007C	VERTICAL LINE

Hyphen and maqaf

Example
Hebrew Maqaf	Standard English Hyphen
עַל־יְדֵי	עַל-יְדֵי
Notice how the maqaf aligns with the top horizontal strokes whereas the standard English hyphen is in the middle of the letters.

The maqaf ⟨מַקָּף) ⟨־⟩ is the Hebrew hyphen ⟨-⟩, and has virtually the same purpose for connecting two words as in English. It is different from the hyphen in its positioning (a hyphen is in the middle in terms of height, the maqaf is at the top) and it has a biblical origin,^[2] unlike many other Modern Hebrew punctuation symbols, which have simply been imported from European languages.

The maqaf is well-used in Hebrew typography; most books and newspapers use it and have the hyphens higher than one would find in English. In online writing, however, it is rarely used because it was absent from the Hebrew keyboard layout on Microsoft Windows until Windows 8. As a result, a standard English hyphen ⟨-⟩ is most often used in online writings. This situation can be compared to that of users writing in Latin alphabets using the easily available hyphen ⟨-⟩ over Minus ⟨−⟩, en dash ⟨–⟩ and em dash ⟨—⟩.

Glyph	Unicode	Name
־	U+05be	HEBREW PUNCTUATION MAQAF
-	U+002d	HYPHEN-MINUS

Brackets/parentheses

Brackets or parentheses, ⟨(⟩ and ⟨)⟩ are the same in Hebrew as in English. Since Hebrew is written from right to left, ⟨)⟩ becomes an opening bracket, and ⟨(⟩ a closing bracket, the opposite from English, which is written left to right.

Israeli currency sign

Examples
With Sheqel Sign	With Abbreviation
₪12,000	12,000ש״ח

The sheqel sign (₪) is the currency sign for the Israeli currency (the New Israeli Sheqel), in the way $, £, and € exist for other currencies. The sheqel sign, like the dollar sign ⟨$⟩, is usually placed to the left of the number (i.e. ₪12,000 and not 12,000₪), but since Hebrew is written from right to left, the symbol is actually written after the number. It is either not separated from the preceding number, or is separated only by a thin space.

Unlike the dollar sign, the new sheqel sign is not used that often when handwriting monetary amounts, and is generally replaced by the abbreviation ש״ח (standing for Sheqel Hadash, lit. New Sheqel).

Apostrophe and quotation marks

For more details on this topic, see Geresh and Gershayim.

Geresh	Apostrophe used as a geresh
צ׳ארלס<noinclude>	צ'ארלס<noinclude>
Gershayim	Quotation marks used as gershayim
צה״ל<noinclude>	צה"ל<noinclude>
Notice how the geresh and gershayim align with the top horizontal strokes whereas the standard English characters are above the letters.

The geresh ⟨׳⟩, is the Hebrew equivalent of a period in abbreviations (e.g. abbrev.), in addition to being attached to Hebrew letters to indicate the soft g ([dʒ]) and ch ([tʃ]) sounds in foreign names (ex. Charles, Jake). The gershayim ⟨״⟩, is a Hebrew symbol symbolizing that a sequence of characters is an acronym, and is placed before the last character of the word. Owing to a Hebrew keyboard's having neither a geresh nor gershayim, they are usually replaced online with, respectively, the visually similar apostrophe ⟨'⟩ and quotation mark ⟨"⟩. The quotation mark and apostrophe are higher than the geresh and gershayim: where the latter are placed level with the top of Hebrew letters, the apostrophe and quotation marks are above them.

Some Hebrew-specific fonts (fonts designed primarily for Hebrew letters), such as David, Narkisim and FrankRuehl, do not feature the apostrophe and quotation marks as such but use the geresh and gershayim to substitute for them.

Glyph	Unicode	Name
׳	U+05f3	HEBREW PUNCTUATION GERESH
״	U+05f4	HEBREW PUNCTUATION GERSHAYIM
'	U+0027	APOSTROPHE
"	U+0022	QUOTATION MARK

Mathematics

Mathematical expressions are written in Israel using the same symbols as in English, including Western numerals, which are written left to right. The only variant that exists is an alternative plus sign, which is a plus sign which looks like an inverted capital T. Unicode has this symbol at position U+FB29 "Hebrew letter alternative plus sign" (﬩).^[3] However, most books for adults use the international symbol "+".

Examples of mathematical expressions written in Hebrew
General example	With alternative plus sign
6 + [(1 × 2) ÷ 2] = 7	6	﬩	[(1 × 2) ÷ 2] = 7
Mathematical expressions in Hebrew look the same as it does in English.

Reversed nun

Examples
Ordinary letter nun	Reversed nun - vertical flip
Reversed nun - horizontal flip	Reversed nun - Z-shape

Reversed nun (also called inverted nun, nun hafukha, or nun menuzerret) is a rare character found in two Biblical Hebrew texts.^[4] Although in Judaic literature it is known as nun hafukha ("reversed nun"), it does not function as any sort of letter in the text.^[4] It is not part of a word, and it is not read aloud in any way. It is simply a mark that is written, and is therefore a punctuation mark, not a letter. Also, it is surrounded by space.^[4]

While it depends on the particular manuscript or printed edition, it is found in nine places: twice in the Book of Numbers (prior to and after Numbers 10:34-36), and seven times in Psalm 107.^[4] It is uncertain today what it was intended to signify.^[4]

In many manuscripts, it does not even resemble a transformed nun at all, and when it does, it sometimes appears reversed (as mentioned above), sometimes inverted, and sometimes turned through 180°.^[4] Other times it appears to look like the letter Z.^[4]

Glyph	Unicode	Name
׆	U+05C6	HEBREW PUNCTUATION NUN HAFUKHA

Hebrew points (vowels)

Examples
With Vowel Points	Without Vowel Points
עַל־יְדֵי	על־ידי
יִשְׂרָאֵל	ישראל

These signs (points, neqqudot) indicate voweling or some other aspects of the pronunciation of a letter or word. While in Modern Hebrew they are not generally used outside poetry and children's books, a vowel point or other diacritic is occasionally added to resolve ambiguity.

One of these neqqudot, the rafe, is no longer used in Hebrew, even though it is routinely used in Yiddish spelling (as defined by YIVO).

Glyph	Unicode	Name
ְ	U+05B0	SHEVA
ֱ	U+05B1	HATEF SEGOL
ֲ	U+05B2	HATEF PATAH
ֳ	U+05B3	HATEF QAMATS
ִ	U+05B4	HIRIQ
ֵ	U+05B5	TSERE
ֶ	U+05B6	SEGOL
ַ	U+05B7	PATAH
ָ	U+05B8	QAMATS
ֹ	U+05B9	HOLAM (HASER)
ֻ	U+05BB	QUBUTS
ּ	U+05BC	DAGESH, MAPIQ, OR SHURUQ
ֽ	U+05BD	MATEG
ֿ	U+05BF	RAFE
ׁ	U+05C1	SHIN DOT
ׂ	U+05C2	SIN DOT
ׄ	U+05C4	MARK UPPER DOT
ׅ	U+05C5	MARK LOWER DOT

Hebrew cantillation marks

Example (Genesis 1:1-5)

With Vowel Points and Cantillation Marks

בְּרֵאשִׁ֖ית בָּרָ֣א אֱלֹהִ֑ים אֵ֥ת הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם וְאֵ֥ת הָאָֽרֶץ׃ וְהָאָ֗רֶץ הָיְתָ֥ה תֹ֙הוּ֙ וָבֹ֔הוּ וְחֹ֖שֶׁךְ עַל־פְּנֵ֣י תְה֑וֹם וְר֣וּחַ אֱלֹהִ֔ים מְרַחֶ֖פֶת עַל־פְּנֵ֥י הַמָּֽיִם׃ וַיֹּ֥אמֶר אֱלֹהִ֖ים יְהִ֣י א֑וֹר וַֽיְהִי־אֽוֹר׃ וַיַּ֧רְא אֱלֹהִ֛ים אֶת־הָא֖וֹר כִּי־ט֑וֹב וַיַּבְדֵּ֣ל אֱלֹהִ֔ים בֵּ֥ין הָא֖וֹר וּבֵ֥ין הַחֹֽשֶׁךְ׃ וַיִּקְרָ֨א אֱלֹהִ֤ים׀ לָאוֹר֙ י֔וֹם וְלַחֹ֖שֶׁךְ קָ֣רָא לָ֑יְלָה וַֽיְהִי־עֶ֥רֶב וַֽיְהִי־בֹ֖קֶר י֥וֹם אֶחָֽד׃<noinclude>

Just Cantillation Marks (For Demonstration)

בראש֖ית בר֣א אלה֑ים א֥ת השמ֖ים וא֥ת האֽרץ׃ והא֗רץ הית֥ה ת֙הו֙ וב֔הו וח֖שך על־פנ֣י תה֑ום ור֣וח אלה֔ים מרח֖פת על־פנ֥י המֽים׃ וי֥אמר אלה֖ים יה֣י א֑ור וֽיהי־אֽור׃ וי֧רא אלה֛ים את־הא֖ור כי־ט֑וב ויבד֣ל אלה֔ים ב֥ין הא֖ור וב֥ין החֽשך׃ ויקר֨א אלה֤ים׀ לאור֙ י֔ום ולח֖שך ק֣רא ל֑ילה וֽיהי־ע֥רב וֽיהי־ב֖קר י֥ום אחֽד׃<noinclude>

No Cantillation or Vowel Points

בראשית ברא אלהים את השמים ואת הארץ׃ והארץ היתה תהו ובהו וחשך על־פני תהום ורוח אלהים מרחפת על־פני המים׃ ויאמר אלהים יהי אור ויהי־אור׃ וירא אלהים את־האור כי־טוב ויבדל אלהים בין האור ובין החשך׃ ויקרא אלהים׀ לאור יום ולחשך קרא לילה ויהי־ערב ויהי־בקר יום אחד׃<noinclude>

The cantillation marks (Hebrew: טעמים‎ teʿamim) have a very specialized use. They are only found in printed Hebrew texts of Tanakh to be used as a guide for chanting the text, either from the printed text or, in the case of the public reading of the Torah, to be memorized along with vowel marks as the Sefer Torah includes only the letters of the text without cantillation or vowel marks. Outside the Tanakh, the cantillation marks are not used in modern spoken or written Hebrew at all. The cantillation marks provide a structure to sentences of Tanakh similar to that provided by punctuation marks.

cantillation cantillation Sof passuk ׃   paseq ׀ etnachta ֑   segol ֒ shalshelet ֓   zaqef qatan ֔ zaqef gadol ֕   tifcha ֖ revia ֗   zarqa ֘ pashta ֙   yetiv ֚ tevir ֛   geresh ֜ geresh muqdam ֝   gershayim ֞ qarney para ֟   telisha gedola ֠ pazer ֡   atnah hafukh ֢ munach ֣   mahapakh ֤ merkha ֥   merkha kefula ֦ darga ֧   qadma ֨ telisha qetana ֩   yerah ben yomo ֪ ole ֫   iluy ֬ dehi ֭   zinor ֮

See also

• Hebrew keyboard
• Hebrew spelling

Notes

1. Truss, Lynne. Eats, Shoots & Leaves, 2003. p. 143. ISBN 1-59240-087-6.
2.  Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar, §16
3. Unicode U+FB29 reference page
4. Universal Multiple-Octet Coded Character Set: International Organization for Standardization