Gershayim

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Gershayim
punctuation mark ״ פַּרְדֵּ״ס
cantillation mark ֞ וּרְד֞וּ
compare with quotation marks
"פַּרְדֵּ״ס", "וּרְד֞וּ"
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 ֓   zaqef qaton ֔
zaqef gadol ֕   tifcha/tarkha ֖
rivia/ravia’ ֗   zarqa ֘
pashta ֙   yetiv ֚
tevir ֛   geresh/gerish ֜
geresh muqdam [de] ֝   gershayim/shenei gerishin ֞
karnei pharah ֟   telisha gedola/talsha ֠
pazer (gadol) ֡   atnah hafukh [de] ֢
munakh/shofar holekh ֣   mahapakh/shofar mehupakh ֤
merkha/ma’arikh ֥   merkha kefula/terei ta’amei ֦
darga ֧   qadma ֨
telisha qetana/tarsa ֩   yerah ben yomo ֪
ole ֫   illuy ֬
dehi [de] ֭   zinor ֮


Gershayim (Hebrew: גֵּרְשַׁיִם‎, without niqqud גרשיים‎), also occasionally grashayim[1] (גְּרָשַׁיִם‎), can refer to either of 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 is used in the following ways:

  • To indicate a Hebrew 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: י״ח‎ represents 18.[3]
  • 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/ "being 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 a disjunctive cantillation accent in the Tanakh (Jewish bible) - ◌֞. 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]